Inconsistency in the Torah: Ancient Literary Convention and the Limits of Source Criticism

by Joshua A. Berman

Overview

Inconsistency in the Torah

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780190658809
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	07/13/2017
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	9.30(w) x 6.30(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Joshua A. Berman is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Hebrew Bible at Bar-Ilan University in Israel. He is the author of Created Equal: How the Bible Broke with Ancient Political Thought.

Table of Contents

Abbreviations
Introduction
Part I - Inconsistency in Narrative
Setting Conflicting Histories Side by Side:
1. Diverging Accounts within the Kadesh Inscriptions of Ramesses II
2. The Exodus Sea Account (Exod 13:17-15:19) in Light of the Kadesh Inscriptions of Ramesses II
Disparity in the Sovereign's Recounting of History to His Vassal
3. Divergent Histories between Original and Renewal Treaties in Hittite Diplomatic Literature
4. Retold History in the Book of Deuteronomy in Light of the Hittite Treaty Tradition

Part II - Inconsistency in Law
5. The Pivotal Characterization: Ancient Law as Non-Statutory Law
6. The Misapplication of "Strict Construction" and the Semblance of Contradiction
7. Honoring a Law Code and Diverging from Its Dictates in the Neo-Babylonian King of Justice and in the Book of Ruth
8. Blending Discordant Laws in Biblical Narrative
9. Legal Revision in the Torah Law Collections: Supersessionist or Complementary?
10. Redacting The Torah's Conflicting Laws: New Empirical Models

Part III - Renewing Pentateuchal Criticism
11. A Critical Intellectual History of the Historical-Critical Paradigm in Biblical Studies
12. The Abuses of Negation, Bisection and Suppression in the Dating of Biblical Texts: The Rescue of Moses (Exodus 2:1-10)
13. Source Criticism and Its Biases: The Flood Narrative of Genesis 6-9
14. Conclusion: A New Path Forward
Bibliography
Subject Index
Index of Scriptural Passages

Editorial Reviews

"I find Berman's call for understanding the Hebrew Bible as a product of the Ancient Near East literary milieu to be foundational. I would argue that in his book, nonstandard, alternative perspectives can be found and built upon, instead of fundamentalist apologetics. As such, the book will engage both avid students who enjoy learning about the history and modern ideas entertained in current historical criticism, as well as scholars who now will have to deal with the substantial challenges Berman raises against the modern practice of the method." — Felipe Masotti, Andrews University Seminary Studies

"There is much of value in the detailed textual analysis that Berman offers" — Vetus Testamentum

"I highly recommend this monograph. Berman offers important challenges to the field of pentateuchal studies in particular and biblical studies as a whole. While engaging in this dialogue may not help the field of biblical studies to reach a greater level of consensus, it will certainly make for more thoughtful scholarship."—Brandon Grafius, Review of Biblical Literature

"[A] a scintillating work that manages to challenge nearly every received canon in Pentateuchal source criticism."—Jerry Hwang, Themelios

"Berman's book is a helpful foray into the area of 'biblical criticism criticism.'"—Rachel Slutsky, Reading Religion

"Joshua Berman puts forward what may be the most serious—and, to many in the field, disturbing—challenge in over a century to theories about the composition and dating of biblical texts. Biblical critics will have to reckon with Berman's lucid and detailed investigations of ancient Near Eastern literature if they are to continue using the classic methods of their field. Many scholars will want to disagree with Berman's conclusions, but none can ignore them."—Benjamin D. Sommer, author of Revelation and Authority: Sinai in Jewish Scripture and Tradition, winner of the Goldstein-Goren Prize for Best Book in Jewish Thought

"Joshua Berman throws down the gauntlet and challenges all critical scholars who have based their research on modern conceptions of literary unity and on the diachronic growth of the Pentateuch. He opens up a new path for the study and unity of the Pentateuchal literature, which will surely lead to much debate and further intensive review."—Shalom M. Paul, Professor Emeritus Bible, Hebrew University

"In this groundbreaking and provocative new study, Berman demonstrates some of the methodological problems within traditional biblical source criticism, especially how dependence on the scholar's own intuition to identify fissure in a text can yield misleading results. Berman argues that there is need among source critical scholars for a self-awareness of their own aesthetic senses of literary unity, and that cognate ancient Near Eastern literature can provide the necessary controls to diachronic inquiry in the study of the Torah. Through his own analyses of different genres of ancient Near Eastern literature, he illustrates 'a procedure for knocking out at least some errors' and for arriving at more modest and contingent results, ones that can withstand empirical scrutiny in the light of the ancient Near Eastern cultural literary world."—K. Lawson Younger, Jr., Professor of Old Testament, Semitic Languages, and Ancient Near Eastern History, Trinity International University, Divinity School

"This lucid and compelling argument deserves careful consideration by all who value historical criticism." — James E. Patrick, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament

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