- Deuteronomistic History, Pentateuchal Theory, Ancient Near Eastern History, Hebrew Bible, Hebrew Bible and Ancient Near East, Intertextuality, and 25 moreHebrew Language, Ancient Historiography, Biblical Interpretation, Orality-Literacy Studies, Genesis 1-11, Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, Theology, Biblical Studies, Books of Samuel, Torah/Pentateuch, Assyriology, Deuteronomy, Biblical Law, Book of Deuteronomy, Book of Joshua, Biblical Hebrew, Ancient Mesopotamian Religions, Mesopotamia History, Mesopotamian Religions, Book of Genesis, Pentateuch Studies, Assyrian Empire, Neo-Assyrian studies, Ancient Near East (Archaeology), and Papyrus Amherst 63edit
- 1976 B.A. in Biblical Studies, the Hebrew University in Jerusalem; 1986 M.A. with honors in Biblical Studies, the Heb... more1976 B.A. in Biblical Studies, the Hebrew University in Jerusalem; 1986 M.A. with honors in Biblical Studies, the Hebrew University in Jerusalem; 2003 Ph.D in Biblical Studies and the History of Ancient Israel, Tel Aviv University.
2012 Visiting Fellow, Center of Advanced Study, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich.
1982 - 2020 Lecturer of Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel at The Open University of Israeledit
Is Noth's conception of a Deuteronomistic History misguided, and does it lead scholarship to a dead-end? This paper examines whether the severe criticism and fundamental rejection of the DtrH hypothesis is justified, and considers the... more
Is Noth's conception of a Deuteronomistic History misguided, and does it lead scholarship to a dead-end? This paper examines whether the severe criticism and fundamental rejection of the DtrH hypothesis is justified, and considers the merit of Noth's contribution to the understanding of Biblical historiography in the light of Popper's approach
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More than three decades after the original From Nomadism to Monarchy, the current state of biblical research supports the conclusion that the conquest narrative is of Josianic provenance and that it reflects the concerns and realia of the... more
More than three decades after the original From Nomadism to Monarchy, the current state of biblical research supports the conclusion that the conquest narrative is of Josianic provenance and that it reflects the concerns and realia of the 7th century. However, the Book of Joshua as a whole is neither Josianic nor Deuteronomistic, but the product of a lengthy process of expansion and revision.
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The discussion of the social context of a composition represents an attempt to go beyond historical-critical considerations, and to consider the social location of those who composed the text, the issues arising from within their... more
The discussion of the social context of a composition represents an attempt to go beyond historical-critical considerations, and to consider the social location of those who composed the text, the issues arising from within their particular social circle and the historical situation that motivated their composition, as well as the interests and situation of a receiving audience. While the bulk of Biblical literature exhibits a pronounced Judean orientation, some texts seem to address multiple audiences including Diaspora communities. This paper will develop criteria for uncovering the social and historical location of target audiences, and will investigate the Diaspora orientation of various Biblical texts that might have been conceived as a means to maintaining ethnic ties with Diaspora communities.
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This paper reconsiders the structure and composition of the lengthy section dealing with David's flight from Saul, and focuses especially on the purpose of the narrative complex relating David's stay in the desert.
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This paper deals with the search for a referent behind the figures cast as non-Israelites in the Book of Joshua and investigates the purpose of the depiction of the Israelites as newcomers in Canaan and their relations with an indigenous... more
This paper deals with the search for a referent behind the figures cast as non-Israelites in the Book of Joshua and investigates the purpose of the depiction of the Israelites as newcomers in Canaan and their relations with an indigenous Other that ostensibly populated Canaan. Questions of ethnicity and self-identity provide a starting point for the discussion of the representation of the Other in the Book of Joshua. The figure of a “foreign” indigenous Other serves to marginalize those beyond the pale of the current “in” group. “Israelite” ethnic identity emerged following the fall of Judah when Yehud and Samarina were provinces ruled by other powers. During the Babylonian period the Canaanites were imagined to be the pre-Israelite inhabitants of Canaan, and utopian Deuteronomistic legislation was drafted to express an imagined contrast between Yahwism and practices associated with “Canaanism”. In the Persian period ethnic identity was further renegotiated by different parties due to the complex relations between the Diasporas and the center in Yehud on the one hand, and the relations between the returning Golah community and those who remained in the land on the other hand.
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It has become fashionable to bemoan the state of diachronic biblical criticism since the application of its method involves subjective judgments. Should diachronic criticism be laid to rest? This programmatic essay engages Popper's view... more
It has become fashionable to bemoan the state of diachronic biblical criticism since the application of its method involves subjective judgments. Should diachronic criticism be laid to rest? This programmatic essay engages Popper's view of scientific propositions as falsifiable hypotheses, and reevaluates the importance of alternate hypotheses. The discussion considers the way the different purposes of scholars inform their practice of method and their evaluation of opposing explanations. The methodological observations are illustrated with examples from the Covenant Code and Deut 1-12.
