Review of "Yahwist's Landscape: Nature and Religion in Early Israel" by Theodore Hiebert (original) (raw)

J's Problem with the East: Observations on the So-Called Yahwistic Texts in Genesis 1-25

in: Jaeyoung Jeon (ed.). Social Groups Behind the Pentateuch. AIL 44. Atlanta: SBL Press, 2021., 2021

The cardinal direction east appears often in the book of Genesis, much more so than in other biblical books. 1 The east serves as a place of intrigue for the story in Gen 2:4b-3:24, the narrative of Jacob and Laban, and probably also the story of the tower of Babel. Furthermore, the east often appears as the position of a main protagonist: the cherubim and the fiery ever-turning sword guarding the tree of life are situated at the east of the garden of Eden, and Cain, too, lives east of Eden. Lot chooses the region of the plain and the city of Sodom, located in the east, as a place to live. Finally, Abraham sends all of his sons borne by concubines to the east, away from his favorite son, Isaac. How can one explain this concentration of references to the cardinal direction east in the book of Genesis? Analysis of all these texts will reveal different if not contradictory images and appraisals of the east. One reason for the great number of texts mentioning the east seems to be the disagreement between the biblical authors on this point. This article seeks to clarify what is at stake in this disagreement and the role the latter played in the process of the formation of the primeval history and the Abraham narrative.

The Genesis Creation Account and Its Reverberations in the Old Testament: A Book Review-Part One

Bible and Spade, 2023

Part One of this book review highlights the comparisons that many critics make between the biblical record of Creation and other ancient Near Eastern (ANE) literature. Does Genesis borrow plot points? Does the terminology actually show that the Israelites believed the world was covered with a solid dome? How should we regard any similarities between pagan mythology and the Bible? Endnotes and Bibliography for part one are here: https://biblearchaeology.org/images/Smith-Documentation-Winter-2023.pdf