Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Jonathan D. Safren" <yonsaf AT beitberl.ac.il>]

Dear Liz,
You wrote:

> IF the only problem in having a pre-exilic P is the Josianic
> reform, then there is no problem.  OTOH, it is entirely possible
> that after the conquest of the North by Assyria that priests fled
> south. That is the equivalent of the reform I suppose. Deut
> would then be dated to 723 or 701 (which is when I date it).

Others also subscribe to the notion of Northern refugees reaching Jerusalem
and influencing the cult , the development of Israelite law and theology,
and providing the initial impetus for the development of the Deuteronomistic
School.

I quite agree with your claim, "Nor do I believe that Ezekiel's polemics
were aimed at creating
a stratified priesthood rather than simply explaining what already existed."
Ezekiel's prophecy is simply reflecting the stratification created after the
centralization of the cult, be it by Josiah or earlier, as you seem to
claim.

>
- unless we
> > want to say that
> > the Josianic Reform is only a literary ideal, and that even
> > in post-exilic
> > times not all Priestly circles accepted centralization -
> > witness Onias IV
> > and his temple in Heliopolis (or was it Leontopolis?).
> LEontopolis.
> There is also the temple at Yeb.

That;s a different case. Onias IV was a former Jerusalem priest, whereas not
only was there no Jerusalem priest at Yeb, there was apparently also
objection to the very existence of the temple there on the part of the
Jerusalemites. When the tmeple was destroyed in a pogrom of Egyptian
priests, the Jewish inhabitants turned to the Jerusalem temple for
assistance in reconstruction. Getting no answer, they then turned to the
governor of Samaria, if my memory serves me right.
>
Jonathan
---
Jonathan D. Safren
Editor
Mo'ed  - Researches in Judaic Studies
Center for Jewish Holiday Studies
Beit Berl College
Beit Berl Post Office
44905 Israel