(OS 069) Spronk (Ed.) - The Present State of Old Testament Studies in The Low Countries PDF

The Present State of Old Testament Studies in the Low Countries
Oudtestamentische Studin
Old Testament Studies published on behalf of the Societies
for Old Testament Studies in the Netherlands and
Belgium, South Africa, the United Kingdom and Ireland
Editor
B. Becking (Utrecht)
Editorial Board
P. Van Hecke (Leuven)

H.F. Van Rooy (Potchefstroom)
H.G.M. Williamson (Oxford)
Volume 69
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/ots

The Present State of
Old Testament Studies in the
Low Countries
A Collection of Old Testament Studies
Published on the Occasion of the Seventy-Fifth
Anniversary of the Oudtestamentisch
Werkgezelschap
Edited by
Klaas Spronk
LEIDEN | BOSTON
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Spronk, Klaas, editor.

Title: The present state of Old Testament studies in the Low Countries : a
collection of Old Testament studies published on the occasion of the
seventy-fifth anniversary of the Oudtestamentisch Werkgezelschap / edited
by Klaas Spronk.
Description: Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2016. | Series: Oudtestamentische
studien = Old Testament studies, ISSN 0169-7226 ; Volume 69 | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016026398 (print) | LCCN 2016027153 (ebook) | ISBN
9789004326132 (hardback : alk. paper) | ISBN 9789004326255 (E-book)
Subjects: LCSH: Bible. Old TestamentCriticism, interpretation,
etc.Netherlands. | Bible. Old TestamentCriticism, interpretation,
etc.Belgium. | Oudtestamentisch Werkgezelschap in Nederland en Belgie.
Classification: LCC BS1171.3 .P74 2016 (print) | LCC BS1171.3 (ebook) | DDC
221.609492dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016026398
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issn 0169-7226
isbn 978-90-04-32613-2 (hardback)
isbn 978-90-04-32625-5 (e-book)
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Contents
List of Illustrationsix
List of Contributorsx
1 Seventy-Five Years Oudtestamentisch Werkgezelschap: The Study of the

Old Testament in the Netherlands and Belgium1
Klaas Spronk
2 Micah in the Low Countries13

Bob Becking
3 Revelation, History and Religious Plurality: Old Testament Studies from

the Apeldoorn / Kampen Reformed Perspective30
Koert van Bekkum and Eric Peels
4 Salient Features in the Book of Job47

Jan Fokkelman
5 A Changing Archaeology of Palestine at the University of Leiden,

1959201464
Gerrit van der Kooij
6 Gender Perspectives on Hosea 2:425: Contributions from the

Netherlands from 1988 until 2003104
Gert Kwakkel
7 The Rise and Demise of the So-called Deuteronomistic History: A Plea

for the Compositional Unity of GenesisKings122
Casper Labuschagne
8 Septuagint Studies in Louvain145

Bndicte Lemmelijn and Hans Ausloos
9 The Dynamics of the Incomparable God Highlighted by the Immobility

of an Idol: The Rhetorical Integrity of Isa. 40:1226, 41:17 and
46:113159
Pieter van der Lugt
viii CONTENTS
10 Biblical Violence and the Task of the Exegete180

Ed Noort
11 Computer-Assisted Analysis of Old Testament Texts: The Contribution

of the WIVU to Old Testament Scholarship192
Reinoud Oosting
12 Old Testament Exegesis and Biblical Theology from an Ede/Leuven

Evangelical Perspective210
Mart-Jan Paul
13 Data, Knowledge and Tradition: Biblical Scholarship and the

Humanities 2.0: Exodus 19 as a Laboratory Text228
Eep Talstra
14 Towards an Annotated Edition of Tannaitic Parables248

Lieve M. Teugels
15 Delimitation Criticism: An Interim Evaluation267

Wilfred G.E. Watson
Index of Authors283
Index of Textual References290
List of Illustrations
5.1 Pottery and stones in the first Workrooms for Palestinian Archaeology,
ca. 1965 (archive Deir Alla project)65
5.2 Tell Deir Alla and surroundings in 1963, looking south-southwest
(archive Deir Alla project)70
5.3 Contour map of Tell Deir Alla with the excavation trenches, also
indicating the main periods unearthed in them75
5.4 Line-drawing of one of the more recently found complete clay-tablets
inscribed on five sides78
5.5 Facsimile drawing of the upper part of the Balaam-text
(combination 1)80
5.6 Aramaic ink inscription on a curved sherd (15 cm long) from a typical
Ammonite painted jug. The content concerns the request to families to
deliver stones for the repair of a gate81
5.7 A simplified drawing of the traditional irrigation system in the
Zerqa-triangle (after aerial photos from ca. 1945)85
5.8 Topographic map (ca. 1945) with circles around Khirbet Balama and the
cave NW of Qabatiya90
5.9 View over Khirbet Balama, to NW (1996)91
5.10 Elevation and plan drawing of the step-tunnel of Khirbet Balama, with
its lower access at the Wadi Balama (after the original drawing by
Ibrahim Iqteit, DACH)92
5.11 Topographic map (ca. 1945) of Nablus and surroundings, with Tell Balata
indicated at the SE-end of the narrow valley between mounts Ebal and
Gerizim95
5.12 Tell Balata: plan of the sections excavated since 1913, with colours/
shading distinguishing the expeditions and numbers for the areas of
interest as described in Tell Balata Changing Landscape (original plan by
G.R.H. Wright of the American Joint Expedition)97
5.13 The western half of Tell Balata, view to the south (2011, after surface
clearance; archive Balata Park project)99
5.14 The western city wall (wall A) with the 2 m wide test trench (plan and
section drawing) through the sloping layers of chalk chips, running
perpendicular to this wall (photo to south, 2011; archive Balata Park
project)100
List of Contributors
Klaas Spronk
Professor of Old Testament, Protestant Theological University, Amsterdam
Bob Becking
Professor Emeritus of Old Testament, University of Utrecht
Koert van Bekkum

Assistant Professor of Old Testament, Theological University, Kampen
Eric Peels
Professor of Old Testament, Theological University, Apeldoorn
Jan Fokkelman
Associate Professor Emeritus of Hebrew and Aramaic, University of Leiden

Lecturer in Near Eastern Archaeology, University of Leiden
Gert Kwakkel
Professor of Old Testament, Theological University, Kampen
Casper Labuschagne
Professor Emeritus of Old Testament, University of Groningen
Hans Ausloos
Professor of Old Testament, Universit catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve
Bndicte Lemmelijn
Professor of Old Testament, Catholic University of Louvain
Pieter van der Lugt

Independant scholar, Dokkum
Ed Noort
Professor Emeritus of Old Testament, University of Groningen
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS xi
Reinoud Oosting
Research fellow at Eep Talstra Centre for Bible and Computer, Vrije Universiteit,
Amsterdam
Mart-Jan Paul
Professor of Old Testament, Evangelical Theological Faculty, Leuven
Eep Talstra
Professor Emeritus of Old Testament, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam
Lieve M. Teugels
Assistant Professor of Jewish and Semitic Studies, Protestant Theological
University, Amsterdam
Wilfred G.E. Watson

Independent Researcher, Newcastle upon Tyne
chapter 1
Seventy-Five Years Oudtestamentisch

Werkgezelschap: The Study of the Old
Testament in the Netherlands and Belgium
Klaas Spronk
1 Remarks on the OTW, Its Members and Its Character
On the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary in 1965 the then president of

the Oudtestamentische Werkgezelschap, Piet de Boer, remarked that accord-
ing to the Old Testament twenty-five years are no reason for a jubilee. He did
this in the introduction to a volume of Oudtestamentische Studin that was
nevertheless devoted to that anniversary.1 He added some thoughts on a num-
ber of texts mentioning the period of twenty-five years, relating them to the
occasion. He noted that Jehoshaphat reigned for twenty-five years in Jerusalem
(1 Kgs 22:42) and that he had succeeded in keeping some kind of indepen-
dence. Apparently this could be seen as an example of or a goal for the OTW.
Another association was the fact that Ezekiel received his vision of the new
temple in the twenty-fifth year of the captivity (Ez. 40:1). Although De Boer had
some clear ideas about the policy of the OTW, he modestly did not relate that
to this prophecy.
Fifteen years later it would have been much easier for Adam van der Woude
to give the 40th anniversary some numerological biblical background. He did not
give in, however, to the temptation to play with the many possible associations
with the biblical texts mentioning the number forty. He limited himself to the
remark that the past forty years may not have been like a journey through the des-
ert, but that they have not been without hardship, disappointment and sorrow.2
1 P.A.H. de Boer, 19401965, in: P.A.H. de Boer e.a., 19401965 (OTS 14), Leiden 1965, VIIX.
2 Al mogen wij over de afgelopen veertig jaar dan ook niet spreken als over een woestijntocht,
zonder momenten van ontbering, teleurstelling en leed is de weg niet geweest. A.S. van der
Woude, Veertig jaar Oudtestamentisch werkgezelschap in Nederland, in: B. Albrektson e.a.,
Remembering all the Way...A Collection of Old Testament Studies Published on the Occasion
of the Fortieth Anniversary of the Oudtestamentisch Werkgezelschap in Nederland (OTS 21),
Leiden 1981, 13.
koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 6|doi .63/9789004326255_002

2 Spronk
Ten years later Van der Woude made no attempt to find a connection with the
biblical number fifty.3
The number seventy-five occurs only once in the Hebrew bible: Abram was
seventy-five years old when he departed from Harran (Gen. 12:4). To this can
be added that Abraham died precisely one hundred years later, at the age of
one hundred and seventy-five (Gen. 25:7). Celebrating its seventy-fifth anni-
versary, the OTW can feel some connection to this patriarch. The comparison
forces itself on a man called upon to set the next step on the road taken by his
ancestry. Abram is staying in Haran, where he arrived an unknown number of
years ago in the company of his father Terah after having left Ur. According to
Genesis 11:39, Terah was heading for Canaan, but had stopped in the Northern
Syrian city of Haran. It was left to the next generation to move on. When we
apply this to our situation, we could say that as the present generation of Old
Testament scholars we realize that we are following in the footsteps of prede-
cessors like De Boer and Van der Woude, but that we also have to take our own
steps. Thinking about the right direction to go, we have to consider their goals,
whether they have reached them and whether adaptations are necessary.
Abram left after the death of his father. We commemorate the members of
our society who have passed away in the last twenty-five years.4 Each name
evokes stories and we thankfully acknowledge their contribution to the study
of the Old Testament and the ways they passed on their insights to the new
generation. We mention them in the order of the year of their death:
P.A.H. de Boer (1989)

J.H. Hospers (1993)
M.J. Mulder (1994)
B. Maarsingh (1995)
B.J. Oosterhoff (1996)
J.L. Koole (1997)
A.G. van Daalen (2000)
R. Oost (2000)
A.S. van der Woude (2000)
C.H.W. Brekelmans (2004)
3 A.S. van der Woude, Fnfzig Jahre Oudtestamentisch Werkgezelschap, in: A.S. van der Woude
(ed.), New Avenues in the Study of the Old Testament: A Collection of Old Testament Studies
Published on the Occasion of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Oudtestamentisch Werkgezelschap
and the Retirement of Prof.Dr. M.J. Mulder (OTS 25), Leiden 1989, VIIIX).
4 Thanks are due to Wim Beuken, Wim Delsman, Cees Houtman, and Arie van der Kooij for
their help in compiling this list.
Seventy-five years Oudtestamentisch werkgezelschap 3
J.C. Lebram (2004)

J.P.M. van der Ploeg (2004)
M. Boertien (2005)
H.J. Franken (2005)
B.H. Stricker (2005)
R. Pirson (2006)
W. Baars (2007)
T. Jansma (2007)
C. van Duin (2008)
B. Hartmann (2008)
N. Tromp (2010)
J. Hoftijzer (2011)
J. Luyten (2012)
H. Leene (2014)
W. van der Meer (2015)
May their memory be a blessing.
On the occasion of the anniversary in 1965 Theodoor Vriezen presented an

outline of twenty-five years of Old Testament study in the Netherlands.5 For
this he needed fewer than twenty pages. Fifteen and twenty-five years later
no such attempt was made any more. With the growing number of members
and the ever increasing pressure on scholars to publish, such a general sur-
vey would have become too lengthy. It would have been interesting, however,
to note some tendencies. One could even say that this is necessary when we
take the comparison made above with Abram seriously. We need a good over-
view of our field of research in order to set the right goals for our work in the
future. Specialization may be unavoidable to keep up academic quality, but
then it is the task of a study society to promote cooperation that is more than
just summing up separate studies. Abram was called to go on where his father
had stopped. His goal was the same. We must ask ourselves whether we are
in the same situation or whether we have to find new ways to different goals.
Let us first realize what our predecessors in the OTW had in mind when they
started their journey seventy-five years ago. The minutes of the first meetings
are safely stored in the department of special collections of the library of the
University of Leiden.6 They note that the OTW was founded on June 1, 1939 by
5 O TS 14, pp. 397416.

6 Archief van het Oudtestamentisch Werkgezelschap, 19401996, numbered BPL 2900, 3222,
and 3222A.
4 Spronk
De Boer and Vriezen. They already had been working together for a long time
and wanted to establish more cooperation between Old Testament scholars in
the Netherlands, following the example of colleagues in other countries.
The first official meeting was on the fourth of January 1940, in the home
of De Boer in Leiden. Besides De Boer and Vriezen, the following persons
were present: B.D. Eerdmans (Leiden), G.J. Thierry (Leiden), C. van Arendonk
(University Library, Leiden), J. de Groot (Utrecht), A. de Buck (Egyptologist,
Leiden), J. Simons, S.J. (Nijmegen), M. David (professor of old-semitic, hellenis-
tic and jewish history of law, Leiden), B. Alfrink (Seminary of Rijsenburg) and
M.A. Beek (Amsterdam); absent with notification were G.E. Closen and N.H.
Ridderbos (Free University, Amsterdam). Palache (Amsterdam) had indicated
that he wanted to join later. The reformed colleagues J. Ridderbos (Kampen)
and G.Ch. Aalders (Free University, Amsterdam) had declined the invitation.
Apparently they were reluctant to cooperate with their liberal colleagues and
preferred to do their work in isolation.7 The fact, however, that N.H. Ridderbos,
the son of J. Ridderbos a close colleague of Aalders at the Free University,
would attend future meetings indicates that the OTW succeeded in bridging
the confessional gap. As is well described in the contribution by Van Bekkum
& Peels in the present volume, also colleagues from other church-related insti-
tutions started participating and were fully accepted in this academic circle.
In the first meeting the following goals of the society were formulated:
a) The advancement of the study of the Old Testament

b) The advancement of interrelationships among Dutch Old Testament
scholars
c) The advancement of international cooperation among Old Testament
scholars.
To achieve these goals the following arrangements were made:
1) Regular meetings with lectures

2) Joint study of texts
7 It is telling that in his valedictory speech in 1950 Aalders, giving a survey of the present state
of the Old Testament research, emphasizes that the reformed theology should follow its own
path: het blijft (...) de taak en roeping van onze Gereformeerde Theologie haar eigen weg
te gaan (G.Ch. Aalders, De huidige stand der Oud-testamentische wetenschap, Kampen 1951,
19). In his lecture he welcomes recent discussions about the documentary hypothesis and
the redaction of the book of Isaiah as indications of the growing insight that the historical-
critical approach is a failure.
3) Consultations on publications
4) Making contact with foreign societies.
De Boer tried in vain to name the society after Abraham Kuenen. Eerdmans
proposed as a compromise the name Abraham. Most members, however, pre-
ferred the prosaic name Het Oudtestamentisch Werkgezelschap in Nederland
(in 1993 supplemented with en Belgi). In the first meeting there were ideas
about inviting young, promising scholars. Some names were mentioned, but
eventually it was considered not prudent to expand the society too much. So
for the first years the number of participants remained restricted to eleven.
The first lecture was given by De Boer and was titled Het hof-in-Eden verhaal.8
It is interesting and instructive to take note of the way De Boer and later
Van der Woude evaluated the work of the society on the occasion of the pre-
vious anniversaries mentioned. In 1965, De Boer remarks that the OTW had
stimulated the regular meeting of those who teach the Old Testament at the
universities and that this certainly was fruitful for education and research. He
is disappointed, however, about the fact that it hardly ever resulted in joint
undertakings in their field of research. Neither did the meetings have the char-
acter of a college in the literal sense of coming together to read texts where
each member would contribute his own knowledge and the results of his own
preparation. The only thing the participants did was to give their lecture or
listen to the work of others and give their judgment, for which the outline sent
beforehand was more or less helpful. De Boer notices hardly any influence
upon each others work based on the discussions in the society. He concludes
that is difficult to remain a student.9
In his survey of the work of the members of the society, Vriezen is also
restrained in his praise. He doubts whether it will be remembered by future
generations and assumes that the coming digital age will not alter this:
the generation that is going to make use of computers will probably be even
more likely to forget it than our generation has forgotten much of the work
of our predecessors.10 He argues that things have to change and just like De
Boer he emphasizes that there should be more cooperation between the
different biblical faculties. A matter of concernalready fifty years ago
is the lack of growth of this kind of research at the universities. Fifteen and
especially twenty-five years later, Van der Woude repeats this by referring to
8 It was later published as a booklet: P.A.H. de Boer, Genesis II en III : het verhaal van den hof
in Eden, Leiden 1941.
9 Leerling blijven is een moeilijke kunst (De Boer, 19401965, p. X).
10 Vriezen, OTS 14, p. 416.
6 Spronk
the cutbacks by the government. Van der Woude is more positive about the
OTW, especially regarding the joint meetings with the British Society for Old
Testament Study, taking place every three years. He also points to the ever
rapidly growing number of publication of the series Oudtestamentische
Studin (OTS), which is related to the society and started in 1942.
Twenty-five years later one can only agree with Van der Woude when it
comes to the publication of OTS. In the first twenty-five years, fourteen vol-
umes were published, in the next twenty-five years, eleven, and in the last
twenty-five years more than forty. With regard to internalization, which from
the beginning was an important goal, we can add that next to the joint meet-
ings with the British colleagues there are now also regular meetings with our
sister organization in South Africa. With regard to the situation of biblical
studies at the universities, we have to be less optimistic. Over the last years
there was a dramatic decline of academic jobs on our field. Departments of
biblical studies at the universities of Amsterdam, Leiden, and Utrecht have
been closed or reduced to small faculties which have become part of more
general departments of religious studies with only little attention to the his-
torical sources. In line with this, Semitic studies and Egyptology have almost
completely disappeared from the universities of Groningen and Leiden, which
housed many famous scholars in these fields in the past. This asks for an ade-
quate response from the OTW and underlines what was already put forward by
its founding fathers, De Boer and Vriezen, that it is necessary for the universi-
ties to cooperate in this matter, which should start, as advised by De Boer, with
studying together.
2 Old Testament Research in the Netherlands in the Last Twenty-Five

Years: Tendencies and Teamwork
As was noted above, at the fiftieth anniversary Van der Woude did not attempt
to give a survey of the work of his colleagues as Vriezen had done twenty-five
years earlier. Again twenty-five years later it is even more difficult to do jus-
tice to what is achieved on this ever-expanding field of research. Instead, the
members of our society were asked to write in the present volume about their
own work within the framework of the recent more or less national history of
research. The result may be called impressive, but insiders will notice that it
is far from complete. For various reasons specific parts were not covered, for
instance, the study of the history of religion. Therefore, in order to give a more
balanced picture someadmittedly subjectiveremarks will be made about
tendencies that can be noted in the last decades. These are based on the con-
tributions to the present volume, supplemented by references to important
aspects not covered by them.
What should be acknowledged, to begin with, is the fact that many mem-
bers of the OTW have been involved in the study of the archaeology of ancient
Israel or (as it nowadays usually called) the southern Levant. Between 1968
and 2013 they also had their own organization: Het Werkgezelschap voor de
Archeologie van Palestina (WAP).11 Its first president Henk Franken is well
known from the excavations at Deir Allah (with the spectacular discovery of
the Balaam inscription), his publication of the British excavations at Jerusalem,
and from the close attention he paid to the methods of field archaeology and
technical pottery studies.12 The work at Deir Allah was continued by Gerrit van
der Kooij (see his contribution in this volume). Among the other Dutch schol-
ars active in this field only the presidents of the WAP are mentioned: Margreet
Steiner13 and Karel Vriezen,14 the son of Theodoor and final president of
the WAP.
On looking through the table of contents one may note an emphasis on the
study of formal features (numbers and structures) of the biblical texts. Next to
the research as presented in the contributions by Fokkelman, Labuschagne,
Van der Lugt and Oosting, one can also refer here to the groundbreaking work
achieved especially by Ellen van Wolde15 and Pierre van Hecke16 on the appli-
cation of cognitive linguistics in biblical research. This has resulted in much
concrete data, presented as hard evidence, but unfortunatelyas is also illus-
trated in some of the contributions to the present volumenot in much con-
sensus about the way it should be interpreted. Characteristic of this situation
is the fact that much of this research is done individualistically. One may also
11 Its archive can be consulted at http://www.dans.knaw.nl/.

12 Cf. G.R.H. Wright, H.J. Franken (19172005) and his Contribution to Palestinian
Archaeology, BiOr 62 (2005), 197203.
13 Cf. M.L. Steiner, A.E. Killebrew, The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Levant
C.8000332 BCE, Oxford 2014; Op zoek naar...: de gecompliceerde relatie tussen archeolo-
gie en de Bijbel, 2015.
14 Cf. his bibliography in B. Becking a.o. (eds), Tussen Caro en Jeruzalem. Studies over de
Bijbel en haar Context aangeboden aan Meindert Dijkstra en Karel Vriezen bij hun afscheid
van de Universiteit Utrecht, Utrecht 2006, 1737.
15 Cf. E.J. van Wolde, Reframing Biblical Studies. When Language and Text Meet Culture,
Cognitionand Context, Winona Lake 2009.
16 P. van Hecke, From linguistics to hermeneutics : a functional and cognitive approach to Job
1214, Leiden 2011.
8 Spronk
note, however, a tendency in the other direction. De Boer and Van der Woude
would have been very happy to see their wishes about teamwork fulfilled now-
adays in the form of many big and long lasting projects. In fact, they gave the
good example themselves in respectively starting the projects on the study of
the Peshitta and Dead Sea scrolls.
2.1 The Peshitta Institute

The Peshitta Institute was founded in 1959 with as its primary goal the publi-
cation of the rst scientic edition ever of the Old Testament Peshitta text.17
It was an initiative of the International Organization for the Study of the Old
Testament (IOSOT), which had asked De Boer to become the general editor.
He functioned as the director of the institute until 1980 working together with
Wim Baars and Marinus Koster. De Boer was succeeded by Martin Mulder
(1981), Piet Dirksen (19821993) and Konrad Jenner (19932004). Arie van der
Kooij, professor of Old Testament at Leiden University from 1989 until 2010 and
his successor Bas ter Haar Romeny were also directly involved in the work of
the institute. In 2014 it moved to the VU Free University in Amsterdam and is
now directed by Ter Haar Romeny (who also moved to Amsterdam) and Wido
van Peursen (since 2012 professor of Old Testament at the VU Free University).
In the course of time, hundreds of microfilms and fiches of manuscripts of
the Peshitta from all over the world were collected and made available for schol-
arly research. Some of the original manuscripts have been lost in the mean-
time, which makes the copies even more valuable. A list of manuscripts was
published and via Peshitta Institute Communications (in Vetus Testamentum
until 1992, and since 2004 in Aramaic Studies) surveys of research in the field of
the Peshitta or Aramaic Bible were given. In the beginning it was assumed that
within ten years the edition of the Peshitta would be completed. Gradually this
unocial deadline was adjusted to the reality that the work proved to be very
complicated and time consuming. The much respected quality of the edition
was considered more important than the speed of publication. Gradually the
focus of the institute has broadened, towards the historical, ecclesiastical and
liturgical context of the Peshitta. Also the New Testament Peshitta, as well as
other versions (especially the SyroHexapla) came into sight. One can note this
development in the themes of the three Peshitta symposia held thus far. The
17 A detailed description of the history of the Peshitta Institute is given by Piet Dirksen,
In Retrospect, in: W.Th. van Peursen, R.B. ter Haar Romeny (eds), Text, Translation, and
Tradition. Studies on the Peshitta and its Use in the Syriac Tradition Presented to Konrad
D.Jenner on the Occasion of his Sixty-Fifth Birthday (Monographs. of the Peshitta Institute,
14), Leiden 2006, 2537.
theme of the rst symposium (in 1985) was The Peshitta: Its Early Text and
History, the theme of the second (in 1993) was The Peshitta as a Translation.
In the third symposium (in 2001) the theme was The Peshitta: Its Use in
Literature and Liturgy. This wider focus is also apparent in the project set up
by Ter Haar Romeny in 2006: Identity and Migration: Christian Minorities in
the Middle East and in Diaspora.18
Another development concerns the use of computer technology. In coop-
eration with the VU Free University at Amsterdam, projects on computer-
assisted linguistic analysis of the Peshitta were set up, in order to study the
relation between the Hebrew and Syriac language systems, their idiomatic and
syntactical peculiarities and the relation between them, and thus to obtain a
more precise understanding of the translation technique of the Peshitta. This
resulted in publications by Janet Dyk, Percy van Keulen and Wido van Peursen.
2.2 The Qumran Institute

From the beginning, Dutch scholars were involved in the study of the docu-
ments from Qumran.19 Very important was the contribution by individual
scholars like Van der Ploeg and Van der Woude, but what stimulated the
research most was the establishment by the latter of the Qumran Institute
at Groningen University in 1961. A number of scholars worked there together
with Van der Woude and they produced many tools for the study of the texts
from Qumran. Bastiaan Jongeling worked at the institute from 1968 until 1978.
Besides working on a monograph on the Targum of Job he assisted in editing
the Journal for the Study of Judaism (established in 1970) and on the bibliog-
raphy of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The appointment in 1980 of Florentino Garca
Martnez was very important for the institute. In 1990 Van der Woude and
Garca Martnez replaced Van der Ploeg as editor of the Studies on the Texts
of the Desert of Judah turning it into perhaps the most important series in
the field of the study of the Dead Sea Scrolls, both in quality as in quantity.
Whereas between 1957 and until 1992 eight volumes had been published, since
then more than hundred saw the light.
In 1989 Garca Martnez and Van der Woude organized the international
conference The Texts of Qumran and the History of the Community, during
which the International Organization for Qumran Studies was established
18 For a summary and the overview of the output see: http://www.nwo.nl/en/research-and-

results/research-projects/21/2300129421.html (accessed June 15, 2015).
19 For a full overview cf. E.J.C. Tigchelaar, Research of Qumran Scrolls in the Netherlands, in:
D. Dimant (ed.), The Dead Sea Scrolls in Scholarly Perspective: A History of Research, Leiden
2012, 487509.
10 Spronk
with Garca Martnez as executive secretary. Since then every three years a
conference has been held. In 2004 Tigchelaar succeeded Garca Martnez as
secretary of the IOQS. Both scholars also cooperated in the publication of the
study edition of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 199798.
The Qumran institute proved to be a good basis for the acquisition of funds
for scholarly research. A project set up by Tichelaar in 2001 provided the oppor-
tunity for Anke Dorman and Mladen Popovi to work on Ph.D. projects. Popovi
became director of the institute in 2007 and was also able to obtain research
grants. With this he organized a successful exhibition of Dead Sea Scrolls in the
Netherlands. In 2014 the European Research Council awarded him a grant for
his project The Hands that Wrote the Bible: Digital Paleography and Scribal
Culture of the Dead Sea Scrolls, in which traditional palaeography and com-
putational intelligence will be combined.
2.3 Other Projects

These good examples of teamwork were followed by other members of the
OTW in the seventies and eighties of the twentieth century. They were stimu-
lated by the growing possibilities to receive grants for scholarly research by
the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research. This enabled in 1977 Eep
Talstra to start a project on the computer-assisted analysis of Old Testament
texts: the Werkgroep Informatica, which on the occasion of his retirement
was renamed in The Eep Talstra Centre for Bible and Computer. As is dem-
onstrated in the contribution to the present volume by Reinoud Oosting, it
brought many scholars from different countries together, producing consider-
able output.
In 1987 Johannes de Moor set up a project at the Theological University of
Kampen concerning the Targum of the prophets.20 With the help of the com-
puter, a bilingual concordance to the Targum of the Prophets was produced
in 21 volumes, published between 1995 and 2005, edited by De Moor, Willem
Smelik, Eveline van Staalduine-Sulman, Bernard Grossfeld, Floor Sepmeijer,
Thomas Finley and Dineke Houtman. In 1999 De Moor, in cooperation
with the Peshitta Institute, established the Journal for the Aramaic Bible. After
2005 the work of De Moor was continued by Jan-Wim Wesselius, Houtman
and Van Staalduine-Sulman with projects on the Targum of Samuel and on the
Targum in a Christian World.
20 On the early phase of the project see J.C. de Moor, A Bilingual Concordance to the Targum
of the Prophets, in: I.E. Zwiep, A. Kuyt (eds), Dutch Studies in the Targum: Papers read
at a workshop held at the Juda Palache Institute, University of Amsterdam (18 March 1991),
Amsterdam 1993, 104117.
In 1988 Johan Lust established this very fruitful Centre for Septuagint Studies
and Textual Criticism in Leuven. Its history is described by Hans Ausloos and
Bndicte Lemmelijn in the present volume.
One of the consequences of the way the Biblical research is funded by the
Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research is that it stimulated Old
Testament scholars to look for cooperation outside their specific fields of
expertise. Examples of this are the already mentioned projects by Ter Haar
Romeny on Syriac studies and the projects set up by De Moor and his team
on Targum studies. To this can be added the project on parables, which is pre-
sented in this volume in the contribution by Lieve Teugels.
Another project that can be mentioned here is the one on the study of
Byzantine biblical manuscripts, which is supervised by the present author. It
is focused on manuscripts of the Biblethe Old and New Testamenttrans-
mitted in Greek, preserved since the 4th century AD (with Codex Sinaiticus,
Codex Vaticanus B and Codex Alexandrinus as the most famous representa-
tives), which are dispersed throughout the Eastern and Western world. They
are studied, catalogued to begin with, in their original liturgical context. The
idea is that biblical texts should not be isolated from the codex in which they
were originally included, and that their evaluation should be based on relat-
ing the codices to the liturgical context and practice of the monasteries and
churches in which they originated.21
In 1995 The Dictionary of Deities and Demons was published (with a revised
edition in 1999). It was the result of the cooperation between a great num-
ber of scholars on the field of the history of religion. It was coordinated by
Karel van der Toorn, Bob Becking and Pieter van der Horst, who until 1993 were
colleagues at the university of Utrecht. Other publications in this field of the
study of the history of religion deserve to be mentioned here as well, especially
the work of Van der Toorn22 and of Johannes de Moor.23 Some meetings of the
OTW have been devoted especially to their work.24
21 The output of the project is presented on http://www.pthu.nl/cbm/. For the Old Testament
especially, the study on the Prophetologion is relevant; cf. K. Spronk, The Prophetologion
and the Book of Judges, Journal of the Orthodox Center for the Advancement of Biblical
Studies 6/1 (2013).
22 Cf. for example, K. van der Toorn, Sin and Sanction in Israel and Mesopotamia.
A Comparative Study, Assen 1985; Family Religion in Babylonia, Syria, and Israel, Leiden
1996; and Scribal Culture and the Making of the Hebrew Bible, Cambridge 2007.
23 Cf. for example, J.C. de Moor, The Rise of Yahwism The Roots of Israelite Monotheism,
Leuven 21997; (with M.C.A. Korpel), The Silent God, Leiden 2011; (with Korpel), Adam, Eve,
and the Devil. A New Beginning, Sheffield 2014.
24 The 197th meeting of the OTW on January 11, 2008, was devoted to the discussion of Van
der Toorn, Scribal Culture, and the 217th meeting on May 16, 2014, to Korpel & De Moor,
12 Spronk
On the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of the OTW De Moor took the ini-
tiative to start the research project Utensils. The members of the society
were invited to discuss one or more utensils mentioned in the Hebrew Bible on
the basis of the latest information from archaeology, comparative linguistics,
iconography and anthropology. This is still work in progress. The results are
published on the website of the OTW.25
De Moor was also involved, together with Marjo Korpel and Joseph Oesch,
in the start of the Pericope project, introducing the new approach of delimi-
tation criticism. This is a way of systematically looking for markers of read-
ing units in the ancient manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible, the Septuagint and
the Vulgate. The project started with a workshop at the first meeting of the
European Association for Biblical Studies in 2000. One of its aims is to provide
biblical scholars with all relevant data concerning text division in the bibli-
cal manuscripts. The results are published in the series Pericope: Scripture
as Written and Read in Antiquity, with Korpel as executive editor. It is well
described and evaluated by Wilfred Watson in the present volume.
Adam, Eve, and the Devil. Their The Silent God was evaluated is a special issue of OTS:
B. Becking (ed.), Reflections on the Silence of God. A Discussion with Marjo Korpel and
Johannes de Moor (OTS 62), Leiden 2013.
25 http://www.otw-site.eu/KLY/kly-intro.php.
chapter 2
Micah in the Low Countries

Bob Becking
Long before critical scholarship, the prophet Micah was already known in the
Low Countries. In a closed part of the retable Agnus Dei Jan van Eyck painted,
in 1432, the prophet empathically looking downwards to the virgin Mary.1 This
scene is probably inspired by the reference to Micah in the nativity narrative of
Matthew. With the rise of critical scholarship, the prophets were slowly alien-
ated from their forecasting and messianic role and read in the framework of
their own time.2 I will confine myself to the scholarly work on Micah written
by scholars from the Low Countries since the Second World War.3
1 Starting Point: Vriezen 1948
Although Micah is only one of twelve minor prophets about whom books have
been collected in the Hebrew Bible, the scholarly movements around the seven
chapters of this Biblical book are exemplary for research in the Low Countries
on the Dodekapropheton in the post-World War II era. I start my inquiries with
the textbook that Theodoor Vriezen published in 1948.4 In this Introduction
1 See L.B. Philip, The Ghent altarpiece and the art of Jan van Eyck, Princeton 1971; D. de Vos, De
Vlaamse Primitieven; de meesterwerken, Amsterdam 2002, Picture 47.
2 See for the Low Countries S.J. de Vries, Bible and Theology in the Netherlands (second edition),
New York/Bern, etc. 1989.
3 Publications for a more general audience are not included; see, e.g., L. Grollenberg, Micha
7: Ein Buss-Liturgie?, Schrift 17 (1971), 18891; K.A. Deurloo, M. van Woerden, Om het recht
lief te hebben: verhalen over de boerenprofeet Micha, Baarn 1983; A.S. van der Woude, Profeet
en establishment: Een verklaring van het boek Micha, Kampen 1985; N.A. Schuman, Micha
(Verklaring van een bijbelgedeelte), Kampen 1989; B. Becking, Een dwarse dromer: Meedenken
met Micha (Woord op Zondag 14,8), Gorinchem 2013.
4 Th.C. Vriezen, Oud-Isralitische geschriften, Den Haag 1948. The book was later republished
under a different title: Th.C. Vriezen, De literatuur van Oud-Isral, Den Haag 21961; a thor-
oughly reworked version appeared in 1973 (Th.C. Vriezen, A.S. van der Woude, De literatuur
van Oud-Isral, Wassenaar 41973; Katwijk 61980), in which Adam van der Woude wrote the
sections on the deuterocanonical and pseudepigraphic books; after Vriezens death, Adam
van der Woude prepared a completely new edition, that after Van der Woudes death has

14 Becking
Vriezen dedicates some four pages to his views on the Book of Micah.5 He
dates the prophet and the core of the book to the second half of the eighth
century BCE. According to him, only a few lines in chapter 7 are not authen-
tic. He construes Micah to be a pupil of Isaiah. Micah adopted the famous
vision of the forthcoming realm of peace (Mic. 4:25) from his Jerusalemite
master (Isa. 2). Vriezen sees two highlights in the text of Micah: the prophecy
of doom for the temple in 3:12 and the words on the true character of religion
(Mic. 6:8). As elsewhere in this introduction, Vriezen assesses the prophet Micah
by a nineteenth century liberal protestant concept of prophecy. Prophets were
individuals who were enlightened by the true moral religion. It is interesting to
note that Vriezen does not make any remark on the interrelationship between
the prophecies of doom and the prophecies of salvation in the Book of Micah.
All in all, his view is rather characteristic for his time and his position.
By todays standards his views are slightly obsolete. In the next sections,
I will try to sketch how research by Dutch and Flemish scholars was instrumen-
tal in the change of view on Micah.
2 Fifties and Sixties: The Calm before the Storm
In the period up to the end of the nineteen-sixties not much research was
done on the Book of Micah. A few commentaries appeared, two written by
Protestant6 and two by Catholic scholars.7 In general, these commentaries
have a pious character. They are designed to help preachers in preparing a ser-
mon, but could also be of help in bible-study groups. I will not discuss all four
of them but focus on the commentary written by Edelkoort which, in my view,
is typical of all four. Before his appointment as ordinarius for Old Testament
been published by Ed Noort in cooperation with Fiorentino Garca Martnez: Th.C. Vriezen,
A.S. van der Woude, Oudisraelitische en vroegjoodse literatuur, Kampen 102001, a few years
later an English edition saw the light: Th.C. Vriezen, A.S. van der Woude, Ancient Israelite and
Early Jewish Literature, Leiden 2005. Over the years the book has been updated, but the basic
frame has remained.
5 Vriezen, Oud-Isralitische geschriften, 185188.
6 A.H. Edelkoort, Micha de profeet vol recht en heldenmoed, Baarn 1948; J. Ridderbos, De kleine
profeten II: Obadja tot Zefanja (Korte Verklaring), Kampen 1949.
7 J. Coppens, Les douze petits prophtes: brviaire du prophtisme, Louvain 1950; D. Deden,
De kleine profeten (de Boeken van het Oude Testament), Roermond/Maaseik 1953.
Micah In The Low Countries 15
study at Utrecht University in 1945, Edelkoort had served the Dutch Reformed
Church as a minister in various communities.8
In hisat times long-windedcommentary, he defends the position that a
greater part of the present book of Micah was written by the prophet himself.
Later readers added only two sections: (1) the vision of the forthcoming realm
of peace in Mic. 4 had been incorporated by readers who were looking for a
touch of salvation amidst the prophecies of doom and (2) the final section
Mic. 7:720 that was added in the Babylonian Exile. Edelkoort immediately
hastens to state that non-authenticity would not implicate a loss of value, since
these added sections are written in the same Divine Spirit that breathes through
the whole of Scripture.9 He argues that Isa. 2 must have been the source for
Mic. 4 and not the other way around. His main argument is not linguistic, but
conceptual. It is inconceivable that the great Isaiah, the Prince of all prophets,
would have borrowed a text from a person who came from the periphery of
Israelite society.10
It is of great interest to note that Edelkoort has given some interpretations
that can be seen as the prototype of the later discussion-thesis elaborated
by Adam van der Woude. Edelkoort notes an antithesis between Micah and
a group of prophets that are very much in favour of the politics of the then
ruling class. Edelkoort construes the present text of the Book of Micah as con-
taining sections in which the words of the other prophets are given voice, as
for instance in Mic. 2:611.11 There is another incentive in his work. Confronted
with the problem how to conceptually combine the two types of prophecies
in Mic. 25doom and salvationhe proposes a two-stage futurology. In the
short run there will be doom for Israelas a punishment for its sinsbut in a
later future there will be salvation, based on divine grace.12
Although Edelkoort reads the Messiah in the famous text from Mic. 5 on
Bethlehem, he oscillates between three positions: (1) the text would refer to
the contemporary situation of the prophet in the eighth century BCE; (2) the
text throws light on the life and time of Jesus the Messiah from Nazareth and
8 For biographical details see A. de Groot, Edelkoort, Albertus Hendrik, in: Biografisch lexi-
con voor de geschiedenis van het Nederlands protestantisme 4, Kampen 1998, 12526.
9 Edelkoort, Micha, 16.
10 Edelkoort, Micha, 16; this view is drenched in a bourgeois ideology that prefers city life
over the countryside, a view that has been challenged by H.W. Wolff, Micah the Moreshite:
The Prophet and his Background, in: J.G. Gammie (ed.), Israelite Wisdom: Theological and
Literary Essays in Honor of Samuel Terrien, Missoula 1978, 7784.
11 Edelkoort, Micha, 16; see also his more scholarly article A.H. Edelkoort, Prophet and
Prophets, OT Studien 5, Leiden 1948, 17989.
12 See, e.g., Edelkoort, Micha, 5257.
16 Becking
(3) the text should be read in light of the Second Coming of Christ.13 Although
the inclusion of the first position was a brave act in those days, Edelkoort offers
a lengthy and unclear balancing act between the confession of the Church and
his personal scholarly insights.
Finally, Edelkoort construes the message of Micah as a reproach to ancient
Israel on two fronts. On the one hand, the Israelites had sinned against God by
accepting non-Mosaic forms of religion and on the other hand the elite of the
country had forsaken the duties of Israels social code towards the personae
miserae of the society: women, widows and the poor.
The commentary by Edelkoortas well as the other three mentioned
abovehas been influential in the Low Countries for quite some time. This is
apparent for instance by designs for sermons in the homiletic yearbook Postille
that was often consulted by ministers from the mainstream of the Reformed
Churches.14
3 Dispute and Discussion: Adam van der Woude
Around 1960 plans were made for a new series of Dutch commentaries on the
Hebrew Bible. This series de Prediking van het Oude Testament was designed
to be informative and scholarly, based with an open eye for the fact that min-
isters had to preach. In general, the Hebrew Bible was no longer seen as just
a preparatio evangelicae. The various authors were invited to explain the texts
in their original historical and cultural settings. Systematic preoccupations are
not supposed to rule over the exegetical enterprise.15 Adam van der Woude
was invited to write the volume on Micah. He more than once pointed out
that during his preparatory research the Book of Micah was an impenetrable
riddle to him. The text contained a set of enigmatic problems and it took Van
der Woude a few years to untie the knots. Around 1970 he published a series
of articles on the interpretation of the Book of Micah, unfolding his views that
are basic to his commentary and which will be discussed in the next three sec-
tions. It should be noted that Van der Woude, much more than scholars from
13 See also his more well-known work De Christusverwachting van het Oude Testament,
Wageningen 1941 (The Expectation of Christ in the Old Testament).
14 See, e.g., the design draft for sermons on Mic. 5:1f. by J.E. Uitman in Postille 13 (196162),
4346; and on Mic. 6:68 by C. van Leeuwen in Postille 15 (196364), 136140.
15 See also the introduction to the series by A. van Selms and A.S. van der Woude in the first
volume that appeared: A. van Selms, Genesis deel I (de Prediking van het Oude Testament),
Nijkerk 1967.
the generation before him, was in constant discussion with scholars from all
over the world.
3.1 A Geographically Ordered Prophecy of Doom

Van der Woudes view on Micah 1 is rather traditional although it deviates
from the exegetical tradition of around 1970. By then the majority of schol-
ars construed Mic. 1 to be composed out of two originally independent pro-
phetic texts. Mic. 1:27 was seen as a prophecy of doom delivered before the
fall of Samaria, while Mic. 1:816 was seen as connected with the events around
Sennacheribs campaign in 701.16 According to Van der Woude, Mic. 1 should
be construed as a literary unit. He interprets the chapter as rooted in a proph-
ecy of doom spoken by the prophet in the precinct of Lachish in the period
before the fall of Samaria. Although he detects various literary genres in the
chapter, this difference in Gattung is not a signal for a literary critical divi-
sion. The various parts of the chaptertheophany, prophecy of doom, word-
plays on place namesare bound by a more general concept. Van der Woude
construes Mic. 1 as composed on the strategy of surprise. The text starts with
a theophany that traditionally would lead to a verdict of guilt on the other
nations. Surprisingly, the first nation mentioned is the Northern Kingdom of
Israel. Targeting the northerners, however, would have pleased the inhabitants
of the Southern Kingdom of Judah. The next target of the prophecy of doom is
Jerusalem, which would have pleased the inhabitants of Lachish, since to them
Jerusalem was a cipher for a wicked and evil city. Eventually, the prophecy of
doom turns to Lachish and surrounding, surprising the audience.17
3.2 A Dispute with Pseudo-Prophets

The second part of the Book of Micah, chapters 25, is well known for its con-
ceptual and compositional problems. In these chapters an interplay between
prophecies of doom and prophecies of salvation can be found, as will be
explained with the help of the following example. The vision of peace in Mic.
4:14 is an example of the beauty of Hebrew poetry that is almost impossible
to render in a translation:
16 See, e.g., G. Fohrer, Micha 1, in: F. Maass (ed.), Das Ferne und Nahe Wort: Festschrift
Leonhard Rost: (BZAW, 105), Berlin/New York 1967, 6580.
17 A.S. van der Woude, Micha I 1016, in: A. Caquot, M. Philonenko (eds), Hommages
Andr Dupont-Sommer, Paris 1971, 34753; A.S. van der Woude, Micha (de Prediking van
het Oude Testament), Nijkerk 1976, 1922.
18 Becking
1 But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house
of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall
be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.
2 And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the
mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will
teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go
forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
3 And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar
off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into
pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither
shall they learn war any more.
4 But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and
none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath
spoken it.18
One of the main problems in the interpretation of Mic. 25 comes to the fore
when comparing these beautiful lines of hope with the final words of the pre-
vious chapter. Mic. 3:12 contains a fierce prophecy of doom:
Zion will be ploughed like a field,

Jerusalem will become a pile of ruins.
Mic. 4:14 is a vision full of hope with tones of peace and welfare. Mic. 3:12 can
be seen as an example of the end of time, foreshadowing doom and anxiety;
here the exile equals the eschaton, while Mic. 4:14 is written in the language
of a consoling perspective of a salvific eschaton. This is just one example of
the enigmatic alternation of the themes of hope and doom in Micah. This
interchange has been interpreted in different ways.
The classical, nineteenth-century exegesis and its aftermath have con-
structed a literary-critical or redaction-historical solution, as has been done
for various other places in the prophets where the same problem occurs.
Wellhausen has characterized this redaction in his dictum that these later addi-
tions offered Rosen und Lavendel statt Blut und Eisen.19 In this view, Micah is
seen as an eighth-century prophet of doomcompare Jeremiah 26but dur-
ing or after the Babylonian exile the traditions relating to this prophet were
18 Micha 4:14, KJV.

