LEVITES AND THE PLENARY RECEPTION OF REVELATION by Mark Alan Christian Dissertation ...

474 Pages·2011·3.78 MB·English

LEVITES AND THE PLENARY RECEPTION OF REVELATION

by

Mark Alan Christian

Dissertation

Submitted to the Faculty of the

Graduate School of Vanderbilt University

in partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

in

Religion

December, 2011

Nashville, Tennessee

Approved:

Professor Douglas A. Knight

Professor Jack M. Sasson

Professor Annalisa Azzoni

Professor Robert Drews
Copyright © 2011 by Mark Alan Christian
All Rights Reserved
To my wife and lifelong companion Peggy Brown Christian and our twin daughters
Michal Jillian Christian and Briana McNeill Christian
הוהימֵ ןוֹצרָ קפֶ ָיוַ בוֹט אצָ מָ השָ אִ אצָ מָ
(Proverbs 18:22)
ה סֶ חְּ מַ הֶיהְּ ִי ויָנבָ לְּ וּ זֹע־חטַ בְּ מִ הוָהְּי תאַרְִּיבְּ
(Proverbs 14:26)

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

There are many people who have helped produce this dissertation, academically,
beginning with Robert O. Byrd, Emeritus Professor of New Testament at Belmont
University, who taught me Koiné Greek and introduced me to using language and history
to think critically and faithfully about the biblical text. At Vanderbilt I learned much
about Semitic languages and Jewish thought from Peter J. Haas, who was willing to
direct my reading of rabbinic literature and teach Syriac to a few persistent Aramaic
students. Renita Weems inspired me to write more artistically and attend more to matters
of social location. From James Barr I learned of elegance and rigor and uncompromising
assiduity in method. In him was reconfirmed what I had learned from my experiences
with gifted musicians, namely, that humility always resides among the truly great. With
razor-sharp wit and infectious humor he often trod where angels dread to go. From my
Doktorvater Douglas Knight I have learned the most, both inside and outside of the
classroom: constructing exhaustive bibliographies; always consulting the sources;
offering other ways of looking at situations whether the organizing of a thesis or dealing
with the contexts behind the texts; pushing past the familiar, looking far and wide for
corroborative textual and material evidence on the one hand, auxilliary methods from
other fields and disciplines on the other; limitless application of sociopolitical theory and
critical legal study to biblical interpretation. Thanks go to committee members Jack M.
Sasson, Annaliza Azzoni, and Robert Drews, all distinquished specialists whose critical
insights are sincerely appreciated. A special word of thanks goes to Thomas Dozeman of
United Theological Seminary, whose expertise in current, international scholarship on the
Pentateuch and Hexateuch, as well as engagement in the emerging sociological work
being done in Second Temple Judaism, proved invaluable. W. Brown Patterson, Francis
S. Houghteling Professor of History Emeritus and former Dean of the University of the
South, Sewanee, and onetime student of C.S. Lewis at Oxford University, consistently
encouraged my writing projects beginning in 2004.
Kind and professional collection development and interlibrary loan assistance from
Vanderbilt Library staff and a munificent interlibrary loan policy at the University of the
South proved essential many times over. Special thanks go to Mrs. Eileen Crawford, Mr.
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Chris Benda, Mrs. Marilyn Pilley, and Mr. Jim Toplon at Vanderbilt Library; Mrs. Cari
Reynolds at the University of the South, Sewanee.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

DEDICATION ................................................................................................................... iii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. iv

