Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

b-hebrew - [b-hebrew] Song of Deborah

b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Biblical Hebrew Forum

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: jimstinehart AT aol.com
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [b-hebrew] Song of Deborah
  • Date: Sun, 13 Nov 2011 08:14:31 -0500 (EST)


Based on its substantive content and the nature of its proper names, I myself
see the Song of Deborah in chapter 5 of Judges as being a 12th century BCE
composition that reflects the peculiar circumstances in Canaan in the 13th
and 12th centuries BCE. That has long been the majority view:

“A broad and longstanding consensus of modern biblical scholars holds that
the so-called Song of Deborah in Judg. 5.2-31a…‘may be one of the most
ancient works of the Hebrew Bible’. Studies and commentaries, including
those published in this century, overwhelmingly either argue or assume that
this text came into being, as a whole or in part, in the eleventh or even
twelfth century BCE…. Modern studies and commentaries routinely claim that
the sociohistorical situation presupposed by Judg. 5.2-31a is that of the
eleventh or twelfth century BCE….” Serge Frolov, “How Old Is the Song of
Deborah?”, JSOT, Vol. 36.2 (2011), pp. 163-164, 175.

The above-cited article, however, argues for a very late dating of the Song
of Deborah. Here’s the abstract for this controversial article:

“The article challenges the conventional view of the Song of Deborah (Judg.
5.2-31a) as an originally independent composition from the pre-monarchic
period (twelfth or eleventh century BCE). Based on a comprehensive
examination of the fragment’s internal parameters (grammar, syntax,
vocabulary, intertextual links, outlook, and agenda) as well as of the
external conditions of its production and circulation, the article argues
that the Song of Deborah best qualifies as a late pre-exilic, exilic, or
early post-exilic piece and an integral part of the Deuteronomistic corpus.”

The article makes no analysis whatsoever [none] of the fascinating names in
the Song of Deborah: Shamgar, Ben Anat, Heber, Jael. Thus the article never
asks the most important question I would ask: How on earth could an “early
post-exilic piece” come up with the proper names that appear in chapter 5 of
Judges? Were post-exilic Jews capable of effortlessly coming up with a
non-Semitic personal name like Shamgar that is redolent of the Late Bronze
Age?

1) How old do people on the b-hebrew list think the Song of Deborah is?

2) In determining the date of composition of the Song of Deborah, how much
weight, if any, should be given to the proper names in the received text?

Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois




Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page