19 J. Wellhausen, Die kleine Propheten bersetzt und erklrt, Berlin 41963, 96.
augmented with optimistic phrases borrowed from the school of Deutero-

Isaiah.20 Other scholars had read Micah, or at least Mic. 25 as a coherent text.21
Van der Woude elaborated an ingenious theory.22 In his opinion, Mic. 25
contains the text of a dialogue between the pessimistic prophet and some opti-
mistic pseudo-prophets. As is well known, there are striking similarities with
this text in Mic. 4 and Isa. 2. Scholarly discussion on this point had not reached
a consensus around 1970, although there was a preference to see the Isaianic
version as authentic. Van der Woude presented the view that the optimistic
opponents of Micah are quoting Isaiah as an objection against Micahs proph-
ecy of doom. Their argument would have been: You might prophesy doom
and exile; the great prophet Isaiah, however, has already said something else.23
Van der Woudes view is attractive to some degree, especially since he is point-
ing to a very early example of abusing Scripture by quoting it literarily. Next to
that his proposal is coherent with his solution of the doom-salvation dichot-
omy in Mic. 25. Although his view has been adopted by some,24 later scholar-
ship abroad as well as in the Low Countries has challenged his position.
3.3 A Northern Micah

Van der Woudes view on Mic. 67 is very intriguing. It has long been
noticed that the language and the theology of the final two chapters of
the Book of Micah differ from the preceding ones. Vriezen, for instance,
hinted at some parallelisms between Mic. 67 and the Book of Hoseaa
20 Wellhausen, Die kleine Propheten 14243. See also, from the era before Van der Woudes
publications on Micah, J. Jeremias, Die Deutung der Gerichtsworte Michas in der
Exilszeit, ZAW 83 (1971), 33054.
21 E.g. the more traditional Dutch commentaries mentioned above.
22 A.S. van der Woude, Micah in Dispute with the Pseudo-Prophets, VT 19 (1969), 24460;
Van der Woude, Micha, 61192.
23 Van der Woude, Micah in Dispute with the Pseudo-Prophets; A.S. van der Woude,
Micah IV 15: An Instance of the Pseudoprophets Quoting Isaiah, in: M.A. Beek et al.
(eds), Symbolae Biblicae et Mesopotamicae, F.M.Th. de Liagre Bhl Dedicatae (Studia
Francisci Scholten Memoriae Dedicata, 4), Leiden 1973, 396402; Van der Woude, Micha,
12532.
24 In the later editions of Vriezens introduction (see n. 1); by T.A. Boogaart, Reflections on
Restoration: A Study on Prophecies in Micah and Isaiah about the Restoration of Northern
Israel (Diss., Groningen 1981), 4988; J.G. Strydom, Micah, Anti-Micah and Deutero-Micah:
A critical discussion with A S van der Woude (Diss., Pretoria 1988) 12757; and by the Frisian
translation of the Bible: Nije Fryske Bibeloersetting, Amsterdam, Boxtel 1978.Van der
Woude was born in the Dutch province of Fryslan and was on the advisory board for this
translation.
20 Becking
northern prophet.25 This observation had led to two positions regarding the
emergence of Mic. 67. Some scholars ascribed (parts of) Mic. 6:17:7 to the
author of Mic. 15.26 Others argue that the two chapters were added to
the Micah-corpus in exilic or post-exilic times.27
Van der Woude opts for a different solution. In his view, Mic. 67 was writ-
ten by a prophet by the name of Micah. This Deutero-Micah prophesied in
the Northern Kingdom about ten years before Micah of Moreshet-Gad.28 The
message of this prophet concurs with that of other Northern Prophets and
with the proto-deuteronomistic theology. Religious and social trespasses
are vehemently condemned. At the same time the more homiletic side of
the text offers signs of hope to be given by the God of election and covenant.
In fact, Van der Woude is reviving an old exegetical tradition. Earlier, scholars
like Burkitt, Eissfeldt, and Willis had uttered comparable thoughts.29 Van der
Woude, however, substantiates this position with a range of seven arguments.
Van der Woudes view on Mic. 67 has not been taken over by many scholars.
This might be due to the fact that relatively soon after the completion of his
commentary, the redaktionsgeschichtliche Welle with a focus on the emergence
of the Dodekapropheton as one book became dominant.
4 A Numerological Analysis: Cas Labuschagne
Cas Labuschagnewho worked together with Adam van der Woude in

Groningenis of the opinion that Biblical texts are based on numerological
structures.30 Texts are built in blocks of mainly 17 or 26 words. Labuschagne
25 For instance by Th.C. Vriezen in Vriezen, Van der Woude, De literatuur van Oud-Isral,
41973, 250.
26 E.g. J. Jeremias, Die Deutung der Gerichtsworte Michas in der Exilszeit, ZAW 83 (1971),
330354; Vriezen, Van der Woude, Literatuur van Oud-Isral, 41973, 25052.
27 E.g. Th. Lescow, Redaktionsgeschichtliche Analyse von Micha 67, ZAW 84 (1972),
182212; I. Willi-Plein, Vorformen der Schriftexegese innerhalb des Alten Testaments:
Untersuchungen zum literarischen Werden der auf Amos, Hosea und Micha zurckgehen-
den Bcher im hebrischen Zwlfprophetenbuch (BZAW, 123), Berlin/New York 1971, 178.
28 A.S. van der Woude, Deutero Micha: Ein Prophet aus Nord Israel, NedThT 25 (1971), 365
378; Van der Woude, Micha, 19599.
29 F.C. Burkitt, Micah 6 and 7 a Northern Prophecy, JBL 45 (1926), 15961; O. Eissfeldt, Ein
Psalm aus Nord-Israel. Micha 7, 720, ZDMG 112 (1962), 25968; J.T. Willis, A Reapplied
Prophetic Hope Oracle, in: P.A.H. de Boer (ed.), Studies on Prophecy (VTS, 26), Leiden 1974,
6476.
30 For an introduction see C.J. Labuschagne, Numerical Secrets of the Bible: Rediscovering the
Bible Codes, North Richland Hills 2000.
also looks at the distribution of words in verses before and after the atna, in
main clauses and subordinated clauses, in narrative and direct speech. In his
calculations he often comes across the numbers that in Jewish tradition stand
for the holy name of God.
As for the Book of Micah, Labuschagne published an article that is often
overlooked on the numerological composition of this prophetic book.31
He detects a menorah-structure in the Book of Micah with ch. 4 as its cen-
tre. The unit Mic. 4:1114 contains 51 words, which is three times 17. The result
of the analysis of other units does not fit that smoothly with Labuschagnes
ideas. Although his work has not found wide recognition or acceptance, His
approach is unique and remarkable.
5 Wellhausen Redivivus: Jan A. Wagenaar
In 2001, Jan Wagenaar published a revision of his hitherto unpublished Utrecht

dissertation on the composition of Mic. 25.32 In this work he tackles the prob-
lem of the enigmatic alternation of the themes of hope and doom in Micah.
This interchange has been interpreted in different ways which are presented in
Wagenaars status questionis.33
Next to Wellhausens literary-critical or redaction-historical solution34
there was the attempt to read Micah, or at least Mic. 25, as a coherent text.35
31 C.J. Labuschagne, Opmerkelijke compositietechnieken in het Boek Micha, in: F. Garca

Martnez et al. (eds), Profeten en profetische geschriften, Kampen, Nijkerk 1985, 110116.
The publication is missing in the otherwise abundant bibliography in F.I. Andersen and
D.N. Freedman, Micah: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (AB, 24E),
New York 2000.
32 J.A. Wagenaar, Judgment and Salvation: The Composition and Redaction of Micah 25
(VTS, 85), Leiden 2001; the Dutch original was only available in a limited edition: Oordeel
en heil: Een onderzoek naar samenhang tussen de heils- en onheilsprofetien in Micha 25
(PhD Utrecht), 1995.
33 Wagenaar, Judgment and Salvation, 645. In the following footnotes I will only refer to
publications that were available before Wagenaars monograph.
34 Wellhausen, Die kleine Propheten, 14243. This view was adopted by, e.g. Jeremias,
Die Deutung der Gerichtsworte Michas, 33054; J.L. Mays, Micah (OTL), London 1976;
T. Collins, The Mantle of Elijah: The Redaction Criticism of the Prophetic Books (Biblical
Seminar, 20), Sheffield 1993, 7273; W. McKane, The Book of Micah: Introduction and
Commentary (ICC), Edinburgh 1998, 1719; R. Kessler, Micha (HThKAT), Freiburg 1999,
4147.
35 E.g. D.G. Hagstrom, The Coherence of the Book of Micah: A Literary Analysis (SBLDS, 89),
Atlanta 1988; H. Utzschneider, Michas Reise in die Zeit: Studien zum Drama als Genre
der prophetischen Literatur des Alten Testaments (SBS, 180), Stuttgart 1999, 15264;
22 Becking
According to Wagenaar, this approach fails to explain coherently the fissures

in Mic. 25. The third positionVan der Woudes dialogue modelhas been
set out above.36 This model, too, is assessed by Wagenaar as containing a set of
flaws and misinterpretations.
After the introduction, Wagenaar presents a fresh translation of Mic. 25.
This translation is sustained by a meticulously thorough philological commen-
tary in which the author shows his grammatical expertise and his ability to
argue with the versions.37 This section is full of detailed exegetical innovations
of which I will only give two examples. He convincingly argues that the tradi-
tional rendition of the noun et as ploughshare is inadequate. A translation of
et with hoe is much more appropriate.38 Elaborating on a suggestion made
by Kevin Cathcart,39 Wagenaar proposes to vocalise the word rym in Mic. 5:4
(ET 5) not as rom, but as rm and translate: we will raise against him seven
evils (i.e. spirits), which is appropriate in the literary context and in accord
with the idea expressed in Assyrian incantations in which seven demons were
stirred up against invaders.40
In his final chapter, Wagenaar offers a very detailed literary-critical analysis
of Mic. 25.41 In his reading of the various sub-units two methods go hand
in hand, since he combines the traditional Literarkritik with a keen eye for
form-critical observations. He arrives at the following conclusions.42 The first
draft of Mic. 25 was composed in late pre-exilic times by disciples of the
prophet. They produced the core of Mic. 23, mainly the prophecies of doom.
In early exilic times, circles close to Jeremiah added a few elements in 23 and
enlarged the composition with 4:910, 14 and 5:913. In late exilic times, writ-
ers from the school of Ezekiel added 2:12; 3:8*; 4:67a, 8 and 5:14a. The first
layer containing elements of hope were added by Isaianic circles in the early
post-exilic age (esp. 4:15). With a few later glosses and the insertion of Mic. 1;
67 the composition was completed in the Persian Period. This implies that
the present Book of Micah should be seen as the final product of a complex
redaction-historical process. In line with Wellhausen, Wagenaar offers a
C.J. Dempsey, Micah 23: Literary Artistry, Ethical Message, and Some Considerations
About the Image of Yahweh and Micah, JSOT 85 (1999), 11728; J.R. Wood, Speech and
Action in Micahs Prophecy, CBQ 62 (2000), 64562.
36 See 3.2.
37 Wagenaar, Judgment and Salvation, 49201.
38 See Wagenaar, Judgment and Salvation, 13839.
39 K.J. Cathcart, Notes on Micah 5, 45, Biblica (1968), 51114.
42 See the survey: Wagenaar, Judgment and Salvation, 32728.
solution to the problem of the enigmatic alternation of the themes of hope

and doom in Micah. However, he fails in arguing why these elements of hope
were included exactly where they are now.
6 A Helpful Tool: Adri van der Wal
When the Personal Computer reached the scholarly world of humanities

around 1980, Eep Talstra working at the Free University of Amsterdam was far-
sighted with regard to the application of this technology for Biblical Studies.
This is not the place to write the history of what now is the Eep Talstra Centre
for Bible and Computer. In the framework of this article, I will only refer to
an early fruit of this research. In 1990 Adri van der Wal published a valuable
bibliographical tool prepared with assistance of a computer. He collected and
selected all relevant publications on the Book of Micah.43 With the present
strong search engines on the internet, bibliographical features can all too eas-
ily be connected. 25 years ago, tools like Van der Wals bibliography were wel-
comed as an important step forward.
7 Die Redaktionsgeschichtliche Welle or the Role of Micah in the

Growth of the Dodekapropheton
Redaktionsgeschichtliche research on Biblical texts started in 1956 with

the publication by Willi Marxsen of his book on Mark as the author of that
gospel.44 It took a few years before the method became an accepted tool in
Old Testament scholarship.45 The method aims at analysing the various redac-
tional stages of a composition looking for the way in which the redactor reap-
plied existing traditions to a changed situation. One of the first important
fruits on this new branch of scholarship was the analysis by Walter Dietrich
of the redactional growth of the Book of Kings.46
43 A.J.O. van der Wal, Micah: a classified bibliography, Amsterdam 1990.

44 W. Marxsen, Der Evangelist Markus. Studien zur Redaktionsgeschichte des Evangeliums
(FRLANT 67), Gttingen 1956.
45 See R.G. Kratz, O. Merk, Redaktionsgeschichte/Redaktionskritik I. Altes Testament II.
Neues Testament, TRE 28 (1997), 367378.378384.
46 W. Dietrich, Prophetie und Geschichte: Eine redaktionsgeschichtliche Untersuchung zum
deuteronomistischen Geschichtswerk (FRLANT, 108), Gttingen 1972.
24 Becking
Around 1990 the method was adopted by scholars working on the Book of
the XII Minor Prophets. James Nogalski can be praised for being a pioneer
in this approach. In his monographs he argued for the presence of similarly
phrased small building blocks at the end of one prophetic book and at the
beginning of the next. This feature is then explained by the theory that, start-
ing in the exilic period, the books of the minor prophets were collected and
redactionally connected.47 Ten years later a second wave of studies on the
emergence and compilation of the Book of the XII Minor Prophets. It is not
within the aim of this article to describe the developments in this area of
research in full detail.
In the twenty-first century a second wave of the redaktionsgeschichtliche
approach to the composition and emergence of the Book of the XII Minor
Prophets arose. These studies propose an even more complicated redactional
process behind the present textual form of the Dodekapropheton. This is not
the place to discuss all these proposals in detail.48
It is remarkable that this branch of research did not find many echoes
in studies on Micah from the Low Countries. There are only two publica-
tions to be mentioned here. In an interesting article, Stefan Paas makes the
following observations.49 He remarks that in recent research a consensus
seems to have been reached regarding the redactional and theological unity
of the Dodekapropheton. Despite weaker points in the arguments and some
forms of criticismespecially on the specificity of the prophetic Books
47 J.L. Nogalski, Literary Precursors to the Book of the Twelve (BZAW, 217), Berlin/New York
1993; J.L. Nogalski, Redactional Processes in the Book of the Twelve (BZAW, 218), Berlin/New
York 1993. See also A. Schart, Die Entstehung des Zwlfprophetenbuchs: Neubearbeitungen
von Amos im Rahmen schriftenbergreifender Redaktionsprozesse (BZAW, 260), Berlin/
New York 1998.
48 See, e.g., J. Whrle, Die frhen Sammlungen des Zwlfprophetenbuches: Entstehung
und Komposition (BZAW, 360), Berlin/New York 2006; J. Whrle, Der Abschluss des
Zwlfprophetenbuches: buchbergreifende Redaktionsprozesse in den spten Sammlungen
(BZAW, 389), Berlin/New York 2008; A.C. Hagedorn, Die Anderen im Spiegel: Israels
Auseinandersetzung mit den Vlkern in den Bchern Nahum, Zefanja, Obadja und Joel
(BZAW, 414), Berlin/New York 2012; B.M. Zapff, The Book of Micahthe Theological
Center of the Book of the Twelve, in: R. Albertz et al. (eds), Perspectives on the Formation
of the Book of the Twelve: Methodological Foundations-Redactional Processes-Historical
Insights (BZAW, 433), Berlin/New York 2012, 12940; J.T. LeCureux, The Thematic Unity of
the Book of the Twelve (HBM, 41), Sheffield 2012.
49 S. Paas, Bookends Themes? Maleachi, Hosea en het Boek van de Twaalf, NedTheolTs 58
(2004), 117.
under considerationthe redaktionsgeschichtliche thesis is construed as self-

evident by its adherents. Paas argues that if the thesis were correct, then the-
matic and verbal relations between the beginning of the Dodekapropheton
must be detectable. He then discusses three possibilitiesdivine love; divine
creation and the marriage metaphorand concludes that the basic redac-
tional unity of the Dodekapropheton is far from self-evident. Paas does not
pay much attention to the Book of Micah. Besides that, it would be interesting
whether his argument could stand after the second more sophisticated wave
of the redaktionsgeschichtliche approach. In his dissertation defended at the
Radboud University in Nijmegen, C.F.M. van den Hout focuses on the Book
of Zechariah. He presents a mild form of criticism towards the redaktions
geschichtliche approach, but does not refer to the Book of Micah.50
8 Cantos and Cola: Johannes C. de Moor
In studies of and commentaries on the Book of Micah, the division of the

textual units is often haphazard. A division between of these units is often
made on the basis of thesupposedcontents. Adam van der Woude delim-
its the paragraphs in Mic. 25 according to the two voices he has detected in
the dialogue.51 Cas Labuschagne supposes that a careful numerological analy-
sis will lead to the correct division of the smaller units within the menorah-
structure.52 Jan Wagenaar organizes the building blocks of the composition
according to the various Gattungen he supposed to be present in Micah.53
Such approaches led to the absence of a consensus regarding the delimitation
of the Book of Micah.
In 1979 Josef Oesch published a ground-breaking monograph on an until
then under-exposed feature of the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible.54 Oesch
collected the data on the Petuchot and Setumot, presenting them as the reflec-
tions of an age-old system of paragraphing the text of the Hebrew Bible. Some
twenty years later, the Pericope-group reformulated his work in a new research
50 C.F.M. van den Hout, Struikelblokken op de weg naar restauratie: Het boek Zacharia als
dramatische tekst (PhD Nijmegen), Maastricht 2009.
51 Van der Woude, Micha, 61192.
52 Labuschagne, Opmerkelijke compositietechnieken
53 Wagenaar, Judgment and Salvation.
54 J. Oesch, Petucha und Setuma: Untersuchungen zu einer uberlieferten Gliederung im
hebrischen Text des Alten Testaments (OBO, 27), Gttingen/Freiburg 1979.
26 Becking
strategy. This groupwith Marjo Korpel as its pivotis collecting data from
ancient manuscripts (mainly Hebrew, Greek, Syriac, Latin) on the delimitation
of the Books of the Bible. In doing so, a more firm basis for the division into tex-
tual units is hoped to be found. Within the framework of this project, Johannes
de Moor has published a set of articles on the Book of Micah.55 In these essays
he reached a series of interesting results of which I will only mention a few.
In one of these articles, De Moor addresses the often debated issue of the
proper subdivision of Mic. 2:113.56 On the basis of the analysis of more than
100 ancient Hebrew manuscripts, along with a smaller number of manuscripts
from several major ancient versions, De Moor arrives at a new understanding
of the colometry as well as of the paragraphing of Mic. 2. As for the colometry,
he states that the manuscript evidence indicates that the colometric text divi-
sions in the Masoretic text are to be preferred.57 As for its units, Mic. 2 can best
be delimited into three sub-cantos: Mic. 2:15, 611, 1213.58 I will give a graphic
representation of his findings:
The Structure of Micah 2

Sub-cantos Canticles: Strophes:
A: 15 A.i 12 A.i.1 1
A.ii 3 A.l.2 2
A.iii 45 A.ii.1 3
A.iii.1 4
A.iii.2 5
55 J.C. de Moor is emeritus professor for Semitic Languages of theno longer existing
Theological University at Kampen. He supervised the dissertation of Marjo Korpel
and together with her published The Structure of Classical Hebrew Poetry: Isaiah 4055
(OTS, 41), Leiden 1998. The book can be seen as a way-station between the monograph of
Oesch and the work of the Pericope group. On Micah De Moor has published: J.C. de Moor,
Unit Division in the Peshitta of Micah, JAB 1 (1999), 225247; Micah 7: 113: The Lament
of a Disillusioned Prophet, in: M. Korpel, J. Oesch (eds), Delimitation Criticism: A New
Tool in Biblical Scholarship (Pericope, 1), Assen 2000, 14996; The Structure of Micah 2:
113: The Contribution of the Ancient Witnesses, in: M. Korpel, J. Oesch (eds), Studies in
Scriptural Unit Division (Pericope, 3), Assen 2002, 90120; The Structure of Micah 6 in the
Light of Ancient Delimitations, in: M. Korpel, J. Oesch (eds), Layout Markers in Biblical
Manuscripts and Ugaritic Tablets (Pericope, 5), Assen 2005, 78113.
56 De Moor, The Structure of Micah 2: 113.
57 De Moor, The Structure of Micah 2: 113, 99.
The Structure of Micah 2

Sub-cantos Canticles: Strophes:
B: 611 B.i 67 B.i.1 6

B.ii 89 B.i.2 7
B.iii 1011 B.ii.1 8
B.ii.2 9
B.iii.1 10
B.iii.2 11
C: 1213 C.i 1213 C.i.1 12
C.i.2 13
With regard to the other chapters from the Book of Micah, De Moors research
runs along the same lines, presenting abundant evidence for a clear para-
graphing of the sections discussed. I will not display this material in full.
I would like to refer to one interesting detail with regard to Mic. 7:10. Gunkel
had argued that the speaking I of Mic. 7:710 must have been the female
personification of Zion or Jerusalem.59 A main argument of Gunkel had been
the feminine suffix in elohyik in the bitter question of the enemies to the
prophet in 7:10: Where is YHWH, your God?. On the basis of the evidence from
the ancient manuscript, De Moor arrived at the view that the speaking voices
in Mic. 7:16 and 710 must have been the same person.60 Since it is obvious
that the speaking voice in 16 is a male, the word elohyik presents a prob-
lem. Already in 1963, De Moor had published his discovery that in two Hebrew
manuscripts the form elohk is attested, with a masculine suffix.61 Research
on numerous Hebrew manuscripts made it clear that about 35% of them read
the form with a masculine suffix.62 This, by implication, weakens the position
of Gunkel.
59 H. Gunkel, Der Micha-Schlu. Zur Einfhrung in die literaturgeschichtliche Arbeit am

AT, ZS 2 (1924), 145178.
60 De Moor, Micah 7: 113.
61 J.C. de Moor, Handschriften van de Hebreeuwse Bijbel, in: Eeuwfeest-almanak van het
Corpus Studiosorum in Academia Campensis Fides Quaerit Intellectum 66, Kampen
1963, 143.
62 De Moor, Micah 7: 113, 167.
28 Becking
Although De Moor notes that with regard to paragraphing, the testimony

of the ancient manuscripts cannot be accepted uncritically. One must always
weigh the total available evidence very carefully,63 his work is very helpful for
the next step in the interpretation of the Book of Micah.
9 Perspectives
Not all the problems in the intriguing but enigmatic Book of Micah have been
solved by scholars from the Low Countries. In my view, two important prob-
lems remain unsolved:
1. The alternation of the themes of hope and doom in Mic. 25;

2. The status of Mic. 67 in connection with the other chapters.
It seems clear that future research on Micahin the Low Countries and else-
where in the exegetical universeshould be based on the delimitation into
smaller units as put forward by the research of the Pericope-group.
As for the first problem, I think that a way out of the dilemma could be
found by elaborating on the proposal I made a few years ago. Reading Mic. 25
in the context of Neo-Assyrian prophecies and the so-called Akkadian liter-
ary predictive texts, a pattern could be detected.64 In this pattern of prophetic
futurology, a distinction is to be made between the immediate future and the
times far ahead. History is conceptualized as the interplay of good times and
bad times. After the bad times of the immediate future, prosperous times lay
ahead. Phrased differently: the period of doom is only an intermediate phase
on the way to real salvation.
As for the second problem, it is clear that Mic. 67 presents a different voice
from Mic. 1 and 25. Van der Woudes literary-critical division between 15 and

64 For the Neo-Assyrian prophecies see M. Nissinen, Prophets and Prophecy in the Ancient
Near East, with contributions by C.L. Seow and R.K. Ritner (SBLWAW, 12), Atlanta
2003; the literary predictive texts have been studied by T. Longman, Fictional Akkadian
Autobiography: A Generic and Comparative Study, Winona Lake 1991; for my proposal see
B. Becking, Expectations about the End of Time in the Hebrew Bible: Do they exist?, in:
C. Rowland, J. Barton (eds.), Apocalypticism in History and Tradition (JSP Sup, 43),
Sheffield 2002, 4459; Micah in Neo-Assyrian Light, in: R.P. Gordon, H.M. Barstad (eds),
Thus speaks Ishtar of Arbela: Prophecy in Israel, Assyria, and Egypt in the Neo-Assyrian
Period, Winona Lake 2013, 111128.
67 is still valid,65 but I do not share his conclusion that Deutero-Micah should
be depicted as a prophet from Northern Israel living before the fall of Samaria.
This date in the eighth century is difficult to substantiate. I would propose to
read these chapters as a pseudepigraphic text against a different historical
background, namely that of the time of King Josiah. This date can be substan-
tiated with a reference to the conceptual parallels with Assyrian texts from the
seventh century.66 The text joins in the chorus of hope for the restoration of
the Davidic dream of unity and for the return of the exiled Samarians.
Much has been done and much more needs to be done to unveil the words
of a prophetic book that bequeathed the world the moral guidance to do
justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?67
65 Van der Woude, Deutero-Micha.

66 Compare for instance, the futility clauses in Mic. 6:1415 with a line in the Annals of
Sennacherib (Rassam Cylinder IX:6567; M. Streck, Assurbanipal und die letzten assyr-
ischen Knige bis zum Untergange Ninivehs, [VAB VII]; Leipzig 1916, 27985); a curse in the
Loyalty Oaths of Esarhaddon (VTE = SAA II 6:42930; see H.U. Steymans, Deuteronomium
28 und die ad zur Thronfolgeregelung Asarhaddons: Segen und Fluch im Alten Orient und
in Israel [OBO, 145], Freiburg/Gttingen 1995, 10105); and the remarks on an early Neo-
Babylonian kudurru (V. R. 56 = BBS, VI ii 5160).
67 Mic. 6:8; ESV; and see the Dutch saying: Geen schoner spreuken meer van krachtdan
Micha 6 en wel vers acht (No proverb is more beautiful and powerful than Micah 6
verse 8).
chapter 3
Revelation, History and Religious Plurality:

Old Testament Studies from the Apeldoorn /
Kampen Reformed Perspective
Koert van Bekkum and Eric Peels
1 Introduction
The foundation of the Oudtestamentische Werkgezelschap in 1939 clearly pre-

supposed the framework of the so-called duplex ordo in the study of theol-
ogy and religious studies in the Netherlands, as it was organized by the Law
of Higher Education in 1876. This law made a clear distinction between the-
ology as a scholarly discipline in terms of the study of religion and theology
as education by the church, which was considered to be less objective from
a scholarly point of view. In particular, the Leiden professor P.A.H. de Boer
characterized the 19th century CE decision to separate the scholarly study of
the Old Testament from the reading of the Scriptures by the church as a deliv-
erance from Egypt. He was deeply involved in the study of the ancient Israelite
personal faith and religious experience as expressed in the Old Testament.
At the same time De Boer insisted that in order to remain objective, scholarly
research of these areas should refrain from theological evaluation and religious
judgments.1 The tools of an Old Testament scholar should be linguistic and
historical, not theological. Accordingly, confessional issues could in his view
not be discussed in the Oudtestamentische Werkgezelschap. His colleague in
Groningen (and later Utrecht), Th.C. Vriezen, had a much more moderate view
of the implications of the duplex ordo.2 Moreover, a confessional approach
1 P.A.H. de Boer, P.S. van Koningsveld, Honderd jaar Uit Egypte, Leiden 1979. P.A.H. de Boer,
Voorbede in het Oude Testament (OTS, 3), Leiden 1943. Cf. also the Leiden PhD thesis under
supervision of De Boer by Henk J. Franken, The Mystical Communion with JHWH in the Book
of Psalms, Leiden 1954.
2 See his Th.C. Vriezen, Hoofdlijnen der theologie van het Oude Testament, Wageningen:
Veenman 1949. Cf. A.S. van der Woude, Th.C. Vriezentheoloog en oudtestamenticus: zijn
bijdrage aan de oudtestamentische wetenschap, in: Meindert Dijkstra, Karel Vriezen (eds),
Hervormd theoloog en oudtestamenticus. Studies over theologie van het Oude Testament, bij-
belse theologie en godsdienst van Oud-Isral bij de honderdste geboortedag van Th.C. Vriezen,
Kampen 1999, 48.

Revelation, History and Religious Plurality 31
of the Old Testament was still in use in Roman Catholic theological educa-
tion and at the seminaries of the Reformed Churches, the Reformed Churches
(liberated) and the Christian Reformed Churches. Nevertheless, the possibility
of doing scholarly research in Biblical Studies from a confessional standpoint
remained a somewhat contested enterprise.
This article concentrates on a small part of confessional Old Testament
studies in the Netherlands, in particular at the Theological University of
Apeldoorn and the Theological University of Kampen (Broederweg), which
existed besides the other institution in Kampen (Oudestraat) since 1945, due
to a split in the Reformed Churches in 1944. The tradition of Old Testament
research at these institutions will be described in short, while it will also be
sketched how full participation in general scholarly debate increasingly took
place since the 1990s due to two common research programmes of these insti-
tutions, after they had decided to join forces in doing theological research.
A third section presents a characterization of this strand of Old Testament
scholarship by offering an overview of the main results of these two research
programs. Finally, a fourth section evaluates the position of this type of study
of the Old Testament in relation to other developments in the field.
2 History and Research Programs
Already from the beginning, the Dutch Reformed Churches of the Secession of
1834 and the so-called Doleantie of 1886 were convinced that ministers had to
be trained academically. In addition, the Neo-Calvinist tradition of Abraham
Kuyper and Herman Bavinck criticised the dominant role of human reason
in modern theology and maintainedas postmodernists avant la lettre
that all scholarly research takes place in a framework of unproven assump-
tions and convictions functioning as control beliefs in weighing up old and
new theories.3 At the same time, Kuyper and Bavinck offered a view of
Scripture that was more dynamic than previous theories of inspiration in the
Reformed tradition, taking into consideration the developments in the study
of history in the 19th century. Accordingly, it became the ambition to develop
a distinct Reformed professional approach to biblical studies. This actually
happened during the first decades of the 20th century. Yet, the main focus
of the study of the Old Testament in the Department of Theology at the Free
3 See e.g. A. Kuyper, Calvinism. Six Stone-Lectures, Amsterdam 1899; H. Bavinck, Modernisme en
orthodoxie, Kampen 1911. For a presentation of this view of knowledge in the present context,
see e.g. N.P. Wolterstorff, Reason within the Bounds of Religion, Grand Rapids, MI 1993.
32 van Bekkum and Peels
University in Amsterdam (1880) and in the seminaries in Kampen (1854) and

