Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Yigal Levin <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>]

To which the "cynical" answer would be - "How likely is it that a book would
have survived, unknown and unnoticed, for hundereds of years since the days
of Moses? Especially if you consider, that the Temple was only built 440
years after Moses' death (according to 1 Kings 6:1), so where would the book
have been kept all of that time, and how would it have gotten to the Temple
in the first place. So the whole story about a book of Moses being 'found'
was obviously a pious hoax at best, which Josiah then used to justify his
reforms".

But remember that the identification of the "lost book of Moses"
specifically with Deuteronomy is a modern scholarly hypothesis, NOT what is
stated in 2 Kings 22. I'm not sure who first came up with the idea, but it
was way before Noth and even before Wellhausen.

Yigal Levin



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bryant J. Williams III" <bjwvmw AT com-pair.net>
To: "George Athas" <George.Athas AT moore.edu.au>; "B-Hebrew" 
<b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Wednesday, January 28, 2009 8:48 AM
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Documentary Hypothesis


> Dear George,
>
> Regarding the Documentary Hypothesis on Deuteronomy. It is commonly 
> assumed that
> under the reforms of Josiah in II Kings 22:8-23:3 that the book found in 
> the
> temple was the Book of Deuteronomy and that it was written at that time. 
> The
> problem is that the text states:
>
> 22:8, "I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD."
> 22:13, "Go, inquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all 
> Judah,
> concerning the words of this book that has been found;..."
> 23:2, "...and he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the 
> covenant
> which had been found in the house of the LORD."
> 23:3, "...to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this
> book;..."
>
> The above is from the RSV.
>
> The use of "found" is used 3x with reference to this book. It should be 
> noted
> that the "book of the law" by inference is Deuteronomy. But it clearly 
> shows
> that it was found NOT written. The response of Josiah and his subsequent 
> inquiry
> of the LORD does indicate that the plaques/curses found in Deut. 28:15-24 
> would
> be carried out; although, Josiah would die in peace.
>
> Rev. Bryant J. Williams III
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "George Athas" <George.Athas AT moore.edu.au>
> To: "B-Hebrew" <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
> Sent: Monday, January 26, 2009 11:46 PM
> Subject: [b-hebrew] Documentary Hypothesis
>
>
> > Bryant Williams wrote:
> >
> > Furthermore, since all we have is the text itself showing no signs 
> > whatsoever
> of a JEDP make-up, then it requires more evidence to prove that the text 
> was
> edited/redacted beyond what was already given by the text itself.
> > ---------------
> >
> > Bryant, I think that is overstating things. The text arguably does show 
> > signs
> of JEDP make-up. These signs formed the basis of the Documentary 
> Hypothesis.
> Surely you would agree at the least that there is a book of Deuteronomy! 
> You
> have a D source right there!
> > I'm quite skeptical of the Documentary Hypothesis, but I can see what 
> > fuels
> the theory. Whether the theory is right or not is another issue, but it 
> was
> certainly not proposed without any basis at all.
> > Regards,
> >
> > GEORGE ATHAS
> > Moore Theological College (Sydney, Australia)
> > www.moore.edu.au
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> > b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
> > http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew
> >
> >
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