Sacred Ritual: A Study of the West Semitic Ritual Calendars in Leviticus 23 and the Akkadian Text Emar 446

288 Pages·2014·3.03 MB·English

by  Bryan C. Babcock

BBRSup
9
Sacred Ritual
Sacred
S
a
Israelite festival calendar texts (Exod 23; 34; Lev 23; Num 28–29; Deut 16;
c
and Ezek 45) share many features; however, there are also differences. Some
of the most-often-cited differences are the following: festival dates, festival r
locations, date of the New Year, festival timing, and festival names. Scholars e
Ritual
have explored these distinctions, and many have concluded that different
d
sources (authors/redactors) wrote the various calendars at different times in
Israelite history. Scholars use these dissimilarities to argue that Lev 23 was
R
written in the exilic or postexilic era. Babcock offers a new translation and
analysis of a second-millennium B.C. multimonth ritual calendar text from
i
Emar (Emar 446) to challenge the late dating of Lev 23. Babcock argues that
t
Lev 23 preserves an early (2nd-millennium) West Semitic ritual tradition.
u
A Study of the West Semitic
Building on the recent work of Klingbeil and Sparks, this book presents a
a
new comparative methodology for exploring potential textual relationships.
Ritual Calendars in Leviticus 23
Babcock investigates the attributes of sacred ritual through the lens of sacred l
time, sacred space and movement, sacred objects, ritual participants, and ritual

sound. The author begins with a study of ancient Near Eastern festival texts and the

from the 3rd millennium through the 1st millennium. This analysis focuses on

festival cycles, common festival attributes, and the role of time and space in B Akkadian Text Emar 446
ritual. Babcock then moves on to an intertextual study of biblical festival texts
a
before completing a thorough investigation of both Lev 23 and Emar 446. The b
result is a compelling argument that Lev 23 preserves an early West Semitic c
festival tradition and does not date to the exilic era—refuting the scholarly o Bryan C. Babcock
consensus. c
k
This illuminating reading stands as a model for future research in the field of
ritual and comparative textual studies.
Eisenbrauns
POB 275
Winona Lake, IN 46590 Bulletin for Biblical Research Supplement 9
www.eisenbrauns.com
EISENBRAUNS
Sacred Ritual
Bulletin for Biblical Research Supplements
Editor
Richard S. Hess, Denver Seminary
Associate Editor
Craig L. Blomberg, Denver Seminary
Advisory Board
Leslie C. Allen I. Howard Marshall
Fuller Theological Seminary University of Aberdeen
Donald A. Carson Elmer A. Martens
Trinity Evangelical Divinity Mennonite Brethren Biblical
School Seminary
Donald A. Hagner Bruce K. Waltke
Fuller Theological Seminary Knox Theological Seminary
Karen H. Jobes Edwin M. Yamauchi
Wheaton College Miami University
1. Bridging the Gap: Ritual and Ritual Texts in the Bible, by Gerald A. Klingbeil
2. War in the Bible and Terrorism in the Twenty-First Century, edited by
Richard S. Hess and Elmer A. Martens
3. Critical Issues in Early Israelite History, edited by Richard S. Hess,
Gerald A. Klingbeil, and Paul J. Ray Jr.
4. Poetic Imagination in Proverbs: Variant Repetitions and the Nature of Poetry,
by Knut Martin Heim
5. Divine Sabbath Work, by Michael H. Burer
6. The Iron Age I Structure on Mt. Ebal: Excavation and Interpretation,
by Ralph K. Hawkins
7. Toward a Poetics of Genesis 1–11: Reading Genesis 4:17–22 in Its Near Eastern
Context, by Daniel DeWitt Lowery
8. Melchizedek’s Alternative Priestly Order: A Compositional Analysis of
Genesis 14:18–20 and Its Echoes throughout the Tanak, by Joshua G. Mathews
9. Sacred Ritual: A Study of the West Semitic Ritual Calendars in Leviticus 23 and
the Akkadian Text Emar 446, by Bryan C. Babcock
Sacred Ritual
A Study of the West Semitic Ritual Calendars in
Leviticus 23 and the Akkadian Text Emar 446
Bryan C. Babcock
Winona Lake, Indiana
Eisenbrauns
2014
© Copyright 2014 Eisenbrauns
All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
www.eisenbrauns.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Babcock, Bryan C.
Sacred ritual : a study of the West Semitic ritual calendars in
Leviticus 23 and the Akkadian text Emar 446 / Bryan C. Babcock.
pages cm.—(Bulletin for biblical research supplements ; 9)
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
ISBN 978-1-57506-826-8 (hardback : alk. paper)
1. Fasts and feasts—Judaism—History. 2. Fasts and feasts in
the Bible. 3. Bible. Leviticus, XXIII—Criticism, interpretation,
etc. 4. Assyro-Babylonian literature—Syria—Emar (Extinct
city)—History and criticism. I. Title.
BM690.B225 2014
222′.13067—dc23
2014005588
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the Ameri-
can National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed
Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984. ♾™
Contents
List of Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Preface, Dedication, and Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
Symbols xi
General xi
Reference Works xii
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Introduction 1
The Comparative Method 2
Sacred Aspect of Ritual 13
Research Objectives 18
2. Overview of Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Introduction 20
Overview of Ritual Development
in the Ancient Near East 20
Overview of Leviticus 23 Research
in Light of Related Biblical Texts 41
Critique of Jan Wagenaar 54
Summary 78
3. Leviticus 23 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Introduction to the Study of Leviticus 23 79
Original Translation and
Text-Critical Notes of Leviticus 23 80
Structure, Outline, and Literary Features 89
Sacred Time 101
Sacred Space 121
Sacred Objects 125
Ritual Roles of Participants 131
Ritual Sound 134
Summary 137
4. Emar 446: A Multimonth Ritual Calendar .. . . . . . . . . . 141
Introduction to Emar 141
Translation and Commentary:
Emar 446 (Msk. 74280a + 74291a) 151
v
vi Contents
Structure, Outline, and Literary Features 168
Sacred Time in Emar 446 180
The Emar Yearly Calendar and New Year 182
Sacred Space 185
Sacred Objects 194
Ritual Participants 198
Ritual Sound 208
Summary 208
Appendix 212
5. Leviticus 23 in the Context of Emar 446 . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
Introduction 214
Intrabiblical Findings 215
History of Transmission 216
Context, Purpose, and Analytical Genre 217
Structure and Literary Features 218
Sacred Time 225
Sacred Space 231
Sacred Objects 235
Ritual Roles of Participants 237
Ritual Sound 238
Connection between the Texts 238
6. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
Indexes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
Index of Authors 258
Index of Scripture 261
Index of Other Ancient Sources 267
Index of Festivals 271
List of Tables
Table 1 Akītu Festival Rites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Table 2 Wellhausen’s Festival Text Development . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Table 3 Noth’s Festival Text Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Table 4 Knohl’s Festival Text Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Table 5 Milgrom’s Festival Text Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Table 6 Wagenaar’s Festival Text Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Table 7 Features Distinguishing P from H in Leviticus 23
(according to Wagenaar) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Table 8 Shared Linguistic Markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Table 9 Leviticus 23 Verbal Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Table 10 References to Time in Leviticus 23 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Table 11 Relationship of Festival Dates to
Lunar Phases in Leviticus 23 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Table 12 Rites Associated with Named Rituals . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Table 13 Use of Space and Movement within Space
in Leviticus 23 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Table 14 Uses of Sacred Objects in Ritual Activities
Contained in Leviticus 23 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Table 15 Aspects of Sacred Offerings in Leviticus 23 . . . . . . . . . . 128
Table 16 Aspects of Ritual Sound in Leviticus 23. . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Table 17 Responsibilities of and Payments to the
Diviner in Emar 446 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Table 18 Allocation of Space to Rituals in Emar 446 . . . . . . . . . . 174
Table 19 Relationship of Festival Dates to
Lunar Phases in Emar 446 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Table 20 Months of the Emarite Half-Year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Table 21 Sacred Offerings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
Table 22 Introductory Formula . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Table 23 Standard Date Formula . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
Table 24 Temporal Subdivision Markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
vii