Apeldoorn (1919)4 was on publishing for people in the pew and on Bible trans-
lation for the NBG-translation (1951). As a result, before the Second World War
only a few biblical scholars actively participated in general scholarly debate.5
This changed only gradually in the decades after 1945 at the Theologische
Hogeschool in Kampen (Oudestraat) and Free University in Amsterdam.6
In fact, the Theologische School in Apeldoorn and the new seminary at the
Kampen Broederweg were even more isolated. The latter due to its ecclesio-
logical convictions and its limited human resources just after the schism in the
Reformed Churches in the Netherlands, and the former because of its hum-
ble roots in churches of farmers and working-class people and its tradition of
theological pietism.
Remarkably, an Old Testament professor from Apeldoorn, B.J. Oosterhoff
(19091996), was the first orthodox Reformed scholar to be actively involved in
the Oudtestamentische Werkgezelschap. As the only minister in his churches
with a PhD (Utrecht University, 1949), he was inaugurated in Apeldoorn in 1954
with an address on the Old Testament as revelation. In this way, Oosterhoff
made it very clear what he focused on in doing biblical studies. He underlined
this objective during the rest of his life in his ongoing study of the prophets,
in particular of the prophet Jeremiah. At the same time, however, Oosterhoffs
work reflected an open dialogue with contemporary biblical scholarship.
He made a distinction between a wrong, critical reading of Scripture, placing
reason above the Bible, and a legitimate critical examination of the historical
processes and the human ways in which the biblical books came into exis-
tence. This open attitude sometimes raised suspicion and instigated debates,
4 The theological seminary of the Christian Reformed Churches was founded in 1894 in the
Hague, but moved to Apeldoorn in 1919.
5 C.M. van Driel, Fricties in een falanx. Gereformeerde bijbelwetenschap tussen 1890 en 1950,
in: K. van Bekkum et al. (eds), Nieuwe en oude dingen. Schatgraven in de Schrift (Apeldoornse
Studies, 62; TU-Bezinningsreeks, 13), Barneveld 2013, 1334.
6 This regarded e.g. J.L. Koole, N.H. Ridderbos, W.H. Gispen, H.H. Grosheide, K.R. Veenhof,
J.C. de Moor, C. Houtman, H. Leene, E. Noort, J. Renkema, P. van der Lugt, W. van der Meer
and E. Talstra. For a sketch of and debate about the nature of a century of biblical studies at
the Free University Amsterdam and the Theologische University Kampen (Oudestraat), see
H. Leene, Wereldbeeld en geschiedenisbeeldhonderd jaar Oude Testament in het GTT,
and J.S. Vos, Het einde van de gereformeerde exegesebalans van honderd jaar uitleg van
het Nieuwe Testament, in: W. Stoker, H.C. van der Sar (eds), Theologie op de drempel van 2000,
Kampen 1999, 6187, 66135; E. Talstra, Prediking tussen profeten en professionals. Het einde
van de gereformeerde exegese?, GTT 100 (2000), 1830.
even in the contacts of his churches with the Reformed Churches (Liberated).
Yet, Oosterhoff was also deeply respected for his erudition and piety.7
In the meantime, at the Theologische Hogeschool Kampen (Broederweg)
only the lecturer (and later professor) of Semitic languages and cultures, the
Leiden Semitist J.P. Lettinga (1921), appointed in Kampen in 1952, was a mem-
ber of the Oudtestamentische Werkgezelschap. Lettinga was highly respected
for his early publications on the finds at Ugarit, his overview of Canaanite and
Aramaic religions in antiquity, but most of all for his Hebrew grammar, which
became the standard textbook in departments of Theology and Semitics in
the Netherlands and Belgium for several decades.8 He had contact with many
scholars all over the world, but hardly ever visited the OTW-meetings due to his
weak health. The Kampen professors of Old Testament refrained from partici-
pation in the society. B. Holwerda (19091952) was a dynamic and creative bibli-
cal scholar who explored the possibility of writing a PhD under the supervision
of H.H. Rowley at the University of Manchester. He was also attracted and chal-
lenged by the work of J. Wellhausen and W.F. Albright. Unfortunately, he died
at a very young age.9 The artistic scholar H.J. Schilder (19161984) did a masters
in Semitic Languages at the university of Groningen. However, his personality
and the situation in the church prevented him from doing academic research.10
One of his most talented students, H. de Jong (1932), wrote a remarkable
MA thesis on the characteristics of Old Testament biblical narrative in 1966,
that is, long before the ground-breaking studies of, for instance, R. Alter and
7 See e.g. B.J. Oosterhoff, De vreze des Heren in het Oude Testament, Utrecht 1949; idem, Het
openbaringskarakter van het Oude Testament, Alphen a/d Rijn 1954; idem, Israls pro-
feten, Baarn 1962; idem, Hoe lezen wij Genesis 2 en 3? Een hermeneutische studie, Kampen
1972; idem, Jeremia, dl. 12 (Commentaar op het Oude Testament), Kampen 19901993.
Cf. H.G.L. Peels, Prof. dr. B.J. Oosterhoffeen profetisch geleerde, in: H.G.L. Peels
et al., Academische herdenkingen (Apeldoornse Studies, 39), Apeldoorn 1999, 4859;
Van Bekkum et al. (eds), Epiloog, in: Nieuwe en oude dingen, 245246.
8 J.P. Lettinga, Oegarit. Een nieuwe Phoenicische stad uit de oudheid, Den Haag 1948; idem,
De godsdiensten van Kananieten en Aramaers, in: G. van der Leeuw, C.J. Bleeker (eds),
De godsdiensten der wereld, dl. 2, Amsterdam 19563, 308342; idem, Grammatica van het
bijbels Hebreeuws, Leiden 19626, 19768.
9 Cf. G. Harinck (ed.), Holwerda herdacht. Bijdragen over het leven en werk van Benne
Holwerda (19091952), Barneveld 2008.
10 Cf. R. ter Beek, Oudtestamenticus in het nieuwe verbond. In Memoriam prof. drs. H.J.
Schilder, in: Almanak van het Corpus Studiosorum in Academia Campensi Fides Quadrat
Intellectum 19831984, Kampen 1984, 163186.
J.P. Fokkelman. But struggles in the Church frustrated his academic studies.11
As a teacher in the ministerial training of the Nederlands Gereformeerde
Kerken (Dutch Reformed Churches)a small federation of churches being
no longer part of the Reformed Churches (Liberated)he became especially
famous for his creative exegetical contributions to Reformed biblical theol-
ogy. Finally, the unpretentious H.M. Ohmann (19282006) was professor of
Old Testament, first at the Theological College in Hamilton, Ontario, of the
Canadian Reformed Churches (19711981), and then in Kampen (19811993).12
Yet, his master degrees at the Universities of Groningen and Ghent were in
Sanskrit and Indian Studies and academic investigation was not his primary
way of studying the Bible.
The harvest of the erudition, craftsmanship and theological skills of these

generations for academic research took place in the decades since the 1990s,
after H.G.L. Peels and G. Kwakkel had become professors of Old Testament
in respectively Apeldoorn and Kampen (both in 1993), when several other
scholars also obtained positions in these institutes, and especially since both
universities started to cooperate in the area of research.13 Now, all scholars
involved in research became active participants in the Oudtestamentische
Werkgezelschap. Peels and Kwakkel also functioned as President and Secretary
of this society in 20052008. Besides, two common research programmes were
completed.
In the first programme, Historical Processes and Revelation (19992011),
the biblical studies research group of both institutions concentrated on the
relation between the historical-literary dimensions and the religious function
11 Cf. J. Bouma et al. (eds), Verrassend vertrouwd. Een halve eeuw verkondiging en theologie
van Henk de Jong, Franeker 2009.
12 Vgl. G. Kwakkel, In Memoriam Heinrich Marinus Ohmann, De Reformatie 81 (20052006),
470471. Ohmann was also supervisor of C. van Dam, The Urim and Thummim. A Means
of Revelation in Ancient Israel, Winona Lake, IN 1997 (PhD thesis Kampen 1986), and
W. Gugler, Jehu und seine Revolution. Voraussetzungen, Verlauf, Folgen, Kampen 1996 (PhD
thesis, Kampen 1996).
13 W.H. Rose is (Senior) Lecturer in Semitic Languages and Cultures in Kampen since 1995,
and J. Dekker inaugurated in 2014 as Professor of Biblical Studies and Identity on the
Henk de Jong Chair at the Theological University Apeldoorn, after he had taught bibli-
cal studies in the Theologische Studie Begeleiding and the Nederlands Gereformeerde
Predikantenopleiding of his churches since 1998. Since 2012 G. Kwakkel also has a position
as Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew at the Facult Jean Calvin, Aix-en-Provence,
France, while K. van Bekkum got a position as Assistant Professor of Old Testament in
Kampen.
of the biblical texts. It aimed at making a contribution to the exegetical, herme-

neutical and theological exploration of the Old and New Testaments. How is
it possible to do justice to both the historical-literary dimensions and the reli-
gious function of the biblical text in the context of the Church and Christian
faith? This was observed to be a vital question, for a hallmark of Reformed
hermeneutics is that one should do justice to the historical processes in and
behind the biblical text, whilst nonetheless honouring the claims of the texts
revelatory nature. In the programme, both descriptive and interpretative com-
ponents co-existed and complemented each other. Accordingly, scholars asked
questions concerning history and other diachronic aspects, and modern tools
for synchronic interpretation were used in the linguistic, literary and structural
analysis of texts. In addition, they were very much aware that the biblical texts
also make their own truth claims. Therefore, the publications in the programme
consider it worthwhile and imperative to discuss these claims in scholarly
debate, since scholars are more than mere objective observers of textual and
historical data. In this view, the interpretation of Scripture has as its ultimate
goal the exposition of the message, character or proclamation of the biblical
writings. From such a perspective, exploration of the connection between Gods
revelation and specific historical processes aims to contribute to the debate
on the Bibles truth and relevance in a contemporary cultural context.
The second, present programme, which has been running since 2012
with the title Who Is Like You Among the Gods: The One and the Three in
a Pluralistic Context (20122017), presents a more interdisciplinary approach
to biblical studies and systematic theology by examining the uniqueness and
character of YHWH in the context of religious pluralism, with regard to both
the biblical writings themselves and to their meaning for present-day Western
society. According to the Christian faith, both the Scriptures and Christian
doctrine claim that the intimate knowledge of YHWH and of Jesus as Messiah
of Israel and Son of God by the Holy Spirit sets human beings free from the
vicious circle of fate and from the scepticism that is the result of polytheism.
On the other hand, it can be observed that both ancient and recent forms of
religious pluralism contain an aversion to universal claims, because allegedly
these would do injustice to the complexity of the world and in the end lead to
suppression and violence.
The programme engages in reflection on this tension. In the West, the idea
of universal truth as it existed during the Christian era and the period of the
Enlightenment is gradually being exchanged for a new religious pluralism.
Against this background, it is very interesting to see that the prophetic and
apostolic witness as reflected in the biblical texts not only reacted to, but also
exploited the language and images of the venerated polytheistic pantheons
as they functioned from the Late Bronze Age to the Hellenistic and Roman
periods. It is most striking that a similar interaction with contemporary con-
texts can be seen in the formulation of the Christian views of God, Jesus Christ,
and the Holy Spirit. In this interaction, two elements have proved central,
both as identity markers and as definitions of the divine that developed in
various contextual ways, that is, the statement of Gods unique and aniconic
naturethat is, in the first and second commandments (Exod. 20:36), in the
Shema (Deut. 6:4), and in the presentation by the apostles of Jesus Christ of
Nazareth as the Son of God and as the only name by which men can be saved
(Acts 4:12)and in the confession of Gods Trinity in Christian doctrine.
The programme studies this tension and asks important questions concern-
ing this interrelation with the pluralistic context. How is the confession of the
one God to be understood? Furthermore, how can the knowledge of this God
and his liberating interaction with human concepts of the divine contribute
to the understanding and witness of the gospel in the context of the religious
plurality of the 21st century West?
3 Academic Harvest
In what way have these programmes of Reformed Old Testament studies con-
tributed to scholarly research? The results can be divided into six thematic
areas: Former Prophets, Latter Prophets, Psalms, religious plurality, studies on
(problematic features of) the image of God in the Old Testament, and themes
directly related to the biblical aspects of classical Reformed theology.
3.1 Former Prophets and Biblical Historical Narrative

The relation between the literary and diachronic aspects of the biblical books
of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings is still a hotly debated aspect of Old
Testament historiography. On the one hand, synchronic studies revealed that
biblical historical narrative makes use of various kinds of literary and historio-
graphical conventions. On the other hand, new methods explore the growth
of the texts and new studies of non-biblical texts and archaeological mate-
rial present a flood of information related to these biblical books. In particu-
lar, biblical passages containing a whole series of references to realia, such as
ethnographical and geographical entities, can be compared to non-biblical
textual information and to material remains as they have been uncovered in
surveys and excavations.
Interestingly, an independent and methodological sound approach to these
materials in some ways offers the opportunity to break through the circular
reasoning that is unavoidably connected to the traditional historical recon-

struction of the growth of the transmitted text of biblical historical narrative.
The Sisyphean task of studying all types of evidence and of postponing their
interaction as long as possible is not without problems. But this kind of
exploration of, for instance, Joshua 9:113:7, Judges 1, and 1 Kings 4, not only
elucidates the underlying theology and use of sources in these passages, but
also makes it clear that they reflect the realities of the Late Bronze, Iron I and
Iron IIA Southern Levant.14 In a similar way, a thorough study of the literary
qualities of biblical narrative was made in order to elucidate the relationship
between the theological nature and antiquarian intent of these texts.15
3.2 Latter Prophets

Over the last decades, most academic research in Apeldoorn and Kampen has
been devoted to prophets and the prophetic literature in the Old Testament.
This resulted in several general studies providing introductions in prophecy
and the prophetic books and exploring thematic issues, such as the relation
between prophecy and foretelling and the relation between the message of
doom and salvation.16
14 K. van Bekkum, From Conquest to Coexistence: Ideology and Antiquarian Intent in the
Historiography of Israels Settlement in Canaan (CHANE, 45), LeidenBoston 2011 (PhD
thesis, Kampen 2010); idem, Coexistence as Guilt. Iron I Memories in Judges 1, in:
G. Galil et al. (eds), The Ancient Near East in the 12th10th Centuries BCE: Culture and
History (AOAT, 392), Mnster 2012, 525548; idem, Remembering and Claiming Ramesside
Canaan. Historical-topographical Problems and the Ideology of Geography in Joshua
13:17, in: E. Noort (ed.), The Book of Joshua and the Land of Israel (BEThL, 250), Louvain
2012, 347360; idem, The Situation Is More Complicated. Archaeology and Text in the
Historical Reconstruction of the Iron Age IIA Southern Levant, in: E.J. van der Steen et al.
(eds), Exploring the Narrative. Jerusalem and Jordan in the Bronze and Iron Ages: Papers
in Honour of Margreet Steiner (LHB/OTS, 583), LondonNew York 2014, 215244. See also
K. van Bekkum, Het Oude Testament als historisch document. Een verkenning van de
omslag in de visie op de oudtestamentische geschiedschrijving, TR 46 (2003), 328355.
15 G. Begerau, Elia vom Krit zum Jordan: Eine Untersuchung zur literarischen Makrostruktur
und theologischen Intention der Elia-Ahab-Erzhlung (1 Kn 16,29 bis 2 Kn 2,25), Frankfurt
am Main etc. 2008 (PhD Thesis, Apeldoorn 2008); K. van Bekkum For the Word of YHWH
Will Certainly Come True (2 Kgs 13:32). Some Remarks on Reformed Hermeneutics of
Biblical Historical Narrative, in: M. te Velde, G.H. Visscher (eds), Correctly Handling the
Word of Truth: Reformed Hermeneutics Today (Lucerna; CRTS Publications, 1; Wipf and
Stock: Eugene, OR 2014), 116126.
16 H.G.L. Peels, S.D. Snyman (eds), The Lion Has Roared. Theological Themes in the Prophetic
Literature of the Old Testament, Eugene, OR 2012; G. Kwakkel, Als geen ander. De God van
de profeten (TU-Bezinningsreeks, 12), Barneveld 2013. See also G. Kwakkel (ed.), Wonderlijk
With regard to the latter prophets themselves, four books deserve special
attention. First, with regard to the book of Isaiah, two issues were studied in
great detail: the complex history of composition and message of the prophe-
cies against Egypt (Isa. 1820), and the Zion tradition and the way it is used as
a theological motivation for Isaiahs judgment (Isa. 28, cf. 8:18).17 In addition,
other aspects of the book, such as the relation between creation and history
and the servant and the servants in the second and third parts of Isaiah were
treated, always combining a redaction-historical, compositional and theologi-
cal approach.18 Second, Jeremiah is studied by H.G.L. Peels in order to contrib-
ute to the multi-volume commentary on this book by B.J. Oosterhoff in the
series Commentaar op het Oude Testament / Historical Commentary on the
Old Testament.19 This resulted in studies related to the historical background,
composition, literary growth and message of the later chapters of the book, in
particular regarding the multifaceted narratives about Jeremiahs vicissitudes,
which clearly seem to have been written from a Yahwistic view of reality,
and to the prophecies against the nations, which preach YHWHs worldwide
kingship at a time that everything collapses and state that no injustice will go
unpunished.20
gewoon: profeten en profetie in het Oude Testament (TU-Bezinningsreeks, 3), Barneveld

2003.
17 C. Balogh, The Stele of YHWH in Egypt. The Prophecies of Isaiah 1820 Concerning Egypt
and Kush (OTS, 60). Leiden 2011 (PhD thesis, Kampen 2009); J. Dekker, Zions Rock-Solid
Foundations. An Exegetical Study of the Zion Text in Isaiah 28:16 (OTS, 54), Leiden 2007
(PhD thesis, Apeldoorn 2004).
18 J. Dekker, Bind Up the Testimony: Isaiah 8:18 and the Making of the Hebrew Bible, in:
Raymond de Hoop et al. (eds), The Impact of Unit Delimitation on Exegesis (Perikope, 7),
Leiden 2009, 6388; idem, The Servant and the Servants in the Book of Isaiah, Srospataki
Fzetek 16.34 (2012), 3345; idem, Isaiah: Prophet in the Service of the Holy One of Israel
(Isa 139), in: Peels, Snyman (eds), The Lion Has Roared, 4064. See also C. Balogh, A Note
on Isaiah 33,12: or ?, BN 142 (2009), 4752; idem, Blind People, Blind God. The
Composition of Isaiah 29,1524, ZAW 121 (2009), 4869; idem, He Filled Zion with Justice
and Righteousness. The Composition of Isaiah 33, Bib 89 (2008), 477504; J. Dekker,
De grondvesting van de aarde. Schepping en geschiedenis in het boek Jesaja, in: C.N.
van der Ziel, H. Holwerda (eds), Het stralend teken. 60 jaar exegetische vergezichten van
dr. D. Holwerda, Franeker 2010, 2845.
19 See note 7.
20 H.G.L. Peels, Gods Throne in Elam. The Historical Background and Literary Context
of Jeremiah 49:3439, in: J.C. de Moor, H.F. van Rooy (eds), Past, Present Future. The
Deuteronomistic History and the Prophets (OTS, 44), Leiden 2000, 216229; idem, You
Shall Certainly Drink! The Place and Significance of the Oracles Against the Nations in
the Book of Jeremiah, EJT 16 (2007), 8192; idem, The Assassination of Gedaliah (Jer. 40:7
G. Kwakkel paid close attention to aspects of interpretation of the book of

Hosea, a project that will also lead to a commentary on Hosea in the Dutch
series De Brug. Kwakkel is hesitant about the possibility to reach definite
conclusions concerning the literary growth of the book. Instead, he focuses
on analysing how ancient readers might have interpreted the text in its final
form and likewise how modern readers may do so. His contributions study
the specific meaning of words and the metaphorical and non-metaphorical
use of concepts, such as wilderness and land, explore irony, word-play and
textual ambiguity, and evaluate the role of the reader in construing textual
meaning, and gender issues in the light of feminist deconstructions of the rela-
tion of Hosea and Gomer and YHWH and Israel.21 In all these cases, Kwakkel
41:18), in: B.E.H.J. Becking, D.J. Human (eds), Exile and Suffering: A Selection of Papers Read
at the 50th Anniversary Meeting of the Old Testament Society of South Africa OTWSA/OTSSA
Pretoria August 2007 (OTS, 50), Leiden etc. 2009, 83104; idem, Against you, Daughter of
Babylon! A Remarkable Example of Text-Reception in the Oracle of Jeremiah 5051, in:
W.Th. van Peursen and J.W. Dyk (eds), Tradition and Innovation in Biblical Interpretation:
Studies Presented to Professor Eep Talstra on the Occasion of his Sixty-Fifth Birthday
(SSN, 57), Leiden 2011, 3144; idem, Jeremiah, Prophet of Ruin and Ultimate Hope, in:
Peels, Snyman (eds), The Lion Has Roared, 96118; idem, Before Pharaoh seized Gaza.
A Reappraisal of the Date, Function, and Purpose of the Superscription of Jeremiah 47,
VT 63 (2013), 308322; idem, Van hoog tot laag afgestraft. Betekenis en functie van Jeremia
46:2526a, Old Testament Essays 27 (2014), 541552; idem, Le taureau Apis? Le Pharaon
Hophra? Textes nigmatiques dans les oracles de Jrmie contre les nations (Jr. 46:13
26), in: J.-Ph. Bru (sous dir.), Contre vents et mares. Mlanges offerts Pierre Berthoud
et Paul Wells, Aix-en-Provence 2014, 93110. See further: H.G.L. Peels, Biddende bijwon-
ers in Babel. Een exegese van Jeremia 29:47, in: G.C. den Hertog, H.G.L. Peels (eds),
Vreemdelingen en bijwoners. Opstellen rond een urgent theologisch thema (Apeldoornse
Studies, 59), Apeldoorn 2012, 85104; idem, Waarvan akte! De archivering van een bij-
zonder document (Jer. 51:5964), in: G.C. den Hertog et al. (eds), Acta. Bundel ter gele-
genheid van het afscheid van prof. dr. T.M. Hofman als hoogleraar aan de Theologische
Universiteit Apeldoorn, Heerenveen 2015, 253263.
21 G. Kwakkel, But I Passed by Her Fair Neck. On Threshing and Yoking in Hosea 10, 11,
in: F. Postma et al. (eds), The New Things. Eschatology in Old Testament Prophecy. Festschrift
for Henk Leene (ACEBT Supplement Series, 3), Maastricht 2002, 141146; idem, The Land
in the Book of Hosea, in: J. van Ruiten and J.C. de Vos (eds), The Land of Israel in Bible,
History, and Theology. Essays in Honour of Ed Noort (SVT, 124), Leiden etc. 2009, 167181;
idem, Exile in Hosea 9:36: Where and for What Purpose, Becking, Human (eds), Exile
and Suffering, 123145; idem, Paronomasia, Ambiguities and Shifts in Hos 5:12, VT 61
(2011), 603615; idem, Hosea, Prophet of Gods Love, in: Peels, Snyman (eds), The Lion Has
Roared, 2739; idem, The Wilderness in Hosea, in: A. Labahn (ed.), Conceptual Metaphors
in Poetic Texts. Proceedings of the Metaphor Research Group of the European Association of
Biblical Studies in Lincoln 2009 (Perspectives on Hebrew Scriptures and its Contexts, 18),
maintains that the text can still be treated as the main instance generating
meaning, but that at the same time the text often contains ambiguities, and
that the (post)modern readings certainly have contributed to its understand-
ing. With regard to the canonical interpretation of the saying Out of Egypt
I called my son in Hos. 11:1 and Matt. 2:5, Kwakkel even stresses that even
though historical-grammatical exegesis is an indispensable tool, especially in
academic work, scholars should not be afraid to put its value into perspective.22
Finally, W.H. Rose published several studies and a commentary in Dutch
on Zechariah after the completion of his DPhil-thesis on this biblical book at
Oxford University under the supervision of H.G.M. Williamson. Roses contri-
butions offer a comprehensive overview of the historical background, content,
structure, and theology of the book, in which 1:16 and chapters 78 are under-
stood as two panels of a diptych (ch. 16 and 714), and YHWHs global king-
ship is contrasted with a discouraging picture of human leadership.23
3.3 Psalms
A third thematic issue treated in the research group of Old Testament schol-
ars in Kampen and Apeldoorn concentrates on the exploration of theological
themes in the book of the Psalms by offering detailed exegetical work. Kwakkel
studied the assertions in several Psalms with regard to upright behaviour in
his thesis under the supervision of A.S. van der Woude and E. Noort (2001,
Rijksuniversiteit Groningen). His main conclusion was that these expressions
do not reflect self-righteousness, but bear witness to the firm belief that YHWH
must show himself a righteous God, for his righteousness is at stake if he fails
Piscataway, NJ 2013, 133158; idem, The Reader as Focal Point of Biblical Exegesis, in: Te
Velde, Visscher (eds), Correctly Handling the Word of Truth, 215225. See also Kwakkels
earlier contribution, Navolging tot op de walletjes. Hoseas huwelijk volgens Hosea 1, 2 en
3, 1, in: J.H.F. Schaeffer et al. (eds), Nuchtere noodzaak. Ethiek tussen navolging en compro-
mis, Kampen 1997, 117125.
22 G. Kwakkel, Out of Egypt I Have Called My Son. Matthew 2:15 and Hosea 11:1 in Dutch
and American Evangelical Interpretation, in: Van Peursen, Dyk (eds), Tradition and
Innovation in Biblical Interpretation, 171188.
23 W.H. Rose, Zemah and Zerubbabel. Messianic Expectations in the Early Postexilic Period
(JSOTS, 304), Sheffield 2000; W.H. Rose, G.W. Lorein, Geschriften over de Perzische tijd.
Danil, Ezra-Nehemia, Esther, Haggai, Zacharia, Maleachi (De Brug), Heerenveen 2010;
W.H. Rose, Zechariah and the Ambiguity of Kingship in Postexilic Israel in: I.W. Provan,
M.J. Boda (eds), Let us Go up to Zion. Essays in Honour of H.G.M. Williamson on the Occasion
of his Sixty-Fifth Birthday (VTS, 153) Leiden, 2012, 219231; idem, Zechariah, Prophet of the
King of Jerusalem and All the Earth, in: Peels, Snyman (eds), The Lion Has Roared, 183194.
to deliver those who put their trust in him.24 In line with this research, a uni-
fied reading of the somewhat contradictory Psalm 69 reveals that in this prayer
also, the petitioner confesses YHWH as the God in whom he fully trusts. This
view is also underlined more polemically in the metaphor of YHWHs wings,
which occurs frequently in the Psalter and other biblical poetry, for taking ref-
uge in God means that the pretensions of the other gods were rejected.25
3.4 Religious Plurality

This brings us to the fourth theme being studied, the uniqueness of YHWH in
the context of religious pluralism of the ancient Near East. The Old Testament
speaks in various ways about the existence of other gods and does not reflect a
theoretical interest in theories about monotheism and polytheism as such
not even in Isa. 45most probably due to the practical and concrete character
of the biblical books.26 According to a thesis on the Sons of God in Gen. 6:14,
for instance, this passage most probably describes heavenly beings not other-
wise specified and serves as a literary contrasting device, intending to refer to
the origins of idolatry by recounting the transgression of boundaries between
the heavenly and the earthly realm.27 Accordingly, the use of mythical material
24 G. Kwakkel, According to My Righteousness. Upright Behaviour as Grounds for Deliverance

in Psalms 7, 17, 18, 26 and 44 (OTS, 46). Leiden: Brill, 2002. The related topic of Abrams righ-
teousness in Gen. 15:6 was treated in his inaugural lecture De gerechtigheid van Abram.
Exegese van Genesis 15:6 (Kamper bijdragen, 35), Barneveld 1996. See also G. Kwakkel,
Righteousness, in: T. Longman III, P. Enns (eds), Dictionary of the Old Testament. Wisdom,
Poetry & Writings, Downers Grove, IL 2008, 663668; idem, Een koning aan het woord?
Op zoek naar de identiteit van de ik-figuur in de psalmen, in: R. ter Beek et al. (eds), Een
sprekend begin. Opstellen aangeboden aan prof. drs. H.M. Ohmann, Kampen 1993, 94106.
25 G. Kwakkel, Under YHWHs Wings, in: P. van Hecke, A. Labahn (eds), Metaphors in
the Psalms (BEThL, 231), Leuven 2010, 141165; Chr. de Vos, G. Kwakkel, Psalm 69: The
Petitioners Understanding of Himself, His God, and His Enemies, in: B.E.H.J. Becking,
H.G.L. Peels (eds), Psalms and Prayers. Papers Read at the Joint Meeting of the Society
of Old Testament Study and Het Oudtestamentisch Werkgezelschap in Nederland en
Belgi, Apeldoorn August 2006 (OTS, 55), Leiden etc. 2007, 159179. See also H.G.L. Peels,
Sanctorum communio vel idolorum repudiatio? A reconsideration of Psalm 16:3, ZAW 112
(2000), 239251; idem, Het vertrouwensmotief in de Psalmen, in: J.W. Maris, H.G.L. Peels
(eds), Onthullende woorden (Opstellen aangeboden aan prof.dr. J. de Vuyst), Leiden 1997,
116129.
26 G. Kwakkel, Lexistence des autres dieux selon lAncien Testament, in: Bru (sous dir.),
Contre vents et mares, 7992.
27 J.J.T. Doedens, The Sons of God in Genesis 6:14 (PhD thesis 2013, Kampen; to be pub-
lished in the BBR Supplement series). Cf. J.J.T. Doedens, Ancient Israelite Polytheistic
Inscriptions: Was Asherah Viewed as YHWHs Wife?, Srospataki Fzetek 17 (2013), 4154.
in, for instance, Gen. 111 is not to be excluded, just as it is clear that other gods
or heavenly powers are mentioned and their epithets and images are being
used. A detailed study of these passages, however, reveals that knowledge of
this contextual environment is merely exploited in order to underline YHWHs
unique character.28
3.5 Image of God

A final theme that has deserved considerable attention in both research pro-
grammes is that of those aspects in the image of God in the Old Testament
that have given rise to actual and urgent questions both in scholarly and public
debate, in particular with regard to the relation between God and violence.
This already started in 1992 with the dissertation of H.G.L. Peels, under the
supervision of B.J. Oosterhoff, on Gods vengeance in the Old Testament. Peels
concluded that this notion should not be associated with tyrannical anger or
an eruption of rancour, but can be described as the punishing retribution of
God, who in kingly sovereigntyfaithful to his covenantjudging and fight-
ing arises to defend his name, insures the maintenance of his justice, and works
for the liberation of his people.29 In a similar way, a close analysis of words and
detailed exegesis of passages shed further light on related concepts, such as
Gods anger, on utterances of hatred and curse in the Psalms, and on stories of
murder and divine punishment.30 In connection with this theme, monographs
28 Cf. H.G.L. Peels, Een nieuw begin? Focusartikel [n.a.v. Marjo C. Korpel, Johannes C. de
Moor, Adam, Eve, and the Devil. A New Beginning (Hebrew Bible Monographs, 65),
Sheffield: Phoenix Press 2014], Theologia Reformata 57 (2014), 281289; K. van Bekkum
et al. (eds), Playing with Leviathan (forthcoming).
29 H.G.L. Peels, The Vengeance of God. The Meaning of the Root NQM and the Function of the
NQM-texts in the Context of Divine Revelation in the Old Testament (OTS, 31), Leiden 1995,
277. Cf. also Peels inaugural lecture Voed het oud vertrouwen weder. De Godsopenbaring
bij Nahum (Apeldoornse Studies, 28), Kampen 1993.
30 H.G.L. Peels, I hate them with perfect hatred (Psalm 139:2122), TB 59 (2008), 3551;
idem, The Worlds First Murder: Violence and Justice in Genesis 4:116, in: J.T. Fitzgerald
et al. (eds), Animosity, the Bible, and Us. Some European, North American, and South
African Perspectives (Global Perspectives on Biblical Scholarship, 12), Atlanta, GA 2009,
1939. See also H.G.L. Peels, Gelukkig hij die uw kinderen zal grijpen. Hermeneutische en
bijbels-theologische positionering van de oudtestamentische vloekbede, Acta Theologica
22 (2002), 117134; idem, De omkeer van God in het Oude Testament (Apeldoornse Studies,
34), Apeldoorn 1997; idem, God en geweld in het Oude Testament (Apeldoornse Studies,
47), Apeldoorn 2007; idem, Traag tot toorn: een onderbelicht aspect van het oudtestamen-
tische godsbeeld (Apeldoornse Studies, 58), Apeldoorn 2011; idem, In gesprek over het
godsbeeld van het Oude Testament and De God van het Oude Testament: de levende
God, TR 57 (2014), 328330, 422431; idem, Can the Angry God of the Old Testament Be
have been published on the problematic relation between Israel and Ammon
and Moab, the execution of covenantal punishment of the house Saul
(2 Sam. 21), and on the divine commandment to exterminate the Canaanites
(Deut. 7).31 Obviously, it cannot be expected that these publications answer
all the questions with regard to these problematic passages. But a thorough
analysis of the Hebrew text, a conceptual analysis of the Old Testament testi-
mony of these subjects and the examination of its correlation to conceptual
discussions on good and evil and to the answers that are given in Christian
theology are certainly helpful in evaluating these difficult issues. Moreover, the
combination of the classical notions in Reformed theology of tota Scriptura
on the one hand and of the goodness and righteousness of God on the other
creates a fruitful exploration of the abovementioned tensions and prevents the
Old Testament from being ignored too easily.
3.6 Biblical Aspects of Reformed Theology

Besides these themes, scholars from Apeldoorn and Kampen also contrib-
uted to the development of Reformed theology by studying specific subjects
as important in classical Reformed theology from the perspective of modern
biblical studies. This regards, for instance, the question concerning the extent
to which the Old Testament presents itself as a book of revelation,32 Old
Testament hermeneutics and biblical theology from a Christian perspective,33
the Foundation of Assurance and Faith?, Testamentum Imperium 2 (2009) # 107, 125.
See further: K. van Bekkum, Zijn woede duurt een oogwenk, zijn liefde een leven lang
(Ps. 30:6). Over de straffende God van het Oude Testament, TR 57 (2014), 363375;
J. Dekker, Is de God van het Oude Testament gevaarlijk? Bijbels-theologische overwegin-
gen naar aanleiding van Ex. 4,2426, TR 57 (2014), 331342; A. Dubbink, De waarheid zal
u vrijmaken. Wij-zij-denken en de jaloerse God van het Oude Testament, TR 57 (2014),
396404; G. Kwakkel, Do Not Be a Fool. Ecclesiastes 7:1617 on Excessive Righteousness,
in: S. Enghy (ed.), Ki nem szrad Patak. Gyri Istvn tiszteletre, Srospatak 2014, 921.
31 Th. Scheiber, Lots Enkel. Israels Verhltnis zu Moab und Ammon im Alten Testament,
Norderstedt 2007 (PhD thesis, Apeldoorn 2006); J.S. Kim, The Davidic Kingship and Its
Challenges. An Exegetical and Theological Study of 2 Samuel 21:114, Frankfurt am Main
etc. 2007 (PhD thesis, Apeldoorn 2007); A. Versluis, Geen verbond, geen genade. Analyse en
evaluatie van het gebod om de Kananieten uit te roeien (Deuteronomium 7), Zoetermeer
2012 (PhD thesis, Apeldoorn 2012; English version to be published in OTS).
32 H.G.L. Peels, Het Oude Testament als openbaring, TR 46 (2003), 356378.
33 H.G.L. Peels, Hoe leest gij? Een lectio christiana van het Oude Testament, TR 52 (2009),
236259; J. Dekker, De leesbril van Henk de Jong: overwegingen bij het zandloper-
model, in: Bouma (ed.), Verrassend vertrouwd, 102116; idem, Jesaja doelde op Jezus...:
Een christelijke kijk op God in het boek Jesaja (Apeldoornse Studies, 64), Apeldoorn 2015;
Kwakkel, Als geen ander, 77110.
biblical exegesis in relation to the discussion of creation and evolution,34

the extent of the canon and the choice of Reformed theology for the veritas
hebraica in the light of modern biblical study,35 the nature of the various cove-
nants in the books of Genesis and Exodus,36 the meaning of the Old Testament
concept of clean and unclean in spiritual contexts,37 the question of the unity
and authorship of the book of Isaiah,38 vicarious atonement in the light of
Isaiah 53,39 the kingdom of God in the Old Testament,40 and the classic ques-
tion of the historical development of messianic expectations, both in ancient
Israel and in the Christian canon as a whole.41
4 Confessional Biblical Studies in a Secular Society
Over the last few decades, the environment of Old Testament studies in the
Netherlands has changed significantly. Dutch society has become secular in
34 K. van Bekkum, G. Kwakkel, Een veilige leefwereld voor de mens in dienst van God.
Overwegingen bij alternatieve lezingen van het begin van Genesis, TR 53 (2010), 318335;
G. Kwakkel, P.H.R. van Houwelingen (eds), In den beginne en verder: een bijbels-theolo-
gische reflectie op de schepping (TU-Bezinningsreeks, 8) Barneveld 2011.
35 H.G.L. Peels, The Blood From Abel to Zechariah (Matthew 23,35; Luke 11,50f.) and the
Canon of the Old Testament, ZAW 113 (2001), 583601; idem, Vragen rondom de canon van
het Oude Testament, in: Van Bekkum et al. (eds), Nieuwe en oude dingen, 3758.
36 G. Kwakkel, Verplichting of relatie: verbonden in Genesis. Henk de Jong en zijn visie op
het verbond, in: Bouma et al. (eds), Verrassend vertrouwd, 117130; idem, The Sinaitic
Covenant in the Narrative of the Book of Exodus, in: J. van Vliet (ed.), Living Waters from
Ancient Springs: Essays in Honor of Cornelis Van Dam, Eugene, OR 2011, 2740.
37 M.H. Oosterhuis, Een rein hart. Rituele reinheidsterminologie in spirituele contexten in het
Oude Testament, Heerenveen 2006 (PhD thesis, 2006, Kampen).
38 J. Dekker, Eenheid en auteurschap van Jesaja, in: Van Bekkum et al. (eds), Nieuwe en oude
dingen, 129146.
39 G. Kwakkel, sae 53: une victime sacrificielle?, in: P. Berthoud, P. Wells, Sacrifice et expia-
tion. Actes du colloque universitaire organis les 1er et 2 dcembre 2006 par la Facult libre
de thologie rforme dAix-en-Provence, Charols 2008, 8094.
40 H.G.L. Peels The Kingdom of God in the Old Testament, In die Skriflig 35 (2001), 173189.
41 W.H. Rose, Messianic Expectations in the Old Testament, In die Skriflig 35 (2001), 275
288; idem, Messianic Expectations in the Early Postexilic Period, in: R. Albertz, B.E.H.J.
Becking (eds), Yahwism After the Exile. Perspectives on Israelite Religion in the Persian
Era (STR, 5), Assen 2003, 168185; idem, Messiah, in: T.D. Alexander, D.W. Baker (eds),
Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch, Downers Grove, IL 2003, 565568. See also
W.H. Rose, Messiaanse verwachtingen in het Oude Testament, in: G.C. den Hertog,
S.S. Schoon, Messianisme en eindtijdverwachting bij joden en christenen, Zoetermeer
2006, 1736.
many aspects. Several important Departments of Theology, such as those

in Leiden and Utrecht, closed. The international dimension of academic
research has become much more important. A flood of new information in the
field of the study of language, archaeological remains and history has become
available for biblical scholars. The computer has been introduced in the analy-
sis of biblical texts. The number of methodologies has increased significantly,
with the result that the world of the Bible and the Scriptures themselves
have proven to be much richer than ever thought. Accordingly, it has become
impossible for the participants in scholarly debate to have an overview of all
the available data.
The previous section has shown that due to emancipation and professional-
ization, nowadays Old Testament scholars of the small and vulnerable institu-
tions in Apeldoorn and Kampen pay more attention to academic research and
general scholarly debate. This research is clearly still executed in the tradition
of the three important premises of Reformed exegesis that have been defined
in the late 19th century: (a) the Bible is a book of divine revelation; (b) the
text should therefore be approached with an attitude of trust and not with
a hermeneutic of suspicion and (c) the ultimate goal of exegesis is to formu-
late what God reveals in this text about himself. At the same time, there also
has been development and change. Like Reformed and Evangelical scholars
in other parts of the world, scholars in the Apeldoorn / Kampen tradition less
often refer to systematic-theological arguments than their predecessors. They
are still critical about methodologies and results excluding theological consid-
erations from exegetical and historical discussion. In their view, the Reformed
notion of sola Scripture means that it is most vital to highlight the importance
of serious literary and historical research, while at the same time showing
respect for the specific theological nature of the Old Testament. For, as some
of the older generations have already emphasised, trying to offer an alternative
doing justice to all the data is better than just formulating antithetical theo-
logical statements.
As a result, it can be observed that Reformed and Evangelical biblical schol-
ars in the Netherlands operate less as a phalanx in combat with colleagues
from more liberal Departments, and merely function in a global network of a
distinct colour that forms an integral part of international biblical studies. It
can even be stated that due to the secularization of Western Europe and the low
number of biblical scholars in this area, the integration is even stronger than
in North America. This, of course, does not mean that there is no discussion
and that there are no fundamental disagreements. One of the most important
issues, for example, is the question as to what the study of the Old Testament
in these secular societies should look like, now that the duplex ordo of a well-
organized distinction between the so-called objective theological study
of the Bible and a subjective confessional one, is gradually disappearing from

the scene. It is argued that theological views of the Old Testament can be inte-
grated into the framework of a more general, cultural and historical approach
to the Hebrew Scriptures.42 The response from an orthodox Reformed perspec-
tive is that this might be helpful and that confessional scholars clearly have a
cultural responsibility in sharing their knowledge with a late-modern civiliza-
tion that has great difficulties in dealing with religious questions and hardly
knows its Judeo-Christian roots. But at the same time, Reformed scholars will
also always maintain that, also for society at large, this cannot be done properly,
if the most important claim of the Old Testament, that is, the question of God
and of his mighty, salvific love for creation and humankind, is not addressed.
This issue is and will be discussed in the Oudtestamentische Werkgezelschap
in Nederland en Belgi. Scholars from the Apeldoorn / Kampen tradition expe-
rience it as a blessing to have the opportunity to participate in it.
42 For an eloquent presentation of this approach, see e.g. M. Popovi, Van Babel tot Bijbel.
Cultural Encounters of a Third Kind, Groningen 2014. See also the report of the Royal
Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences: Klaar om te wenden. De academische
bestudering van religie in Nederland: een verkenning, Amsterdam 2015.
chapter 4
Salient Features in the Book of Job

Jan Fokkelman
1 Who Exactly is Job, and Where Does He Come From?
The author of the book of Job has a lot to say. He does not want to lose any time
at the start and so tells us immediately that his hero is an eccentric person, in
the literal sense, in no fewer than three dimensions: time, space and morals. Job
is a celebrity from prehistoric times; he is not even an Israelite, and hence does
not live in Palestine but somewhere deep in Transjordania, probably towards
the south-east. It is all the more remarkable that Job is a follower of YHWH and
that the author immediately praises him for his irreproachable behaviour, in
moral and religious terms. Job is apparently the best friend YHWH has on earth,
which is illustrated in the very first verse by the four terms (well, three plus
one, actually) used to characterise the protagonist.
The author has picked up Job from Ezek. 14. In the second half of that chap-
ter the prophet assures the debauched inhabitants of Jerusalem that their
downfall is inevitable, even if they were to appeal to the spotless reputations
of Noah, Daniel and Job.1 And this link between the books of Job and Ezekiel is
not the only one: the author has let himself be inspired by the prophet for two
keywords and a sentence on evil.
The two words are closely linked because they are each others anagrams:
nicham and chinnam. The first, the verb to console, contributes to an envelope
of narrative prose that in Job encloses the body of the book (the huge poem),
and has more than one function. The verb links the endings of ch.2 and ch.42
via a yes/no contrast, because what Jobs friends in the face of so much pain
were unable to offer, consolation for Job (2:11), they do offer after the dnoue-
ment in ch.42, as we are told in the concluding prose section in v. 11. What is
more, with the verb nachem the predicate is put in a crucial position, in the
very last half-verse, 42:6b. Job is the speaker to whom the author gave the last
1 In Ezek. 14:14a, 20a the three names are mentioned; in vv.14a and 18a they are called these
three men. The Daniel mentioned in Ezek.14 is not the same Daniel of the eponymous short
Bible book (the latest of the OT books). Now that we know Ugaritic, which in its literature has
a famous Daniilu figure, we may suspect that the name Daniel was already prestigious many
centuries earlier.

