The Pentateuch: Introducing the Torah

by Thomas B. Dozeman

Overview

The Pentateuch is the heart of the Hebrew Bible and the foundational document of Judaism. It is also the focus of tremendous scholarly exploration and debate today regarding the complex history of its composition. This history will be explored along with analysis of the historical background and ancient Near Eastern parallels for its primeval history, its ancestry narratives, and laws, the theological purposes of its final redaction, and the diverse ways it is interpreted in communities today.

In this textbook, Thomas B. Dozeman, one of the leading scholars of the Pentateuch today, introduces students to its contents and structure of each book, and orients them to the Pentateuch's place in the Hebrew Bible and in the interpretive traditions of Judaism and Christianity. Dozeman deftly introduces the key interpretive questions and methods that shape contemporary scholarship and explains their consequences, inviting students into the invigorating work of interpretation today. Pedagogical features include images, maps, timelines, reading lists, and a glossary.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781506423319
Publisher:	Augsburg Fortress, Publishers
Publication date:	03/01/2017
Series:	Introducing Israel's Scriptures
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	560
File size:	12 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Thomas B. Dozeman is professor of Hebrew Bible at United Theological Seminary, Dayton, Ohio, and co-chair of the SBL Pentateuch Group. He is the author of a number of scholarly books and commentaries, and co-editor of The Pentateuch: International Perspectives on Current Research (2010) and A Farewell to the Yahwist? The Composition of the Pentateuch in Recent European Interpretation (2006).

Table of Contents

Figures & Maps ix

Sidebars xiii

Tables xix

Preface xxv

Part I Introduction to the Pentateuch

1 Literature of the Pentateuch 3

1.1 Names of the Individual Books 3

1.2 Plot, Setting, and Central Characters 6

1.3 Literary Context of the Pentateuch 15

1.4 Summary 27

1.5 Bibliography 29

Part II Composition of the Pentateuch

2 The Authors of the Pentateuch: From Moses to the Documentary Hypothesis 33

2.1 Mosaic Authorship 33

2.2 Critical Turn to the Text and the loss of Mosaic Authorship 39

2.3 Anonymous Authors and the Documentary Hypothesis 46

2.4 Summary 73

2.5 Bibliography 75

3 The Tradents of the Pentateuch: Comparative Literature, Oral Stories, and History of Tradition 79

3.1 Recovery of Oral Sagas 81

3.2 History of Oral Tradition 92

3.3 Tradition-History in the Twentieth Century 110

3.4 Summary 129

3.5 Bibliography 131

4 Contemporary Return to the Literature of the Pentateuch 135

4.1 Reexamining Tradition 136

4.2 Editors as Authors 149

4.3 Response to the Social Trauma of the Exile 172

4.4 Refinement of the Documentary Hypothesis 179

4.5 Summary 194

4.6 Bibliography 195

Part III Books of the Pentateuch

5 Genesis 203

5.1 Outline and Central Themes 203

5.2 Genesis 1-11: Creation and the Origin of Humanity 206

5.3 Genesis 12-50: Origin of the Ancestors 229

5.4 Genesis and Exodus: Origin of the Ancestors and the Exodus from Egypt 277

5.5 Bibliography 279

6 Exodus 285

6.1 Outline and Central Themes 285

6.2 Exodus 1:1-15:21: Power of Yahweh in Egypt 286

6.3 Exodus 15:22-40:38: Presence of Yahweh in the Wilderness 326

6.4 Bibliography 357

7 Leviticus 363

7.1 Outline and Central Themes 363

7.2 Leviticus 1-16: Cultic Holiness 374

7.3 Leviticus 17-27: Laws of Holiness 399

7.4 Composition 407

7.5 Bibliography 412

8 Numbers 417

8.1 Outline and Central Themes 417

8.2 Numbers 1:1-10:10: Wilderness of Sinai 420

8.3 Numbers 10:11-21:35: First Generation and the Failed Journey in the Wilderness 435

8.4 Numbers 22:1-36:13: Second Generation and the Preparation for the Promised Land 456

8.5 Bibliography 471

9 Deuteronomy 475

9.1 Outline and Central Themes 475

9.2 Deuteronomy 1:1-4:4: Lessons from History and the Revelation of the Word 478

9.3 Deuteronomy 4:44-28:68: Divine Word as Law 483

9.4 Deuteronomy 29:1-31:29: Passing on Mosaic Leadership and Teaching the Covenant 504

9.5 Deuteronomy 31:30-34:12: Concluding Song and Farewell Blessing 506

9.6 Composition of Deuteronomy 507

9.7 Bibliography 518

Part IV Reading the Pentateuch

10 Pentateuch and Torah 525

10.1 Ezra and the Torah 527

10.2 Persia and the Torah 533

10.3 Judaism and the Torah 537

10.4 Bibliography 542

11 Pentateuch and History 547

11.1 Patriarchal Age 549

11.2 Mosaic Age 558

11.3 Summary 583

11.4 Bibliography 584

12 Pentateuch and Theology 589

12.1 Christian Theologies of the Pentateuch 590

12.2 Jewish Theologies of the Pentateuch 642

12.3 Bibliography 660

13 Pentateuch and Reception History 667

13.1 Moses and the Decalogue in Western Culture 672

13.2 Depatriachalizing the Pentateuch 680

13.3 Bibliography 700

Glossary 709

Author Index 727