Biblical Interpretation Beyond Historicity: Changing Perspectives 7

223 Pages·2016·1.04 MB·English

by  Ingrid Hjelm

BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION
BEYOND HISTORICITY

Biblical Interpretation beyond Historicity evaluates the new perspectives that have
emerged since the crisis over historicity in the 1970s and 1980s challenged biblical
scholarship. Several new studies, as well as the ‘deconstructive’ side of literary
criticism that emerged from writers such as Derrida and Wittgenstein, among oth-
ers, have led biblical scholars today to view the texts of the Bible more as literary
narratives than as sources for a history of Israel. Increased interest in archaeologi-
cal and anthropological studies in writing the history of Palestine and the ancient
Near East have also led to the need for an evidence-based history of Palestine.
This volume analyses the consequences of the question “If the Bible is not
history, what is it then?” The editors, Hjelm and Thompson, are members of the
Copenhagen School, which was formed in the light of this question and the com-
mitment to a new approach to both the history of Palestine and the Bible’s place
in ancient history. This volume features essays from a range of highly regarded
scholars, and is divided into three sections: “Beyond Historicity”, which explores
alternative historical roles for the Bible, “Greek Connections”, which discusses
the Bible’s context in the Hellenistic world and “Reception”, which explores
extra-biblical functions of biblical studies.
Offering a unique gathering of scholars and challenging new theories, Biblical
Interpretation beyond Historicity is invaluable to students in the field of Biblical
and East Mediterranean Studies, and is a crucial resource for anyone working on
both the archaeology and history of Palestine and the ancient Near East, and the
religious development of Europe and the Near East.
Ingrid Hjelm is Associate Professor at the University of Copenhagen and Director
of the Palestine History and Heritage Project. She is the author of The Samaritans
and Early Judaism (2000) and Jerusalem’s Rise to Sovereignty (2004) in addition
to a considerable number of articles within the field of Samaritan studies, the his-
tory of ancient Israel and the Hebrew Bible. Her latest book, co-edited with Anne
Katrine de Hemmer Gudme, is Myths of Exile (2015).
Thomas L. Thompson is Professor Emeritus, University of Copenhagen and
author of some 130 articles and ca. 20 books, including The Historicity of the
Patriarchal Narratives (1974), The Early History of the Israelite People (1992),
The Bible in History: How Writers Create a Past (1999) and Biblical Narrative
and Palestine’s History (2013). He is currently working as Project Developer on
the Palestine History and Heritage Project.
COPENHAGEN INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR
General Editors: Ingrid Hjelm and Thomas L. Thompson
both at the University of Copenhagen

Editors: Niels Peter Lemche and Mogens Müller
both at the University of Copenhagen
Language Revision Editor: James West
at the Quartz Hill School of Theology
Available:
JAPHETH BEN ALI’S BOOK OF JEREMIAH
Joshua A. Sabih
THE EMERGENCE OF ISRAEL IN ANCIENT PALESTINE
Emanuel Pfoh
ORIGIN MYTHS AND HOLY PLACES IN THE
OLD TESTAMENT
Lukasz Niesiolowski-Spanò
STUDIES IN THE HISTORY, LITERATURE AND
RELIGION OF BIBLICAL ISRAEL
John Van Seters
ARGONAUTS OF THE DESERT
Philippe Wajdenbaum
THE EXPRESSION ‘SON OF MAN’ AND THE
DEVELOPMENT OF CHRISTOLOGY
Mogens Müller
BIBLICAL STUDIES AND THE FAILURE OF HISTORY
Niels Peter Lemche
BIBLICAL NARRATIVE AND PALESTINE’S HISTORY
Thomas L. Thompson
‘IS THIS NOT THE CARPENTER?’
Edited by Thomas L. Thompson and Thomas S. Verenna
THE BIBLE AND HELLENISM
Edited by Thomas L. Thompson and Philippe Wajdenbaum
RETHINKING BIBLICAL SCHOLARSHIP

Philip R. Davies
REPRESENTING ZION
Frederik Poulsen
MYTHS OF EXILE
Edited by Anne Katrine de Hemmer Gudme and Ingrid Hjelm
REWRITING PETER AS AN INTERTEXTUAL CHARACTER
IN THE CANONICAL GOSPELS
Finn Damgaard
BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION BEYOND HISTORICITY
Edited by Ingrid Hjelm and Thomas L. Thompson
HISTORY, ARCHAEOLOGY AND THE BIBLE FORTY
YEARS AFTER ‘HISTORICITY’
Edited by Ingrid Hjelm and Thomas L. Thompson
Forthcoming:
SYRIA-PALESTINE IN THE LATE BRONZE AGE
Emanuel Pfoh
THE JUDAEO-KARAITE RECEPTION Of THE HEBREW
BIBLE
Joshua A. Sabih
PLATO AND THE CREATION OF THE HEBREW BIBLE
Russell E. Gmirkin
BIBLICAL
INTERPRETATION

BEYOND
HISTORICITY
Changing Perspectives 7
Edited by Ingrid Hjelm and
Thomas L. Thompson
First published 2016
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2016 selection and editorial matter Ingrid Hjelm and Thomas L.
Thompson; individual chapters, the contributors.
The right of the editors to be identified as the authors of the editorial
material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted
in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents
Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Biblical interpretation beyond historicity / edited by Ingrid Hjelm and
Thomas L. Thompson. — First [edition].
pages cm. — (Changing perspectives ; 7) (Copenhagen international
seminar)
Includes index.
1. Bible—Criticism, interpretation, etc.—History—20th century. 2. Bible—
Criticism, interpretation, etc.—History—21st century. I. Hjelm, Ingrid,
editor.
BS511.3.B55 2016
220.6—dc23
2015028474
ISBN: 978-1-138-88952-1 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-69077-3 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Swales & Willis Ltd, Exeter, Devon, UK
IN MEMORY OF A COLLEAGUE AND FRIEND
FREDERICK H. CRYER
1947–2002
This Page is Intentionally Left Blank
CONTENTS

List of contributors xi
Acknowledgements xiii
List of abbreviations xiv
Introduction 1
INGRID HJELM AND THOMAS L. THOMPSON
PART I
Beyond Historicity 13
1 A new “biblical archaeology” 15
PHILIP R. DAVIES
2 Old and new ways of interpreting Isaiah 40–55 29
FREDERIK POULSEN
3 Contextualizing composite works: the case of 4QMMT
with a sociolinguistic twist 43
TRINE BJØRNUNG HASSELBALCH
PART II
Greek Connections 59
4 Is the Old Testament still a Hellenistic book? 61
NIELS PETER LEMCHE
5 From Plato to Moses: Genesis-Kings as a Platonic epic 76
PHILIPPE WAJDENBAUM
ix