48 Fokkelman
word (of poetry), the short poem 42:26. How significant this is, and how all
official Bible translations get it hopelessly wrong here, will be discussed below.
Then we have the adverb chinnam from Ezekiel. In the book of Job it has
the effect of a bomb: this is the fatal word for naught spoken by the Adversary
in the divine council in 1:9, who in this way casts suspicion on Jobs piety.
Thanks to Gods allowing this angel on duty to do his destructive work towards
Job, this one word triggers the plot that carries the entire book and simply
coincides with a wager that requires a result. Will Job break or not?
In the last two verses of Ezek. 14 the anagrammatic duo is combined with
words we should not forget when we read Job 42:11. You will be consoled for the
disaster that I brought on Jerusalem, says Ezek. 14:22b.2 The author of Job uses
the same words to put the blame for Jobs horrific suffering where it belongs.
In 42:11 he betrays much of his own point of view by referring to the actor by
his proper name; this person is the responsible subject of the adjectival clause
that closes v. 11: the friends comforted him for all the misfortune that YHWH
had brought upon him.
The adverb chinnam appears four times in the book of Job, and reverses
a literary articulation that often occurs in Job: the 3 + 1 pattern. In the prose
introduction, for naught is the seed of the plot, as we saw; after that it reap-
pears three times in the debate between Job and his three friends. Each of
these instances is spoken by a different character, but they have a distinctive
aspect in common: every time the speaker gives the adverb an emotionalor
even vicioustwist. In 2:3 for naught occurs in a reproach to the Adversary,
spoken by his master. Shortly after the theft of Jobs cattle and the death of his
children God truly seems to regret the mandate he gave his angel. His words
come uncannily close to shirking responsibility. In 9:17 it is Job himself who
speaks; he expresses the fear (and we readers consider this all too understand-
able) that God will wound me much for no reason, in a strophe (9:1618) about
the immense pressure God exerts. The fourth occurrence of chinnam is out-
right vicious and comes in Elifazs last contribution, in 22:6. During three stro-
phes (22:29) this friend manages to accuse Job of exploiting, neglecting and
abusing the weakest in society. Where does he get that from? It is the ultimate
consequence of the traditional theodicy with which the friends attack Job.
This doctrine of symmetrical retaliationrewards to the good, punishment
to the badproduces a three-step interpretation: your suffering, Job, shows
the hand of God (1), his intervention means punishment (2), and because God
is a righteous God, this punishment naturally presupposes (3) that you have
2 This Niphal of nicham, followed by the preposition al, we will be needing for Job 42:6b.
Salient Features In The Book Of Job 49
sinned badly. Job goes along with step 1, at step 2 he is already on his hind legs
in bewilderment, and step 3 makes him furious. Because of the inside knowl-
edge about the heavenly plot the author has given us, we readers sympathise
with the hero and conclude that Job is right. About the theodicy with its three-
step reasoning we remark critically: of course its no more than interpretation;
this lacks a basis of cool, exact and objective observation...
2 The Crucial Keyword
In Ezekiel we found Job in the company of Noah. Is that appropriate? Certainly;

the two are similar not only in righteousness (tzedaqa), which according to the
prophet is the basis of their eternal glory, but the author of Job also introduces
two other bits of information that make a connection with Gen. 6. Job 12:4
contains a striking case of asyndesis. Job himself speaks this verse, and thinks
that in his quality of righteous-incorruptible he is a laughing-stock. Because
the conjunction and has been left out, the two adjectives form a closely-knit
couple that occurs nowhere else in the Bible, except for one instance: the pre-
sentation of Noah at the beginning of Gen. 6; he, too, is given the asyndeton
tzaddiq tamim.3
Incidentally, the link with Genesis is even stronger, because the sons of
God, bene haelohim, introduced shortly afterwards in Gen. 6, appear nowhere
else except in the prose of Job 12. The JPS translation of this construct
state combination by divine beings is strictly speaking correct, but still inad-
equate because it loses the literary connection created by the exact combina-
tion of the two words.4
Meanwhile the word incorruptible has appeared. The series of four qualifi-
cations of the hero, presented so promptly by the author, starts with a skimpy
little syllable, the adjective tam. Is this front position a signal? If we check the
instances of the root tmm in the book of Job and compare these to its frequency
elsewhere in the Bible, we find the answer should surely be yes. This root is
3 The book of Job contains an asyndeton for God as well, in 34:17b; the entire colon is governed
by assonance via patah and long i vowel: tzaddiq kabbir tarshia.
4 In Ps. 89:7 we also find the combination bene elim, but that one is just a bit different; the bene
elohim of Job 41:17 has no article. The translation the gods is M.H. Popes, in his commentary
to Job in the Anchor Bible, 1965 (6th edition 1979); the divine beings, already in the Tanakh
version of the Jewish Publication Society of America, now also in C.L. Seow, Job 121, Grand
Rapids 2013. The RSV has the sons of God; so also N. Habel, The Book of Job (OTL), London
1985, and D. Clines, Job 120 (WBC, 17), Dallas 1989. Note the singular and the capital.
50 Fokkelman
the primary keyword of the book, which appears in three nominal variants: the
short and the long form of the adjective, tam and tamim, and the noun tumma.
The author always deploys the keyword in a specific way, as it were on
the bias. By this I mean that the word, used sparingly in Job, is very frequent
elsewhere, and vice versa. It is definitely rewarding to check the details and
acknowledge the striking distribution of the root:
a) the short form tam, heading the series in 1:1, elsewhere occurs only four
times, but seven (!) times in the book of Job. The middle instance, 8:20, comes
in a speech by Bildad, but is both preceded and followed by a series of three
times tam. The first series is in the prose section (1:1 = 1:8 = 2:3), is spoken by
God, and always refers, full of praise, to the hero and his qualities; the sec-
ond series belongs to the poetry section and is spoken by Job himself while he
fights for his reputation; this is the taut chain 9:20 + 21 + 22.
b) The long form tamim is common elsewhere: it occurs more than eighty
times in Tanakh. In the book of Job, however, it appears only three times,
and always with a special effect: first as part of the asyndesis we saw in 12:4,
and next in two verses spoken by the assertive big-head Elihu, who uses it to
deconstruct himself. When that young man calls God temim deot, in 37:16, he
is probably counting on his audiences approval: God is perfect in [forms of]
understanding. Naturally, the pious reader would not begrudge God such a
beautiful epitheton, but there is a small problem: Elihu has meanwhile sawn
off the branch he is sitting on. In the previous poem, in 36:4, he has actually
labeled himself perfect in understanding (temim deim)!
c) The noun tumma occurs only once elsewhere in Prov. 11:3. In the book of
Job, however, it appears four times, and this series, too, is remarkable, because
these four again follow the 3 + 1 pattern. What is more, in each case the word
refers to Jobs excellence and his stubborn refusal to abandon or deny this attri-
bute. He keeps his integrity, God says proudly of his best friend on earth, 2:3.
Jobs wife uses the same words to jeer at him to his face (note the second per-
son in 2:9). At the end of the debate we again find unusual language. In 27:5
it is Job himself who deploys the most binding form of expression to defend
himself. He refuses to bargain about his behaviour and intentions. The pas-
sage has a high density. For the third time we meet the verb maintain. While
tumma and tzedaqa switch places, Job swears a positive oath with a negative
content, and a negative oath with a positive content. The positive oath of
vv. 24 is based on...another litotes, and so is the negative oath of vv. 56.5
5 The positive oath has the formal opening chay El, in the negative oath this is the repelling
chalila-li.
The entire passage (two strophes, together stanza I of the poem) is only the
third appearance of the word integrity, but what virtuosity from the author!
So far, every time we have heard a different speaker about tumma: first God,
than the wife, and then, at length, the hero himself. Again, it is Job himself who
now gets to present the climax: the fourth appearance of the noun integrity.
This happens in the most important poem of the book, ch. 31, and for Job, it
is now (v. 6) about the purpose of his defence and not giving up: when will
God finally face facts and realise that he, Job, is innocent and of impeccable
behaviour? Let Him weigh me on the scale of righteousness, let God know
my integrity! The length and ostentatious exhaustiveness of the list of sins
not committed are intended to have God accept the challenge and produce a
verdict of acquittal. The poem, itself a huge litotes, carries its own definition.
We realise this when we acknowledge the sophisticated chiasm that links the
eighth colon from the beginning to the eighth colon from the end. It is God
who takes all my steps into account, Job says in v. 4b. Well then, it is I who
assists him, Job says with undiminished pride in his service record, because
I would give him an account of my steps (v. 37a).6 The conclusion to be drawn
from these paragraphs (a, b and c) on the use of the root tmm now is simple:
we here have to do with the crucial keyword of the book.7 In ch. 42 the hero
and God will each give their own interpretation of it, each in his own way and
vocabulary.
3 The Genre of the Book
The correct interpretation of a difficult book such as Job is only feasible if we

manage to hit upon the correct assessment of its genre. With the scenes from
heaven the author gave us in chapters 12 he has clearly shown us his omni-
science; omniscience in a narratological, not a theological sense. He has shared
his superior knowledge with the reader, so that from this point onwards we see
Jobs further vicissitudes from two perspectives: standing at his side, we feel his
bewilderment about the disasters that hit him, but at the same time we look
6 The chiasm and its exact position obviate the proposal made by many commentators to
switch around the lumpish final strophe of ch.31 and the more dignified passage vv. 3537.
7 For the sake of completeness: the form tom (Qal infinitive and/or substantive) occurs in 4:6
(of Elifaz, who also speaks the only verb form, tattem in 22:3) and 21:23. Outside the book of
Job it appears twenty times. The final remark in 31:40 comes after, and falls outside, the long
poem and sounds editorial; question: is this tmmu ambiguous, so that the words of Job are
not only complete but also incorruptible? Editors joke?
52 Fokkelman
down from above (from heaven, as it were) together with the heavenly host, to
see how the ordeal progresses.
There are a number of elements in the prose opening that rule out the pos-
sibility of this book being a piece of historiography or a comparable form of
realism. These elements are: 1) the fact that the hero is a man from prehistoric
times, 2) the excessive number of positive qualifications for the hero and their
listing in the very first verse, 3) their ordering according to the 3 + 1 pattern,
which is applied several times more in the book of Job, 4) the account of the
heavenly council, through which the author immediately positions himself as
omniscient narrator, 5) the implementation of the test in ch.1: four disasters
that hit Job within one morning or afternoon, or even within one hournote
the staccato of the messengers of doom, who are as it were queuing up to hit
Job with ever worse catastrophes. The author knows what we are thinking:
in this world below it just may happen that somebody who is hit by disaster
immediately is faced with a second tragedy, but a series of four at the same
time is utterly unreal. Because the fourth disaster (Job loses all his children)
is the negative climax of the series, we easily recognize a new instance of the
3 + 1 pattern.
Calling these catastrophes unreal is too negative to be of any use here.
I suggest the term surreal, not in the sense of difficult to believe, but the exact
opposite, i.e., accelerating, intensifying, expanding or heightening the epical
reality (the world evoked by the words of the narrative prose). The author opts
for this procedure because he wants to sharpen the test as much as possible,
and so increase its relevance. And this accentuation of the test, this creation
of an extreme situationan exceptional human being subjected to excep-
tional trialsitself serves the central question: is integrity at all possible? Can
it withstand extreme pressure? The answer to this question comes in the short
final ch. 42, is given by God, and is messed up in all official Bible translations.
I will explain how; but first let us return to the question what, then, is the cor-
rect term for the genre to which the book of Job does belong. My answer would
be: we here have to do with a thought experiment, carried out with the tools of
poetic art, and intended as a variant on the traditional genre of Wisdom.
4 The Power of Negation
The fourth element of the series of qualifications in 1:1 deviates from the pat-
tern because it uses the formula minus times minus is plus. This instance of
litotes (a figure of speech we ourselves use in words such as spotless or inno-
cent), this negation of the negative is a subtle precursor in two ways. Together
with the quality of God-fearing it prepares the punchline of ch. 28, and on its
own also anticipates the most important poem of the entire book, ch.31.
For how does one shun evil? This is demonstrated at length by the hero in
ch.31, which, not coincidentally, with its forty (!) verses is the longest poem of
the book. It is an awesome catalogue of all sorts of crimes and misdemeanours,
of which Job keeps saying, and sometimes swears, that he has never commit-
ted them. This has made ch.31 a huge case of litotes. What is more, it is the cli-
max of a Hegelian triad: after ch.29 (my happiness and reputation in the past:
thesis) plus ch.30 (misfortune and humiliation in the present: antithesis) this
chapter offers a synthesis.8 It is an enumeration that by its length pretends to
be exhaustive. Job here defends and resumes all his moral, religious and social
principles. The long list culminates in a final in which the hero challenges God
to finally produce a verdict.
Job had already concluded the debate proper by first, in ch.26, giving a nega-
tive answer to Bildads third speech.This friend has little left to say in the third
round of the debate. His short poem consists of only two strophes. In vv. 46
he repeats a projection: the sinister image of God that he picked up from Elifaz
(and from 4:1718). And his first strophe, vv. 23, shows macho behaviouran
unconvincing attempt to intimidate Job with cosmic language.
Job parries this in ch.26 with his use of cosmic terminology, which leads
to the exactly opposite conclusion: at the end (26:14) Job deduces that we can
never understand more than a tiny fragment of the divine order. At the same
time, his speech anticipates the radical philosophizing of ch.28.
In the debate proper, chapters 426, the author time and again gives off
the signal that he remains in charge of the process. He does this by means of
something so simple that it is easily overlooked by the readersus readers
who already have trouble enough to fathom the compact poetry. It is the cita-
tion formula that we know so well from the entire complex covering Genesis
through to Kings, with hundreds of instances: wayymer X. The author has
all the power, because it is he who divides the speeches, and as many as twenty
times introduces the poems by wayyaan X (+ gentilicium) + wayyomar. This
has far-reaching consequences for the status of the texts. The various contribu-
tions to the debate remain embedded speech, and the speakers remain char-
acters in the underlying story. In his pose as narrator the author is not ceasing
control.
8 J. Fokkelman, Job 28 and the Climax in Chapters 2931: Crisis and Identity, in: H. Liss,
M. Oeming (eds), Literary Construction of Identity in the Ancient World, Winona Lake 2010,
301322.
54 Fokkelman
After ch.26 there is a notable change of introductory formula, but not of

speaker. Job still has the floor, and now speaks two complexes that deserve to
be called the centre of the book. They are given their own quotation formu-
las. In 27:1 and 29:1 the author gives the floor to his hero with the words Job
again took up his theme and said: .... Note that no addressee is mentioned or
implied. Both complexes are soliloquies.
In my opinion, the complex of chapters 27 + 28 is the actual conclusion of
the debate. In ch.27 Job uses the language and motifs of the conversation one
more time. With the two virtuoso oaths he shows that his position (i.e., that of
a hedgehog) has remained unchanged under the pressure of his own suffering
and his friends lack of empathy. With the launch of ch.28 the reader notices
that all eye contact has stopped; we now have calm and considered reflection,
without any emotions flaring up. The poem presents the conclusion about wis-
dom and Wisdom (as a cultural sector and as a genre), with which the hero
takes leave of the actual, and to him fruitless, debate.
Ch. 28 is the first cool chapter: without the violent emotions that domi-
nated the contributions to the debate so far, and without the use of personal
pronouns such as I/me or you, singular and plural. It is a brilliant epistemo-
logical treatise exploring the boundaries of observation, ambition, knowledge
and wisdom. Its conclusion (stanza III = strophes 911 = vv. 2028) expresses a
harsh negative truth: there is no wisdom in the land of the living, and all meta-
physical speculation should be dismissed. The power of negation is a main
characteristic of this philosophical exposition.
The composition has a double axis, vv. 12 and 20. These are highly prominent
lines, introducing stanzas II and III; each consists of two cola sounding a spe-
cial note: they formulate the great problem governing the entire poem, where
can Wisdom be found? I even detect a note of anxiety and pain. However, the
influence of vv. 12 and 20 reaches much further. They reinforce the poem with
a unique basis of narrative character. To our surprise, we may now apply fun-
damental terms from narratology to the text: hero, quest, trajectory, object of
value, solution.
The hero is the miner, who represents homo faber in general. He is the sub-
ject of stanza I because of his ambitious and tireless searching for valuable
minerals, 28:111. There are five strophes, all obeying an ABXBA structure, and
this first quest is a big success. Is this an indication for the next enterprise?
The second quest is presented well in the strategic vv. 12 and 20, but then fails
dramatically: in stanza II (three strophes) homo faber enters the marketplace
with the treasures he dug up, but alas, they cannot buy him wisdom. In pass-
ing, author and speaker lash out against polytheism, in two verses that occupy
the same (i.e., third) positions in the second and third stanzas, and so contrib-
ute to their solid and parallel structure. These are vv. 14 and 22, which put Yam
and Mot (sea and death) to shame: these superpowers are correctly given the
opportunity to speak, but then have to admit they do not know anything either.
These developments and the harsh negations of vv. 13 and 21 create a seri-
ous deadlock, which we can also assess from a narrative perspective. In the
crucial question of stanzas II and III, immediately posed in the opening vv. 12
and 20, we hear pain. The quest seems to have come to a dead end. However,
the ending of III delivers a solution that is at the same time unexpected and
practical. In the nick of time we have a positive surprise, a revelation that
recommends practical ethics. This is the punchline v. 28, whose weight is
marked rhetorically because the speaker, Job (undoubtedly supported by the
author of the book), suddenly announces a quotation. He introduces another
speaker, the deity who in his verse eclipses the competitors Sea and Death:
it is nobody less than YHWH himself, who recommends exactly those charac-
teristics and modes of behaviour that occur together in 1:1 and characterise
his best friend on earth: godliness and the avoidance of evil. Brooding over
metaphysical questions is not necessary, what is needed is decency in daily life.
Ch. 28 is a superior exercise in epistemology. Here, Job in the same breath
delivers fundamental criticism of the pretences and smugness of the friends,
who pose as the true representatives of Wisdom, in the sense of both the
literary genre and the age-old and prestigious culture of collecting facts of
experience and storing them in adages and sayings.
5 The Centre of Gravity of the Book of Job
Like the first, the second complex without visible addressee is also marked
by the specific introductory phrase Job again took up his theme and said....
Thus, 29:1 is identical to 27:1, and again is followed by a soliloquy. The debate
has long finished and the friends remain out of sight. Chapters 293031 form
the core of the entire book of poetry, rhetorically, emotionally and spiritually.
This can already be seen from their extraordinary cohesion: they form a dialec
tic composition. In ch. 29 Job presents an authoritative overview of his past,
and in ch. 30 an authoritative overview of his present. These poems deserve
titles such as My happiness that was and The misery Im in now, respec-
tively. The shocking contrast is that of thesis and antithesis, and it is the task of
ch. 31 to lift this opposition and sublimate it to a synthesis. The three poems
are a Hegelian triad. I call this soliloquy Climax I of the book. The synthesis
56 Fokkelman
offered by ch.31 is the climax of Climax I. Gods answer from the storm, plus
Jobs reaction (chapters 3842), will be Climax II.
The very special character of the trio chapters 293031 is also reflected in
an unusual measure taken by the poet. He has calculated the various textual
levels in ch.31 down to the last detail, without being obvious about it. This is
no demerit, but rather an asset; the poets numerical meticulousness does not
hinder any other effect of his poetry. By way of elucidation: around the turn of
the century I published a tetralogy containing structural and prosodic analyses
of almost two hundred biblical poems, and in which I concluded that the poets
carefully counted the syllables of their pre-masoretic (=original) Hebrew.9
To keep the text readable the figures for all textual levels of those poems are
given in appendices. The central norm figure of the classical verse structure
is eightthis is the average number of syllables per colon. Many Psalms and
some chapters in Job (i.e., 11, 15, 31 and 40:732) score that number.
The 40 poems of the book of Job contain 412 strophes. Of those, 206 belong
to one voice, the heros, and the remaining 206 are spoken by five male voices
(God, and 3 + 1 friends). The 206 of Job himself are distributed over 103 short
and 103 long strophes. In all poems remarkable measures can be found, but
the poet took special care over two poems that frame the debate, plus the two
soliloquies. These are the extraordinary poems of ch.3 (the separate Prologue,
still outside the debate; perhaps the most passionate poem of the entire
Bible) and ch.31. The prosody of these poemsthat is, the ordering of their
measuresis governed by the sacred numbers seven and twelve, and the
norm figure eight.
Ch. 31 consists of seven stanzas. There are eight short and eight long stro-
phes; both groups score the perfect eight as average number of syllables per
colon. The 16 verses of the short strophes and the 24 verses of the long strophes
together make 40another prestigious number. The MT has 83 cola, but has
the soph pasuq of v. 11 three words (monosyllables) too early. With those three,
v. 11 shows its true colours: it is a tricolon of nominal clauses, with the pronoun
he/she appearing three times as subject:
9 J.P. Fokkelman, Major Poems of the Hebrew Bible, at the Interface of Prosody and Structural
Analysis, vols. IIV (Studia Semitica Neerlandica 37, 41, 43 and 47), Assen 19982004. Volume
58 of SSN is my recent The Book of Job in Form, Leiden 2012, which offers the complete text in
strophic form in two languages: vocalised Hebrew on the left-hand pages, and the English on
the right-hand side.
So, in reality there are 84 cola in ch.31, that is, seven times twelve.10 The
total number of syllables in the pre-masoretic Hebrew is 672, the product of
7 8 12. And when we discover the hidden internal, until recently unrec-
ognised definition of the entire catalogue of sins not committed, via the chi-
asm that links the eighth colon from the beginning and the eighth colon from
the end:
in 31:4b
< > in v. 37a

....I then venture to draw a conclusion about this virtuosity with numbers: the
poets numerical perfection is the icon for the moral perfection of the hero. In
plain English: the poet is wholly on the side of his hero.11
With this longest speech Job wants to realize three goals. First, as a form of
enumeration and claiming completeness via the round number of verses, this
poem is the conclusive evidence of Jobs perfect innocence. Next, because the
poem contains the synthesis that is intended to overcome the clash between
chapters 29 and 30, it shows that the moral and religious principles by which
Job has always been guided remain unchanged and unaffected, so that past
and present can seamlessly merge into the future (if Job is granted one). And
third, the thought that his speech could be recorded in writing fills Job with
pride, so that in the penultimate strophe (vv. 3537) he reaches out to God and
challenges him: when will you show some grit? When will you vindicate me?
Via an inverted quotation (also a chiasm) this strophe is linked to the other
crucial passage in which Job is concerned with a detailed documenting of his
service record, his demand for an acquittal, and his desire for redress. The
words sefer katab of v. 35c reflect the overwhelming desire of 19:2324 (where
we find yikkatebun...bassefer):
O that my words were written down!

Would they were inscribed in a record,
With a stylus of iron and lead
Incised on a rock forever!
10 More details and justifications in the analyses of a) Major Poems IV, ad loc., b) my arti-
cle on Job 31 in: M. Baasten, W.Th. van Peursen (eds), Hamlet on a Hill, Festschrift for
T. Muraoka, Leuven 2003; also via www.janfokkelman.nl; and in Dutch: Het boek Job in
vorm, Amsterdam 2009, ad loc.
11 I am not changing one letter of the well-preserved text of Job 31. However, I do move the
soph pasuq of v. 11 three words further on.
58 Fokkelman
We even have to do here with a case of mise-en-abmethink of the famous

Droste effect.12 The poetry of this book, which the author has embedded in his
prose story, now contains in chapters 19 and 31 the heros desire that the proof
of his innocence should be fixed in an indelible written record; but this wish
has already been granted by...the author, because his book is exactly that.
Ch. 31 is the zenith of the poets compository talent, and of his heros legal
position. However, it is not only ch.31 that is an ingenious numerical fabric of
the measures seven, eight and twelve; this applies to ch. 3 as well. Because of its
front position, this peak of suffering and rage deserves to be called Jobs nadir.
It has seven strophes, with the unique characteristic that the standard measure
for both the short and the long unit (i.e., 2 verses for the S-strophe and 3 for the
L-strophe) is increased by one. Their order is as follows:
S L / S L S / L S = 3 + 4 / 3 + 4 + 3 / 4 + 3 verses
S(hort): 4 3 = twelve verses (95 words)

L(ong): 3 4 = twelve verses (97 words)
Together: 192 words in 24 verses: average per verse exactly 8
The average of (exactly) eight words per verse is exceptionally high, and unique
to Job. Elsewhere it is rare; in the 148 poems of the Psalter this average only
occurs in three short poems, Ps. 36 (12 verses, 96 words), Ps. 96 (14 verses, 112
words) and Ps. 111 (9 verses, 72 words).13
This juggling of the numbers 3 and 4 also happens in ch.31, but in that case
they are multiplied by 10. Of the 84 cola in that chapter, a large majority consist
of three or four words. These are 70 cola, which through their length remind us
of ch.3 and are structured as follows:
40 cola with 3 words = 120 = 30 cola with 4 words.
The authors numerical awareness deserves another proof. Jobs proper name
appears 56 times in the eponymous book, and I interpret this as 7 8. It will
not be easy to defend the view that this figure is coincidental, in view of the
following data:
56 verses in Jobs speech of chapters 910

560 words in Jobs speech of chapters 1214
12 The Droste effect: a tin of cocoa with the picture of a nurse carrying a tray. On the tray, a
tin of cocoa with the picture of a nurse carrying... etc. etc.
13 See for all figures the appendices in the series Major Poems of the Hebrew Bible.
560 syllables in ch.15 (Eliphaz answer)

56 morphemes of the 1st per. sing. (= Job) in ch.16
56 words in Jobs last strophe (40:45) plus stanza (42:26).
Finally, we have the number of verses in two complexes. I find two instances of
the norm figure eight times twenty:
in the six chapters 2631, spoken by Job: 160 verses

in the six chapters 3236 by Elihu: another 160 verses.
6 The Incomprehensible Translation Errors in Chapter 42
Chapters 3841, Gods answer from the storm, are 2 + 2 long poems by a proud
Creator. In these poems I count no fewer than 98 second-person singular pro-
nouns addressed to Job. Their significance is huge. The hero is finally getting
what he fought so long and desperately for: true contact with God. What is
more, in 40:16 there is an intermezzo that is actually a short conversation
between God (one verse: a question) and Job (his answer: two verses).
The fact that the author gives Job the last word of the poetry section, 42:26,
reveals much about his attitude towards the hero. Jobs first strophe starts with
I know that You can do everything... and ends with ...I did not know
an effective contrast serving as an inclusion. The not-knowing does not have
an object, and so is complete. This ellipsis should have alerted the translators
through 15 centuries to the ellipsis in v. 6a. Job now fully realizes how com-
pletely incommensurate he, a mortal, is with his Creator.
In the second strophe (vv. 46) Job arrives at his definitive interpretation.
In v. 5 two senses are contrasted in a balanced parallelism. Hearing results in
indirect, dim knowledge: theology, mere hearsay; seeing is much more direct
and immediately convinces. Surprised, Job reveals that he has seen God face
to face. This is the basis for the formidable final verse 42:6, which since the
Septuagint has been messed up in all official Bible translations and reads:
Therefore I reject, and I am comforted about dust and ashes.
The translators of the LXX were greatly embarrassed by the ellipsis in 6a and
conjured up a myself as object, so that emas (a well-known verb and a transi-
tive Qal form) is used as a reflexive form, which is incorrect, even impossible.
The King James Version copies this uncritically (but the fact that it prints/adds
myself in italics betrays the translators desperation).
An ellipsis should be respected as such, and it falls to the interpreter to pro-
pose an acceptable object. There is the occasional correct guess, for instance
what I have said (Budde, 1913; or Habel, 1985: I withdraw my case). Job wants
60 Fokkelman
to say: I distance myself from my behaviour thus far, from my demand for a fair
trial, etc.
The Masoretes put the atnach one word too far, so that the translators also
bungled the B-colon. They have not recognized that the preposition al forms a
syntagm (a phrase) together with nachem, so that the verb console is oriented
towards ashes and dust (better: dust and dirt) as an object.14
What, then, does the duo afar waefer, a hendiadys, mean? This has been
prepared in 30:19; my free translation would be: I have become the very image
of dust and dirt. Job uses this to express his suffering and utter brokenness.
In this way, the author has again made a connection with Genesis, where
Abraham in ch.18 negotiates with God about the destruction of the region of
Sodom and Gomorrah and the rescue of the few righteous souls. He uses the
words mishpat and tzaddiq, which in Job form a word pair creating a parallel-
ism between half verses. With Ezek.14 in mind we now understand that Job is
relieved and justly interprets the conversation with God as vindication.
Jobs interpretation is in 42:6 still just intuition, but the author cant wait
to take his heros side. The prose of 42:79 introduces God as speaker, and his
speech confirms the idea of vindication. Again, however, all translators have
put aside common sense: they do translate the preposition el in vv. 7a and 9a
(dibber el = speak to) correctly, but uncritically render it as about in vv. 7b
and 8b.15 Thus, they manage to obscure the fact that Job really did speak to
God, in direct contact. The ABXBA structure of the lines below proves how
wrong that is. Note the bits in italics in this concentric scheme:
7a After YHWH had spoken these words to Job,

YHWH said to Elifaz the Temanite:
14 Cf. the function of to in these two sentences: Im going to the pub and A corresponds to B.
The first to is merely a preposition of direction and not syntactically a part of the predi-
cate, the second to does belong to the predicate.
15 The ancient translators knew better: LXX (enopion), Targum (lewat), Peshitta (qedam). The
phrase dibber el occurs seven times, in 2:13; 13:3; 40:27; 42:7a, 7b, 8 and 9. Compare the
noun dbr plus el in 4:2 and 5:8. In 9:14 dbr m. The preposition el occurs 78 times in Job
and nearly always implies direction. Also compare dibber el with phrases (again in Job)
such as pnh el, tr el, bw el, shwb el. The preposition al occurs 202 times, and can hardly
ever be replaced by el.
P. van Hecke, From linguistics to hermeneutics : a functional and cognitive approach to Job
1214 (SSN 55), Leiden 2011, chapter VII, part ii, offers an accurate discussion on the phrase
dabber el.
7b I am incensed at you and your two friends

because you have not spoken the truth to me
as did my servant Job.
8c My servant Job will pray for you

(......)
8f because you have not spoken the truth to me

as did my servant Job.
9 They did as YHWH had spoken to them.
God praises Job because Job has spoken to him soundly (nekona) and directly,
unlike the friends. And sure enough, in the first debating round alone Job
speaks 24 strophes to God. The friends do not do that anywhere. The man of
true dialogue is vindicated, and it is thanks to Jobs exceptional obstinacy that
God has managed to win his bet. The honorary title abdi (from 1:8 = 2:3) is con-
firmed four times in 42:78, and this promotes Job to the ranks of Abraham,
Moses and David.
7 Postscript
Recently, Pieter van der Lugt published an article in which he defends this ren-
dering of the crucial last verse: Therefore, I reject and have compassion // with
dust and ashes.16 He thinks these words are spoken by God; a breath-taking pro-
posal. I find the implications of this proposal disturbing. The author of the Book
of Job has applied various forms of the quotation formula, right from the very
first chapter, to mark his characters speeches; up to and including 42:1 we find
this kind of introduction forty-seven times. In this way he has ensured that each
and every change of speaker is marked clearly and unequivocally. Now, how-
ever, right at the end of his poetry, at the sensitive moment that God is to speak
the words that, according to Van der Lugts interpretation, represent His final
verdict, the author would have failed to indicate the crucial change of speaker!
Actually, Van der Lugt relies on an argumentum e silentio. The sudden
omission of the quotation formula is a highly unwelcome feature (if it was
an omission) and cannot be proven beyond doubt. My objections are many.
16 P. van der Lugt, Who Changes His Mind about Dust and Ashes? The Rhetorical Structure
of Job 42:26. VT 64 (2014), 623639.
62 Fokkelman
First: the words of 42:6 are very much Jobs vocabulary: a) emas is his in the
light of 7:16a, all the more so as his maasti is in front position in its verse, too,
and is a conspicuous case of ellipsis, exactly as in 42:6a. Next (b), there is one
more emas in 9:21b, again from Jobs lips, to renounce my life. Arriving at
42:6a, we understand that Jobs third rejecting is there to indicate the radical
reversal of his fate and his mood: he now realizes that his death wish is not
appropriate anymore.
Second: the hendiadys afar waefer in 42:6b is Jobs vocabulary, too. It refers
to 30:19 where Job complained how he had been reduced to dust and dirt, in
the poem that summarizes his present suffering. Repeated in the very last
poem of the book, the hendiadys is intended to offer a counterpoint. Jobs bat-
tered condition in v. 6b is the (prepositionally governed) object of consolation:
my suffering comes to an end, Job says, and the reader realizes: these words by
the hero of the book are decisive because they occupy the very last colon of the
entire body of poetryan almost honorific position.
Third: in Gods mouth verse 42:6 would be completely out of character.
(a) The person who is responsible for Jobs immense suffering, the deity,
is more than a bit late in showing compassion; all the more so as He is the
one who knew from the outset that Job is completely blameless, recognized
this explicitly in the heavenly council, and finally based his wager with the
prosecuting angel (hassatan) and the conviction He would win on the very
knowledge of Jobs innocence. (b) Addressing his best friend on earth with
the label dust and dirt, the word pair that elsewhere would fit as description
of the frail human race, is slightly embarrassing, if not clumsy in context,
because the term is generalizing and impersonal.
Fourth: for God the moment of pronouncing his final verdict clearly comes
in 42:78, not in v. 6. The fact that God fully recognizes the integrity of Job and
loyally accepts how the man spoke directly to and against Him, means that the
thesis verse 6 contains words of God comes too early.
Five: the verbal form nichamti can and should be read in harmony with
the connection between 2:11 and 42:11, verses from the prose frame. In 42:6 its
first implication is Gods grace, but it also anticipates the consolation which is
offered by the friends in 42:11 and which is the counterpoint to their arrival in
ch.2:1113, when they were not able to console Job because they saw the pain
was too great.17
17 Note that the form wenichmti in 42:6b, preferably following the atnach, is a so-called
perfectum copulativum (not consecutivum, which has a different accent, wenichamt).
Six: it can hardly be called a coincidence that the remaining six occurrences
of the root n-ch-m are found in the poems, and that all of them come from the
lips of the hero.18
Seven: verse 6 is marked by al ken. This couple is a logical link that looks
forward as well as backward. Forward, because the formula announces a deci-
sion, a conclusion or a turn. Backward, because it reveals that this conclusion
is based on arguments or facts mentioned immediately before it. Therefore
it is highly unlikely that 42:6 is spoken by a person who is not the speaker of
verse 5. Verse 5 presents the cogent argument that enables Job to conclude that
the end of his predicament is in sight. My own eyes have seen what I wanted
to see and know all along, he says, referring to his strong wish (to meet God
in the flesh) in the famous passage by the end of ch.19.
Eight: the structural correspondence between this al ken and the equally
formulaic laken of v. 3b points to the correct division into two strophes of the
last stanza and to Job being its speaker.19
18 N-ch-m occurs in 6:10, 7:13, 16:2, 21:34, 29:25 and 42:6, and Job himself is mostly the benefi-
ciary or addressee. In ch. 29 he is the subject of a Piel form, in 42:6 he is the subject of a
Niphal form.
19 Cf. N.C. Habel, The Book of Job (OTL), London 1985, 578579.
chapter 5
A Changing Archaeology of Palestine at the

University of Leiden, 19592014
1 Introduction1
The activities of the professional Old Testament Society in the Netherlands

and in Belgium (Oudtestamentisch Werkgezelschap) also included some
archaeological elements during its 75 years of existence. These concerned the
Near East in general and Palestine in particular. Some archaeology was dealt
with by Old Testament scholars, but also a few full-time archaeologists were
members of the society, because of their partial background in Old Testament
studies. It should be noted that a separate society, specifically dealing with the
archaeology of Palestine (PAWPalestijns Archeologisch Werkgezelschap), was
established in 1968an initiative of Jan-Kees de Geus, Groningen University,
and Henk Franken, Leiden University; it was discontinued in 2014. Its goal was
also to connect archaeology with Biblical studies, but now with a focus on
archaeology, updated in a scholarly way. This gave a key role to academic insti-
tutions such as departments of Old Testament or Biblical studies in Faculties
of Theology or departments of Hebrew studies. In any case, the Dutch and
Flemish Universities and Theological Colleges had only one separate depart-
ment for the archaeology of Palestine (or Syria-Palestine) and this was at the
University of Leiden.
The section on the Archaeology of Palestine started at Leiden University
around 1959 as a unit within the department of Old Testament Studies of the
Faculty of Theology. The Old Testament Professor Piet de Boer had attracted
the theologian Henk Franken to teach Old Testament realia, i.e. material
culture. Having been employed in Leiden since 1954, Franken trained for this
(apart from his secondary background in cultural anthropology) by close study
of excavation reports, by making field trips in Palestine, and by excavation
training at Tell es-Sultan, Jericho, under Kathleen Kenyon in 19551958. As a
1 This article is the more academic and otherwise adapted version of my rather popular article
Palestijnse Oudheidkunde; archeologisch onderzoek in Jordani en Palestina-Westbank,
19602014, in: O.E. Kaper, J.G. Dercksen (eds), Waar de geschiedenis begon; Nederlandse
onderzoekers in de ban van spijkerschrift, hirogliefen en aardewerk, Leiden 2014, 181206.

