Israel Constructs its History

Deuteronomistic Historiography in Recent Research

edited by

Albert de Pury, Thomas Römer & Jean-Daniel Macchi

Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series 306

Original French Title—Israël construit son histoire.

L’historiographie deutéronomiste à la lumière

des recherches récentes

(Le Monde de la Bible, 34; Geneva: Labor et Fides, 1996)

English language edition copyright © 2000 Sheffield Academic Press

Published by Sheffield Academic Press Ltd

Mansion House

19 Kingfield Road

Sheffield S11 9AS

England

www.continuumbooks.com

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 1-84127-099-7

Contents

Foreword

Abbreviations

List of Contributors

Part I

Introduction

Thomas Römer and Albert de Pury

Deuteronomistic Historiography (DH): History of Research and Debated Issues

Part II

Ancient Historiography

Sara Japhet

Postexilic Historiography: How and Why?

Marcel Detienne

A Debate on Comparative Historicities

Jean-Jacques Glassner

Historical Times in Mesopotamia

Part III

Textual Criticism and Literary Criticism

Adrian Schenker

Jeroboam and the Division of the Kingdom in the Ancient Septuagint: lxx 3 Kingdoms 12:24 a–z, mt 1 Kings 11–12; 14 and the Deuteronomistic History

Stephen Pisano

2 Samuel 5–8 and the Deuteronomist: Textual Criticism or Literary Criticism?

Part IV

Diachronic and Synchronic Methods

Steven L. McKenzie

The Trouble with Kingship

Walter Dietrich

History and Law: Deuteronomistic Historiography and Deuteronomic Law Exemplified in the Passage from the Period of the Judges to the Monarchical Period

Françoise Smyth

When Josiah has Done his Work or the King Is Properly Buried: A Synchronic Reading of 2 Kings 22:1–23:28

Part V

The Sources of Deuteronomistic Historiography

Jacques Briend

The Sources of the Deuteronomic History: Research on Joshua 1–12

Part VI

The Milieus of the Deuteronomists

Ernst Axel Knauf

Does ‘Deuteronomistic Historiography’ (DH) Exist?

Thomas Römer

Is There a Deuteronomistic Redaction in the Book of Jeremiah?

Part VII

Deuteronomistic Ideology and Theology of the Old Testament

Martin Rose

Deuteronomistic Ideology and Theology of the Old Testament

Andrew D.H. Mayes

Deuteronomistic Ideology and the Theology of the Old Testament

Index of References

Index of Authors

Foreword*

When the time came for those teaching Old Testament in the Universities of Fribourg, Neuchatel, Lausanne and Geneva to choose the theme for the doctoral level seminar that they were in charge of setting up for 1995, the subjects that interested each of them were very diverse. After a quick survey, without much hesitation and by common consent it was decided to tackle a central problem in Old Testament research, ‘Deuteronomistic Historiography’. Right there, it seemed to us, was situated one of the ‘frontiers’ in research at the present time, and stemming from this project we could hope for a breakthrough not only towards a new chronology relative ...

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About Israel Constructs Its History: Deuteronomistic Historiography in Recent Research

The thesis that the books of Deuteronomy to 2 Kings have undergone a redaction that made them into a Deuteronomistic History has become a widely accepted idea in Old Testament scholarship since Martin Noth proposed it in 1943. But there is no consensus when this history was edited: under Josiah (622 BCE), during the exile (c. 560 BCE) or even later? And what was the intention of its redactors? Can we rely on the so-called Deuteronomistic History for the reconstruction of Israelite history? Or should we give up the thesis of a Deuteronomic redaction of the Former Prophets?

This volume explores these and many other questions about this key topic in Old Testament scholarship. It results from a research seminar organized by the Swiss universities of Fribourg, Geneva, Neuchtel and Lausanne. It contains contributions by the following scholars: R. Albertz, J. Briend, M. Detienne, W. Dietrich, J.J. Glassner, S. Japhet, E.A. Knauf, A.D.H. Mayes, S.L. McKenzie, S. Pisano, M. Rose, A. Schenker, F. Smyth, A. de Pury and T. Romer. Articles in French were translated by J. Edward Crowley.

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