LIST OF KEY TERMS, SIGLA, AND ABBREVIATIONS ......................................... xiv

SECTION A. INTRODUCTION AND HISTORY OF RESEARCH

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................1

1.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................1
1.1.1 The Problem ...........................................................................................................1
1.1.1.1 A Problem of Recognition ............................................................................1
1.1.1.2 Revelation in the Face of Terror ...................................................................1
1.1.1.3 Authorship Considerations Regarding the PRR and Its Accompanying
Traditions ...............................................................................................................2
1.1.1.4 The Elite Corps of Priests ..............................................................................3
1.1.1.5 Importunate Levites .......................................................................................4
1.1.2 Scope of the Project ..............................................................................................5
1.1.3 The Rationale .......................................................................................................6
1.2 History of Research Part I .............................................................................................9
1.2.1 Redaction, Supplement, Source Critical, and Sociological Treatments of the
PRR ............................................................................................................................9
1.2.1.1 Abraham Kuenen .........................................................................................9
1.2.1.2 G. Ernest Wright ........................................................................................10
1.2.1.3 Brevard S. Childs .......................................................................................11
1.2.1.4 E. W. Nicholson .........................................................................................13
1.2.1.5 Thomas B. Dozeman ..................................................................................15
1.2.1.6 John Van Seters and the Absence of the PRR in J’s Version of Exod
19–24..................................................................................................................20
1.2.1.7 Eckart Otto and the Emerging Mosaic Office of Authoritative
Interpretation ......................................................................................................21
1.2.1.8 Thomas Krüger: Spatial Considerations in Deut 4 ....................................23
1.2.1.9 Ansgar Moenikes: YHWH as Original Promulgator of Torah in
Urdeuteronomium .............................................................................................26
1.2.1.10 Wolfgang Oswald: Multidimensional Considerations in the Sinai
Pericope..............................................................................................................28
1.3 History of Research Part II: Methodological Analysis of the Hexateuch
Redaction and Pentateuch Redaction within the Context of Current
Pentateuchal Research .................................................................................................30
1.3.1 The Plenary Reception of (Revealed) Law and the Pentateuch ..........................30
1.3.2 Diachronic, Redaction-Infused Research Flourishes on the Continent ..............30
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1.3.3 Legal Corpora in the Tanakh ..............................................................................32
1.3.4 Archaeology and Legal Studies ..........................................................................34
1.3.5 Regarding the Literary Textgenese of the Hebrew Bible ...................................35
1.3.6 The Complexity of the Sinai Complex ...............................................................37
1.3.6.1 The Reduction of P ......................................................................................37
1.3.6.1.1 P in Joshua?...........................................................................................40
1.3.7 J as Basic Grid and the Fragmentary Hypothesis ...............................................40
1.3.8 Problems with Pg as Pentateuchal Grid ..............................................................42
1.3.9 Pre-Priestly Texts in the Pentateuch and the Interlocking of Large
Units .........................................................................................................................43
1.3.10 En Route to the Hexateuch Redaction (HexRed) .............................................44
1.3.10.1 Ernst Axel Knauf’s Hexateuch Redaction ...............................................49
1.3.10.2 Brief Apologia for Redactional Analysis ................................................52
1.3.10.3 Biblical Evidence of Ancient Redaction ..................................................54
1.3.10.4 Yes to Isaiah but No to the Pentateuch? ..................................................55
1.3.11 The Hexateuch and Pentateuch Redactions ......................................................61
1.3.11.1 HexRed and DtrL: The Dtr Conquest Narrative
(Landnahmeerzählung) ..........................................................................................62
1.3.11.2 The Pentateuch Redaction (PentRed) ......................................................64
1.3.11.3 The Book of Numbers and the Completion of the Pentateuch ................67
1.3.11.4 Recognizing the Historical, Sociopolitical, and Ideological
Horizon of HexRed ............................................................................................69
1.3.11.5 Relevance of HexRed for the PRR ..........................................................70
1.3.11.6 The Contrasting of Faithful Foreigners and Unfaithful Israelites ............72
1.3.11.7 HexRed, Egypt, and Questioning Moses’ Authority and
Leadership Agenda ............................................................................................73
1.3.11.8 Connections between Reversals: Openness to the Other and the
PRR ...................................................................................................................75
1.3.11.9 Concluding Comments in Behalf of Accepting HexRed’s
Explanation ........................................................................................................76
1.3.11.10 HexRed and the Levitizing (Levitisierung) of the Priesthood ...............78
1.3.11.10.1 The Insertion of the Holiness Code Predates the Levitizing
of the Priesthood? ..........................................................................................80
1.3.11.10.2 The Later, Post-HexRed Delevitizing of the Priesthood by
Theocratic Revisers (Bearbeiteren) ................................................................82
1.3.11.10.2.1 The Conflicted Aaronide Relation to Levites and
their Lay Constituents ...............................................................................83
1.3.11.11 Levites as Mediators of Revelation....................................................84

SECTION B. LITERARY ANALYSES

CHAPTER 2: TEXTS IN EXODUS DOCUMENTING THE PLENARY RECEPTION
OF REVELATION: EXOD 20:18-22 (ESPECIALLY VV. 18, 22); 33:1-4
(ESPECIALLY. V. 4) ....................................................................................................86