A Changing Archaeology of Palestine 65
student of the Historico-Critical approach to the Old Testament, Franken was

interested in an archaeology that would provide a context to OT narratives,
and concluded (1962) that biblical archaeology should consist of capita selecta
from the archaeology of Greater Syria, not chosen to throw light upon pas-
sages from the Bible, but chosen to get an image of the cultures from bibli-
cal times. He tried to reach such an independent image and the possibility of
chronologically correct association with written records in two ways, namely a
solid stratigraphic approach in fieldwork for relative chronology and an inde-
pendent type of pottery study to understand the changes and thus be able to
justify a chronology based on type.
During his travels and excavations, Franken had gathered sherds from sites
in Palestine for a basic study collection of pre-Hellenistic pottery. Thus he
became prepared for the next stage of independent archaeological research,
namely the excavation of Tell Deir Alla, focussing on the transitional period
of Late Bronze Age to Iron Age in the mid-Jordan Valley. At Leiden University
the facilities for the study of materials became available in the Workrooms
for Palestinian Archaeology (Werkkamers voor Palestijnse Oudheidkunde,
fig. 5.1) that in reality was an archaeological research and teaching unit within
the department of Old Testament studies. As a personal note, it should be
mentioned that I experienced these workrooms since 1964 and became more
strongly involved from my first season at Deir Alla in 1967 onwards.
Figure 5.1 Pottery and stones in the first Workrooms for Palestinian Archaeology, ca. 1965
(archive Deir Alla project).
66 van der Kooij
During the following 55 years, this unit changed its goal, contents and context.
These changes are the subject of this contribution, representing the develop-
ment of archaeological research with fieldwork by this unit of the University
of Leiden. The changes concern practical issues such as the change of faculties
and financing, but also motivations and approaches. Archaeology has continu-
ously changed as a scientific discipline. One change is its recent new focus on
current times and the future of the past, due to the remains being considered
as heritage with a role in society. On the other hand, much has been main-
tained in our approach, such as emphasis on sedimentation-stratigraphy in
fieldwork and on the anthropological approach in interpreting remains.
The changes may also be worded differently: In the 1980s and 1990s archaeo-
logical theoryin a post-processual and post-modern contextdeveloped a
strong awareness of the reality within the discipline to allow subjective and
egocentric forces in archaeological interpretation.2 It concerns the general
issues of who owns the past, and how is the past used, and thus joins UNESCO
and its world heritage discussions.
The positive effect of this is (or should be) transparency of reasoning, i.e.
transparency of choices made in the process of interpretation, while being
aware of biases. The practical effect of ideological or social biases becomes
visible in the wording used for this, such as imperialism or colonialism. For
example, the West considered itself to be the crown on the development of
humanity and felt allowed, or obliged, to manage the heritage of the Orient,
and, according to Edward Said, to exploit it.3 The opposing words would be
localism or de-colonisation. The colonisation of a land often means also
a colonisation of its past, in order to feel at home in the new land and deny
this feeling to the autochthonous population.4 Decolonisation would include
multivocality as a concept that gives voice to underrepresented groups and
individuals by providing alternative interpretations of the past.5
2 Cf. e.g. M. Shanks, Chr. Tilley, Re-Constructing Archaeology; theory and practice, Cambridge
1987, 94: Every present needs a past to be interpreted. For the Near East: N.A. Silberman,
Between Past and Present: Archaeology, ideology and nationalism in the modern Middle East,
New York 1989, 100101: A nation often chooses its past by the way it sees its presentwith
the past being used for nationalistic goals.
3 Cf. L. Meskell (ed.), Archaeology under fire; nationalism, politics and heritage in the Eastern
Mediterranean and Middle East, London 1998.
4 Cf. for our region the example of toponyms in Palestine, e.g. M. Benvenisti, Sacred Landscape;
the history of the Holy Land since 1948, Los Angeles 2002.
5 S.J. van der Linde, Digging Holes Abroad: An ethnography of Dutch archaeological research
projects abroad (PhD thesis), Leiden 2012, 27.
Also in our work in Transjordan and Palestine this issue was and is at stake
and will be referred to occasionally, like a scarlet thread through the presen-
tation. The main scarlet thread, however, is the basic goal of archaeological
research, namely the search for and understanding of societies in the past.
The remains from the past, or heritage, are tokens of those societies that should
be taken care of and preserved for the future, and be (re-)valued continuously.
1.1 Characteristics of the Region and Its Archaeology

Within the Near East the region of Syria-Palestine, or Levant, the area between
Turkey and Egypt, has a specific position because of its special geographic situ-
ation and particular history of archaeological research.
Geographically it is distinguished by its narrow fertile land strip between the
Arabian steppe and desert to east and Mediterranean Sea to west. Furthermore
this north-south strip is formed by two mountain ranges 1000 km long with a
valley in between, which goes down to 400 m below sea-level in its southern
half. Due to this feature, the bio-climatic situation is extremely varied from
west to east, with the Mediterranean, steppe and desert zones within short
range. In small parts of the region rain fed agriculture is possiblea rare fea-
ture in the Near Eastbut in many places artificial watering is needed. Herds
of sheep and goats have yearly pasture migrations through two or three zones.
Because of this physical situation, the Levant as a whole has been called
the land-bridge between Africa and Eurasia, but it also has been a buffer zone
between states to the north and south. Furthermore it has been a connect-
ing factor in an east-west direction (and vice versa) by traversing the Arabian
Desert, and by overseas contacts to and from the west. Thus it was a region in
which a plurality of human and cultural meetings and migrations took place.
Archaeological interest in the southern half of the region started with a reli-
gious focus on holy places for pilgrims, especially by Christianity in the west.
Since the 17th century this stage developed into comparison and identifica-
tion of all the geographic units in the Bible with those in the visited region, as
well as of the manners and customs of the local population, such as agricul-
ture and social structure, to improve understanding of the biblical narratives.6
Mainly from the 19th century onwards, archaeological objects and structures
were added to this, as the tangible residues of what people thought and did in
the past.
6 G. van der Kooij, Near Eastern archaeology and the public in the 17th to early 20th cen-
tury in the Netherlands, Ch. 10 in B.S. Dring a.o. (eds), Correlates of Complexity; essays in
archaeology and Assyriology dedicated to Diederik J.W. Meijer in honour of his 65th Birthday,
Leiden, 105142.
68 van der Kooij
At the same time a historico-critical study of the Bible emerged resulting

in hesitations about the reliability of biblical narratives. This led to an apolo-
getic search for historical confirmations, for example by choosing the biblical
view of history as a guideline for interpretation of archaeological remains. For
that reason, many Christians and Jews have a strong interest in the archae-
ology of this region. The more liberal elements among them have that inter-
est too, but mainly to know what archaeology has to say independently about
the past.
Through this variety of interests, the archaeological heritage in the region
has all sorts of values. Consequently this heritage is being used to support
a religious or ideological-political point of view and attract people with that
interest, promoting (religious) tourism. Although archaeological heritage
is public property, it may be claimed by one group within a society for pri-
vate usea mechanism that has been described above as the colonisation of
the past.
1.2 Three Archaeological Projects

The aspects mentioned above play a role in the three main archaeological
field projects of the unit Archaeology of Palestine/Levant of the University
of Leiden.
Geographically, the three sites (Tell Deir Alla, Khirbet Balama and Tell
Balata) and their regions are at short distances from one another (25 to 40 km),
but situated in different bio-climatic zones, and therefore have varied possibil-
ities for agriculture and animal husbandry. The periods during which Khirbet
Balama was inhabited differ from those of Tell Deir Alla and Tell Balata (see
the table below).
Three sites in the archaeological history of Palestine-Transjordan
Years Time/period Kh. Balama Tell Balata Tell Deir Alla Empire
2000 excavations excavations

1900 modern fields + village excavations
village Balata village Deir Alla Ottoman-
1500 1516 Ottoman Turkish
Mameluke weli + village village graveyard Egyptian
1000 Crusader times small castle
Years Time/period Kh. Balama Tell Balata Tell Deir Alla Empire
500 638 Omayad Arabic- Islamic

AD 324 Byzantine Byzantine
1 Roman village Roman
Hellenistic village small town Greek /Persian
500 586 Iron Age III small village Babylonian
Iron Age II small town village (fase IX) Assyrian
1000 village village
1200: Iron Age town, tunnel? town large village
1500 Late-Bronze Age city town Egyptian
2000 Mid-Bronze IIC town-city city, wall-glacis city, wall-glacis

Mid-Bronze II growing town
2500 Early-Bronze III city
3000 Early-Bronze II ?
3500 Early-Bronze I 1st habitation
4000 Chalcolithic
9000 BC Neolithic
before Palaeolithic
2 Work in Jordan: Tell Deir Alla and Surroundings
2.1 The Beginning

In December 1959 Henk Franken travelled by Landrover to Jordan for his first
excavation season on Tell Deir Alla, a conspicuous 30 m high mound in the
Jordan Valley at about 250 m below sea level, in a steppe-zone with dry hot sum-
mers and mild humid winters, that turns into a Sudanese tropical zone where
watered well (fig. 5.2). He worked with a small team from the Netherlands,
including Luc Grollenberg as photographer. Grollenberg had travelled through
the Levant, documenting it for Elseviers famous Atlas van de Bijbel (1954), in
70 van der Kooij
Figure 5.2 Tell Deir Alla and surroundings in 1963, looking south-southwest. The stream-valley
of the Jordan River is to the upper-right and top, and the new East-Ghor Canal to
the left (archive Deir Alla project).
which he had suggested that the Dutch should take Tell Deir Alla as a new site
for research, as Franz Bhl had done already in 1927. That site had often been
identified with biblical Succoth, and so became connected with the patriarch
Jacob, and also, as a region, associated with the Israelites before entering the
land of Canaan.
This was the first independent Dutch archaeological excavation project in
the region.
2.2 History of Fieldwork and Research Context (19602009)

The first four seasons, throughout 1964, were financed by the Dutch national
research fund ZWO (now NWO) and had a biblical-historical subject, namely
the character and reality of the so-called entrance of the Israelites in Canaan,
via the Jordan Valley. This was archaeologically translated in recognizing
Israelites in the archaeological record of Transjordan, during the Late Bronze
Age to Iron Age transition, dated to around 1200 BC. In the end Franken
had to conclude that the entrance of Israelites was not archaeologically
identified, using Kathleen Kenyons stratigraphic and Anna Shepards pottery

approaches.7 The identification of the site with Succoth remains uncertain.
Franken excavated a step-trench through the northern slope of the site in
order to collect a statistically reliable amount of pottery from the final phases
of the Late Bronze Age and the beginning of the Iron Age. However large and
relatively well preserved architectural remains were uncovered too: The exca-
vations received much international attention with the discovery (mainly in
1964) of parts of a large temple complex, destroyed by earthquake and fire
towards the end of Late Bronze Age. This destruction was dated around 1180BC
by an Egyptian faience drop-vase with the Pharaohs name Tawosret. Also other
remarkable objects were found such as locally made clay-tablets with carved
writing (see below).
The next season in early 1967, again financed by ZWO, started to extend the
excavation area from the top to make a complete excavation possible of the
temple complex further down. However the excavation of the first metres of
Iron Age strata produced another surprise. Fragments of limy wall plaster with
an ink written inscription were found in the Iron Age phase IX village (called
phase M at that time), dated ca. 800 BC, i.e. the Balaam Text.
It should be noted here that up to 1976 the Antiquities law in Jordan allowed
the governmental Department of Antiquities to divide the booty of finds
of the excavations (as shown and described in the objects register) between
themselves (having first choice) and the excavating and/or financing party,
the division. This made it possible for the University of Leiden to acquire
a large number of (less special) archaeological objects. These objects played a
role in archaeological research and education, and some of them were also for
the public eye, being exhibited in a museum (mainly the National Museum of
Antiquities, RMO-Leiden). In 2011 this collection was transferred to the RMO as
the new owner, due to lack of facilities for responsible management of it at the
University, and based on long established comparable relations between the
two public institutions.
The excavations continued in 1976, again with a new intermediate purpose:
to understand the context of the Balaam text, requiring a horizontal exten-
sion of the excavations. What was the character of this Iron Age settlement
and what was the role of the Balaam text there? However, since this demanded
also an extension of the excavation of the uppermost phases (all Iron Age) the
opportunity was used to add a more general goal to the excavation programme,
7 H.J. Franken, Excavations at Tell Deir Alla I; a stratigraphical and analytical study of the Early
Iron Age pottery, Leiden 1969.
72 van der Kooij
namely the settlement history or biography of the site: what happened on the
site synchronically and diachronically?
3 Institutional Contexts
3.1 In Jordan
The now famous Deir Alla project also changed in another way: in 1976 it
became a joint project of Leiden University and the Department of Antiquities
of Jordan (DoA), where Moawiyah Ibrahim had initiated this cooperation, in
line with the new Antiquities law (see below). With others he just had com-
pleted an extensive site survey of the East Jordan Valley and was soon to build
up a department of Archaeology at the newly established Yarmouk University
in Irbid, the second university in Jordan. An agreement of cooperation was
signed by the three institutions in 1980, and two years later a dig-house (Deir
Alla Station for Archaeological Studies) with a small museum and facilities for
study and storage was built near the tell at the western edge of the village, and
opened by Crown Prince Hassan. The project was financed and co-directed by
the two academic institutions, represented by Moawiyah Ibrahim, continued
by Zeidan Kafafi in 1996, and Henk Franken, continued by Gerrit van der Kooij
in 1979.
The cooperation programme of Leiden University and DoA, and later
Yarmouk University, intended (apart from establishing the Deir Alla Station)
to set up the excavation programme jointly, to implement it and preliminarily
publish its results. The programme also aimed at field training of staff mem-
bers and students from both universities, mainly in stratigraphy and documen-
tation methods. Also local workmen and foremen were trained, partly by field
experts from Kenyons excavations in Jericho, who came to Transjordan.
This kind of cooperation was in fact a new feature in Dutch archaeology and
also in Jordan. Up to recently Dutch archaeologists working abroad had not
cooperated with any local institution.8
A most important change occurred in Jordan due to the Antiquities Law
of 1976, because it changed the ownership rules of antiquities in line with
UNESCO requirements: all archaeological objects and materials are owned
publicly by the Department of Antiquities (DoA). This means that trade of
antiquities is no longer allowed and divisions of registered objects no longer
8 M.H. van den Dries a.o., Dutch Archaeology Abroad: from treasure hunting to local com-
munity engagement, Ch. 1.6 in S.J. van der Linde a.o., European Archaeology Abroad; global
settings, comparative perspectives, Leiden 2012, 125156.
occur. Yet, the excavating party may take objects home on short term loan for
analyses. Animal bones, plant remains, pottery sherds and other samples may
also be taken outside Jordan, on long term or permanent loan.
3.2 In Leiden
At the same time, the archaeological units at Leiden University were combined.
The university policy requested the small entities of historical archaeology,
most of them being connected with a language and culture department, to
merge into one department of Archaeology within the Faculty of Arts. Thus
the unit Archaeology of Palestine/Levant was joining the archaeologies of the
Classical World, Egypt, Mesopotamia, the Persian Gulf, Southeast Asia and
Indian America to form the new department of Archaeology in 1979. In 1987
this started, together with the separate Inter-Faculty of Prehistory (of Western
Europe), a full study programme for Archaeology (BA and MA)a very rare
organization world-wide. The close cooperation with other archaeological
regions and the increased teaching programme led to a clearer discipline and
stronger independent archaeological approach in the study of (historical) soci-
eties from the past.
In the next stage of reorganization, the historical archaeologies merged
with Prehistoric Archaeology forming the Faculty of Archaeology in 1997.
Within this Faculty the Levant was combined with Mesopotamia and
partly with Egypt in 1999, to form Archaeology of the Near East as one of the
worlds archaeological regions.
However, during this process some teaching of Archaeology in the Faculty of
Theology continued with one independent or shared course. It included a gen-
eral introduction to Archaeology of Palestine and the archaeological approach
for topics in relation to biblical history (e.g. biblical institutions, religion, or
society). This lasted till 2006, when Jrgen Zangenberg, with experience in
archaeology in Israel, was appointed on the chair of New Testament studies
and took over the archaeological input.
3.3 Continuation of Fieldwork: Excavation and Survey

From 1976 to 1987 most work was done on the eastern top of the mound deal-
ing with the final Iron Age phases. With the resumption of fieldwork in 19949
much work concerned the MB and LB phases on the lower southwest and
south-east slopes for a better understanding of the character of the whole site
during those periods.
9 M. Ibrahim, G. van der Kooij, Excavations at Tall Dayr Alla; Seasons 1987 and 1994, Annual of
the Department of Antiquities of Jordan XLI (1997), 95114.
74 van der Kooij
A general view had emerged of what had happened on Deir Alla throughout
its history, but it remained unclear what people did off-site in the surround-
ing landscape, apart from what could be deduced from excavated plant and
animal remains. The site had a rather stable city character during the Middle
Bronze Age and Late Bronze Age, but during Iron Age II and III the population
was unstable, increasing gradually or suddenly and vanishing just as gradually
or suddenly. The questions were, caused by what and why? Did people leave to
another spot nearby? Or did they go to the mountainous hinterland because of
an unsatisfactory economic situation of the steppe valley? Or did ideological
or political factors play a role?
These questions were reason enough to study the surroundings of Tell Deir
Alla. Already in 1960 Diana Kirkbride took part in Frankens expedition to
search (in vain!) for archaeological graveyards that could be connected with
the LB or Iron Age community of the site. Since 1996 this regional aspect was
used to effect some rescue fieldwork on Tell Hammeh, 2.5 km east of Deir Alla,
because of its possible role as an access point into the Jordan Valley from the
mountainous east alongside the Zerqa River (see also below).
However, a more systematic study of the surrounding region took place
in 20042008, by the Settling the Steppe project. This was financed by the
national research fund NWO (previously ZWO) and the Faculty of Archaeology
of the University of Leiden, again jointly with Yarmouk University and the
Department of Antiquities of Jordan. This project studied the use, occupation
and abandonment of the eastern middle section of the Jordan Valley, through
history. On a much smaller scale, for comparison, there was a similar project in
the steppe of north-eastern Syria.
4 Results: The Archaeological History of Use of Tell Deir Alla and

Surroundings (Cf. Fig. 5.3)
The site of Tell Deir Alla was first settled in the MB II period, but the sur-
rounding area had been inhabited long before. Surface surveys, especially
by the Settling the Steppe project that discovered several new sites, made it
clear that occupation started as soon as the floor of the oblong-shaped Lake
Lisan became dry from north to south, finally leaving the Dead Sea as a rem-
nant. Apparently the people had a Natufian culture, known from Jericho. The
Neolithic followed ca. 8000 BC, with its many innovationsa process that con-
tinued during Chalcolithic times (ca. 45003500 BC), when many villages were
established alongside brooks in the Jordan Valley. Several villages from its last
phase and the beginning of the Early Bronze Age have been found in the Deir
Alla region. During that period large dolmen fields were created just above the
Figure 5.3 Contour map of Tell Deir Alla with the excavation trenches, also indicating the main
periods unearthed in them.
eastern edge of the valley floor. During Early Bronze II, around 3000 BC, cities
gradually appear, built with a surrounding wall alongside and above the edge
of the valley floor.
4.1 Middle Bronze Age (MB)

West of the Jordan River there were many MB settlements, but it became
clear that there was also a second urban period east of the Jordan. The earli-
est occupation of Tell Deir Alla was in the last part of the Middle Bronze Age,
ca. 1650 BC.10 It soon had the character of a full grown city. Its surface area
was ca. 250200 m, with thick mudbrick walls for its buildings and defensive
earthworks with a glacis, for which the local laminated Lisan clays were used.
Considering the population density, an irrigation system must have been used
10 Cf. G. van der Kooij, Tell Deir Alla: The Middle and Late Bronze Age Chronology,
Ch. III in P.M. Fischer (ed.), The Chronology of the Jordan Valley during the Middle and Late
Bronze Ages: Pella, Tell Abu al-Kharaz, and Tell Deir Alla, Vienna 2006, 199126.
76 van der Kooij
for agriculture in this steppe zone, but this is still unclear. Some nearby smaller
settlements were supposedly connected with Deir Alla, such as Tell Hammeh
further east, close by the water-supply. Further north, the city of Pella was part
of this urban and elite society.
Utensils from MB Deir Alla include the typical fine pottery, such as plates
and bowls with elegant shapes, thrown on a fast wheel. That wheel was intro-
duced at that time but its use was discontinued, a disuse that lasted for the
next 700 years. Remarkable are a bronze trident, a large spearhead and an
axe with fist-shaped socketa type that is found rarely but spread over a
wide region. These objects show that the town certainly belonged to a wide
Levantine (elite) culture.
4.2 Late Bronze Age (LB)

On the levelled ruins of the MB-city a new occupancy took place, but on a
smaller scale. To the north the MB earthworks and glacis were used as a raised
surface for a large temple. The famous chocolate-on-white decorated pottery
during the earlier part of this Late Bronze period was a continuation from the
late MB period, but without the use of the fast potters wheel. No traces of a city
wall are found, but a light wall was present at the south-western town edge. In
any case, the region made use of an Egyptian peace and traded around the
eastern Mediterranean. The cuneiform written clay tablets in the royal archive
at Tell el-Amarna, around 1350 BC, make it clear that the Deir Alla region was
under hegemony of the king of the city state of Shikmu/Shechem (Tell Balata,
see below).
Many remains of the last stratum of the Late Bronze Age town have been
revealed by Frankens excavations on the northern slope of the site in the
1960s (Franken 1992) and by the Joint Expedition on the southern slope and
foot since 1994.11 The sudden destruction of the town by earthquake and fire,
ca. 1180 BC, caused a thick layer of debris and remnants of standing walls, and
also human casualties, two of which were found trapped under debris.
The monumental building of the temple (ca. 1115 m) in the northern reli-
gious quarter has a counterpart in the southern quarter, of about the same
size and also making use of large stone column bases and wooden columns
to support the roof. In the lower southwest quarter, just outside the city bor-
der, were industrial workshops and also considerable storage capacity, includ-
ing a collared rim pithos (the early type) with an Egyptian stamped stopper.
Trade played a major role, as did the local industry, such as bronze work
11 Cf. G. van der Kooij, Tell Deir Alla, and Z.A. Kafafi, G. van der Kooij 2013, Tell Der Alla
during the Transition from Late Bronze Age to Iron Age, in ZDPV 129/2 (2013), 121139,
Plates 1012.
(crucibles are found), precious metals (moulds for jewellery), alabaster (with
the main source nearby in the Zerqa Valley), and probably also faience. Faience
was mainly applied to vessels, such as the Tawosret drop-vase, but also other
objects, coming from Egypt, but also from North Syria or Mesopotamia, such
as cylinder seals and vessels. Chromite was discovered in one of the vessels,
apparently to increase its lustre.12 It was the first instance found in pre-Roman
faience, so the object may originate from a yet unknown production area.
The inscribed clay tablets mentioned above were found in the northern
and the southern quarters. Four complete tablets and three fragments were
found, locally formed and inscribed. The distinct 27 characters must form an
alphabetic script, still to be deciphered, but to be taken as one of the alphabets
developed in the Levant in LB-times (cf. fig 5.4).13
4.3 Iron Age

The levelled ruins of the LB town gradually became occupied, using huts and
mudbrick buildings, during the late 12th century BC. Remarkably, some horn-
shaped clay blowpipes, used for smelting metal in a crucible, were found in the
northern and southern excavated parts of the settlement. Also fragments of
fenestrated cylindrical stands originate from this phase, partly decorated with
applied or painted figures, such as a lyre player. Around 1100 BC, a large village
was established.14
However from the 10th century BC onwards there were fewer habitation
structures on the eastern part of the tell surface, that was already 20 m above
the surface of the plain by that time. From now on the population was no lon-
ger stable; a pattern can be seen in the alternating use of the site. Habitation
could gradually increase and then decrease again after a shorter or longer
period, but both processes could be fast or sudden as well.
We shall now mention a few details of some of the Iron Age II phases.15
12 Cf. N.C.F. Groot et. al., Dark and Shiny: the discovery of chromite in Bronze Age faience,
Archaeometry 48 (2006), 229236; N.C.F. Groot, All the Work of Artisans; reconstructing
society at Tell Deir Alla through the study of ceramic traditions: Study of Late Bronze Age
faience vessels and Iron IIcIII ceramics from Tell Deir Alla, Jordan (PhD thesis), Part I,
Delft 2011.
13 Cf. G. van der Kooij, Archaeological and palaeographic aspects of the Deir Alla Late
Bronze Age clay tablets, in: Z. Kafafi, M. Maraqten (eds.), A Pioneer of Arabia; studies in the
archaeology and epigraphy of the Levant and the Arabian Peninsula in honor of Moawiyah
Ibrahim, Roma 2014, 157178.
14 Cf. Franken, Excavations at Tell Deir Alla.
15 Cf. already G. van der Kooij, M.M. Ibrahim (eds.), Picking up the Threads...; a continuing
review of excavations at Deir Alla, Jordan, Leiden 1989, for some details.
78 van der Kooij
Figure 5.4 Line-drawing of one of the more recently found complete clay-tablets
inscribed on five sides.
The 9th century BC Phase IX became very famous. In this period, many
rooms were built, mostly small, but in the southern part a very large round pit
was dug, 5 m deep with a 12 m diameter at the top, and with oblique sides solid-
ified by a cover of clayey mudbricks. The original purpose is not clear (little
was excavated), but the pit was gradually filled with many layers of dung, fod-
der and plant growth, like a wet farm yard. The wet seasons may be recognized
in this 5 m thick accumulation. Subsequently a complex of rooms was built on
this unstable fill. Like all built spaces, this house had mudbrick walls, and a
roof of reed on poplar beams with a mix of mud and straw on top. Most of the
extensive building complexes were constructed more or less as one unit, with
some rebuilding at places.16 The village was destroyed by earthquake and fire,
making many installations and their contents still recognizable.
Inside the large housing complexes several groups of rooms forming one
household may be distinguished. Each group had a clear space for food prep-
aration and storage, which had storage jars with wheat and small jugs with
herbs, but also fuel for the bread oven, especially dung cakes. Each house-
hold had an upper grinding stone, a roller, but the lower stone, a quern, was
fixed somewhere else; so grinding was done more or less centrally. The same
applied to baking bread. On the other hand, many households had a space
reserved for a standing loom, each with some 30 loom-weights.17
Some of the rooms had one or two walls covered with a layer of whitish lime
plaster, but only one room (of 63 m) had this plaster inscribed with ink. A pro-
fessional scribe had written one text column (probably), 33 cm wide and mini-
mally 1 m high, with 53 lines. This wall-book, in the Egyptian style, had black
ink (carbon), but red ink for the initial words of a new paragraph (fig. 5.5), and
also some illustrations. It was fragmented by the destruction, but fire had had
little effect there.
The plaster text is also called the Balaam-text, because it starts with (restored)
This is the book of Balaam-the-son-of-Beor, seer of the gods, identical with the
Balaam in Numbers 2224. This seer makes negative predictions about eco-
nomic and social life, describing an upside-down world. Many parts are miss-
ing and the text is difficult to decipher at places, but Jaap Hoftijzer managed to
reach a rather convincing translation of the text, which was written in a local
16 Cf. G. van der Kooij, Use of Space in Settlementsan exercise upon Deir Alla IX, Ch. 5 in:
W. Wendrich, G. van der Kooij (eds.), Moving Matters; ethnoarchaeology in the Near East.
Proceedings of the international seminar held at Cairo 710 December 1998, Leiden 2002,
6373.
17 Cf. J.H. Boertien, Unravelling the Fabric; textile production in Iron Age Transjordan (PhD
thesis), Groningen 2013, especially ch. 6.
80 van der Kooij
Figure 5.5 Facsimile drawing of the upper part of the Balaam-text (combination 1). Sections of
the text with the name Balaam bar Beor are framed.
form of the early Ammonite or Aramaic script and in the Aramaic language.18
It turned out be food for philologists and Biblical scholars!
A new main occupation followed in the 8th century BC, Phase VII. This
village also was destroyed suddenly by earthquake and fire (partly), so many
remains were left, apart from the many later disturbances. Thus a workshop
was found where stamp seals were cut from specially made hard lime plaster,
as artificial stone. Or a storage room with not only jars but also framed baskets
with charred grain, in which some wooden spindles were found as well. Or the
room with luxury utensils such as a high footed grinding bowl and modern
thrown cooking pots, besides traditional hand-made ones. A major pottery
study by Niels Groot,19 combining technological and chemical analyses, shows
18 Besides the editio princeps J. Hoftijzer, G. van der Kooij (eds.), Aramaic Texts from Deir
Alla, Leiden 1976, see J. Hoftijzer, G. van der Kooij (eds.), The Balaam Text from Deir Alla
Re-evaluated; Proceedings of the International Symposium held at Leiden 2124 August 1989,
Leiden 1991.
19 Groot, All the Work of Artisans, Part II.
Figure 5.6 Aramaic ink inscription on a curved sherd (15 cm long) from a typical Ammonite
painted jug. The content concerns the request to families to deliver stones for the
repair of a gate.
that the pottery is partly traditional and local, partly traditional Transjordan.
A few, namely the thrown pottery (the cooking pot already mentioned and
a few bowlsboth referred to as Assyrian Palace ware) are to be connected
with the west of the River Jordan.
Several villages and hamlets followed during the 7th to 4th centuries BC, but
the last ones suffered from the unstable building surface and quickly collapsed,
leading to a complete stop just before the Hellenistic period. It is remarkable
that quite a number of short inscriptions, mainly ostraca written on in ink,
were found in the 7th to 5th centuries BC village phases of the site.20 The oldest
ones were written in Ammonite script and language, but the later ones in the
wide-spread Aramaic script and language (fig. 5.6) of the Achaemenid Empire
following the Persian conquest of the Middle East.
20 Examples in Van der Kooij, Ibrahim, Picking up the Threads.

82 van der Kooij
After some 1600 years of erosion, the surface of the Tell was used as a
graveyard for nearby villagers. This probably started in the 14th century AD
(the Mameluke period); sometimes large sugar pot sherds were used to struc-
ture the grave, indicating a society that was active in the production of sugar
cane and sugar. Marloes Borsboom studied this graveyard (MA-thesis 2001) and
interestingly found no trace of a central grave or tomb of a holy man, a weli,
who often has the position of mediator for the living in other graveyards.
5 Study of the Region: Sites and Surveys
5.1 Tell Hammeh (See Map Fig. 5.7)

Within the Deir Alla project, small scale fieldwork was carried out at this site,
firstly in 1996 and then in 1997. One goal was to study the transition from LB to
Iron Age in the region, but work was also done for rescue reasons, since parts
of the site had been levelled already by bulldozer for agricultural purposes.
However a complete surprise was the discovery of remains of a large workshop
for the production of iron from iron ore, dating to ca. 930 BC (carbon-14), just
a few centuries before the introduction of iron smelting, and the earliest work-
shop found so far.
Additional fieldwork (within the joint Deir Alla project) took place in 2000
supervised by Alexander Veldhuijzen who studied the large amount of debris
from this iron production process, such as ash, charcoal, slag and furnace
remains and fragmentary tuyres (blowpipes). Remains were also analysed at
Yarmouk University. The subsequent excavation of 2009 revealed the bases of
several furnaces, embedded in a solid clay floor.21 Complete tuyres were found
with their remarkable square (not round) cross section. This field season was
part of the multidisciplinary project The Iron Track of Jordan (20072009) in
cooperation with specialists from Technical University Delft, within the frame-
work of the agreement of the Leiden-Delft cooperation in CAAS, Centre for Art
and Archaeological Sciences. This project included three approaches: search
for ore locations and other smelting workshops in the surrounding region by
21 Cf. H.A. Veldhuijzen, Of Slag and Scales; micro-stratigraphy and micro-magnetic mate-
rial at Metallurgical Excavations, Ch. 11 in: E. Kaptijn, L.P. Petit (eds.), A Timeless Vale;
Archaeological and related essays on the Jordan Valley in honour of Gerrit van der Kooij
on the occasion of his sixty-fifth birthday, Leiden 2009, 155166. Cf. also his Early Iron
Production in the Levant. Smelting and Smithing at early 1st millennium BC Tell Hammeh,
Jordan, and Tel Beth-Shemesh, Israel (PhD thesis), London 2005.
satellite remote sensing.22 Thus Mugharet el-Warde (nearly 7 km to the north-

east, in the mountains) has to be considered the only source for iron ore in the
surrounding region. The second approach was magnetometry and 3D-ground
radar to specify the location of unexcavated workshops and furnaces at Tell
Hammeh. This was implemented by Deltares, Utrecht, in 2009, with limited
results.23 The third approach was excavation at specific spots on Tell Hammeh,
by Veldhuijzen in 2009, with the results mentioned above. Unfortunately this
project was closed prematurely.
5.2 Zerqa Triangle

The region of the Zerqa-triangle around Deir Alla was studied specially in
order to describe further and explain the vicissitudes of life as shown at Deir
Alla during the Iron Age II period. The population was not constant; people
left and came back. Perhaps only some left and went to a nearby place, or a
part of the population changed to animal husbandry and seasonal migration,
living in tents. Such an explanation is based on the ethnography of the region
until about 1960 and on the assumption that climatic fluctuations have not
been strong since about 4500 BC. The project Settling the Steppe; the archae-
ology of changing societies in Syro-Palestinian drylands during the Bronze and
Iron Ages, financed by NWO and the University of Leiden, took place from 2004
to 2009, including joint fieldwork with Yarmouk University. It collected and
interpreted a wealth of data to understand these vicissitudes. The data in the
Deir Alla region were of two kinds: traces of use of the landscape during all
periods, by Eva Kaptijn,24 using a sophisticated surface survey method, partly
combined with paleo-geographic studies by Fuad Hourani (Paris) and paleo-
botanic studies by Ellis Grootveld. The second set of data concerned the habi-
tation histories of Iron Age villages by Lucas Petit, using site-surface survey
and excavation.
During the surface survey, several new sites were discovered. Two Early
Bronze I sites were additionally studied by Eva Kaptijn, including excavations
in 2010, subsidised by the Byvanck fund of Leiden University. They would
22 Cf. F. Denz, On the use of Spaceborne Remote Sensing for Archaeology; a case study on early
iron production sites at the Jordan Valley (MA-thesis), Delft 2008.
23 Cf. G. van der Kooij, Z. Kafafi, H.A. Veldhuijzen, Tell Deir Alla and Region, in: D.R. Keller,
C.A. Tuttle (eds), Archaeology in Jordan, 2008 and 2009 Seasons, American Journal of
Archaeology 114 (2010), 505545, spec. 509511.
24 E. Kaptijn, Life on the Watershed. Reconstructing subsistence in a Steppe Region using
Archaeological Survey: a diachronic perspective on habitation in the Jordan Valley (PhD
thesis), Leiden 2009.
84 van der Kooij
provide some data for the study of EB-urbanisation in S-Levant as a largely

independent process.
An important result of the surface survey was the conclusion that an agri-
cultural subsistence economy only is (and was) possible by watering the fields,
supplementing the limited winter rains on only partly fertile soil. Up to the
1950s, an irrigation system used water from the river Zerqa that was tapped by
a narrow artificial side channel, located more than 3 km beyond Tell Hammeh
in the mountainous east. Three main side channels distributed this water
over the slightly southwest-sloping valley-plain, and numerous side ditches
brought it onto the fieldsa system of gravity irrigation (see fig 5.7).25 Eva
Kaptijn made clear that this sub-system goes back to Mameluke times, when
additional water was needed for growing sugarcane and for water mills to grind
the reed stems to pulp for the sugar production. It also turned out that the
same system existed already during Roman-Byzantine times. There are even
clear indications that a comparable system with almost the same course of the
main channels was used during Iron Age and Late Bronze Age. This is less clear
for the Middle Bronze Age.
With respect to the changing intensity of habitation, Kaptijn concludes that
this appears to be connected with the varying ability of the population to pro-
vide extra water to the fertile soil, based on the construction, maintenance and
repair of a large irrigation system and the ability to cope with calamities such
as earthquakes and floods.
For his part, Lucas Petit (2009) from survey work was able to determine
to some extent the settled periods of other villages during the Iron Age, and
he went into details at three sites by small scale excavations. These sites are
Tell Adliyeh and Tell Ammata north of Deir Alla, and Tell Damiya, some 12 km
south-southwest of Deir Alla, near a ford in the River Jordan, along the route
to and from the west. Petit tentatively concluded that frequent earthquakes
played a role to diminish the house habitation in the valley, as did slight fluc-
tuations in precipitation, resulting in the focus alternating between agricul-
ture and animal husbandry. Furthermore, intensive occupation in the Valley
is often related to intensive occupation of the hill countries on both sides of
the Jordan Valley. The periods of prosperity probably had a connection with
a strong overarching political and economic power, as was the case during
Deir Alla Phase VII under Assyrian hegemony. Lucas Petit, now curator at the
25 Cf. G. van der Kooij, Irrigation systems at Dayr Alla, in: F. Al-Khraysheh (ed.), Studies in
the History and Archaeology of Jordan IX, Amman 2007, 133144, and especially E. Kaptijn,
Communality and power: irrigation in the Zerqa Triangle, Jordan, Water History 2/2
(2010), 145163.
Figure 5.7 A simplified drawing of the traditional irrigation system in the Zerqa-triangle (after
aerial photos from ca. 1945). The sites mentioned are indicated, except that Tell
Damiya lies further south.
86 van der Kooij
National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden (RMO), continued excavations at

Tell Damiya in 2012, also jointly with Yarmouk University.26
6 Heritage Management and the Public
Heritage Management, based on a Site Management Plan, has not yet been sys-
tematically applied to Tell Deir Alla and the other sites mentioned, but many
elements from it have been implemented separately. Thus much back filling
of excavated squares took place, and consolidation measures were taken in
1998 to protect the sides of the large excavated area at the top of the Tell by
constructing a plastered oblique mudbrick structure up against them. After
fencing the site at or on its foot, the Department of Antiquities established a
visitors corner at the road-entrance with shade and information panels. Also
steps were constructed on the northern slope for access through the northern
excavations towards the panoramic top of the site.
Right from the start, the Deir Alla Station had reserved one room for an
exhibition about the excavations and their results for the locals and the gen-
eral public, which has been visited by local school children and others. This
was renewed in 1994, with materials from the 1989 exhibition in the Museum
of Antiquities in Leiden. The results of the project are also exhibited in the
Heritage Museum at Yarmouk University, Irbid, as part of the Institute (now
Faculty) of Archaeology, Anthropology and Epigraphy. However, many spe-
cial discoveries during the 1960s were immediately exhibited in the National
Museum in Amman (Jebel Qala), including the Balaam inscription. Recently,
many of these objects, and those exhibited in the Deir Alla Station went to the
new Jordan Museum in Amman. There also, three 3 m high pull-offs, specially
made on Tell Deir Alla in 2007, are exhibited in the permanent exhibition to
illustrate the principles of stratigraphy and chronology.27
In the Netherlands two large exhibitions were held in the National Museum
of Antiquities in Leiden:
26 Cf. L.P. Petit, Settlement Dynamics in the Middle Jordan Valley during Iron Age II, Oxford
2009, and http://www.rmo.nl/english/research/excavations/jordan-tell-damiyah.
27 Cf. G. van der Kooij, Stratigraphic Pull-Offs: a documenting and teaching tool at Dayr
Alla, in: H.G.K. Gebel, Z. Kafafi, O. Al-Ghul (eds.), Modesty and Patience; archaeological
studies and memories in honour of Nabil Qadi Abu Salim, Irbid-Berlin 2009, 6184.
1965: Opgravingen in Bijbelse grond; past het of past het niet...(Excavations

in Biblical soil; fitting or not fitting...), referring to potsherds and to the
complex puzzle of the identification of biblical and archaeological objects;
1989: Een verhaal voor het oprapen; opgravingen te Deir Alla in de Jordaanvallei
(the title of the accompanying publication was translated as Picking up the
threads...; a continuing review of excavations at Deir Alla) with a focus on
field methods, laboratory analysis and other analyses, and on final results:
the story of people in the past.
In 2004 a documentary movie was made, directed by Martijn de Groot, with Jan
Douwe Kroeske as presenter (Archeologisch dagboek van Jan Douwe Kroeske:
Jordani), initiated by Maarten Jansen, dean of the Faculty. The film was
broadcast a few times by the Dutch AVRO-station. Subsequently the ambas-
sador of the Netherland in Amman, Gajus Scheltema (together with Yarmouk
University), had presented it in Jordan with English and Arabic subtitles.
Plans for a large multidisciplinary regional museum and research centre at
Deir Alla were ready in 1991, revised in 2001, but are awaiting implementation...
The Deir Alla project in all its aspects may be seen as successful when consid-
ering the main aim, to obtain a view of the past by using many of the avail-
able tools for analyses and theories for interpretation. In my view, with all its
drawbacks, the project has been trying to be solicitors of the societies that
left traces of their acts and thinking, as its archaeological heritage. From the
point of view of modern archaeological theory and the practice of multivocal-
ity and multiple values, the decolonization of research may not have reached a
theoretical maximum, by applying too little multivocality and research ben-
efits to the local community,28 but for myself as an archaeologist, the search
for the real voice from the past had priority.
7 Work in Palestine
7.1 Background
The Oslo agreements of 1994 changed the situation of the West Bank, occu-
pied by Israel since 1967. In the West Bank, East Jerusalem and surroundings
had been annexed by Israel, but the area was now divided into three zones.
The Palestinian Authority were responsible for archaeological and historical
28 Cf. S.J. van der Linde, Digging Holes Abroad: An ethnography of Dutch archaeological
research projects abroad (PhD thesis), Leiden 2012, ch. 4.
88 van der Kooij
heritage in zones A and B, but not in zone C, which remained under full Israeli
occupation. The Dutch Representation to the Palestinian Authority, headed
by Willem Beelaerts van Blokland, was aware that good care of cultural heri-
tage is important, not only for the development of tourism and revenues from
it, but also because of the new responsibility of Palestinian society for its heri-
tage. Therefore the local people had to be connected with the archaeological
remainson the one hand to protect it and on the other hand to be aware of
the local past, because this past was usually connected with colonizing inter-
ests from outside. The Representative started financing a project to rehabili-
tate 100 neglected heritage sites (tells, buildings and landscapes, listed by the
local archaeologist Hamdan Taha, director of the Dept. of Antiquities), spread
over the West Bank and Gaza. The project engaged the local population, devel-
oping useful expertise and work opportunities.
However the scale of the tasks of the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities
and the Department of Antiquities, both in the field (e.g. rescue work) and in
respect of legislation, public awareness, heritage management and scholarly
research, made Beelaerts van Blokland appeal to Dutch archaeologists to assist
with building up this Department of Antiquities. Because of its specialism, the
department of Archaeology of the Levant at Leiden University coordinated a
positive response and began a cooperation with the Department of Antiquities
(later supplemented by ...and Cultural Heritage), headed by Hamdan Taha,
in 1996.
Two commonly developed and implemented projects originated from this
cooperation, one dealing with the archaeology of Khirbet Balama, and the other
with the archaeology and heritage management of Tell Balata (Shechem). Both
had a scientific goal, but also the aim to strengthen the capacity of personnel
and students in a variety of archaeological activities, and to promote the local
sense of responsibility for antiquities, as well as to improve tourism. Both were
funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Development Cooperation.
It should be noted that there are no separate foreign archaeological missions
in Palestine, but cooperation projects of the Department of Antiquities and
foreign institutions are possible when jointly designed and realized, includ-
ing publications. This policy is meant to avoid a colonial attitude in doing
research. In fact, only a small number of such joint projects are (being) imple-
mented, partly because of the Departments small capacity.29
29 Cf. H. Taha, The Current State of Archaeology in Palestine, in: Present Pasts (2010),
http://www.presentpasts.info/articles/10.5334/pp.17/.
8 Khirbet Balama
This site is located at the southern border of Jenin in the northern West Bank
(fig. 5.8). It sits on an almost level natural hill, 50 m above the narrow Wadi
Balama. An ancient important north-south route runs alongside this wadi,
going to and from the hill country. During summer the wadi has no water, but
there are several natural water sources near the site and in Jenin. The hilly sur-
roundings are in the Mediterranean bio-climatic zone and have good soil for
agriculture, as is also the case north of Jenin in the Marj Ibn Amer (Jezreel
plain). Through its water sources Jenin has always been known for its lush
gardens, even in biblical times. In fact, Khirbet Balama too has been iden-
tified as a biblical site, namely Jibleam or Balaam, mentioned also in lists of
Thotmes III. For later periods, the site has also been identified with places
mentioned in Hellenistic and Crusader sources.
Interestingly, there is a Balaam-story in the local oral history: King Balaam
bin Baoura was a wise man and seer. His people required him to curse a group
of foreigners that came to the water source [at the tunnel mouth], and he
cursed them against his own will, because he had proof of their innocence.
God punished him by destroying his kingdom, since he had used his divine
power to curse on innocent people.30
The Department of Antiquities completed rescue work at the lower end
of the tunnel in 1996 because of a widening of the road there in the Wadi
Balama. This was one of the 100 sites to be rehabilitated, mentioned above, and
Leiden participated in it on a very small scale. However this was followed by a
large joint project on the site, implemented in 19982000, and also funded by
the Dutch Ministry for Foreign Cooperation, with capacity building as a goal.
This time it concerned the whole site and its surroundings and included small
scale excavations and surveys, as well as geophysical approaches, aiming to
know and understand the habitation history.
The 1998 and 2000 excavations were spread over the 7 ha oval plateau of the
hill, with special attention to the early defence system and the small Crusader
castle. The biography of the site shows a strongly fluctuating intensity of use
from the Early Bronze Age up to the Ottoman period. Large-scale use is seen
during the first urban period of the Early Bronze Age, and during the second
one of the Middle Bronze Age. Egyptian sources mention a campaign of con-
quest by Thotmes III against ya-b-la-a-mu at the beginning of the Late Bronze
Age. Also the end of the Late Bronze Age and/or the beginning of Iron Age
shows a large-scale use of the site with renewed city walls. Probably the water
30 H. Taha, G. van der Kooij, The Water Tunnel System at Khirbet Balama, Ramallah 2007, 12.
90 van der Kooij
Figure 5.8 Topographic map (ca. 1945) with circles around Khirbet Balama and the cave NW of
Qabatiya. The map-grid is 11 km.
Figure 5.9 View over Khirbet Balama, to NW (1996).
tunnel was made at that time; there are no indications of a surrounding wall
during the later Iron Age periods, or in any later period. During the Hellenistic
and Early Roman periods, the plateau was used for housing and industry (pot-
tery, wine press), but during the following Late Byzantine and Early Islamic
period, settlement was concentrated on the strategic north-eastern end of
the plateau. There the Crusaders built a small castle (3030 m; excavation
Field A), the historical Castellum Beleismum (see fig. 5.9). It was also used in
the Mameluke and Early Ottoman periods, with the presence of the tomb of
Sheikh Mansour.
The water tunnel received special attention, because its lower end at the foot
of the hill and the wadi, was under threat by roadworks.31 It was known as Bir
es-Sinjil and described limitedly by Gurin (1874), but now needed clearance,
careful study and consolidation. This was an opportunity to explore and study
the unknown upper parts of what turned out to be mainly a stepped tunnel
that had been filled with debris and wash. It was studied as a highly remark-
able archaeological feature and potential visitor attraction. The system must
31 Taha, Van der Kooij, The Water Tunnel System at Khirbet Balama.
92 van der Kooij
Figure 5.10 Elevation and plan drawing of the step-tunnel of Khirbet Balama, with its lower
access at the Wadi Balama (after the original drawing by Ibrahim Iqteit, DACH).
have been a means for town people to reach, unseen, the water source at the
foot of the hill during a siege, as is known from other cities.
About 115 m length of tunnel has been discovered and largely stratigraphi-
cally cleared, but the expected upper part, giving access to it from within the
city, has not been found yet. This would probably have been ca. 70 m long.
Geologists from Free University Amsterdam made geophysical analyses at the
most likely locations for this upper part, but the resulting indications have not
yet been tested by excavation. The studied part of the stepped tunnel has a
unique structure, with its two parts having the same feature, namely a curving
upper end to reach the sloping hill surface again (fig. 5.10). Practical advantages
of returning to the surface would be the disposal of waste debris and an easy
access to the tunnel from the slope during periods of peace. A disadvantage
clearly was the washing in of soil from the slope.
In any case, the tunnel as a whole was no longer used since Hellenistic times
and became almost completely filled with washed material, although wash-
blocking walls had been constructed. Interestingly, the two parts with a direct
entrance from the slope were reused: the upper one as a cave for domestic use
or shelter, and the lower one as a stable (see fig. 5.10). This happened mainly
during the early Roman period, judging from the many lamps from that time,
but also later, up until early Ottoman times.
The lowest entry point, alongside the wadi, gave access to the water source
and stayed in use as a bir. In Roman times a cistern with a barrel-shaped roof
was constructed there together with a draw-well, and an extension of the tun-
nel was stone-built to reach the wadi. On top of this extension a building was
constructed with its own access to the well below. It was possibly also used for
religious purposes considering the sculptures found there.
8.1 Region of Balama

