The Tower of Babel: A Case Study in the Competing Methods of Historical and Modern Literary Criticism

Since the rise of modern literary criticism of the Hebrew Bible in the 1970s, its proponents have sought to use the results of this method to argue for the compositional unity of the biblical text, particularly in regard to the Pentateuch. They have held up the literary structures they find in the text—alliteration, repetition, and other forms of wordplay, as well as larger structures such as chiasm—as proof of a conscious artistry on the part of the biblical author, an artistry that, in their opinion, belies any attempt to separate the text into constituent documents or layers. That these literary observations are useful in reading the final form of the text is hardly in question; but whether they are, in fact, an effective means of countering the results of historical criticism remains in doubt. In this article I will address this very issue by means of a detailed examination of a particular passage, the Tower of Babel narrative, and the ways in which modern literary critics have attempted to prove its unity. The results of this case study will lead to a discussion of the relationship between the two methods of modern literary criticism and historical criticism

Hithpael and Niphal in Biblical Hebrew: Semantic and Morphological Overlap

The well-established semantic overlap between the niphal and hithpael in Biblical Hebrew is explained by the morphological similarities between the two stems in the imperfect form in the consonantal text. This claim is supported by a statistical analysis indicating that the first root consonant of some verb classes has assimilated rather than undergone metathesis more commonly than has previously been thought

Identifying the Original Stratum of P: Theoretical and Practical Considerations

Methodological reflections on identifying the original stratum of the priestly source

Deuteronomy Reads the Pentateuch

The parallel narratives in Deuteronomy and in Exodus-Numbers have long provided a basis for literary-historical investigations of the composition of the Pentateuch. They also, however, contribute significantly to a canonical reading of Deuteronomy and its place in the Pentateuch. The parallel stories - and specifically the differences between them - allow for a sharper definition of Deuteronomy’s message, the character of Moses, and the nature of biblical interpretation

From Joseph to Moses: The Narratives of Exodus 1-2

In this paper it is argued that the canonical text of Exodus 1-2 is a compilation of three originally independent narratives belonging to the pentateuchal sources J, E, and P. The text of Exodus 1-2 is divided source-critically, and each individual narrative analyzed on its own terms. Each of these stories contains specific narrative claims that are distinct from that of the canonical text as a whole, and each represents a continuation of the patriarchal narratives into the Exodus account

An Unnoted Nuance in Genesis 2:21-22

Rather than understanding the creation of woman in Gen 2:21-22 as an etiology of some physiological feature, this brief article suggests that the removal of part of Adam’s body to create Eve can instead be seen as parallel to a horticultural process, namely, the taking of cuttings

The Continuity of the Non-Priestly Narrative from Genesis to Exodus

The question of the continuity of the non-priestly narrative from the patriarchs to the exodus has been the center of much debate in recent pentateuchal scholarship. This paper presents as fully as possible, in the space allowed, one side of the argument, namely, that the non-priestly narrative is indeed continuous from Genesis through Exodus. Both methodological and textual arguments are brought in support of this claim, as well as some critiques of the alternative theory

On Exodus 33,1–11

The analysis of Exodus 33,1–11 has long been a matter of dispute, with a remarkable variety of readings put forward with little consensus. This paper proposes a new reading of the passage, involving one secondary addition, one text-critical emendation, and one readjustment of the versification, with the result that two coherent units of text emerge

The Structure and Substance of Numbers 15

Numbers 15 has long been seen in scholarship as a vaguely haphazard collection of disparate legal elements, with few obvious connections between them. Although some attempts have been made to find a thematic thread linking the various parts of the chapter, there has been little consensus on how best to understand the rationale behind the location and grouping of these legal passages or their particular order. This paper will make a new suggestion regarding the means by which Numbers 15 came to have its canonical shape

The Purpose of Purification in Leviticus 16: A Proposition Pertaining to Priestly Prepositions

The general function of the ritual described in Leviticus 16 is well known: it removes the impurities and the sins – unintentional and intentional – of the Israelites. A number of factors, however, contribute to obscure both some of the details about how the ritual operates and how it is conceived within the broader priestly ideology. This paper will attempt to clarify some issues relating to this text, with particular attention to the use of prepositions therein