2.1 Introduction to the Exegesis of Exodus .......................................................................86
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2.1.1 The Sinai Decalogue in the Book of Exodus: “Des influences mutuelles” .........87
2.1.2 Preliminary Considerations Regarding the Decalogue in Exod 20:
Keeping Deuteronomy 5 in View .............................................................................88
2.1.3 The Plenary Reception of Revelation: Original or Secondary Notion ................89
2.2 Exod 19:5-6a: All-Israel as Priestly Kingdom and Holy Nation .................................90
2.2.1 שודק יוג ...............................................................................................................92
2.2.2 Exod 19:5f. and Gianni Barbieri’s Reconceptualization of Yahwistic
Nationhood ...............................................................................................................93
2.2.3 Acquiring Cultic and Prophetic Competence .....................................................95
2.2.4 Third Isaiah and Exod 19:5-6a: Israel’s Calling as Prophetic Mediator .............96
2.2.4.1 Israelite Intermediaries in Exodus and Third Isaiah ....................................98
2.2.4.2 Israel’s Mission Led by Professional Priests? .............................................98
2.2.5 Priestly and Other Perspectives in the Concept of שדק .....................................100
2.2.6 An Inclusive “Kingdom of Priests”and the PRR ..............................................101
2.2.7 םינהכ תכלממ (“Kingdom of Priests”): A Levitical Concept? ..............................102

Excursus 1 ........................................................................................................................104

2.2.8 Israel as Mediator ..............................................................................................108
2.2.9 The Gola’s Sociopolitical Perspective in Exod 19:3b-6 ..................................110
2.2.10 Further Exegetical Considerations Regarding Exod 19:5f. ............................111
2.2.11 Semi-Autonomous Kingdom of Priests ..........................................................113
2.2.12 Exod 19:5-6a and 24:3-8 .................................................................................114
2.2.12.1 The “Directly Contradictory Material” (F. Crüsemann) in Exod 24 ...........114
2.2.13 Exod 19:5f. and the Book of Leviticus: The Inclusion of Lay
Perspectives in Priestly Literature .........................................................................117
2.2.13.1 Religious Competency Expected of the Community in Leviticus ........120
2.2.13.2 The Indwelling of the דובכ in H .............................................................122
2.2.13.3 Post-dtr Debates Regarding the Ascendancy to Revelation
and Holiness: A Cooperative Emerges in H ....................................................123
2.2.13.4 Perspectives and Legal Exegesis in H ..................................................126
2.2.13.5 History and Indwelling in H ..................................................................127
2.2.13.6 The Need for Holiness and Purity/Impurity Competency in the Israelite
Family and Cult in H........................................................................................128
2.2.13.7 Concluding Considerations of the Holy People in Exodus and H ........128
2.3 Exod 20:18-21 with Recourse to Chapter Nineteen ..................................................129

2.3.1 Concerns about Proximity to the Divine May Supersede Concerns about
the PRR ..................................................................................................................135
2.3.2 The םע Take Their Stand (בצי hitpa’el) .............................................................140
2.3.2.1 The Levites Take their Stand in Revelatory Liturgical Settings ..............141
2.3.2.2 The Miracle at the Sea ............................................................................142
2.3.2.3 The Role of Fear in Exod 14 ...................................................................145
2.3.3 Fear Factors and the Determination of the People ............................................146

Excursus 2: Exod 19:20-25 (With Recourse to Verses 12-13) ........................................147
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2.3.4 Condensation of Ongoing Revelatory Events ...................................................150
2.3.5 Dtn/Dtr Features in Exod 20:18-21: A Post-dtr Layer......................................152
2.4 Exod 20:22 .................................................................................................................154
2.4.1 The Insertion of the Exodus Dec is Subsequent to the Insertion of the
Dec in Deuteronomy ...............................................................................................154
2.5 Exod 33:1-6: Additional Evidence of the Plenary Reception of Divine
Disclosure (HexRed; vv. 7-11 is PentRed) .................................................................155
2.5.1 Moses as Negotiator/Intercessor Rather than Mediator: The Panim’s Dependence
on Covenant Renewal ...........................................................................................156
2.5.2 The People (Over)hear YHWH’s Direct Pronouncement in Exod 33 ................157
2.6 Summary of the Exegesis in Exodus .........................................................................158

CHAPTER 3: TEXTS IN DEUTERONOMY DOCUMENTING THE PLENARY
RECEPTION OF REVELATION (DEUT 4:10-12, 33-37; 5:4, 22) ............................160

3.1 Introduction to Deut 4–5: The Dec Delivered at Mt Horeb .......................................160
3.1.1 Deuteronomy’s Relationship to Other Texts and the Double Decalogue ..........160
3.1.2 Revelation Continues in the Prairie in the Book of Numbers ............................163
3.1.3 Recognizing the Tertiary Nature of the Dec in Deuteronomy ...........................164
3.1.4 Deut 4:1-40 ........................................................................................................165
3.1.4.1 The Pentateuch Redaction (PentRed) in Deuteronomy .............................168
3.2 Deut 4:10-12 .............................................................................................................167
3.2.1 Nearness and Distance ......................................................................................170
3.2.2 1 Enoch 89 ....................................................................................................174