The region has been approached in different ways, including geomorphologi-
cal and archaeological reconnaissance surveys. A number of tombs cut in the
rock of a neighbouring hill were excavated. They date from the Bronze and
Iron Ages and were damaged and reused in the past. One Iron Age tomb had
preserved some original deposits with (disturbed) human bones and burial
objects.
A remarkable discovery, west of the town of Qabatiya, 4 km south of Balama,
was the hoard of coins in a small cave in the foot of a hill that was demol-
ished for building purposes (see fig. 5.8). Rescue work was completed by the
Department of Antiquities in 1999.32 A hoard of 420 large silver coins had been
hidden there in two jars. The coins were studied by Arent Pol of the Museum
of Coins and Medals in Leiden (at that time). The coins were struck between
ca. 1530 and 1612, to be hidden soon after that. Remarkably 316 of them were
Dutch lion dollars (leeuwendaalders) from Holland (mainly) but also from
other Provinces, internationally popular currency at that time. The other coins
came from other European countries, mainly from Spain.
Although Dutch trade with the Levant had increased since 1609, especially
in cotton, this hoard does not need to be connected directly with Dutch activi-
ties. It is quite possible that the owner was a local trader who had at his dis-
posal an amount of money, equal to 30 years of earnings by a local peasant.
8.2 Follow-Up of the Project

Apart from some preliminary articles the end-publication was scheduled
in a series, Khirbet Balama Archaeological Project; Report of the 19962000
Excavations and Surveys. Up to 2007 two of the four planned volumes had
appeared, funded by the Dutch Representation, written by the two co-
directors and specialists: the Qabatiya hoard and the Balama tunnel. The other
32 H. Taha, A. Pol, G. van der Kooij, A Hoard of Silver Coins at Qabatiya, Palestine, Ramallah
2006.
94 van der Kooij
two volumes (the site excavations, and the surveys and tomb excavations) are
currently being prepared. The identification with a biblical city, mentioned
above, has to be addressed as wellfor historical reasons, but also in order to
consider a value for religious tourism.
Up to 2007, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities took some site manage-
ment measures, with funding from the Netherlands and USAID. Mainly con-
solidation and restorations or additions were made and also facilities to make
the lower part of the tunnel, with its lower and upper entrance, accessible for
visitors. Some of these interventions may be critically assessed by archaeolo-
gists, but are in a way necessary for consolidation and the safety of visitors.
Considering current opinions about heritage management, more is needed
to involve the local community and attract external interest. Apart from the
tunnel, the site as a whole needs to be made accessible, i.e. made visitor friendly
and visitor proof. A small visitor centre with a museum would be important for
understanding the site, its culture, and the research on it. Summarizing leaflets
would be needed as well as a guidebook.
9 Tell Balata (Shechem)
9.1 Introduction
The cooperation of the Department of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage (DACH)
of the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (MoTA), and the Faculty
of Archaeology of the University of Leiden (UL) gained official status by signing
a Memorandum of Understanding on June 8, 2009 by the Minister Khouloud
Daibes and the Dean of the Faculty Willem Willems. The cooperation would be
activated as soon as money becomes available for a joint project.
At the Dutch ministry of Foreign Affairs and Development Cooperation with
Palestine, the subject of Culture was allowed again, and Harry Putker was in
charge of this at the Dutch Representation. He concluded in 2008 that archae-
ological research and heritage management were still of great importance in
Palestine, and that the famous site of Tell Balata, just east of Nablus (fig. 5.11),
would be the first of the threatened sites to apply measures, because of its archae-
ological, historical and potential tourist value. Furthermore, in 2005 the site,
together with the Old Town of Nablus, was placed by MoTA and UNESCO on the
tentative list of heritage sites in Palestine with potential outstanding Universal
value.33 The site was also a choice of the Ministry that had already taken some
protective measures. Coincidentally also our unit in Leiden had a focus of the
33 H. Taha (ed.), Inventory of cultural and natural Heritage Sites of potential outstanding uni-
versal value in Palestine, Ramallah 2005.
Figure 5.11 Topographic map (ca. 1945) of Nablus and surroundings, with Tell Balata
indicated at the SE-end of the narrow valley between mounts Ebal and
Gerizim. The map-grid is 11 km.
site because of the recent final Tell Balata publication by Campbella special
interest based on the Dutch participation of Franz (de Liagre) Bhl and others in
the German excavations since 1926, promoted and funded by the Dutch Sichem
Comit. Furthermore, Leiden houses two important collections in this respect:
1. The Dutch share of objects found by the German expedition, i.e. Bhls
Shechem collection in the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden
(RMO), studied in Frankens Werkkamers voor Palestijnse Oudheidkunde
and subsequently published in 1969.34
34 V.I. Kerkhof, Catalogue of the Shechem collection in the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden
in Leiden, Oudheidkundige Mededelingen uit het Rijksmuseum van Oudheden te Leiden 50
(1969), 28109.
96 van der Kooij
2. Documentation, i.e. Bhls notes and photographs mainly of the 19261927

seasons in the RMO archive, and in the archive of the Netherlands
Institute for the Near East (NINO). Both of Bhls archives were being
used at that time.35
9.2 Tell Balata Archaeological Park

Subtitle: Scientific Research, Conservation and Site Management;
A Joint Palestinian-Dutch Expedition in Cooperation with UNESCO
In 2009 this project was designed and submitted by the three cooperating part-
ners (MoTA-DACH, UNESCO-Ramallah and Archaeology-UL) and accepted for
funding by the Government of the Netherlands (Foreign Affairs: Development
Cooperation) in November 2009. Work started in spring 2010 and ended in 2014.
The aim of the project was heritage management of the site. It had no direct
archaeological-historical goal, but such a goal was an essential element of the
project, since research-based historical values play an important role for any
other value attributed to the site. The direct reason for the project was that
many of the visible results of the large-scale excavations that had started 100
years ago and ended 60 years later had deteriorated. On top of that the Tell
suffered from growing pressure of housing, industry and population.
To tackle this problem systematically, the best solution nowadays is to
design and implement a heritage management plan with a great variety of
approaches, criteria and activities that protect the site against further decay,
and to repair earlier damage. An archaeological park appears to be a good
tool for this, being a controlled archaeological environment. It also includes
involvement of the local and external public, thus making the site visitor
friendly and protecting it against potential damage by them.
Also public archaeology is a task of heritage management. A key-word
for this is the value of the site or parts of it for anyone connected with it.
Archaeologists are used to attribute a value to archaeological remains as a
means to document and understand the past. However, in post-modern dis-
course and practice one is aware of subjectivity and manipulation of inter-
pretations, and thus of values. Therefore the need multivocality, mentioned
above, should be addressed. Some interpretations or attributed values may
attract additional tourism, a source of economic benefit.
35 Cf. L.P. Petit, Lucas, Het Oude Nabije Oosten, een paradijs voor verzamelaars en weten-
schappers, Zutphen 2013, and C. van Zoest & S. Berntsen, 75 Jaar NINO; geschiedenis van
het Instituut in hoofdlijnen, in: O.E. Kaper & J.G. Dercksen (red.) Waar de geschiedenis
begon; Nederlandse onderzoekers in de ban van spijkerschrift, hirogliefen en aardewerk,
Leiden 2014, 329.
9.3 Archaeology of Tell Balata

The goal of archaeological research within the project was the assessment of
the archaeological results of the previous excavation projects and related dis-
cussions and interpretations. In practice this research had two elements: the
history of previous interests and excavations, and new excavations.
9.4 History of Research; Publications and Archives (Fig. 5.12)

The archaeological-theological interest in Tell Balata started after young
German surveyors had identified the site with biblical Shechem in 1903, based
on location and the remains of a cyclopean wall protruding out of the Tells sur-
face. Another stimulus was the private discovery on the site (House of Salim)
of a hoard of bronze tools and weapons, including a very special MB type of
sickle sword, in 1908.
Two major archaeological projects took place at Tell Balata: the Austrian
and German expedition mainly directed by Ernst Sellin between 1913 and 1934,
Figure 5.12 Tell Balata: plan of the sections excavated since 1913, with colours/shading
distinguishing the expeditions and numbers for the areas of interest as
described in Tell Balata Changing Landscape (original plan by G.R.H. Wright
of the American Joint Expedition).
98 van der Kooij
and the American expedition, mainly directed by G. Ernest Wright between

1956 and 1973.
The Austrian-German work was characterized by excavating long test
trenches, back-filled after use, and large areas with many remains of stone
walls. Sellin started from Vienna but after the war, continued from Berlin
with large scale excavations especially in 1926 and 1927 using a small staff
(including Franz Bhl, who took care of funding from the Netherlands, the
Sichem comit) and 150200 workers (men and women) from neighbouring vil-
lages. Rough stratigraphy was based on superimposed architecture, but little
was documented and the objects found were minimally related to it. Much
of the Hellenistic period and Iron Age was removed, but hardly documented.
Nearly all the monumental architectural remains from the Middle Bronze
Age visible today were excavated by the German expedition. Many objects were
retrieved and divided among responsible institutions, mostly ending up in
Jerusalem (later Rockefeller Museum), Vienna, Berlin and Leiden. Preliminary
reports were published, but Sellins MS of the final report was destroyed in
Berlin in World War II, together with his archive and many objects. However,
for the assessment by the Park project some documentation could be used,
partly collected by the American expedition, partly still in the Bhl archives,
and in the Rockefeller Museum archive.
The American Joint Expedition (Universities of Drew, McCormick and
Harvard), was initiated by G. Ernest Wright and directed by him till 1968, after
which E.F. (Ted) Campbell coordinated additional field work and research for
publications. Its goal was to clarify the chronology of the German results by
using Albrights approach of pottery chronology and increasingly also by using
Kenyons stratigraphic excavation approach. It was a nursery for a new gen-
eration of American (biblical) archaeologists. The old excavated fields were
re-excavated to add stratigraphic data, and in new ones, supplementing for
example many data about Hellenistic times and the Iron Age. Many prelim-
inary lengthy reports were published as well as the influential intermediate
monograph by Wright in 1965,36 and some specialized pottery studies. In 2002,
the final publication of the excavations was produced by Ted Campbell and
G.R.H. (Mick) Wright, the architect of the team.37
Campbell had gathered all the documentation and subsequently conveyed
this to the Semitic Museum of Harvard University. This very large Shechem-
archive includes all the field notebooks, registers, drawings and photo-
36 G.E. Wright, Shechem; the Biography of a Biblical City, London 1965.

37 E.F. Campbell, Shechem III; the stratigraphy and architecture of Shechem/Tell Balatah,
Volume 1: Text, Boston MA 2002. G.R.H. Wright, Shechem III; the stratigraphy and architec-
ture of Shechem/Tell Balatah, Volume 2: The illustrations (AASOR), Boston 2002.
Figure 5.13 The western half of Tell Balata, view to the south, with Mt. Gerizim top right,
mainly showing buildings from the Middle Bronze Age, including the cyclopean
city wall (wall A) to the right and the temple courtyard in the centre of the photo
(2011, after surface clearance; archive Balata Park project).
negatives, etc., but also some documentation saved from the Austrian-German
expeditions. The archive shows that the American fieldwork was done and
documented very precisely, and that intensive discussion took place among the
many staff members (e.g. Horn, Toombs, Callaway, Seger, Bull, Cole, Lapp and
Dever), which was dominated by a bible-oriented interpretation for a long time.
As to site management, it should be added that the American expedition
also had consolidated many vulnerable slopes. A conspicuous example is the
now raised forecourt in front of the large MB fortress-temple, left like a penin-
sula while digging continued at its sides. This courtyard, with its large stele and
the temple to its west (see fig. 5.13), still forms the most important attraction of
the site for religious tourism, because of suggested associations with Abraham
and other biblical persons.
9.5 Fieldwork
Two types of fieldwork took place within the Park project: surface inspection
and excavation.
100 van der Kooij
Surface inspection or assessment included cleaning and clearance (in 2010).

Household and industrial waste was removed from all over the site, and veg-
etation was taken away mainly from the excavated parts. At some excavated
places washed in soil was removed. In this way the tell surface and the remains
excavated in the past became better visible in order to determine what had
changed since the original excavation, a condition known from publications
and documents in archives. Also traces of the excavation methods became
visible, showing how they represent the history of 100 years of fieldwork, and
indirectly also a century of archaeological thinking.
The assessment also made it necessary to do more excavation at places
(in 2011) to answer specific questions. In addition, the construction of a road
from west towards the northern end of the village included cutting through
parts of the site, which resulted in an archaeological section that required
explanation. Excavation took place in 4 areas (indicated on fig. 5.12), the results
of two of them may be mentioned here.
In Area 2 (the north-west corner of the site, outside the MB city wall) a 540
m long test trench was projected, and excavated 2 m wide interruptedly, with
widening extensions at places. The northern part was meant to explore the
soil below for archaeological remains, thus preparing the spot for the Visitors
Centre. This soil in fact was the German and American dump on top of a
natural surface. The southern part ran against the cyclopean city wall (wall
A, dated MB IIC) and was meant to date the earthworks with glacis running
up against that wall, in view of the discussion about the original visibility of
Figure 5.14 The western city wall (wall A) with the 2 m wide test trench (plan and section
drawing) through the sloping layers of chalk chips, running perpendicular to
this wall (photo to south, 2011; archive Balata Park project).
this magnificent wall. The structure of what was left of the ascending layers of
lime-chippings (fig. 5.14) and the carbon-14 date of a pig-bone from an inter-
mediate lime surface made it clear that the lime layers were deposited ca. 1650
or ca. 1550 BC, so not in the Hellenistic period, as proposed. Apparently the
earthworks were constructed to bring up and place the enormous stones (com-
ing from Mt Ebal, bordering to north) and subsequently they were used as an
impressive glacis.
Area 23 is at the road-section of which the lowest 3 m consists of ancient
deposits, with a 3 m high German dump on top. A parallel trench of 515m
north of the section again shows the German dump with below it MB-walls
and Iron Age ones, reused in Hellenistic times. Under the MB-layers there are
Late-Chalcolithic/ Early Bronze I deposits with flint and ceramic objects.
Detailed assessment of change of archaeological remains after being exca-
vated makes it possible to restore their unexcavated condition, either on a
scale model or occasionally in situ.
9.6 Heritage Management

Heritage management of the site means that care has to be taken that no further
damage occurs by applying measures of preventive conservation. Thus trees
grown from stone walls and from sides of excavated trenches were removed to
avoid dislocations by their roots. Fragile wall remains are to be consolidated
by a special mortar, and erosion sensitive slopes to be consolidated by retain-
ing walls. The project has repaired the partly collapsed retaining wall that the
American expedition had built around the temple forecourt in 1960 (see above,
fig. 5.13) to carry the very large stele and groups of visitors. Management may
mean backfilling excavated squares. Also restorations are part of this as well as
preparing facilities for visitors. This means that choices have to be made about
the meaning and value of a certain spot or part of monument. Much of this
work has been done by architects of the Ministry. The Archaeological Park also
pays attention to nature on the site, to wild flora and fauna that however also
need management and care, including yearly vegetation clearance from places
of historical interest.
9.7 Community and Public Archaeology

A variety of activities were organized by the Park project to connect the local
community and external visitors with the archaeological site. This too was
jointly done by Palestinian specialists (e.g. Jehad Yasin and Ihab Dahood) and
trainees as well as specialists from Leiden (Monique van den Dries and Sjoerd
van der Linde) and students, mainly during the summer field campaigns of
2010 and 2011. The current level of tourism was analysed and the possibilities
102 van der Kooij
for the future were studied. Arabic and English information leaflets were made
and distributed; an informative website launched; road signs were placed as
guides to the site; a bilingual informative sign with a site plan was designed and
installed, and a renewed and updated version was placed in 2014, together with
signage of the visitors trail. In addition a guidebook (in Arabic and English ver-
sions) was published with introductions and details of which archaeological
remains can be seen today and of objects found.
As an addition to the original project design, a documentary movie was made,
stimulated by the success of such short movies recently made for visitors to
Tell es-Sultan and Hishams Palace in Jericho. Its title is Tell Balata, uncrowned
Queen of Palestine and it presents the history of research, the history of the site
(using 3D animations), and the Park project.
It should be mentioned here that the common focus on suggested connec-
tions of remains with biblical narratives has been changed to a focus on the
magnificent Middle Bronze Age remains as well as on some discussions of
interpretation. All periods present at the site (up to the early Roman period)
are discussed, but the time line continues to the present in order to show the
continuing existence of the site and any use until today and thus show a con-
nection between past and present life there. This also appears in the core of
the public-oriented Park project, the Visitors Centre (or Interpretation Centre)
at the edge of the site. Apart from the office room and sanitary facilities, the
building has a museum room, exhibiting local objects and photographs, and a
large community room (or interpretation room), in which the documentary is
shown to all visitors, but also meetings of all sorts are organized.
An Open Day (or Community Day) was organized in 2011 during the field-
work season, especially for the local community, with excursions on site, dis-
played plans, etc., as well as activities for children and youth, as a way to raise
local interest and to know local opinions. These goals were also met by col-
lecting oral histories about the siteits role in the local community, supple-
mented by local opinions about the site and its Park. An anthology of the
results was published bilingually (Stories about Tell Balata) and presented to
the local villagers. These were some of the methods used by the Park project to
make people aware of the variety of values of the site and give multivocality a
chance and be included in the projects follow-up.
Also a teaching programme about archaeology and the site was organized for
local children (and youth) through an existing summer camp in Nablus, in 2010
and 2011. The successful programme included specially made classroom les-
sons and field lessons, both with active participation of the children, as a way
to get them actively interested. Both English and Arabic were used. Based on
this, a Teachers Handbook, with introductions by the project staff, and lessons
by Hanneke van der Kooij with drawings by Martin Hense, was published in
2014 (English and Arabic versions) to be used locally and beyond in Palestine.
This many-sided Balata project has been discussed in its final publication
Tell Balata, Changing Landscape, edited by the co-directors of the project. The
project was finalized by the end of 2014, and the Tell Balata Archaeological Park
was opened. The trained staff of the Parks office has the task of maintaining
the management goals, guided by the updated Management Plan. A connec-
tion with Leiden University is to continue in the next few years, in particular
concerning aspects of public archaeology, funded by a Leiden based European
research programme. The total of five/seven resulting books and booklets (two
in two languages) were edited by the two co-directors of the project, and pub-
lished by MoTA-DACH.
10 Conclusion
This journey through some 55 years of doing archaeology of Palestine in Leiden,

within a landscape of changing archaeological thought, and a changing con-
text of academic frameworks, shows the changes, drawbacks and opportuni-
ties of the discipline and of the practice of this archaeology. It shows a retreat
from the original biblical framework, a growing connection with the discipline
of archaeology and its paradigms, and a possibility of a sophisticated inde-
pendent contribution to knowing and understanding the history of the region,
from which the bible originated.
In recent years the University of Leiden did not take good care of its heri-
tage, the Faculty of Theology, and the Faculty of Archaeology did not man-
age to maintain specific interest in this small region, the archaeology of which
would have a social value for the variety of religious people in the Netherlands,
and others with humanistic or cultural interest in it. It also would have a social
value for the many voices in this small part of the world.
chapter 6
Gender Perspectives on Hosea 2:425:

Contributions from the Netherlands from 1988
until 2003
Gert Kwakkel
In Hos. 2:425 a male person threatens his wife because of her adulterous
behaviour. He wants to take harsh measures against her, including stripping
her naked and depriving her of all necessities of life. When moving forward,
readers detect that the man is YHWH and the woman stands for Israel (see,
e.g., v. 15). Ever since the rise of feminist research into the Hebrew Bible around
1980, interpreters have focused on this pericope. From 1988 until 2003, a num-
ber of scholars from the Netherlands have made contributions to the debate.
These contributions will be reviewed, analysed and evaluated in this study.
First, two publications that preceded the first Dutch contribution will be
shortly presented, in section 1. Next, the publications from the Netherlands
will be reviewed, in sections 2, 4 and 5. These sections also describe some pub-
lications that, although they do not offer a feminist perspective on Hos. 2:425,
must be included in order to get a complete picture. For similar reasons, sec-
tion 3 briefly comments upon studies from other countries, published between
1993 and 1999. Finally, section 6 looks back on the debate and evaluates some
of its aspects.
Before proceeding, a note on terminology is in order. When the contribu-
tions reviewed here were written, it was common to speak of feminist studies
and feminist criticism. Gender perspectives has been preferred in the title of
this study, in spite of its wider sense, because it is actually the current term. In
the rest of the article both feminist and gender will be used indiscriminately.
1 Prelude: Until 1988
1.1 Helgard Balz-Cochois (1982)

In 1982 Helgard Balz-Cochois published an article that can be considered the
first major contribution to the feminist interpretation of Hos. 13 and of Hos.

Gender Perspectives on Hosea 2:425 105
2:425 in particular.1 Unlike the biblical text, in which only Hoseas point of
view is presented, Balz-Cochois attempted to reconstruct Gomers perspective
and to give her a voice. In her view, Gomer was a normal Israelite woman, who
took part in the syncretistic cult of the agrarian society of her days, includ-
ing its promiscuous sexual rites. Apart from that, she was not an adulteress,
let alone a prostitute. For that reason, Gomer would never have understood
Hoseas indictments in Hos. 2:415.
According to Balz-Cochois, the logic of patriarchal matrimonial law domi-
nates Hos. 2:47, 1015, which accounts for the cruel punishments with which
the prophet threatens the woman (i.e. Gomer, standing for the people of
Israel). However, the husband (Hosea, standing for YHWH) realizes that he will
never regain his wife by merely applying the law. That is why he renounces
his marital rights and tries to fascinate his wife as an equal partner, by means
of erotic love, in Hos. 2:1619. Nevertheless, the pericope ends with the pros-
pect of a new marital union in patriarchal style, in which the wife is submit-
ted to the husband in the same vein as the people to God (Hos. 2:2025).
Consequently, feminist theology cannot tie in with this passage. It can only tie
in with Gomers suffering, which contemporary women can formulate in her
place, and with Hoseas suffering from love, which induced him to temporarily
abolish his patriarchal position.
1.2 T. Drorah Setel (1985)

In 1985 T. Drorah Setel wrote an article on female sexual imagery in Hosea,
which has Prophets and Pornography as its main title.2 Just like Balz-Cochois
she drew attention to the patriarchal nature of Hoseas marriage metaphor.
As such it reflects and reinforces the idea that the wife should be under her
husbands control. In Hos. 13 only the male has a positive role, while the female
behaves negatively. The male (YHWH) provides the female with food and
clothing (2:1011), while her role in these things is ignored. The same applies
to reproduction. In short, Hosea testifies to an objectified view of female
experience as separate from and negative in relationship to male experience.3
1 H. Balz-Cochois, Gomer oder die Macht der Astarte: Versuch einer feministischen
Interpretation von Hos 14, EvTh 42 (1982), 3765.
2 T. D. Setel, Prophets and Pornography: Female Sexual Imagery in Hosea, in: L.M. Russell
(ed.), Feminist Interpretation of the Bible, Oxford 1985, 8695.
3 Setel, Prophets and Pornography, 94.
106 Kwakkel
He uses objectified female sexuality as a symbol of evil.4 Such objectification

of female sexuality is a main characteristic of pornography. Apparently, Setel
detected pornographic elements not only in the public humiliation of the wife
as in Hos. 2:12, but throughout the prophets use of the marriage metaphor.
2 Utrecht 19881993
2.1 Fokkelien van Dijk-Hemmes

Fokkelien van Dijk-Hemmes first contribution to the interpretation of Hos. 2
from gender perspective was published in a volume dedicated to Mieke Bal,
a colleague from Utrecht University and a well-known specialist in literary
theory and narratology, in 1988.5 In the article Van Dijk-Hemmes analyses and
criticizes the interpretations of C. van Leeuwen (another colleague at Utrecht
University) and of F.I. Andersen and D.N. Freedman in their commentaries on
Hosea.6 These interpreters uncritically follow the focalization from YHWHs
and Hoseas perspective as found in Hos. 2. Accordingly, they consider the vio-
lent measures with which the woman is threatened to be fully justified. As an
alternative to this male reading, Van Dijk-Hemmes attempts to read the text as
a woman and as a resisting reader.7
In doing so, Van Dijk-Hemmes gratefully builds on the studies of Balz-
Cochois and Setel.8 She shares their view that the blissful outcome of the
4 Setel, Prophets and Pornography, 86.

5 F. van Dijk-Hemmes, Als H/hij tot haar hart spreekt: Een visie op (visies op) Hosea 2, in:
E. van Alphen, I. de Jong (eds), Door het oog van de tekst: Essays voor Mieke Bal over visie,
Muiderberg 1988, 12139. Ten years after Van Dijk-Hemmes death in 1994, an English transla-
tion (by D.E. Orton) was published: When H/he Speaks to Her Heart: A View of (Views of) of
Hosea 2, in: J. Bekkenkamp, F. Dres (eds), The Double Voice of Her Desire: Texts by Fokkelien
van Dijk-Hemmes, Leiden 2004, 11028 (henceforth: ET). A summary (in Dutch) can be found
in F. van Dijk-Hemmes, Herschapen tot een levende tora: Het verbond bij Hosea, Jesaja en
Jeremia, in: E. Noort et al., Sleutelen aan het verbond: Bijbelse en theologische essays, Boxtel
1989, 5461.
6 C. van Leeuwen, Hosea (De prediking van het Oude Testament), Nijkerk 1968 (enlarged
second and third editions in 1978 and 1984); F.I. Andersen, D.N. Freedman, Hosea: A New
Translation with Introduction and Commentary (AncB, 24), New York 1980.
7 Quoted from Van Dijk-Hemmes, Als H/hij tot haar hart spreekt, 136; ET, 127, has: text-
resistant reader.
8 M.T. Wacker, Frau-Sexus-Macht: Eine feministisch-theologische Relecture des Hoseabuches,
in: Idem (ed.), Der Gott der Mnner und die Frauen, Dsseldorf 1987, 10125, could not be
taken into account anymore; cf. Van Dijk-Hemmes, Als H/hij tot haar hart spreekt, 138, n. 9
(= ET, 128, n. 9).
pericope reflects and reinforces the patriarchal ideal of marriage.9

Furthermore, she agrees with Setel that the womans role in providing food
and clothing is ignored and that her sexuality is reduced to an object of male
dominance.10
Apart from agreement with these scholars, Van Dijk-Hemmes offers numer-
ous fresh insights. First, she points out that according to Hos. 4:15:7, the
men of Israel were primarily responsible for the social and religious disorder
addressed by the prophet. Why then does he denounce the peoples sins by
means of the metaphor of an unfaithful woman?
Second, Van Dijk-Hemmes disputes the positive interpretation of YHWHs
actions in Hos. 2:16, which had dominated the field until then. Instead, she
points to the violent nature of the acts described in the verse, which are in
line with 2:415. at the beginning of the verse usually opens an oracle of
judgment, the verb to seduce connotes deceit and being led into the wil-
derness is yet another punitive measure against the woman, who had already
been robbed and humiliated in the preceding verses. In particular, Van Dijk-
Hemmes points out that speaking to the heart ( + )likewise occurs
in a context of violence in Gen. 34:3 and Judg. 19:3. Instead of interpreting the
expression as to speak tenderly, she prefers to paraphrase it as H/he forced
H/his view upon her.11
Third, Van Dijk-Hemmes affirms that the ultimate goal of Hos. 2 is to estab-
lish the fatherhood of YHWH/Hosea (who in Van Dijk-Hemmes view is the
character constructed in Hos. 1 and speaking in Hos. 2). In a patriarchal society
it must be made sure that the legal husband is really the father of the chil-
dren of his wife. Similarly, it must be made sure that the Israelites owe their
lives to YHWH and not to the land (symbolized by the woman; cf. Hos. 1:2), nor
to the Canaanite gods (by whom she is possessed). To this end, the children
are detached from their mother, which is realized in Hos. 2:1, where they are
renamed children of the living God, and in Hos. 2:2, where they go up out of
the land (= the mother; cf. Hos. 1:2). Besides, all the womans power is ignored
and attributed to the male person, YHWH/Hosea, whom she has to acknowl-
edge as the only giver of her fruits (cf. Hos. 2:1014). From verse 16 onwards he
9 ET, 127.
10 Van Dijk-Hemmes also adopts Balz-Cochois reconstruction of the popular religion of
Hoseas day, including the roles assigned to the goddesses Asherah and Astarte (see Van
Dijk-Hemmes, Als H/hij tot haar hart spreekt, 1356; = ET, 1267). This peculiar view will
not be considered in this study, as it has not played a significant part in the subsequent
discussion.
11 Van Dijk-Hemmes, Als H/hij tot haar hart spreekt, 134; quoted from ET, 124.
108 Kwakkel
takes all the initiatives, while she is totally passive, until she finally becomes
the object of his sowing ( , v. 25).
Most of the elements of Van Dijk-Hemmes interpretation can also be
found in a paper presented at the SBL International Meeting in 1988, which
was published in 1989.12 The most conspicuous new element is an intertex-
tual reading of Hos. 2 and some passages of Canticles. Based on a study by A.
van Selms,13 Van Dijk-Hemmes asserts that the male speaker of Hos. 2 quotes
phrases from womens love songs as reflected in Canticles. In contrast with
Canticles, where the woman lover speaks and things are focalized through her
eyes, Hos. 2 merely presents his own perspective. Comparison of related pas-
sages shows that he distorts her words. In Cant. 3:14, for example, the woman
seeks her lover, whereas in Hos. 2:7 the male person says that she says that
she will go after her lovers (plural). In Cant. 5:1, the woman gives gifts to her
beloved friend, whereas she receives them from her lovers in Hos. 2:7. In this
way, intertextual reading reveals which literary strategies are used in Hos. 2 in
order to establish male authority and fatherhood.
In addition, Van Dijk-Hemmes advocates a dual hermeneutic with respect
to texts such as Hos. 2: a negative hermeneutic that discloses their complic-
ity with patriarchal ideology, and a positive hermeneutic that recuperates
the utopian moment from which they draw a significant portion of their lib-
erating power.14 In this case, the utopian moment is Hoseas call for justice,
which, however, is undermined and deconstructed by its being packaged in
violent male metaphorical language, culminating in the incarceration of the
woman-mother-lover at the end of the pericope.15 The only way to a posi-
tive hermeneutic is to repackage Hoseas call for justice into the love song
12 F. van Dijk-Hemmes, The Imagination of Power and the Power of Imagination: An Inter-
textual Analysis of Two Biblical Love Songs: The Song of Songs and Hosea 2, JSOT 44
(1989), 7588. Van Dijk-Hemmes authored a summary of the article in The Metaphoriza-
tion of Woman in Prophetic Speech: An Analysis of Ezekiel 23, in: A. Brenner, F. van Dijk-
Hemmes, On Gendering Texts: Female and Male Voices in the Hebrew Bible, Leiden 1993,
1678.
13 A. van Selms, Hosea and Canticles, in: Studies on the Books of Hosea and Amos: Papers
Read at 7th and 8th Meetings of Die O.T. Werkgemeenskap in Suid-Afrika 19641965,
Potchefstroom 1966, 859.
14 Van Dijk-Hemmes, Imagination, 77. Here Van Dijk-Hemmes slightly modifies a quote
from P.P. Schweickart, Reading Ourselves: Toward a Feminist Theory of Reading, in: E.A.
Flynn, P.P. Schweickart (eds), Gender and Reading: Essays on Readers, Texts and Contexts,
Baltimore 1986, 434.
15 In Als H/hij tot haar hart spreekt, 137 (= ET, 128), Van Dijk-Hemmes had already con-
cluded that Hosea undermines his own vision of justice.
of the woman, as reconstructed through the intertextual reading of Hos. 2

and Canticles.
2.2 Nelly Stienstra (1993)

On 1 October 1993 Nelly Stienstra defended a doctoral thesis on the meta-
phorical concept YHWH is the husband of his people, in the Faculty of Arts
of Utrecht University.16 One chapter of the thesis is devoted to the marriage
metaphor in Hosea and to the analysis of Hos. 2:425 in particular.
Unlike Van Dijk-Hemmes, Stienstra reads as an assenting reader. For her,
it is no problem that the unfaithfulness of both men and women in Israel is
expressed through a metaphor in which the wife is guilty. In a patriarchal soci-
ety, God could only assume the role of the husband in the metaphor and obvi-
ously, he could not have been in the wrong.17
As for the measures with which YHWH threatens his metaphorical wife in
Hos. 2:5, Stienstra affirms that these are conditional upon 2:4b. Furthermore,
they give evidence of intrusion from the recipient field of the metaphor (i.e.
Gods judgment on the land of Israel) into the donor field (i.e. the marriage
metaphor).18 The intention behind the measures mentioned in vv. 915 is to
bring the wife to insight and repentance, so that she may return to her hus-
band. The fact that he wants her back is the more remarkable because she has
become unclean by having sexual intercourse with another man.19
A similar positive approach to YHWHs actions dominates Stienstras inter-
pretation of Hos. 2:1625. Threats give way to gentle-rewooing. Since the wife
has forfeited every right and claim, YHWH is the only one who can take the
initiative for reconciliation, as he does in these verses. The wife can merely
be humbly grateful for so much forgiveness.20
Evidently, Stienstra wholeheartedly endorses the line of thought that had
been so severely criticized by Van Dijk-Hemmes. This does not only apply to
the main features, but also to details such as the interpretation of verse 16
(see above: gentle-rewooing) or verses 7 and 10 (Stienstra does not complain
about the fact that the wifes role in providing food and clothing is ignored, but
16 N. Stienstra, YHWH Is the Husband of His People: Analysis of a Biblical Metaphor with
Special Reference to Translation, Kampen 1993.
17 Stienstra, Husband, 9798.
110 Kwakkel
affirms that it was the husbands responsibility to provide his wife and family
with the necessities of life).21 Surprisingly, Stienstra never interacts with Van
Dijk-Hemmes analysis, or with those of Balz-Cochois or Setel, which can only
be regretted.22
3 Intermezzo: From 1993 to 1999
Outside the Netherlands, several studies in which Hos. 13 was analysed from a
gender perspective were published from the end of the 1980s onward.23 In this
connection, the publication of A Feminist Companion to The Latter Prophets in
1995 can be considered a milestone, as it has no fewer than six contributions
on Hos. 13, all written by scholars from other countries than the Netherlands.24
The volume is dedicated to the memory of Fokkelien van Dijk-Hemmes,
who had died in 1994. Several authors refer to her study The Imagination of
Power and the Power of Imagination from 1989.25 When the articles in the
volume are compared with Van Dijk-Hemmes publications, one finds agree-
ment on several points. However, it also strikes one that the stance taken by
21 Stienstra, Husband, 1112, 1145.

