The Pentateuch

A Social-Science Commentary

John Van Seters

T&T CLARK INTERNATIONAL

A Continuum Imprint

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Copyright © 1999 Sheffield Academic Press

First published 1999 in the Trajectories series

This edition published 2004

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

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

ISBN 0567080889 (paperback)

To

Arthur Van Seters

Contents

Editors’ Foreword

Preface

Abbreviations

1. Introduction

Bibliography

2. The Pentateuch as a Whole: Basic Features and Problems

Bibliography

1. The Pentateuch in Outline

2. General Observations on the Pentateuch as a Whole

3. Pentateuchal Sources

4. Basic Models for Compositional Reconstruction

3. A Survey of Historical-Critical Research on the Pentateuch

Bibliography

1. The Rise of the Documentary Hypothesis to Wellhausen

2. The Problems of the Sources

3. The Rise of Form-Criticism and the Tradition-History of the Pentateuch

4. Tradition-History: Gerhard von Rad and Martin Noth

5. A Critique of Form-Criticism: Oral Tradition

6. A Critique of the Tradition-History Method

7. The Pentateuch and the Albright School

8. A Critique of the Albright School

4. New Currents in Pentateuchal Studies from 1975 to the Present

Bibliography

1. The Source-Critical Problem of the Pentateuch

2. The Traditio-Historical Problem of the Pentateuch

3. The Form-Critical Problem of the Pentateuch

4. Current Models of Literary Criticism

5. The Problem with P

5. Deuteronomy

Bibliography

1. Basic Features

2. Form and Structure of Deuteronomy

3. Additional Literary Observations

4. Deuteronomy, the Deuteronomistic History and the Tetrateuch

5. The Origins of Deuteronomy

6. Treaty and Covenant in Deuteronomy and the Ancient Near East

7. Themes in Deuteronomy and their Social Context

6. The Yahwist (J)

Bibliography

1. National ‘Antiquities’ as a Literary Form

2. Myth and History

3. The Primeval History

4. The Patriarchs in J

5. The Story of Moses in Exodus–Numbers according to J

7. The Priestly Writer (P)

Bibliography

1. The Style, Form and Structure of P

2. The Compositional History of P

3. The Social Setting of P

4. Conclusion

8. Law in the Pentateuch

Bibliography

1. Introduction

2. Types of Laws

3. The Law Codes

4. The Ten Commandments, Exodus 20.1–17 (P) = Deuteronomy 5.6–21 (D)

9. Conclusion

Bibliography

Index of References

Index of Authors