Excursus 3: Deut 4:13-14.................................................................................................176

3.3 Deut 4:33-37 .............................................................................................................180
3.3.1 Yair Hoffman’s Two Covenants .......................................................................182
3.3.2 Multiple Occasions and Modes of Revelation? ...............................................183
3.3.3 A Prophetic Nation? ..........................................................................................186

3.3.4 The Immanence of God and the Levites’ Cryptic Rejection by Elite
Priests .....................................................................................................................187
3.4 Deut 5:4-5 Within Moses’ Second Speech ...............................................................188
3.4.1 Content and Redactional Considerations ..........................................................189
3.4.2 The PRR and the Horeb Covenant, “the Covenant of the PRR”? ....................190
3.4.3 The Moab Covenant ..........................................................................................192

Excursus 4: Literary-historical Considerations in the Relationship between 29:1-15:
An “even more Consequential and Radical” Covenant—and Deut 4; 5 ....................193
x.1 The Horeb תירב in Deut 5 ......................................................................................194
x.2 Abandoning the Horeb תירב for the Moab תירב, the New Covenant for the Second
and Subsequent Generations ...................................................................................194

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3.4.4 Heated Hermeneutical Debate? .......................................................................198
3.4.5 Deut 5:4 as the Work of HexRed which PentRed Later Corrects, but
which the School of HexRed Reinstates ................................................................199
3.4.6 Childs’ Interpretation of the Conflict between Deut 5:4, 5 ..............................200
3.4.7 Timo Veijola’s Interpretation of Deut 5:4, 5 ....................................................201
3.4.8 Concluding Comments on Deut 5:4-5 ..............................................................203
3.5 Deut 5:22-26 .............................................................................................................205
3.5.1 A. Rofé’s Differentiation between the Sinai and Horeb Generations and
the Notion that the PRR Preceded the Theme of Mediation ....................................202
3.5.2 The Authors of Fear Opposite the Authors of the PRR .....................................203
3.5.3 The Coexistence of the PRR and Mosaically Mediated Revelation: E.
Otto’s Interpretation of Deut 5:22-31 within the Larger Context of
Developing Deuteronomy ........................................................................................209
3.5.4 Reading the Canonical Narrative of Deut 5:22-26 ...........................................210
3.6 Deut 9:10 ...................................................................................................................216
3.7 Deut 10:4 ...................................................................................................................218
3.7.1 Immortalizing Scribal Activity at the End of the Pentateuch ............................215
3.8 Synchronic Summary of the Analyses of Deuteronomy ............................................219
3.9 Summary of Diachronic Analyses of Deuteronomy ..................................................220
3.10 Viewing both Exodus and Deuteronomy Accounts .................................................221

SECTION C. SOCIAL (INCLUDES ARCHAEOLOGICAL), POLITICAL AND
RHETORICAL ANALYSES

CHAPTER 4: PRIESTLY POWER THAT EMPOWERS ..............................................223

4.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................223
4.1.1 Minority Reports ................................................................................................225
4.1.2 Preexile through the Exile ..................................................................................227
4.1.3 Levites in the Postexilic Period..........................................................................231
4.1.4 “Popular Religious Groups” and “Official Religion” in Israel ..........................235
4.1.5 Conceptualizing Heterodox Religion in Israel with Jacques Berlinerblau ........236
4.1.6 Official Religion ................................................................................................237
4.1.7 Official Religion as a Network ..........................................................................238
4.2 Central and Peripheral Origins of “Deuteronomism” ................................................241
4.3 Priest-Scribes and Schools .........................................................................................243
4.4 The Sanctuary Circuit and Eighth-century Literary Production ................................247
4.5 Conceptualizing Iron II Cities and Towns with Douglas A. Knight ..........................248
4.6 Lower-Tier, Lay Personnel? ......................................................................................251
4.7 Reconceptualizing the “Israelite School” ..................................................................252
4.8 The Itinerant’s Task and Sociopolitical Balancing Act .............................................261
4.9 The Impact of the Northern Israel and the Northern Kingdom .................................264
4.9.1 Deuteronomy Ideology’s Possible Northern Provenience ...............................266
4.9.2 Hosea, the Kemarim, and Northern Israel .........................................................269
4.9.3 Plausible Connections between Levites and the Kemarim ...............................271
4.10 Brief Comments on the Law of the King .................................................................273
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