22 Stienstra, Husband, 9798, shortly discusses some authors view that the marriage met-
aphor serves to depict the sinful as female, but in this connection she only refers to
G.A. Yee, Hosea, in: C.A. Newsom, S.H. Ringe (eds), The Womens Bible Commentary,
London 1992, 195202. She further takes issue with a comment on Jer. 2:24 made by
Athalya Brenner in her inaugural lecture in Utrecht (4 Feb. 1993); see Stienstra, Husband,
164, n. 43.
23 See, e.g., M.J.W. Leith, Verse and Reverse: The Transformation of the Woman, Israel,
in Hosea 13, in: P.L. Day (ed.), Gender and Difference in Ancient Israel, Minneapolis
1989, 95108; R.J. Weems, Gomer: Victim of Violence or Victim of Metaphor?, Semeia
47 (1989), 87104; Y. Sherwood, The Prostitute and the Prophet: Hoseas Marriage in
Literary-Theoretical Perspective (JSOTS, 212), Sheffield 1996; M.T. Wacker, Figurationen
des Weiblichen im Hosea-Buch (Herders Biblische Studien, 8), Freiburg 1996. For a more
comprehensive overview, see B.E. Kelle, Hosea 13 in Twentieth-Century Scholarship,
Currents in Biblical Research 7.2 (2009), 197202.
24 A. Brenner (ed.), A Feminist Companion on the Latter Prophets (The Feminist Companion
to the Bible, 8), Sheffield 1995, 60168. At the time, Brenner, taught at the Catholic
University of Nijmegen, but apart from some comments in the Introduction, she did not
write on Hosea in the volume. A few brief observations with respect to Hos. 13 can be
found in A. Brenner, Pornoprophetics Revisited: Some Additional Reflections, JSOT 70
(1996), 6386.
25 Cf. Brenner, Feminist Companion, 71, n. 2 (A.A. Keefe), 1245, n. 3 (Y. Sherwood), 139
(N. Graetz), 1512 (F. Landy).
the male person (Hosea/YHWH) speaking in Hos. 2:425 meets with more
severe criticism, especially in the contributions of Carole R. Fontaine (i.e., in
her second article in the volume), Naomi Graetz and Francis Landy.26
Graetz notes, for example, that husbands may take Gods punishment of his
metaphorical wife Israel as a justification for physically punishing their wives.27
Landy elaborates upon the sadistic, voyeuristic and pornographic nature of
Hos. 2:12.28 As for the reconciliation announced from verse 16 onwards, Graetz
signals that this follows the exact pattern that battered wives know so well:
Israel is physically and psychologically punished, abused and then seduced
into remaining in the covenant by tender words and caresses.29
Furthermore, both Fontaine and Graetz emphasize that Gods love as
described in Hos. 2 does not correspond at all to real love. There is no equality,
no freedom of choice. Instead, the woman is forced into submission and must
sacrifice her sense of selfhood. In short, for these authors a loving relationship
with a God such as Hoseas, whose authority and acts correspond to those of a
patriarchal husband, is inconceivable.30
4 Amsterdam 19992000
4.1 Jopie Siebert-Hommes

After 1993, the first Dutch major contribution to the analysis of Hos. 2 from
a gender perspective was written by Jopie Siebert-Hommes and published in
1999.31 One year later, Siebert-Hommes edited a volume on Hos. 13 in the pop-
ular series of Bible commentaries Verklaring van een Bijbelgedeelte.32 The vol-
ume reproduces a series of lectures delivered by six persons at the University of
26 C.R. Fontaine, A Response to Hosea, in: Brenner, Feminist Companion, 609; N. Graetz,
God Is to Israel as Husband Is to Wife: The Metaphoric Battering of Hoseas Wife, in:
idem, 12645; F. Landy, Fantasy and the Displacement of Pleasure: Hosea 2.417, in:
idem, 14660. Conversely, Landy, Fantasy, 15960, offers a more positive interpretation of
Hos. 2:16.
27 Graetz, God Is to Israel, 135.
28 Landy, Fantasy, 147151; cf. also A. Brenner, Introduction, in: Idem, Feminist
Companion, 34.
29 Graetz, God Is to Israel, 141; cf. also ibidem, 131: a case of domestic abuse; Fontaine,
Response, 63: abusive relationship; Landy, Fantasy, 147.
30 Cf. Fontaine, Response, 60, 634; Graetz God Is to Israel, 1389, 145.
31 J. Siebert-Hommes, Want anders: Ik zal haar naakt uitkleden: Het gebruik van de
huwelijksmetafoor in het boek Hosea, ACEBT 17 (1999), 89100.
32 J. Siebert-Hommes (ed.), Hosea 13 (Verklaring van een Bijbelgedeelte), Kampen 2000.
112 Kwakkel
Amsterdam, where Siebert-Hommes was working at the time. Siebert-Hommes

wrote the introduction to the volume and the final chapter, on metaphorical
language in Hosea, in which most elements of her article from 1999 recur.33
Like several authors referred to above, Siebert-Hommes affirms that Hos. 2
only presents the perspective of the husband. The woman is passive and pow-
erless and does not have a voice. Her sexuality functions as a symbol of evil,
an evil that can only be eradicated by submitting the woman to her husbands
control, which implies that the text propagates the patriarchal ideal about
marriage.34
As regards the origin of the marriage metaphor, Siebert-Hommes adopts a
theory developed by Julie Galumbush.35 According to Galumbush, the Israelite
prophets made use of the ancient Near Eastern tradition in which countries
or cities were personified as goddesses. In contrast with that tradition, the
prophets emphasized the unfaithfulness of the metaphorical woman, which
must have had a shocking impact on the audience. Siebert-Hommes concludes
that Hoseas metaphor of an unfaithful wife was a strong one, especially in a
patriarchal society. Yet it seems doubtful that it has the same impact on men
and women. For male persons it is hard to identify themselves with the mal-
treated woman of Hos. 2:12. This can still be seen in recent commentaries,
which hardly pay attention to the shocking elements of the metaphor. Women
identify themselves much more easily with the wife. In particular, women who
have been victims of abuse will be profoundly affected by the scene pictured
in Hos. 2:12.36
As for the way in which the text can still convey a message of hope, Siebert-
Hommes makes use of Van Dijk-Hemmes idea of applying a dual hermeneu-
tic. She suggests that in addition to male interpretations, a voice must be given
to the metaphorical woman. This can be done by inviting women and other
marginalized or maltreated persons to tell about their experiences and the
feelings evoked by the text. In this way, the prophetic utopia of justice, peace
and loyalty will come across, as the real sense of the metaphor.37
33 J. Siebert-Hommes, Om een land dat niet hoereert: Metaforische taal bij Hosea, in: Idem,
Hosea 13, 10720.
34 Siebert-Hommes, Want anders, 989.
35 J. Galambush, Jerusalem in the Book of Ezekiel: The City as Yahwehs Wife (SBL.DS, 130),
Atlanta 1992.
37 Siebert-Hommes, Want anders, 99100; Om een land, 11920.
4.2 Others
In another contribution to the commentary on Hos. 13, Arianne van Andel
points out that given the common aversion to unfaithful wives and prostitutes,
those hearing Hosea will have identified themselves more easily with YHWH
than with his wife. Therefore, the fact that they had to identify themselves
with the adulterous woman must have come as a bombshell. At the same time,
however, the metaphor served to confirm the patriarchal view of the social
position of women. As a modern reader, who rejects the attitude and acts of
the injured husband, Van Andel cannot identify with him. Consequently, the
metaphor does not work any more and must be replaced by others.38
Although Van Andel is critical about the husbands intervention described
in Hos. 2:49, she emphasizes that it serves a positive purpose; that is, the
blissful future pictured in Hos. 2:13 and the womans return to her husband
described in Hos. 2:9.39 The same idea is characteristic of the chapters on Hos.
2:1017 and 1825 by Tycho Jansen and Marco Visser.40 YHWHs objective is that
his loving relationship with Israel will be restored. He absolutely does not want
to get rid of his wife. Hosea 2:16 shows that he does not want to coerce her. On
the contrary, he tries to regain her through persuasion.41 According to Jansen,
Hos. 2:1017 is about a mutual relationship between YHWH and his people, in
which his unconditional love guarantees that nobody will be able to snatch
them out of his hand.42
Finally mention must be made of Richtsje Abmas doctoral thesis on the
marriage metaphor in Isa. 50 and 54, Hos. 13 and Jer. 23, defended at the
University of Amsterdam in 1999.43 Since Abma concentrates on a techni-
cal analysis of the metaphor, she rarely interacts with the issues concerning
Hos. 2 raised by feminists. An exception is the passage on Hos. 2:16, in which
she defends a positive interpretation and rejects Van Dijk-Hemmes view.44
In the last chapter she briefly discusses the idea that the marriage metaphor
might be used in support of the patriarchal concept of marriage. She objects to
the idea and argues that biblical theology requires a creative adaptation of the
38 A. van Andel, De aanklacht, in: Siebert-Hommes, Hosea 13, 4951.

39 Van Andel, De aanklacht, 62.
40 T. Jansen, Daarom: zie ik ga haar overhalen, in: Siebert-Hommes, Hosea 13, 6377;
M. Visser, Ik zal je mij tot vrouw werven, in: Siebert-Hommes, Hosea 13, 7891.
41 Jansen, Daarom, 73.
42 Jansen, Daarom, 767.
43 R. Abma, Bonds of Love: Methodic Studies of Prophetic Texts with Marriage Imagery (Isaiah
50:13 and 54:110, Hosea 13, Jeremiah 23) (SSN, 40), Assen 1999.
44 Abma, Bonds of Love, 186.
114 Kwakkel
tradition. Accordingly, she prefers to seek the point of the marriage imagery
in the notion of partnership, in relative abstraction of the gender roles. The
imagery shows that YHWHs covenant with Israel is a passionate affair, which
strongly involves both partners.45 To a certain extent, this could be consid-
ered to be yet another application of Van Dijk-Hemmes idea of using a dual
hermeneutic.
5 Postlude: After 2000
The last publication to be mentioned in this overview is Hennie Marsmans

doctoral thesis on women in Ugarit and Israel, defended at the Theologische
Universiteit Kampen (Oudestraat) in 2003.46 As regards the marriage meta-
phor in Hosea and other prophetic books, her research concentrated on the
question whether the marriage metaphor served as a model for human mar-
riage in Israel (which in her view was not the case).47 Accordingly, in the thesis
Marsman only briefly comments upon the issues at the heart of this study. She
affirms that the use of imagery of female sexual sin (resulting in abuse) to
represent male social and political sins and their consequences has a negative
effect on women.48 Furthermore, the marriage metaphor legitimizes the idea
that female sexuality was the property of a womans father or her husband. Yet
the metaphor also suggests that husband and wife should be as faithful to each
other as YHWH is to his people.49
In the subsequent years, studies presenting gender perspectives on Hos.
2:425 continued to flourish in several countries, but not in the Netherlands.50
Probably the issues were addressed in non-specialist publications, but as far
as the academic world is concerned, Marsmans thesis seems to mark the end.

46 H.J. Marsman, Women in Ugarit and Israel: Their Social and Religious Position in the Context
of the Ancient Near East (OTS, 49), Leiden 2003.
47 Marsman, Women, 706.
48 Marsman, Women, 120.
49 Marsman, Women, 1201, 7067.
50 See, e.g., G. Baumann, Liebe und Gewalt: Die Ehe als Metapher fr das Verhltnis JHWH
Israel in den Prophetenbchern, Stuttgart 2000, esp. 91110; S. Moughtin-Mumby, Sexual
and Marital Metaphors in Hosea, Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Ezekiel (OTM), Oxford 2008, esp.
24568. Cf. also E. Ben Zvi, Hosea (FOTL, 21A/1), Grand Rapids 2005, esp. 72.
6 Analysis and Evaluation
The final section of this study, which is devoted to further analysis and evalu-
ation, is made up of four parts. First, the impact of the Dutch contributions is
assessed and they are compared with each other and also with the publica-
tions from other countries. Next, the other three subsections evaluate the most
relevant aspects relating to methodology and content. Exegetical details and
individual ideas (such as Van Dijk-Hemmes view of the relationship between
Canticles and Hosea and the interpretation of in Hos. 2:25) are left out
of consideration.
6.1 Influence and Differences

Among the authors from the Netherlands who have developed gender perspec-
tives on Hos. 2:425, Van Dijk-Hemmes has evidently been the most influen-
tial, both in her home country and abroad. Several scholars have followed her
in drawing attention to the bewildering fact that a woman figures as a symbol
of evil, whereas in fact the Israelite men were mainly responsible for what was
going wrong. Her observation to the effect that the text does not give a voice to
the woman and that she is powerless and passive has also found widespread
acceptance. Furthermore, a number of authors have tried to apply a dual her-
meneutic to the text, in a way similar to what Van Dijk-Hemmes had suggested.
Yet these efforts have not resulted in a consensus, as the authors in question
differ from each other in terms of the materialization of such a hermeneutic
(cf. above, 4, on Siebert-Hommes and Abma).
Another point of difference relates to the exegesis of Hos. 2:16. Van Dijk-
Hemmes has not convinced all interpreters of her view that a negative
interpretation should be attributed to v. 16 and to
I will speak
to her heart in particular. This is also true of some authors who agree with
Van Dijk-Hemmes that the patriarchal concept of marriage is maintained in
Hos. 2:1625, since the woman is brought again under her husbands control.
On the one hand, Graetz defends a critical view of the tender words and
caresses found in Hos. 2:1622, just like Van Dijk-Hemmes (although Graetz
does not explicitly comment upon Hos. 2:16).51 On the other hand, Landy pre-
fers a more friendly exegesis of v. 16 and thus differs from Van Dijk-Hemmes.52
51 See Graetz, God Is to Israel, 1401.

52 See Landy, Fantasy, 15960. Note that Siebert-Hommes did not comment upon Hos. 2:16,
since she concentrated on Hos. 2:415 and more specifically on vv. 5 and 12. For a critical
evaluation of the negative interpretation of Hos. 2:16, see B.E. Kelle, Hosea 2: Metaphor
and Rhetoric in Historical Perspective (SBL Academia Biblica, 20), Atlanta 2005, 26671.
116 Kwakkel
Needless to say that authors such as Stienstra, Abma and Jansen, who have
not adopted Van Dijk-Hemmes suggestion to replace the dominant male per-
spective by focalization through the eyes of the woman, do not agree with her
exegesis of verse 16 either.
When comparing the studies from the Netherlands with the contribu-
tions to A Feminist Companion to The Latter Prophets, it strikes one that some
of the latter dissociate themselves even more from the purport of the text
than the former. This pertains, for example, to Fontaines and Graetz rejec-
tion of the possibility of a loving relationship with Hoseas God. It can also be
observed in the use of the term pornography. Among the interpreters working
in the Netherlands, Brenner was the only one who eloquently advocated the
suitability of the term.53 As for Van Dijk-Hemmes, she made use of the term in
one of her articles, but merely in quoting Setels view.54 Apparently, neither she
nor other authors from the Netherlands insisted on using the term.
6.2 Synchronic Interpretation

None of the studies figuring in this overview analyses Hos. 2:425 by means
of the traditional tools of historical criticism. Van Dijk-Hemmes, for her
part, observes that Hos. 13 is a composite narrative,55 but further concen-
trates on the final form of the text. Similarly, all other contributions from the
Netherlands work from a synchronic perspective and so do almost all those
from abroad.56 If this approach is adopted, one should realize that it has
three implications, which will be described now.
1. Initially, the reader could entertain the idea that in Hos. 2:425 the prophet
Hosea is speaking about his own relationship with his wife, Gomer. Little by
little, it becomes clear that YHWH is the speaker and that the woman stands
for the people of Israel, until Gods name finally appears in verse 15 () .
Obviously, this does not preclude that aspects of Hoseas dealings with Gomer
are reflected in the text. Nonetheless, a synchronic interpretation should focus
on God and Israel, not on Hosea and Gomer.
2. If the text is about God and Israel, the metaphorical nature of husband,
wife and several acts mentioned in Hos. 2:425 is self-evident. Moreover, a
number of elements do not exactly match with an account of what may be
going on between a human husband and his wife. Relevant examples are Baal
in verse 10b, the appropriate time referred to in verse 11a ( and
) , the
53 Cf. above, nn. 24 and 28.

54 Van Dijk-Hemmes, Als H/hij tot haar hart spreekt, 136 (= ET, 128).
55 Van Dijk-Hemmes, Imagination, 79.
56 Wacker, Figurationen, combines synchronic and diachronic perspectives.
festivals of verse 13 and the vine and fig tree of verse 14. From verse 15 onwards,
non-metaphorical elements abound, while the metaphor of a woman standing
for Israel is totally abandoned in vv. 20 and 2324. All this only confirms the
metaphorical nature of the rest. Consequently, the pericope cannot be read as
an announcement of what a man will literally do to his wife.
3. Hos. 2:9 gives voice to the expectation that as a result of the measures
taken against her in v. 8, the woman will decide to return to her first husband.
Next, vv. 1112, in which the husband announces new and harsher penalties,
come as a surprise. Scholars have attempted to solve the problem by means
of diachronic instruments, such as reordering the text or distinguishing suc-
cessive layers.57 If a synchronic approach is preferred, the tensions in the text
must be interpreted in terms of its rhetorical strategy. In this connection, one
may consider Clines suggestion that in vv. 8, 11 and 16 introduces three
options which God passes in review, only to decide for the third possibility in
the end.58 Perhaps Clines pushes things too far. Yet it seems clear that reading
from a synchronic perspective, one must acknowledge the fact that although
God expresses serious threats in Hos. 2:425, he most probably does not intend
to put all of them into effect.
As regards the identity of the person speaking in the text and of the woman,
it catches the eye that authors such as Stienstra, Abma and Jansen, who do not
share feminist criticism, consistently refer to YHWH and Israel as the charac-
ters who feature in the pericope. In other words, they formulate their inter-
pretations in terms of the target domain of the metaphor. By contrast, authors
who decidedly dissociate themselves from the male perspective dominating
the text tend to use more elements of the source domain in formulating their
exegesis. According to Van Dijk-Hemmes, for example, the person speaking
in the text is the character YHWH/Hosea constructed in Hos. 1 and not just
YHWH. Siebert-Hommes affirms that Hosea is the metaphorical husband, who
will perform the act announced in Hos. 2:5; that is, he will punish and humili-
ate the unfaithful woman.59
57 See, e.g., W. Rudolph, Hosea (KAT, 13/1), Gtersloh 1966, 689, 72; Wacker, Figurationen,
199203, 24559; C.M. Maier, Wer sorgt fr das tgliche Brot, den Wein und das l?
berlegungen zur Metaphorik von Hosea 2,415, in: M. Geiger et al. (eds), Essen und
Trinken in der Bibel: Ein literarisches Festmahl fr Reiner Kessler zum 65. Geburtstag,
Gtersloh 2009, 3946.
58 D.J.A. Clines, Hosea 2: Structure and interpretation, in: E.A. Livingstone (ed.), Studia
biblica 1978 I: Papers on Old Testament and Related Themes: Sixth International Congress on
Biblical Studies Oxford 37 April 1978 (JSOTS, 11), Sheffield 1979, 867, 979.
118 Kwakkel
Apparently, there is a link between the less critical approach and the pref-
erence for terms taken from the target domain. It can be accounted for in at
least two ways. First, focusing on YHWH as the only person speaking may have
stimulated the interpreters in question to adopt his perspective and to extenu-
ate all acts announced by the divine character. Second, they may have dealt
with the harsh threats in verse 12 and elsewhere by ascribing some sort of figu-
rative interpretation to them. In fact, this is what Stienstra does with respect to
the stripping of the woman and her being killed by thirst in Hos. 2:5, which she
relates to the drought which YHWH will inflict on the land.60 Similarly, Abma
takes the ways and paths that YHWH will block according to Hos. 2:8 as refer-
ring to Israels way of life.61 Admittedly, these authors do not explicitly defend
a similar figurative interpretation of v. 12. Yet it can reasonably be assumed that
they preferred to solve the problems in this manner.
In conclusion, feminist scholars like Van Dijk-Hemmes and Siebert-Hommes
are somewhat less consistent in taking into account the synchronic perspec-
tive and the metaphorical nature of the text. Nevertheless, the offensive ele-
ments in the text cannot be explained away by simply referring to their being
metaphors. Even if the reader realizes that he or she is confronted with a meta-
phor, the shocking picture of a woman being stripped naked (as in Hos. 2:5,
12) will remain present in his or her mind. The same applies to threats that are
mere speech-acts and not meant to be put into effect.62
6.3 The Woman as a Symbol of Evil

If Hos. 2:425 is about the unfaithfulness of Israel, the text addresses all
members of the people, men and women alike. Since the men were primar-
ily responsible for what was going on in society, they are even more in view
than the women (cf. Hos. 4:1314). This point has nicely been stated by Phillys
Bird: By appealing to the common stereotypes and interests of a primarily
male audience, Hosea turns their accusation against them. It is easy for patri-
archal society to see the guilt of a fallen woman; Hosea says, You (male
Israel) are that woman!63 This must have been shocking and humiliating for
Israelite men.
If men were primarily responsible, why did the prophet choose to picture
their sinful behaviour by means of the metaphor of an adulterous woman?

62 Cf. Van Dijk-Hemmes, Als H/hij tot haar hart spreekt, 134 (= ET, 124).
63 P. Bird, To Play the Harlot: An Inquiry into an Old Testament Metaphor, in: P.L. Day
(ed.), Gender and Difference in Ancient Israel, Minneapolis 1989, 89.
Why not, for example, a rapist?64 Obviously, the metaphor of husband and
wife was considered a fitting image to express the relationship between God
and Israel. Just like marriage, this had to be a relationship of mutual love. At
the same time, the partners, God and Israel, were far from equal. This agrees
with what was customary in marriage in those days: wives were subordinated
to the authority of their husbands.65 As a result, if the marriage metaphor was
used, the only possibility was to take God as the husband and Israel as the
(unfaithful) wife. In this respect, Stienstra is right.66 However, this argument
will evidently not satisfy all interpreters, let alone those reading from a gender
perspective or as resistant readers.
In this connection, two additional comments can be made. First, among
authors writing from a feminist perspective, it is commonplace to assert that
in Hos. 2:425 female sexuality is presented as a symbol of evil.67 Although
this statement is understandable, it is not correct or at least is questionable.
Evidently, apart from some elements of the vision of the future developed in
Hos. 2:1625, Hos. 2 does not mention any woman making an appropriate use
of her sexuality. Thus readers may think that the prophet suggests that all
women are like that. However, it is just as reasonable to assume that he is con-
vinced that a normal woman does not behave in that way. That would account
equally well for the indignation expressed in the text. Moreover, it agrees bet-
ter with what is found in Hos. 2:17 and 22b concerning the future relationship
between YHWH and his wife.
Strictly speaking, Hos. 2 does not present female sexuality as a symbol of
evil, but an abnormal, unfaithful use of female sexuality. The fact that this is
often overlooked may relate to the decision to read the text from a female per-
spective. A corollary of this is that the distinction between man and woman
is taken as the main opposition in the text. However, in terms of the source
domain of the metaphor, the main contrast is between a faithful husband
and an unfaithful wife, not between husband and wife or between male and
female sexuality as such. This corresponds to the main opposition in the Book
of Hosea as a whole, which cannot be identified as God versus Israel, but as
64 Cf. Van Dijk-Hemmes, Imagination, 85.

65 In the publications reviewed in this study, Israelite society is commonly characterized
as patriarchal. An evaluation of this terminology is beyond the scope of this study. For a
recent critical discussion, see C.L. Meyers, Was Ancient Israel a Patriarchal Society?, JBL
133 (2014), 827.
67 See, e.g., Setel, Prophets and Pornography, 86; Van Dijk-Hemmes, Imagination, 75;
Siebert-Hommes, Want anders, 98.
120 Kwakkel
God and faithful Israelites (living in the future; cf. Hos. 2:1825; 3:5; 5:15; 14:9)
on the one hand as opposed to apostate Israelites (as in Hoseas days) on the
other. In other words, the perspective chosen by feminist readers risks blurring
the perspective inherent to the text.
Second, ones stance towards the text is bound up with ones view of the
nature of real love and of the relationship between God and humans. Authors
such as Fontaine and Graetz take it for granted that real love is only conceiv-
able in relations characterized by equality and free choice (cf. above, 3; note
that in this case free choice includes a right to sexual promiscuity). According
to this view, there cannot be a loving relationship between God and humans,
for these partners are by no means equal. Furthermore, according to Hosea
his fellow Israelites are so corrupt that harsh measures from YHWHs side
are needed in order to correct them and urge them to return to their God, in
faithfulness, obedience and love (cf., e.g., Hos. 3:45; 5:4, 1215). The reader is
then invited either to accept or to reject these elements of the text; that is, the
fundamental difference between God and humans, the special nature of love
between God and humans and the idea that all people are prone to behaving
like that woman.
It follows that in the end the reader cannot avoid taking a stand vis--vis
the text: to what extent does he or she follow its perspective and ideology?
Thus one is reminded of an observation of another Dutch scholar, Eep Talstra,
in his monograph on exegetical methods published in 2002. In his view, inter-
pretation is the last phase in exegesis, after making an inventory of the textual
data and analysis. Interpretation, then, implies that the exegete defines how
he or she will react to the text and its reception in the Jewish and Christian
traditions.68 Evidently, one of the merits of feminist research into Hos. 2:425
is that all interpreters are challenged to give up their neutrality for a while and
confront the problematic nature of the text for female readers in particular.
6.4 Shocking Elements and Dual Hermeneutic

Readers who choose to follow the ideology of the text may argue that the harsh
measures announced by YHWH illustrate how deeply he is offended by his
peoples unfaithfulness. Moreover, the threats may be taken to show that he is
willing to do everything possible so as to bring his people to their senses and
re-establish a relationship of love and faithfulness. Even so, one is left with the
question why he goes so far as to use the shocking metaphor of Hos. 2:12, where
he threatens to uncover his wife in the sight of her lovers.
68 See E. Talstra, Oude en nieuwe lezers: Een inleiding in de methoden van uitleg van het Oude
Testament (Ontwerpen, 2), Kampen 2002, 41, 83, 1167, 198, 3059.
Given the fact that, according to Hos. 2:12, men are invited to gaze at the
lewdness or shame ( ) of the woman,69 it is understandable that interpret-
ers have spoken of pornography. It is not the aim of this study to settle the
question as to whether this terminology builds on a correct definition of por-
nography.70 Whatever the outcome of such a discussion, the fact remains that
Hos. 2:12 presents a very problematic picture of God.
Furthermore, how will a male reader who is convinced of the righteous
nature of Hoseas God react when he detects that his wife has committed adul-
tery? Will he not feel invited to follow his Gods example in physically pun-
ishing her? Such a reaction is not inconceivable, although further research is
needed to ascertain whether the text has ever been used for such purposes.
Can these and similar elements of the text be made less harmful by means
of a dual hermeneutic, as several interpreters have proposed? Perhaps, but
the risk of such an approach is that elements of the text are selected or left
aside according to ones own conviction, while this conviction is not allowed to
be influenced by the reading process. A canonical reading may meet this objec-
tion. As far as physical punishment is concerned, it suffices to point to John 8:7,
where Jesus says to men bringing charges against an adulterous woman: Let
him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her (ESV).
This text is the more relevant, since it corresponds exactly to the purport of
Hos. 2:425: You are that woman. Of course, male persons confronted with
adultery may forget this when reading, for example, Hos. 2:12. However, in that
case they will never be able to refute the objection that they have done injus-
tice to the text.
In conclusion, the feminist contributions to the interpretation of Hos. 2:425

give evidence of a number of weaknesses, in terms of method and close read-
ing of the text. Nevertheless, they have rightly drawn attention to the impact
that several elements of the pericope can have on women and especially on
victims of abuse. They should be appreciated for that.71
69 For further details with respect to , see Rudolph, Hosea, 64, 70; A.A. Macintosh,
A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Hosea (ICC), Edinburgh 1997, 5960.
70 Note that the readers are invited to identify themselves with the exposed woman,
which evidently deviates from what is customary in pornography. For further discus-
sion, see R.P. Carroll, Desire under the Terebinths: On Pornographic Representation in
the ProphetsA Response, in: Brenner, Feminist Companion, 275307; Abma, Bonds of
Love, 2931.
71 The author wishes to thank all colleagues who have helped him in retrieving the books
and articles reviewed in this study. Special thanks are due to Dr Eveline van Staalduine-
Sulman, VU Free University, Amsterdam, for her valued suggestions.
chapter 7
The Rise and Demise of the So-called

Deuteronomistic History: A Plea for the
Compositional Unity of GenesisKings
Casper Labuschagne
1 Introduction
The theme of the present article occurred to me after the completion of my

quantitative structural analysis of the first nine books of the Hebrew Bible,
during the writing of a comprehensive overview of the results and their impli-
cations. That research project enabled me to get a birds eye view not only of
the structure of the individual books, but also of the architecture of the nine
books as a whole. Moreover, my investigations of the structure of numerous
texts during the past thirty-five yearsnearly half of the Hebrew Biblehave
yielded exciting new insights regarding the compositional techniques and lit-
erary strategies used by the scribes to shape their texts.
The first insight is the profuse use in the Hebrew Bible of compositional
models consisting of seven, nine, or eleven components with the most impor-
tant element in pride of place at the mathematical centre, which makes it the
focal point of attention.
The second insight is the unexpected discovery of the scribal technique for
highlighting, finalizing, and sealing/canonizing a given text by means of a
specific number for its verses, and/or words, and/or letters. Such numbers are 17
and 26 and their multiples, which represent the numerical value of the name
YHWH. Unless it can be disproved, I assume that this highlighting and sealing
go back to biblical antiquity, because they occur with a very high frequency
from Genesis 1:1 to 2 Kings 25:30 and in other books as well.1
1 Positional value in the alphabet: Y=10 + H=5 + W=6 + H=5 = 26 and Y=1 + H=5 + W=6 + H=5
= 17. For particulars, see the General Introduction to Logotechnical Analysis: http://www
.labuschagne.nl/aspects.pdf. A statistical inquiry has brought to light that 71% of the verses
and 67% of the words in Genesis-Kings are governed by 17 and 26 and their multiples.

The Rise and Demise of the So-called Deuteronomistic History 123
Having said this, I want to emphasize that I shall not burden the reader with
arithmetic details, because I shall use the numerical features of the texts only
as supplementary evidence, despite the fact that I obtained my perception of
the texts exactly through studying their numerical features. My arguments and
line of reasoning will be primarily based on other considerations.
Taking Samuel and Kings as single books, we count nine books1 Samuel
and 1 Kings lack the customary colophon indicating the end of a book. This
is in accordance with their presentation in the Hebrew Bible and as reflected
in Jewish tradition in the Talmud, contrary to the Alexandrian tradition to be
found in the Septuagint, which counts eleven books, taking Samuel-Kings as
four distinct works.
I shall adduce evidence showing that the Story of Ancient Israel in Genesis-
Kings is a well-designed, coherent literary entity, which has come into being
in three stages: the Tetrateuch, followed by Deuteronomy, and the second
Tetrateuch (Joshua-Kings), resulting in a ninefold model, an Enneateuch,
with Deuteronomy in pride of place at the centre. The authors/redactors are
unknown, but I shall refer to them as the Scribe and his team, but there is evi-
dence strongly suggesting that the Scribe is the Levitical priest Ezra.
Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3

Genesis+Exodus+Leviticus+Numbers > Deuteronomy > Joshua+Judges+Samuel+Kings
I shall argue that neither the Tetrateuch (Genesis-Numbers), nor the Pentateuch
(Genesis-Deuteronomy), nor the so-called Former Prophets (Joshua-Kings),
nor Martin Noths Deuteronomistic History (Deuteronomy-Kingshereafter
DH) was ever intended to be a separate, independent literary work. Moreover,
the bipartite division of the historical books into Torah/Pentateuch and
Former Prophets is a late construct dating from the Hellenistic Era, when the
Jews in Palestine and the Greek speaking Jews in Alexandria created different
canons. This may not seem relevant, but this bipartite division was mistak-
enly taken for granted when critical biblical scholarship (and BHK and BHS)
emerged, with the result that from the outset Bible students were caught up
in this particular division and became fixated on the idea that the nine books
were from the very beginning divided into the Pentateuch and the Former
Prophets as separate literary works.
The present reassessment of the structure and the coming into existence
of the nine historical books inevitably entails coming to grips with the idea
of a Pentateuch and with Noths concept of a Deuteronomistic History (DH),
124 Labuschagne
which was supposed to be the first collection and editing of historical tradi-
tions within the Old Testament. Since this is not the place to discuss in detail
the enormous impact these concepts had on Old Testament scholarship, it
must suffice to refer the reader to the most important recent literature.2 I shall
limit myself to discussing the significance and shortcomings of Noths DH and
to shedding new light on the coming into existence of the Enneateuch as a
well-planned compositional unity.
2 The Significance and Shortcomings of the So-called

Deuteronomistic History
Since Wellhausen launched the Documentary Hypothesis in 1878, claim-

ing that the Pentateuch derived from four originally independent, more
or less parallel narratives, for more than a century the diachronic approach
to the biblical texts has dominated the study of the presumed Pentateuch and
the later-called Former Prophets at the expense of the synchronic approach. By
studying the individual trees diachronically, the researchers lost sight of the
forest from a synchronic perspective. In addition to that, the great majority
of Old Testament scholars were exceedingly obsessed with sources, traditions,
redactional processes and supposed political and theological agendas of these
sources and their presumed authors, the Yahwist, Elohist, Deuteronomist, and
Priestly Writer. Being also mesmerized by Noths DH, they turned a blind eye to
the final form in which these books have come to us as a continuous coherent
narrative. At the time, more or less definite conclusions had been reached that
the so-called Pentateuch and Former Prophets were compilations of sources.
Individual scholars put forward their own reconstruction of the text to their
2 Select bibliography: S.L. McKenzie, M.P. Graham (eds), The History of Israels Traditions: The
Heritage of Martin Noth (JSOTS 182) Sheffield, 1994; L.S. Schearing, S.L. McKenzie (eds), Those
Elusive Deuteronomists: The Phenomenon of Pan-Deuteronomism (JSOTS, 268), Sheffield 1999;
Th. Rmer, A. de Pury, Deuteronomistic Historiography (DH): History of Research and
debated Issues, in: A. de Pury et al. (eds), Israel Constructs its History (JSOTS, 306), Sheffield,
2000, 24141; G.N. Knoppers, J. Gordon McConville (eds), Reconsidering Israel and Judah:
Recent Studies on the Deuteronomistic History, Winona Lake 2000; R.G. Kratz, Die Komposition
der erzhlenden Bcher im Alten Testament, Gttingen 2000;E. Otto, R. Achenbach, Das
Deuteronomium zwischen Pentateuch und deuteronomistischem Geschichtswerk, Gttingen
2004; M. Witte et al. (eds), Die deuteronomistischen Geschichtswerke: Redaktions- und reli-
gionsgeschichtliche Perspektiven zur Deuteronomismus-Diskussion in Tora und Vorderen
Propheten (BZAW, 365), Berlin/New York 2006. Th. Rmer, The So-Called Deuteronomistic
History, A Sociological, Historical and Literary Introduction, London/New York 2007.
own taste, as a result of which complete chaos ruled regarding the nine histori-
cal books.
This confusion came into a new phase due to the tracing of sources outside
the Pentateuch, to begin with, up to the book of Joshua, which led to the con-
cept of Von Rads Hexateuch (1938). For all practical purposes, the Hexateuch
replaced the Pentateuch model, heralding its demise. However, the Hexateuch
was short-lived, for the tracing of sources continued and resulted five years
later in the presentation of the completely new concept of Noths DH in his tra-
ditio-historical study berlieferungsgeschichtliche Studien, 19431, 19572, 19673,
which entailed in principle the collapse of the Pentateuch model.3
Noths revolutionary conceptwhich in fact was a new Pentateuchhas
determined and dominated the course of research until the present day. At the
time, the DH functioned as a fresh point of departure and was considered so
persuasive that it was almost immediately accepted and hailed as a major step
forward. Indeed, it certainly shook things up and prompted a new lan among
biblical scholars, who produced since then an ever flowing stream of publica-
tions, for the most part in support of the concept, obviously in order to give its
shaky foundations more substance and to make it more acceptable.
The DH achieved and held its canonical position for more than a quarter
of a century before the first critical voices arose in the late sixties, initiated by
Cross and the school of Smend. However, their criticism was far from funda-
mental, for they and their successors only modified the parameters of the con-
cept. It was only in the late nineties that it was seriously challenged when the
consensus about the existence of a DH began to cave in, since several scholars
had expressed grave doubts about fundamental tenets of the theory. Among
the essentially unconvinced and most outspoken critics were for instance
Westermann, Polzin, and especially Knauf, who tersely concluded: It must
be abandoned.4 In the last paragraph of my article I shall return to the grave
misgivings and the growing uncertainty about the existence of a DH, which are
openly expressed in our time.
3 Published in English: The Deuteronomistic History (JSOTS 15), Sheffield 1981.

