Biblical Hebrew Forum

[James Read <J.Read-2 AT sms.ed.ac.uk>]

Anyway,

I went away and tried to read the texts, for the x-gazilianth time,  
with an open mind to see if a colophon interpretation makes any sense.  
I noticed the following inconsistencies (I'm only mentioning the  
starkest):

1) Terah, the idol worshipping pagan, is one of our trusted historians  
for the account that is one of the foundations of the monotheistic  
faith???

2) Esau, just been hustled out of his rights as firstborn and cheated  
out of a blessing by taking advantage of his father's blindness, is  
the trusted historian for a history which favours his younger twin  
brother as the lineage for YHWH's chosen people???

3) After that, Jacob's history is just a list of minor events in the  
history of his brother's offspring that serve only to help us  
understand where the neighbouring nations came from???

4) The rest of Genesis, the bit that would make far more sense for  
Jacob to have been a prospective author of, is left without colophon???

Is it just me, or does none of this make any sense to anybody else  
*whatsoever*?

James Christian

Quoting dwashbur AT nyx.net:

> On 15 May 2009 at 6:40, Yitzhak Sapir wrote:
>
> > On Fri, May 15, 2009 at 1:07 AM,  Dave Washburn wrote:
> >
> > > The approach deals with much more than just title and author.  To  
> >  get the full idea one
> > > needs to check out P. J. Wiseman, "New Discoveries in Babylonia   
> > About Genesis" (London:
> > > Marshall, Morgan & Scott, 1946) where the idea was first   
> > presented in a more or less full
> > > form.  There's a summary of the whole approach at
> > >
> > > http://www.biblemysteries.com/library/genesis.htm
> > >
> > > The lectures Karl remembers were probably based on Wiseman's   
> > work.  I read the book in
> > > the early 80's and it made a lot of sense.  Your reduction of it   
> > to nothing more than a
> > > colophon of title and author doesn't do it any kind of justice.
> >
> > Thank you, Dave!  This reference to Wiseman is very helpful indeed.
> > It does seem
> > to me to be a source (if not the source) for Karl's theory.
> >
> > My guess is that the book you read may have actually been "Ancient   
> > records and
> > the structure of Genesis : a case for literary unity," which was
> > edited by Donald J
> > Wiseman, and published 1985.
>
> That actually does sound like the title of the book I read way back   
> when.  I was working in a
> Christian bookstore at the time and saw it on the shelf, and since I  
>  was allowed to borrow
> any books I wanted from the store I was able to read it, but at the   
> time with two small
> children I couldn't afford to buy it, and hence trying to find the   
> title again was harder than
> pulling teeth ever thought of being.  Thanks for the update!
>
> > As you said, you're "not the one arguing this."  So I hope Karl will
> > tell us if this is
> > indeed a book where we can find more about this theory.  (It does seem
> > so to me).
> > Until then, I will limit my further responses to this thread.
>
> I find Wiseman's approach feasible, but won't go to the wall for it.  
>   That's why I'm not
> arguing it; however, I am glad I was able to help the discussion a   
> little by tracking down the
> writer's name.
>
> > An extended discussion of all this author's theory is at:
> > http://books.google.com/books?id=0FCG2YTWFtcC&pg=PA5 (p. 5)
> >
> > The discussion seems to span p. 2 - 10, and I was able to access   
> > all these pages
> > with google books.  However, p. 5 is where he starts to discuss the
> > possibility that
> > the toledoth is a colophon.
>
> Something to check out.  Thanks again!
>
> Dave Washburn
>
> Ibuprofen, Hebuprofen, Shebuprofen, Theybuprofen, wouldn't you like   
> to be a profen too?
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