Preface, Dedication, and
Acknowledgments
This book is a revision of my 2011 dissertation and represents the sup-
port and guidance of many people. The idea for the project grew out of dis-
cussions with Richard S. Hess (Denver Seminary) as I was completing my
training in Akkadian and exploring Ph.D. programs. I am thankful for his
continuous encouragement and training, which helped to make this project
a reality. In addition, I am obliged to him for acting as cosupervisor, spend-
ing numerous hours reviewing the material at various stages. Gordon Wen-
ham (Trinity College, University of Bristol), who was also a cosupervisor,
made observations that helped to move the writing from research to schol-
arship. I am grateful that he shared not only his vast knowledge but also his
time, home, family, and gardens. I hope to emulate his gracious character
with students in the future. My sincere desire is that all my future work will
honor their training and guidance.
I also want specifically to thank my examiners for their comments and
suggestions. Knut M. Heim and John Bimson (Trinity College, University
of Bristol), as internal examiners furnished an insightful review, emphasiz-
ing the need for a careful analysis of ritual aspects and intrabiblical context.
Similarly, I appreciate Alan Millard (University of Liverpool) and Philip
Jenson (Cambridge), who as external examiners assessed the Akkadian and
mentored me on a host of research topics. Their comments and guidance
were essential to the research that culminated in this book.
I thank my wife, Betsy, and daughter, Lindsey, for believing in me with-
out reservation. They sacrificed time, energy, money, and emotional sup-
port so I could pursue a lifelong dream. Because of their unselfishness, this
book is ready for publication and is dedicated to them. My love and appre-
ciation for them are beyond measure.
ix