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published in HeBAI 16 (2017): 161-80
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Published in: Book-Seams in the Hexateuch I: The Literary Transitions between the Books of Genesis/Exodus and Joshua/Judges (C. Berner and H. Samuel, eds.; FAT 120; Tübingen: Mohr/Siebeck, 2018), 353-69
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The present study is part of a larger investigation in which I examine the methods that were available to scribes who were engaged in the revision and editing of scrolls. In Biblical studies, most redaction and composition history models... more
The present study is part of a larger investigation in which I examine the methods that were available to scribes who were engaged in the revision and editing of scrolls. In Biblical studies, most redaction and composition history models have not considered how the technical limitations of the scroll medium would impact the feasibility of different modes of revision. I have argued that the addition of appendices and new introductions provided an easy and " economic " means to revise a biblical scroll and reshape its tendency as well as readers' outlook. The present essay builds upon earlier work in which I dealt with the story of the Gibeonites' vengeance (2 Sam 21:1-14) and David's Last Words (2 Sam 23:1-7). Here I shall focus on the account of David's census (2 Sam 24), which provides a good basis for examining the nature of the Samuel appendix: its relationship to the rest of the book of Samuel, its composition and editing and the question of intentionality in its formation.
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This paper deals with both methodological and literary aspects in investigating the relationship between law and narrative. Characterization of the categories of legal paradigm, illustrative narrative and legal midrash inform and control... more
This paper deals with both methodological and literary aspects in investigating the relationship between law and narrative. Characterization of the categories of legal paradigm, illustrative narrative and legal midrash inform and control the discussion of the relationship between the complex narrative in Josh 7:1-8:29 and the Deuteromic/istic legal material, such as Deut 7:25:26, 13:16-18, 20:10-18, 21:22-23.
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The intertextual relations between Joshua 9 and the book of Deuteronomy raises methodological issues when examining how the book of Deuteronomy was shaped and redactionally expanded in order to fit into larger literary contexts. The story... more
The intertextual relations between Joshua 9 and the book of Deuteronomy raises methodological issues when examining how the book of Deuteronomy was shaped and redactionally expanded in order to fit into larger literary contexts. The story of the Gibeonite treaty shares various expressions and themes with sections in Deuteronomy that are generally assigned to late redaction (e.g., Deut 7:1-6, 20:15-18, 29: 4-5, 10, 21). At the same time, it is clear that the Gibeonite story too has undergone revision and overwriting. This paper explores the directions of interaction between Deuteronomy and Joshua 9 in their different stages of growth, and examines how this intertextuality acted to integrate Deuteronomy within differing narrative frameworks, namely the Deuteronomistic History on the one side, and the Hexateuch on the other. The concluding section discusses the implications of this study on reconstruction the growth of the conquest narrative in Joshua as well as the development of the attitude toward the indigenous people of Canaan in the Pentateuch and the Deuteronomistic History.
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Whatever sources may lie behind the narratives in Gen 2-4, it is recognized that these chapters have undergone purposeful editing designed to impose continuity and thematic coherence. Notwithstanding, there is still much debate about... more
Whatever sources may lie behind the narratives in Gen 2-4, it is recognized that these chapters have undergone purposeful editing designed to impose continuity and thematic coherence. Notwithstanding, there is still much debate about their purpose within their specific context in the primeval history. This essay addresses these matters by examining how Gen 2-4 might be read as paradigmatic texts relating to exile. Read together, Gen 2-4 illustrate how exile is the inevitable consequence of violating YHWH's basic demands of compliance with his injunctions and upholding essential social norms. I suggest that the placement of these narratives together at the opening of the primeval history was intended to provide a key for understanding the unfolding of the Pentateuchal narrative. In addition, I consider how technical aspects of scroll production contribute to understanding their placement. Moreover, in as much as they foreshadow the conclusion of the DtrH in 2 Kgs 25:21, they play a central role constructing a thematic frame for reading Gen – Kgs as an Enneateuch or Primary History. This view holds implications not only for understanding the purpose of Gen 2-4, but for the historical context of their composition. In addition, I engage the question of whether the concept of an Enneateuch is a deliberate literary construct, or whether it is a reading strategy for uncovering a significant message within a set authoritative scrolls.
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Abstract This article reconsiders the extent recitation and memorization played in the process of the literary composition and transmission of biblical texts, and attempts to distinguish between aurally recognizable intertextual echoes,... more
Abstract This article reconsiders the extent recitation and memorization played in the process of the literary composition and transmission of biblical texts, and attempts to distinguish between aurally recognizable intertextual echoes, as opposed to literary ...
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1 Sam 24 and 26 are widely regarded as doublets, and it is frequently assumed that one of the narratives is an editorial reworking of the other. This paper examines the validity of this assumption and addresses the question of the... more
1 Sam 24 and 26 are widely regarded as doublets, and it is frequently assumed that one of the narratives is an editorial reworking of the other. This paper examines the validity of this assumption and addresses the question of the function of double stories within a larger narrative context. In the first part, methodological guidelines are established for distinguishing literary dependency from other types of interrelationships between texts, such as common genre, type‐scenes, variants, and use of common motif. In the second part, the criteria proposed are utilized to clarify the nature of the relationship between the two narratives and to shed light on their sources and function.
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MA course in History taught at the Open University of Israel Fall 2018