Theology

Book-Seams in the Hexateuch I

The Literary Transitions Between the Books of Genesis/Exodus and Joshua/Judges
Ed. by Christoph Berner and Harald Samuel with the assistance of Stephen Germany

[Buchnähte im Hexateuch I. Die literarischen Übergänge zwischen den Büchern Genesis/Exodus und Josua/Richter.]

2018. X, 454 pages.

Forschungen zum Alten Testament 120

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ISBN 978-3-16-154404-0
DOI 10.1628/978-3-16-154404-0
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The present volume offers the first systematic examination of the transitions between the books of Genesis/Exodus and Joshua/Judges. The development of the book transitions and their implications for the compositional history of their respective books are examined with particular reference to the material aspects of ancient Jewish scribal practice.
Biblical books, which were transmitted on separate scrolls in antiquity, are not necessarily identical with books in the modern sense of a coherent and self-contained compositional unit. The books of the Primary History especially constitute a larger master narrative. This raises the question of how the distribution of the text to different scrolls relates to its compositional history. Were the respective books conceived as physically separate parts of a multivolume composition (whether Pentateuch, Hexateuch, Deuteronomistic History or Enneateuch) from the outset, or are we dealing with a more complex development of originally independent compositional units that were only connected or separated by later redaction? The present volume addresses these issues with respect to the transitions between the books of Genesis/Exodus and Joshua/Judges, which have obviously developed in dependency upon each other.
Survey of contents
Part I: The Literary Transition between the Books of Genesis and Exodus
1. Material Evidence
Christoph Berner: The Attestation of the Book-Seam in the Early Textual Witnesses and its Literary-Historical Implications
2. Literary-Historical Approaches
2.1. History of Research
Konrad Schmid: The Sources of the Pentateuch, Their Literary Extent and the Bridge between Genesis and Exodus: A Survey of Scholarship since Astruc
2.2. Contemporary Approaches
Joel S. Baden: The Lack of Transition between Genesis 50 and Exodus 1 – Jan Christian Gertz: The Relative Independence of the Books of Genesis and Exodus – Reinhard Müller: Response to Joel S. Baden and Jan Christian Gertz
3. The Larger Context
3.1. The Literary Place of the Joseph Story
David M. Carr: Joseph Between Ancestors and Exodus: A Gradual Process of Connection – Franziska Ede: The Literary Development of the Joseph Story – Bernd U. Schipper: Genesis 37–50 and the Model of a Gradual Extension: A Response to David M. Carr and Franziska Ede
3.2. Exodus Material in the Book of Genesis and Genesis Material in the Book of Exodus
Detlef Jericke: Exodus Material in the Book of Genesis – Wolfgang Oswald: Genesis Material in the Book of Exodus: Explicit Back References – Hans-Christoph Schmitt: Parallel Narrative Patterns between Exodus 1–14* and the Ancestral Stories in Genesis 24* and 29–31*

Part II: The Literary Transition between the Books of Joshua and Judges
1. Material Evidence
Harald Samuel: The Attestation of the Book-Seam in the Early Textual Witnesses and its Literary-Historical Implications
2. Literary-Historical Approaches
2.1. History of Research
Erasmus Gaß: Joshua's Death Told Twice – Perspectives from the History of Research
2.2. Contemporary Approaches
Erhard Blum: Once Again: The Compositional Knot at the Transition between Joshua and Judges – Reinhard G. Kratz: The Literary Transition in Joshua 23-Judges 2: Observations and Considerations – Sarah Schulz: The Literary Transition between the Books of Joshua and Judges – Christian Frevel: On Untying Tangles and Tying Knots in Joshua 23-Judges 3:6: A Response to Erhard Blum, Reinhard G. Kratz and Sarah Schulz
3. The Larger Context
3.1. The Place of the Book of Joshua in the Hexateuch and/or in the So-Called Deuteronomistic History
Zev I. Farber/Jacob L. Wright: The Savior of Gibeon: Reconstructing the Prehistory of the Joshua Account – Daniel E. Fleming: The Shiloh Ritual in Joshua 18 as Origin of the Territorial Division by Lot
3.2. The Place of the Book of Judges in the So-Called Deuteronomistic History
Uwe Becker: The Place of the Book of Judges in the So-Called Deuteronomistic History: Some Remarks on Recent Research – Cynthia Edenburg: Envelopes and Seams: How Judges Fits (or not) within the Deuteronomistic History – Peter Porzig: The Book of Judges within the Deuteronomistic History

Part III: The Transitions between the Books of Genesis/Exodus and Joshua/Judges and their Literary Relationship
1. Material Evidence
Christoph Berner: The two Book-Seams and their Interconnections
2. Contemporary Approaches
Stephen Germany: The Literary Relationship between Genesis 50-Exodus 1 and Joshua 24-Judges 2 – Jean Louis Ska: Plot and Story in Genesis-Exodus and Joshua-Judges
Authors/Editors

Christoph Berner Born 1976; 2006 Dr. theol. in Jewish Studies/New Testament, University of Göttingen; professor of Old Testament at the University of Kiel.
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0641-0249

Harald Samuel Born 1979; 2014 Dr. theol. in Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, University of Göttingen; 2020 Habilitation; Lecturer in Classical Hebrew, University of Oxford.

Reviews

The following reviews are known:

In: Old Testament Abstracts — 42 (2019), S. 796 (C.T.B.)
In: Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft (ZAW) — 131 (2019), S. 501–502 (Hannes Bezzel)
In: Journal of Theological Studies — 70 (2019), S. 327–329 (Anselm C. Hagedorn)
In: Journal for the Study of the OT — 45 (2021), pp. 80–81 (George Nicol)
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