Table Of ContentJeremy M. Hutton
The Transjordanian Palimpsest
Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die
alttestamentliche Wissenschaft
Herausgegeben von
John Barton · Reinhard G. Kratz
Choon-Leong Seow · Markus Witte
Band 396
≥
Walter de Gruyter · Berlin · New York
Jeremy M. Hutton
The Transjordanian Palimpsest
The Overwritten Texts of Personal Exile and
Transformation in the Deuteronomistic History
≥
Walter de Gruyter · Berlin · New York
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ISBN 978-3-11-020410-0
ISSN 0934-2575
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Printed in Germany
Cover design: Christopher Schneider, Laufen
For my wife, Anne,
and our sons,
Daniel and James
Foreword
This book is a significantly revised version of my doctoral dissertation,
directed by Professor Jo Ann Hackett of Harvard University. At a late
stage in the development of the dissertation, I lamented to Prof. Hackett
that I could not decide whether this study was a 300-page prospectus for a
four-volume opus or a complete overworking of a 100-page monograph.
The reader will discover that I have decided the piece worked best as it
stood (approximately) at the end of the 2004–2005 academic year, at
which point I set it aside to complete several smaller projects. I returned to
the manuscript during the late months of 2007 after having eliminated the
need to list several of my own planned articles as “forthcoming.” Since
then, the study has undergone much elaboration and revision. Although
the basic thesis has not changed markedly, I believe my revisions have
strengthened the argument and added nuance on several occasions. While
I hope the redactional strata are not so apparent as I fear in my worst
moments, their presence here is indisputable; the opportunity for revision
has been much appreciated, and I have attempted to strike a balance
between a much needed comprehensive study of the composition of the
book of Samuel and a much terser exploration of the Jordan River’s
symbolic geography.
Many individuals and institutions have assisted me in this endeavor
and have made it possible for me to complete this book. As with the
structure of the book itself, I begin at the end and work in reverse (with
one exception). First, I must extend my thanks to Princeton Theological
Seminary, whose generous sabbatical policy for Assistant Professors, as
well as childcare facilities, provided me with an extended period of time in
which to complete the research for this book. The members of the support
staff at Speer Library have gone out of their way at times to procure rare
research materials. Ms. Kate Skrebutenas deserves particular mention
here. The seminary also provided me with a number of research assistants,
two of whom in particular aided my work on this project: Raymond
Bonwell and Paul Kurtz. The latter did a good deal of proofreading, com-
piling of bibliography, and several other small and onerous tasks as-
sociated with publication. Especially important in my formation here have
been my colleagues in the Biblical Studies department. Professors Katha-
rine Sakenfeld, Dennis Olson, Choon-Leong Seow, Beverley Gaventa,
viii Foreword
Clifton Black, Jim Charlesworth, Brian Blount, Jacqueline Lapsley, Chip
Dobbs-Allsopp, Ross Wagner, Eunny Lee, George Parsenios, and Shane
Berg have all proffered ample mentoring and sound advice, sometimes
unwittingly. Foremost among these individuals is Professor Seow, at
whose invitation I submitted the manuscript for consideration in the
BZAW series. I owe thanks also to the editors of that series for accepting
the manuscript for publication, and especially to Professor Reinhard Kratz,
whose comments challenged me to engage more thoroughly with recent
European scholarship than I had previously attempted. While I have not
always agreed with him, it is with heartfelt gratitude that I have engaged
his scholarship. The staff at de Gruyter Press has been patient and diligent.
Particularly gracious in this regard were Albrecht Döhnert and Sabina
Dabrowski. I thank also Koninklijke Brill N.V. for allowing me to
republish material in §1.2.1 previously published in Vetus Testamentum.
A grant from the Mrs. Giles Whiting Foundation supported me in my
final year at Harvard University; it was the last in a bevy of financial
supports that the University extended to me. The faculty of the NELC
Department at Harvard University contributed much of their own time to
conversations with me, and I will be forever thankful for the opportunities
presented to me there. Because this dissertation has its genesis in the
Hebrew 200 seminar, each one of the faculty members should be named:
Professors Jon Levenson, Paul Hanson, and Richard Saley sat in on the
seminar and offered critique. Professors Peter Machinist and Larry Stager
served as astute and demanding readers on my dissertation committee, and
each contributed immeasurably to various aspects of my professional
development; Prof. Stager also managed to keep me employed in his
offices through most of my tenure as a graduate student at Harvard.
Professor John Huehnergard remained a source of inspiration, and the
bibliography of this piece cannot begin to indicate the influence he has had
on my thought processes. I owe my deep gratitude to Professor Jo Ann
Hackett, who spent many long hours reading and rereading, editing and
writing, and who sometimes just let me sit and talk a problem out.
Mention should also be made of Professor Hugh Page of the University of
Notre Dame, who was the catalyst of my interest in Biblical Studies and an
early and patient mentor.
Several colleagues at Harvard University deserve mention for their
collegiality in the throes of dissertating; Aaron Rubin, Adam Aja, and Joel
Baden were particularly reliable conversation partners. But it is to Eugene
McGarry that I owe the topic of this study. During my years in Cam-
bridge, Mr. McGarry was a frequent companion on long-distance hiking
trips, and much of the material in this thesis was formulated—although not
Foreword ix
always vocalized—within earshot of him, often as we experienced together
the power of the landscape. Gene, thank you.
My parents, Rodney Hutton and Kathleen Zwanziger, deserve my
gratitude for their patience and intellectual generosity during my childhood
years. Our many road trips, taken along with my brother Eric, may ac-
count for the Wanderlust that fueled the present project.
Finally, I owe my deepest gratitude to my wife Anne. Our engagement
at the headwaters of the Cutler River in New Hampshire in July of 2001
provided more inspiration for a project on the emotional and cognitive
engagement of humans with place than any other single event in my life.
She has suffered nobly through my writing binges and exuded calm when I
was frantic. She has provided safety and security for both of us throughout
the years of hard work. She has helped to focus my attention when it was
necessary and allowed me to drift off when relaxation was the order of the
day. Most recently, she has shared with me in the joys and trials of raising
two children in this magnificent world. Our sons Daniel and James are the
joy of my life and serve as a constant inspiration to work hard, play hard,
and impart a love of places to them, one journey at a time.
Princeton, N.J. March, 2009