4 C. Westermann, Die Geschichtsbcher des Alten Testaments; Gab es ein deuteronomistiches
Geschichtswerk?, Gtersloh 1994; R. Polzin, Moses and the Deuteronomist, New York 1980;
idem, Samuel and the Deuteronomist, San Francisco 1989; idem, David and the Deuteronomist,
Bloomington 1993; E.A. Knauf, Does Deuteronomistic Historiography (DtrG) exist?, in:
A. de Pury et al. (eds), Israel Constructs its History, Sheffield 2000, 388398 (citation: p. 398).
See also D.J.A. Clines, Does the Pentateuch Exist? Seven Questions We Should Be Asking if It
Does, in: H. Ausloos, B. Lemmelijn (eds), A Pillar of Cloud to Guide: Text-critical, Redactional,
and Linguistic Perspectives on the Old Testament in Honour of Marc Vervenne (BETL, 269),
Leuven 2014, 4554.
126 Labuschagne
The great and abiding significance of Noths work is that he put the relation-
ship between the nine historical books in a new way on the agenda by shift-
ing the focus from Genesis-Deuteronomy to Deuteronomy-Kings. However, he
could not foresee that his new Pentateuch (Deuteronomy-Kings) would put
scholars in a quandary about having to choose between two Pentateuchs, both
of which claimed Deuteronomy. Two Pentateuchs could not possibly be main-
tained next to each other as two different literary entities, for if you accept the
DH, you have to reject the Pentateuch, and if you abide by the Pentateuch, you
have to reject the DH. Remarkably enough, scholars simply continued to serve
two masters as if there were no problems. This inevitably resulted in continu-
ous uncertainty about the precise status of Deuteronomy.5
In any case, by detaching Deuteronomy from Numbers, Noth relativized
the traditional division of the historical books into Pentateuch and Former
Prophets, and paved the way for the demise of the Pentateuch model. At the
same time, he unwittingly cut the first turf that would open the path which
is ultimately to lead to a better understanding of the mutual relationship
between the historical books and of the bridge function of Deuteronomy
within the Enneateuch.
Another abiding contribution by Noth to Old Testament studies is that he
rediscovered Deuteronomy as the Archimedean point not only for his DH, of
which Deuteronomy is the preamble, but also for Pentateuchal criticism.6
What he failed to see was that in fact Deuteronomy constitutes the focal point
and meaningful centre of the Enneateuch. Neither could he foresee that his
emphasis on Deuteronomy would lead to an obsession with Deuteronomism
and ultimately to pan-Deuteronomism.
Amid the current fragmentation of biblical texts due to the Documentary
Hypothesis, it was also a great step forward that Noth brought the idea of the
unity of disparate books into the picture. He regarded a very substantial part
of the historical books (five of the nine) as constituting a unity notwithstand-
ing the obvious junctures in the text. At the time, talking about unity was like
swearing in church.
5 Cf. K. Schmid, Das Deuteronomium innerhalb der deuteronomistischen Geschichtswerke

in Gen2 Kn, in: Das Deuteronomium zwischen Pentateuch und deuteronomistischem
Geschichtswerk, 193211.
6 The term Archimedean point was coined by De Wette. See E. Otto, Das Deuteronomium
als archimedischer Punkt der Pentateuchkritik: Auf dem Wege zu einer Neubegrndung der
de Wetteschen Hypothese, in: M. Vervenne, J. Lust (eds), Deuteronomy and Deuteronomic
Literature (FS C.H.W. Brekelmans; BETL, 133), Leuven 1997, 321339.
Westermanns objection to the unity of the DH, was taken over by Wrthwein
and more recently by Eynikel, who maintains that the unique character of
each book prevents seeing the books of the dtr history as parts of one histori-
cal work.7 But this is too simplistic to be taken seriously. Why cannot there
be a unified historical work if there are only separate books? Take the book
of Psalms for instance, which is certainly not simply a collection of separate
psalms, but a well-designed cohesive literary work despite the unique charac-
ter of each psalm and most of the five books.8
Of great significance also was that Noth had the courage to conjecture a
single writer as the author of his DH. Bearing in mind the fashionable belief at
the time in at least four independent authors for the Pentateuch, Noths idea of
a single writer deserves the qualification ground-breaking.
In sum, the fact that Noths concept of a DH was in retrospect a misconcep-
tion, as I shall argue below, does not detract anything from his great signifi-
cance for the study of the historical books. We have to conclude that his DH
was a crooked stick that made straight strokes.
3 Objections against the Concept of a Deuteronomistic History
Having given Noth all the credit he deserves, let me now briefly elaborate the
shortcomings of his DH, putting forward objections some of which I have not
yet come across in the literature I was able to consult. In my argument for the
unity of the Enneateuch further below I shall raise additional grave objections.
1. The fact that the DH begins with Deuteronomy is very problematic. The
main personage Moses and the Israelites appear suddenly and unexpect-
edly on the scene out of the clear blue sky. The idea that an author can
begin his history in this way, with a scene in which the Israelites are gath-
ered on the east bank of the Jordan where a certain Moses addresses
them in a marathon speech is, to be frank, too weird to be conceivable.
Not being properly introduced, the main character and his audience lack
their antecedents. Who is Moses and by whom was he authorized to
assemble all the Israelites? Who are they and where do they come from?
Why are they at that specific place? This is certainly not how a large-scale
7 E. Eynikel, The Reform of King Josiah and the Composition of the Deuteronomistic History
(OTS, 33), Leiden, 1996.
8 Cf. my article The Compositional Structure of the Psalter: http://www.labuschagne.nl/
psalterstructure.pdf.
128 Labuschagne
narrative9 ought to start. In other words, a preceding narrative telling

who Moses and the Israelites are and how they came to be on this par-
ticular spot is fundamentally indispensable. As a matter of fact, in all the
great stories in the Hebrew Bible the main personages in the narrative are
always duly introduced at the beginning of the story: for instance, Moses,
Samuel, Job, Ruth, Esther, and Daniel. Noth should have realized this, and
more importantly, he could have seen that the lacking antecedents are to
be found in the preceding four books which he had scrutinized in search
of Deuteronomistic editing and mistakenly set apart as irrelevant to his
purpose, the construction of a DH.
2. The main reason why Noth did not include the books of Genesis-Numbers
in his DH is that they did not show signs of Deuteronomistic editing.
Accordingly, he used this linguistic observation as the decisive bench-
mark to identify the DH and to justify its existence as an independent lit-
erary entity which is totally unattached to Genesis-Numbers. From the
perspective of Genesis-Kings as a whole and in terms of the flow of
the narrative, however, such Deuteronomistic traits cannot possibly be
expected in Genesis-Numbers, since they only come into the picture
from Deuteronomy onwards. This makes Noths cardinal argument for
the foundation of his DH totally invalid, apart from the fact that it is
based primarily, and in fact exclusively, on linguistic details. Ironically,
despite Noths conclusion that there were no signs of Deuteronomistic
editing in the Tetrateuch, later followers of Noth did indeed find
Deuteronom(ist)ic elements. Whatever the case may be, it all depends
on how the intertextual connections should be interpreted and what the
real relationship is between Deuteronomy and the Tetrateuch. I shall
return to this matter under point 5 below.
3. Noth insisted that the purpose of his DH was to explain the loss of the
land and the fall of Jerusalem. True, but there was evidently much more
to explain, and more importantly, to repair: the desolate state in which
the Israelites found themselves during the exile, and the uncertainty
regarding an eventual return to the land of their fathers. They had lost
not only their land, but also their identity and self-consciousness as a
nation, and last but not least, there was a serious crisis of faith in their
God YHWH, who did not safeguard them. The Deuteronomist, if he ever
existed, failed to address these very crucial issues despite the references
to the promised land and the hopeful prospects of a return presented in
chapter 30. These matters are elaborately dealt with in Genesis-Numbers,
9 Noth, The Deuteronomistic History, 35.

whereby the Israelites could identify themselves with their ancestors and
learn who their God YHWH really is and what great deeds he had done in
the past. The DH sorely lacks also these crucial antecedents.
4. If the DH is to be regarded as the first collection and editing of historical
traditions within the Hebrew Bible, as claimed by Noth, how then, why
and for what purposes did the Tetrateuch come into existence? Why does
the storyline of Genesis-Numbers end so abruptly with the arrival of the
Israelites at the border of Canaan? How is the evident cliff-hanger in
Num. 36:13 to be explained, which clearly anticipates the book of
Deuteronomy? Since there are no satisfactory answers to these questions,
we have to conclude that the DH is like a body without a head, and the
Tetrateuch like a head without a body.
5. Because of the detachment of Deuteronomy from the Tetrateuch, the
relationship between Exodus-Numbers and Deuteronomy has been
made considerably problematic. The scrutiny of the Tetrateuch in search
of Deuteronom(ist)ic elements has turned out, in my opinion, to be a
futile enterprise. This is, for instance, demonstrated by Joseph
Blenkinsopps inquiry into the so-called Sinai-Horeb pericope (Exod.
1924; 3234), in order to prove its evident dependence on Deuteronomy
and the DH.10 Apart from the question as to whether this operation con-
tributed anything to a better understanding of the Exodus texts, it is
based on circular reasoning. If you examine two texts, A and B, with the
preconceived idea that A is dependent on B, you will always find in A
what you were looking for, and vice versa. Therefore, from the perspec-
tive of the Enneateuch as a continuous narrative, in which Exodus pre-
cedes Deuteronomy, Blenkinsopps synopsis of Deuteronomy and Exodus
versions must be turned the other way round in order to let it reflect the
factual, normal situation. It is not a matter of Deuteronomy contributing
to the Tetrateuch narrative, but what the narrative in Genesis-Numbers
contributes to Deuteronomy.
Brekelmans has qualified the so-called Deuteronomic elements in
the Tetrateuch as proto-Deuteronomic, followed by Vervenne, Ausloos,
the Louvain School, and others.11 However, in my view, there is no rea-
10 J. Blenkinsopp, Deuteronomic Contribution to the Narrative in Genesis-Numbers, in:

Schearing, McKenzie (eds), Those Elusive Deuteronomists, 84115.
11 C.H.W. Brekelmans, Die sogenannten deuteronomischen Elemente in Gen.Num.: Ein
Beitrag zur Vorgeschichte des Deuteronomiums, in: Volume du Congres Geneve 1965
(SVT, 15), Leiden 1966, 9096; M. Vervenne, The Question of Deuteronomic Elements
in Genesis to Numbers, in: F. Garca Martnez et al. (eds), Studies in Deuteronomy in
130 Labuschagne
son for such a qualification for the simple reason that everything in the
Tetrateuch is proto-Deuteronomic, not only the Deuteronomic ele-
ments. So we have instead to speak of elements in the Tetrateuch which
Deuteronomy draws on, recapitulates, uses and elaborates.
6. Since Noth failed to demonstrate the role which Deuteronomy is sup-
posed to play as the preface to the books of Joshua-Kings, there are no
grounds for calling his DH Deuteronomistic.12 Apart from the fact that a
Deuteronomist in all probability never existed, which renders this quali-
fication inappropriate, there are strong indications that the Enneateuch
in its entirety is not a Deuteronomistic but a priestly work.
7. Finally, the DH could not possibly have been written during the exile as
Noth assumed. Considering its subject matter, which is a review of the
history of the Israelites from the occupation until the fall of the monar-
chy, the Scribe must have had access to the necessary extant archival
material in Jerusalem in order to achieve this. We simply cannot imagine
that the exiles were able at the time of their deportation to take donkey-
loads of documents with them to Babylonia.
The objections against Noths concept presented above and the arguments to
be put forward below in support of the unity of the Enneateuch may be the
final nail in the coffin of the Nothian theory.
4 The Relationship between the Tetrateuch and Deuteronomy
When the Scribe and his team had completed the writing of the scroll of
Numbers, they finalized and sealed the Tetrateuch for the time being, in
order to resume the writing of its scheduled follow-up at a later time. That
the Tetrateuch was not intended to be a separate writing is demonstrated
by the fact that Numbers ends with a cliff-hanger which clearly anticipates
Deuteronomy (Num. 36:13): These are the commandments and decrees which
Honour of C.J. Labuschagne on the Occasion of his 65th Birthday, Leiden 1994, 243268;
H. Ausloos, What Happened to the Proto-Deuteronomist? The Epilogue to the Book of
the Covenant (Exod 23,2033) as a Test Case, in: Ausloos, Lemmelijn (eds), A Pillar of
Cloud to Guide, 1730.
12 See A.G. Auld, The Deuteronomist and the Former Prophets, or What makes the Former
Prophets Deuteronomistic?, in: Schearing, McKenzie (eds), Those Elusive Deuteronomists,
116126.
YHWH issued to the Israelites through Moses in the lowlands of Moab by the
Jordan near Jericho.
With regard to the relationship between the Tetrateuch and Deuteronomy, it
is important to note that there are many intertextual connections between the
Tetrateuch and Deuteronomy and its follow-up, which unambiguously dem-
onstrate the dependence of Deuteronomy-Kings on the Tetrateuch. Moreover,
it is not only verbal parallels and linguistic features, but more particularly
specific themes in Genesis-Numbers that reverberate in Deuteronomy and its
follow-up. Let me briefly mention the most important themes in the Tetrateuch
which Deuteronomy in particular draws on and elaborates, showing the extent
to which Deuteronomy and its follow-up are dependent on the Tetrateuch.
a) The great themes of the story of Israel related in Genesis-Numbers, the

divine promises to the Patriarchs, the Exodus- and Sinai experience, and
the march through the Wilderness, were certainly not devised by the
Deuteronomist. In Deuteronomy Moses recapitulates them. Neither did
the Deuteronomist invent the two main personages, Moses and Aaron,
who in Deuteronomy are assumed as well-known precisely because they
had been duly introduced in Exodus.
b) Nor was the crucial theological notion of the incomparability of YHWH
conceived by the Deuteronomist, because it stems from Deutero-Isaiah,
whose prophecies inspired the author of the Exodus story. Compare
Exod. 8:6 and 9:14, and especially the impressive Reed Sea Song (15:1b18),
where the profession of YHWHs incomparability has pride of place at the
mathematical centre of the Song (15:11). The notion reverberates no fewer
than six times in Deuteronomy and four times in Samuel-Kings.13
c) The unequivocal military character of the march (not a journey!) of the
Israelites from Egypt to Canaan forestalls the conquest of the Promised
Land by force (Exod. 6:26; 7:4; 12:17, 41, 51; 13:18; 14:8; Num. 33:3). Moreover,
the explicit presentation of Joshua as military leader in Exod. 17:813 and
his role as Moses assistant (Exod. 24:13; 32:17; 33:11 and passim in Num-
bers) anticipates his crucial role in the conquest.
13 See my article To Whom Then Will You Liken Me?: The Incomparability of YHWH in
Deutero-Isaiah and the Exodus-Story, in: Ausloos, Lemmelijn (eds), A Pillar of Cloud to
Guide, 12544. For an analysis of the Reed Sea Song, consult my article at: http://www
.labuschagne.nl/1.exod15.pdf and see the paragraph Compositional techniques under-
pinning the unity of the Enneateuch further below.
132 Labuschagne
d) The Decalogue and the covenantal stipulations in Exodus are reinter-

preted, adapted and actualized in Deuteronomy to fit the requirements
of and address the problems in the post-exilic sedentary community.
e) The programme and prerequisites for the conquest and the settlement, as
formulated in the Epilogue to the Book of the Covenant in Exod. 23:20
33, anticipate the paraenetic discourse of Moses in Deuteronomy.
f) The theme of the distribution of land, with special attention being paid to
the Levites (Num. 33:5035:8) anticipates the distribution of land in
Joshua, where cities and land for the Levites are specifically referred to.
g) YHWHs resolve that Moses will not enter the Promised Land (Num. 20:12
and 27:1214) reverberates in what is described in Deut. 1:37; 3:2528; 4:21
and 34:4.
h) The portrayal of Moses as prophet (Num. 12; 14:1124) resonates in his pro-
phetic perorations in Deut. 4:149 and especially in 2930. The story of
Balaam (Num. 2224), who is depicted as the archetype of a true
prophet speaking only what YHWH reveals to him, clearly echoes in
Deut. 18:1422.
i) The extensive attention paid to the Tabernacle and the exclusive service
and dominant role of the Levitical priests anticipates the temple of Solo-
mon and the Levitical priestly temple service.
j) The divine instruction in Exod. 13:1416 to tell the children about YHWHs
great deeds in answer to a childs question What does this mean? is
taken up again in Deut. 6:2025 and Josh. 4:2124.14
In sum, when it comes to the precise relationship between the Tetrateuch

and Deuteronomy and its follow-up, there is ample evidence showing that the
Tetrateuch is at the giving end while Deuteronomy and its follow-up are at the
receiving end. That it could be the other way round is totally unimaginable.
5 The Coming into Existence of the Enneateuch
The point of departure for the present argument is the hypothesis that the
Enneateuch is a continuous historiographic narrative telling the ongoing Story
of Ancient Israel from the beginning of the history of mankind until the fall
of the kingdom of Judah. The literary presentation of this grand narrative: the
14 See H. Bosman, What does this mean?: The Exodus as answer within the Inner-Biblical
Discussion of Exod 13,14 with Deut 6,20 and Josh 4,21, in: Ausloos,Lemmelijn (eds),
A Pillar of Cloud to Guide, 3144.
history-like story (Genesis-Deuteronomy), and the story-like history (Joshua-

Kings), was fundamentally determined by the events described in it, fictional
or real. This also applies to the nine books of the corpus, of which the mate-
rial contents were not determined by ideological or theological ideas, but by
logically successive episodes, in much the same way as in the three episodic
psalms 105, 106, and 107.15
In consequence, I have based the wording of the headings of the nine books
on the major episodes:
Genesis: The Creation of the World, the Emergence of Nations, and the
Prehistory of Israel.
Exodus: The Escape of the Israelites from Egypt and their Stay at
Mount Sinai where they meet YHWH.
Leviticus: Appendix: YHWHs Regulations and Guidelines for Israels
Ritual Purity and Holiness.
Numbers: The March in the Wilderness and the Confrontation with
the Hostile Nations.
Deuteronomy: Moses Charge to the Israelites on the Eve of the
Occupation of the Promised Land.
Joshua: The Conquest, Occupation, and Distribution of the Promised
Land.
Judges: The State and Behaviour of the People under the Rule of the
Judges when there was no King.
Samuel: The Emergence of Kingship under Samuel and the Reign of
Saul and David.
Kings: The Reign of Solomon, the Division of the Kingdom and the
Fate of the Two Kingdoms.
What meets the eye immediately is the central positioning of the book
of Deuteronomy in the middle of the ninefold structure. Considering
Deuteronomys subject matter, it is not surprising to find it in pride of place.
Apart from its central positioning, Deuteronomy is a pivotal text form-
ing a bridge between the account of Israels history before the settlement in
the Promised Land (Genesis-Numbers) and the story of its conquest by the
Israelites and their existence there until the exile (Joshua-Kings).
This is how I envisage the coming into existence of the Enneateuch: it hap-
pened in three stages:
15 See for instance my analysis (2008) of Psalm 106: http//www.labuschagne.nl/ps106.pdf.

134 Labuschagne
The first stage was the composition of the history-like story in Genesis-
Numbers, in which the Scribe reinvented the history of the Israelites from the
creation of the world to the fall of Jerusalem, describing the successive phases
of their vicissitudes until their arrival at the border of the Promised Land. It
was partway written in Babylonia on the basis of mainly oral traditions which
had been collected by priestly scribes. The driving force behind this scribal
project was in all probability the priest and scribe Ezra. He is by far the best
possible candidate for the Scribe, being a priest and scribe learned in the law
of the God of Heaven (Ezra 7:12, 21), and being the priest who was specifically
invited by the people to bring the book of the law of Moses and read it (parts
of Exodus?) in their presence (Neh. 8:18). Since he was of Levitical descent
(Ezra 7:16!) it stands to reason that it was in this capacity that he chose of all
people two men of Levitical descent to be YHWHs agents in the story related in
Exodus-Deuteronomy. That is also the reason why the Levitical priestly descent
of Moses and Aaron is so strongly emphasized (Exod. 2:1; 4:14; 6:1428, and
Num. 26:5759).
Ezras Levitical priestly descent also explains the exclusive role attributed to
the Levites in guarding and serving the Tabernacle and the Ark (Num. 1:53;
3:2137; 8:2326) and the emphasis on their unique relationship with YHWH,
being taken by him instead of the firstborn (Num. 34; cf. 4:45) and most of all
their zeal for YHWHs cause (Exod. 32:2529), which is their most consistent
and characteristic role.16 And finally, it can only be the priest Ezra who devised
the unique status of Israel as YHWHs kingdom of priests (Exod. 19:6).
The Levitical priests were in charge of the law and its guardians (Deut. 17:18);
and when Moses had written this law (Deuteronomy!), he gave it to the priests
the sons of Levi (Deut. 31:9). Therefore, seeing the close relationship between
the law and the Levitical priests, we may assume that in the time of Ezra and
Nehemiah, there was a strong elite of Levitical priests who had welcomed Ezra
as their leader and enabled him to continue working on his project. If my
theory about the Scribe as a Levitical priest is correct, the Enneateuch can be
labelled a Levitical priestly work.
When Ezra arrived in Jerusalem in 458 together with a considerable group of
exiles, he must have had his Torah with him. In fact, Artaxerxes, in his famous
decree, refers to the writing Ezra had with him as: the law of your God in your
hand (Ezra 7:14), which I interpret as a reference to the Tetrateuch he had
16 Exod. 6:1428, which deals specifically with the Levitical descent of Moses and Aaron, is a
meticulously designed passage consisting of 182 (726) words and 731 (4317) letters. Most
significantly, according to Ezra 7:16, Ezra is the 17th in the Levitical lineage of Aaron, by
which he is symbolically authenticated and legitimized for his mission by YHWH himself.
brought with him from Babylonia. As soon as was possible in those hectic days,
the Scribe and his team finalized and sealed the four scrolls of the Tetrateuch
for the time being, awaiting its follow-up.17
The second stage was the composition of Deuteronomy, in which the acute
problems of the resettlement are addressed: dissension and factional strife
within the community, conflicting territorial claims, uncontrollable shrines
throughout the country (high places), idolatry, and mixed marriages. The
Scribe availed himself of the opportunity to recapitulate and actualize crucial
events from the Tetrateuch and to elaborate on them in order to bring in new
issues relevant to the current situation.
After the completion of the book Deuteronomyin any case before the
Samaritan schism in 432the Scribe and his team finalized and sealed the five
scrolls of Genesis-Deuteronomy, once again for the time being, with the inten-
tion to continue with the writing of its follow-up at a later time.18 It was never
intended to mark the end of a separate, independent literary entity, because
after the story of Moses death and the installation of Joshua, the book has an
evident open end in anticipation of the story of the conquest. Therefore, call-
ing it at the time of its composition the Schlustein der Tora is premature,
because it signifies a qualification that belongs to the reception history of the
Pentateuch (Lohfink).19
At that stage, before the writing of Joshua-Kings, the Samaritans had
accepted Genesis-Deuteronomy as their Torah, copied the five scrolls and
transmitted them from then on in their own text tradition as the Samaritan
Torah, mistakenly called the Samaritan Pentateuch. This is in my view the best
explanation why the Samaritans did not obtain the scrolls of Joshua-Kings:
they simply could not do so, for at the time the second Tetrateuch was still
17 The Tetrateuch was finalized and sealed by means of its meticulously computed 65,688
(3,86417) words.
18 Moses marathon speech (1:133:29) was finalized and sealed by its 14,118 (54326) words.
The five scrolls Genesis-Deuteronomy were finalized and sealed by their 5,848 (34417)
verses, its 30,4850 (11,72526) letters, the 1,820 (7026) occurrences of the name YHWH,
and by the 30,706 (1,18126) words of Numbers-Deuteronomy. For full particulars, go to
The Compositional Structure of Genesis-Kings, the Enneateuch: http//www.labuscha
gne.nl/genesis-kings/results.pdf.
19 Otto, Das postdeuteronomistische Deuteronomium als integrierender Schlustein der
Tora, in: Witte et al. (eds), Die deuteronomistischen Geschichtswerke, 71102, esp. 7377.
N. Lohfink, Prolegomena zu einer Rechtshermeneutik des Pentateuch, in: G. Braulik
(ed.), Das Deuteronomium (BS, 23), Frankfurt am Main 2003, 1156, esp. 467, n. 10.
136 Labuschagne
in the making.20 Independently they wrote their own version of their history
from Joshua onwards.21
The third stage was therefore the composition of Deuteronomys follow-up,

the story-like history in Joshua-Kings (a second Tetrateuch), based mainly
on archival material the Scribe and his team had access to. The choice for a
Tetrateuch, four scrolls, as the final piece of the project was in all probability
to achieve an Enneateuch in accordance with the nine books of the Histories of
Herodotus (440 BCE), which is structured as a dynastic history of four Persian
kings: Cyrus, Cambyses, Darius, and Xerxes.22 The four books of the second
Tetrateuch were finalized and numerically sealed somewhere in the late
Persian period in the usual manner.23
After the completion of the Enneateuch, the Greek-speaking Jews in Alexandria

maintained the nine scrolls, basically in the form that the Scribe and his team
had finalized them as a single corpus. The Alexandrian Jews translated the
Enneateuch into Greek, editing and expanding it in their own way as the his-
torical scrolls. Presumably at the same time, the Jewish leaders in Palestine
organized the canonized scrolls in the well-known tripartite arrangement Torah
+ Nebiim + Ketubim, setting the books of Genesis-Deuteronomy apart as the
Torah for all Jews, like the Samaritans, who also had their own Torah.
Since then, the canonical writings of the Hebrew Bible were transmitted in
two tripartite arrangements:
The Hebrew Bible (and Protestant Christian): Torah (the Law)Nebiim

(Prophets)Ketubim (Writings);
The Septuagint (Catholic Christian Bible): Historical booksPoetical,
didactical booksProphetic books.
20 The use of the term book is premature when it regards literature before the emergence
of the codex. See N. Lohfink, Was there a Deuteronomistic movement?, in: Schearing,
McKenzie (eds) Those Elusive Deuteronomists, 3666, esp. 478.
21 See J. Macdonald, The Samaritan Chronicle no.II or Sepher Ha-Yamim.From Joshua to
Nebuchadnezzar (BZAW, 84), Berlin 1969.
22 See J.-W. Wesselius, The Origin of the History of Israel: Herodotuss Histories as Blueprint for
the First Books of the Bible (JSOTS, 345), Sheffield 2002.
23 To mention only two features: the second Tetrateuch was finalized and sealed by its
4318 (25417) verses and to crown it all, the Enneateuch as a whole is sealed by its 10166
(59817) verses.
Modern West-European Christian scholars accepted the tripartite structure

of the Hebrew Canon without further ado or question, as demanded by the
Hebraica veritas. As a result, they lost sight of the nine historical books as a
coherent whole. They also assumed without question that the Torah had from
the beginning the status of an independent work, with all its consequences for
the study of the Enneateuch.
6 Compositional Techniques Underpinning the Unity of the

Enneateuch
The quantitative structural analyses of the nine books have disclosed a strik-
ing uniformity in the use of certain compositional techniques throughout
the Enneateuch, for instance, the profuse use of direct speech and dialogues
in the communications between the personages, and more specifically the
use of divine speech to express the presence of God and his involvement and
participation in the events described. The idea that God determines historical
events is characteristic of the Enneateuch, though the idea is also to be found
in the Assyrian and Babylonian royal annals and in Herodotus, who attributes
an important role to divinity in human affairs. Chronicles, however, has a very
down-to-earth approach to history. For instance, in Chronicles the formula
occurs only 9 times (1 Chron. 11:2; 21:27; 2 Chron. 6:8, 14; 14:10; 18:16,
19, 20; 20:6); against 159 instances in Genesis-Kings. But the actual point is that
YHWHs speeches constitute the theological backbone of the Enneateuch. The
divine speeches and the name permeate the text, being woven into it from
the beginning to the end as unifying and organizing strings.
This also applies specifically to the use of the two numbers 17 and 26 rep-
resenting the numerical values of the name , to structure the text and to
highlight certain crucial passages in it imbuing them with symbolism: the pres-
ence and involvement of YHWH in the events described in it.24 The statistical
percentages of verses and words highlighted by 17 and 26, show to what extent
the Enneateuch is governed by these two numbers: no less than 71% of the
verses and 67% of the words.
Other typical compositional devices, such as the use of the number of full-
ness 7 and of fulfilment 11 to give structure to the main parts of the books,
the use of unifying strings or series of words or ideas (especially strings of 7 to
express the idea of fullness), the use of cliff-hangers at the seams of the text
24 For the two divine name numbers, see the General Introduction to Logotechnical
Analysis: http://www.labuschagne.nl/aspects.pdf.
138 Labuschagne
and the numerical signatures of the main personages are to be found right
throughout the Enneateuch.25
Such features cannot simply be explained as coincidence, since they can in
themselves demonstrate that the Enneateuch has been conceived as a coher-
ent compositional entity. But there is more evidence for its compositional
unity.26
First, no fewer than five of the nine books of the Enneateuch are concluded
and sealed by a significant number of words at the end, which shows that
the use of this significant technique throughout the Enneateuch can only be
explained as the work of one writer: Exod. 40:3438 (26+34); Deut. 34:912
(34+26); 1 Sam. 31:913 (68=417), 2 Sam. 24:2325 (52=226) and 2 Kgs 25:23
30 (153=917). Moreover, the unity of the Enneateuch as a numerical composi-
tion is additionally underpinned by the fact that it opens with 52 (226) words
(Gen. 1:15, the first day) and is concluded by 153 (917) words (2 Kgs 25:2330,
Gedaliah murdered; Jehoiachin released).27
Second, the eight farewell speeches of key personages run as a unifying and
organizing string throughout the Enneateuch from Genesis to 2 Kings: Jacob
(Gen. 49); Joseph (Gen. 50:2425); Moses (Deut. 130); Moses (Deut. 32:143);
Moses (Deut. 33:129); Joshua in Josh. 23; Samuel in 1 Sam. 12 and David in 1 Kgs
2:19. Also in this respect the book of Deuteronomy stands out with its three
farewell addresses.
Third, the key term , until this day occurs no fewer than 52
(226) times, running as a unifying signpost through seven of the nine books
of the Enneateuch (excluding Leviticus and Numbers).28
Fourth, most significant is the unmistakable unifying and organizing string
of 13 (1+8+4=13=, One!) references to YHWHs incomparability, of which
six, nearly a half, are to be found in poetic sections (in bold face). They have
been embedded as conspicuous stepping stones in the prose text from Exodus
25 For the cliff-hanger, see pp. 23 in my analysis of 2 Samuel: http://www.labuschagne.nl/

genesis-kings/2Sam1-24.pdf.
For the signature of main personages, see pp. 212 in: http://www.labuschagne.nl/gene
sis-kings/1Sam1-31.pdf.
26 See J.-W. Wesselius, From stumblings blocks to cornerstones: The function of problematic
episodes in the Primary History and in Ezra-Nehemiah, in: R. Roukema et al. (eds), The
Interpretation of Exodus: Studies in Honour of Cornelis Houtman, Leuven 2000, 3763, who
has argued that duplicates, parallels, and evident discontinuities can best be explained as
deliberate literary strategies.
27 See p. 1 in my analysis of Exod. 2124: http://www.labuschagne.nl/exodus/4Exod21,124,18
.pdf.
28 Altogether 62x, for with maqqeph, , it occurs 10 times.
through Kings in order to highlight this crucial theological notion. Seeing the
high quality of the poems, the Scribe must have had a skilled poet in his team
of scribes. As I have argued in my logotechnical analyses of these poems, they
are not to be regarded as inset poems taken from elsewhere and inserted into
the text; they were expressly composed and embedded in the text to fit the con-
text and to serve a specific purpose. In other words, they are structurally part
and parcel of their context.29
These thirteen references exhibit a decided coherence and a clear inter-
relationship in terms of key-themes concerning the essential characteris-
tics of YHWH as the God of justice, loving kindness and solidarity with the
oppressed, which can be found in the immediate context of the references to
his incomparability.
1. Exod. 8:6 (10), Moses says to Pharaoh:

Be it as you say, that you may know that there is no one like YHWH our God.
2. Exod. 9:1314, YHWHs message Moses has to convey to Pharaoh:
Thus says YHWH, the God of the Hebrews: Let my people go that they may
serve me!
For this time I will send all my plagues upon your heart and upon your ser-
vants and your people,
that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth.
3. Exod. 15:11: The Song of the Reed Sea (v. 11 is positioned in pride of place
at the centre of the Song!):
Who is like you, YHWH, among the gods?
awesome in splendour, doing wonders?
4. Deut. 3:24, in a prayer of Moses:
My LordYHWH, you have only begun to show your servant your greatness
and your might;
what god in heaven or on earth can perform deeds and mighty acts like
yours!
5. Deut. 4:7, where YHWH is primarily portrayed as the Saviour who made
Israel incomparable:
For what other great nation has a god so near to it as YHWH our God is
whenever we call to him?
6. Deut. 4:3235, The most comprehensive reverberation in Deuteronomy:
For ask now about former ages, long before your own, ever since the day that
God created human beings on the earth; ask from one end of heaven to the
29 See my article referred to in n. 13.

140 Labuschagne
other: has anything so great as this ever happened or has its like ever been
heard of?
Has any people ever heard the voice of a god speaking out of a fire, as you
have heard, and lived?
Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from
the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs and wonders, by war, by a
mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by terrifying displays of power,
as YHWH your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?
To you it was shown so that you would acknowledge that YHWH is God; there
is none besides him.
7. Deut. 32:31: The Song of Moses: Indeed their rock is not like our Rock.
8. Deut. 32:39: The Song of Moses:
See now that I, even I, am he;there is no god besides me.
I kill and I make alive;I wound and I heal;and no one can deliver from my
hand.
9. Deut. 33:2629: The Testamentary Blessing of Moses:
There is none like God, OJeshurun, who rides through the heavens to your
help, majestic through the skies.He subdues the ancient gods shattersthe
forces of old;
he drove out the enemy before you, and said, Destroy!So Israel lives in
safety, untroubled is Jacobs abode in a land of grain and wine, where the
heavens drop down dew.
Happy are you, OIsrael! Who is like you, a people saved by YHWH, the shield
of your help,and the sword of your triumph! Your enemies shall come fawn-
ing to you, and you shall tread on their backs.
10. 1 Sam. 2:1b2: The Song of Hannah:
My heart exults in YHWH;my strength is exalted in YHWH.
My mouth derides my enemies, because I rejoice in myvictory.
There is no Holy One like YHWH, no one besides you; there is no Rock like
our God.
11. 2 Sam. 7:2223: The Prayer of David:
Therefore you are great, my Lord YHWH; for there is no one like you, and
there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our
ears.
Who is like your people, like Israel? Is there anothernation on earth whose
God went to redeem it as a people, and to make a name for himself, doing
great and awesome things for themby driving outbefore his people nations
and their gods?
12. 2 Sam. 22:32: The Song of David:
For who is God, but YHWH?And who is a rock, except our God?
13. 1 Kgs 8:23, in a prayer of Solomon [See Asas Prayer (2 Chron. 14:10) and
Josaphats (2 Chron. 20:67)]:
He said, O YHWH, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or
on earth beneath...
The evidence adduced above is a strong indication that the Enneateuch is

not a conglomerate of distinct books, but a coherent well-designed compo-
sitional entity. So there is every reason to dismiss the DH as something that
never existed and to relegate the Deuteronomist and Deuteronomism to the
world of fantasy. This also applies to the Deuteronomistic Movement, which
has already been challenged by Lohfink.30
7 The Study of the Historical Books after the Demise of the

Deuteronomist
What do we do with the grave misgivings and the growing uncertainty about
the existence of a DH, or for that matter of the Pentateuch?31 In my view,
Rmer and De Pury were on the right track when they concluded that the DH
must be radically modified, because the question of its beginning is far from
being settled and because the break between Numbers and Deuteronomy is
much less clear-cut than it appears in the current presentations of DH. More
important than their suggestion to modify it is their crucial question: Must we
therefore envisage instead a great Deuteronomistic history going from Genesis
or Exodus as far as the books of Kings?.32 My answer to that is: Absolutely!,
provided that Genesis should on no account be excluded and provided that
they never call this great history Deuteronomistic, because there has never
been a Deuteronomist.
All that has been said above shows that it is high time for a radical para-
digm shift in the study of the historical books. Martin Beek, the founder of
the Amsterdam School, Karel Deurloo, Frans Breukelman, and the German
scholar Bernd Diebner, were the first theologians who blew the alarm whistle
with their plea for a paradigm shift as far back as the sixties and seventies of
the previous century. At the time, in the Netherlands, the Amsterdam School
was held in ill repute by the mainstream of biblical scholarship. Contrary to the
30 See N. Lohfink, Was there a Deuteronomistic movement?, in: Schearing, McKenzie (eds),
Those Elusive Deuteronomists, 3666, esp. 478.
31 See Clines, Does the Pentateuch Exist?
32 Cf. Rmer, de Pury, Deuteronomistic Historiography, 139.
142 Labuschagne
current literary-critical approach, they rejected the Documentary Hypothesis

and emphasized the unity of the texts and the narrative aspects of the historical
books, insisting on a synchronic approach and more respect for the text of the
Hebrew Bible as it has come to us.33 However, the whistle blowers were voices
crying in the desert. This goes for myself too, seeing that my continuous plea
since the eighties of the previous century for a paradigm shift arising from my
research of the numerical aspects of MT, has almost generally been ignored.
A new paradigm requires first and foremost that Old Testament scholars
must realize that the conjectured literary models based on the Documentary
Hypothesis, the foundational dogma behind such concepts, have had their
time and must definitively be discarded. In retrospect, we may regard these
outmoded concepts as necessary steps towards the achievement of a better
insight into the coming into existence and the architecture of the historical
books, honouring our predecessors for their sincere efforts in search of truth.
Future studies of the historical books should take their point of departure
decidedly in the Enneateuch and not in one of the presumed Pentateuchs
as has been done over the past seventy years. Accordingly, traditional
Pentateuchforschung should be transformed into Enneateuchforschung and
the search for Deuteronomistic elements in Genesis-Numbers and elsewhere
should be stopped once and for all. Literary criticism, tradition criticism, and
redaction criticism need to be fundamentally reassessed.
The grave misgivings and uncertainty about the existence of a DH expressed
the past three decades by an ever growing number of scholars, should now
be taken seriously. Unfortunately, the most recent discussions dealing with the
issue in question demonstrate that even scholars who are beginning to doubt
the existence of a DH and seriously consider an Enneateuch a viable alterna-
tive, are still deeply obsessed with Deuteronomism.34 Take, for instance, Frevel
who concludes:
33 See M.A. Beek, Saturation Points and Incomplete Lines in the Study of Old Testament
Literature, in: M. Kessler (ed.), Voices from Amsterdam: A Modern Tradition of Reading
Biblical Narratives, Atlanta 1996 (published in Dutch in 1968). For Diebners unremit-
tingly maintained pleas for a paradigm shift, see the volume Seit wann gibt es jenes
Israel?:Gesammelte Beitrge aus 35 Jahren Neuansatz (Beitrge zum Verstehen der Bibel,
17), Mnster 2011. See also R. Oost, Omstreden bijbeluitleg: Aspecten en achtergronden van
de hermeneutische discussie rondom de exegese van het Oude Testament in Nederland,
Kampen 1986.
34 See Th. Rmer, Zwischen Urkunden, Fragmenten und Ergnzungen: Zum Stand der
Pentateuchforschung, ZAW 125/1 (2013), 224; Christian Frevel, Das Josua-Palimpsest.
Der bergang vom Josua zum Richterbuch und sein Konsequenzen fr die These eines
As a result it is scarcely possible any longer to speak of a Deuteronomistic

History extending from Deuteronomy to II Kings. Instead a comprehen-
sive Enneateuchal composition is formed from the successive combina-
tion of separate partial accounts, which also include Deuteronomistical
works.35
Although I cannot agree with his idea of a successive combination of separate

partial accounts, nor with his Deuteronomistical works, his conclusion is cor-
rect: we must discard the DH and accept the Enneateuch. The time has come to
abandon the whole concept of Deuteronomism as futile and pointless. Due to
the epidemic of pan-Deuteronomism, scholars have continuously been find-
ing Deuteronomistic elements throughout the Hebrew Bible, rendering it into
a Deuteronomistic product. This being the case, I agree with Wilson who con-
cluded that the concept has become so amorphous that it no longer has any
analytical precision and so ought to be abandoned.36
8 Conclusion
Let me conclude on a more personal note: Whoever has scrutinized this article
will be left with fundamental questions with regard to the numerical features
which appear to have played a crucial role in the composition, finalizing, and
sealing/canonizing of the text. I can assure my colleagues that such burning
questions are mine too, but it is not for me to provide them with the answers,
because it is a matter that concerns all of us:
1. Is it imaginable that the present text attained its final form only as late as
the last two centuries BCE?
2. If so, is it reasonable to assume that a deliberately finalized and sealed
text was substantially manipulated such a long time after its composition
so as to fashion it into the present manifest numerical composition?
3. Is it feasible to hypothesize that this text was finalized, sealed and canon-
ized at the time of its composition and that it therefore constitutes an
Deuteronomistischen Geschichtswerks, ZAW 125/1 (2013), 4971; C. Levin, Nach siebzig

Jahren. Martin Noths berlieferungsgeschichtliche Studien, ZAW 125/1 (2013), 7292.
35 Frevel, Das Josua-Palimpsest, 7071.
36 R.R. Wilson, Who was the Deuteronomist? (Who was not the Deuteronomist?):
Reflections on Pan-Deuteronomism, in: Those Elusive Deuteronomists, 6782.
144 Labuschagne
archetype of MT? If so, does this not imply that all other texts must be
regarded as para-Masoretic instead of pre-Masoretic texts?
4. Does this not entail that we have to reassess the discipline called textual
criticism in a most fundamental way, envisaging a canonizing process
that began at the time of the composition and sealing of a text?
5. Why is it so difficult for critical biblical scholars to get rid of the deep-
rooted aversion against numbers?
6. Why do biblical scholars, in contrast to classical scholars, exhibit such an
irrational fear for symbolism, and more specifically for number symbol-
ism, while symbolism plays such an important role in the Bible?
7. On what grounds do scholars base the allegation that quantitative struc-
tural analysis amounts to manipulative kabbalistic speculation, while it
is basically a strict rational (computer assisted!) scholarly discipline in
which number symbolism has its rightful place?
Biblical scholars must realize that they cannot continue turning a blind eye to
the manifest numerical features of the Hebrew Bible as they have done, say,
for the past thirty-five years. As a matter of fact, forty years have now passed
since the Austrian Orientalist Claus Schedl, from the University of Graz, was
booed and ridiculed (in Edinburgh, if I remember correctly), when he said
something about the numerical features of biblical texts. After the session,
ashamed as I was for my colleagues, I went to him where he was standing
utterly alone outside the building to apologize and commiserate with him.
Despite the sympathy I felt for Schedl as a person, it took four years before
I could overcome my predisposition and came to reading his book Bauplne
des Wortes: Einfhrung in die biblische Logotechnik (Wien 1974). So I know that
it takes time, much time, to reassess the traditional approaches to the biblical
texts, to overcome prejudices, and to attain a fundamental paradigm shift. I
also learned that a fault confessed is half redressed.
Chapter 8
Septuagint Studies in Louvain

Bndicte Lemmelijn and Hans Ausloos
1 The Origins of Septuagint Studies in Louvain
For decades, research into the oldest Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible has
taken a privileged position within the many scientific activities of the Louvain
universities.1 Coming from an era when the Roman Catholic church condemned
textual criticism as one of the doctrines of the moderniststextual criticism
has been considered as substantiating historical-critical scholarship2it
1 We deliberately use the word universities in the plural, as well as the toponym Louvain.
Founded in 1425, the university located in this Belgian city has had a turbulent history. One of
the most significant episodes in its recent history has undoubtedly been the splitting of the
university in the 1960s. During that time, the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven)
and the Universit catholique de Louvain (UCL) became sister universities. The KU Leuven
remained in the old city of Leuven (Louvain in English), while a completely new city was
built for the UCL (Louvain-la-Neuve: the new Louvain). See in this respect A. dHaenens
(ed.), LUniversit catholique de Louvain: Vie et mmoire dune institution, Bruxelles, 1992;
J. Roegiers, I. Vandevivere (eds), Leuven / Louvain-la-Neuve: Kennis Maken / Aller retour,
Leuven/Louvain, 2001.
2 In the encyclical Pascendi dominici gregis (1907), Pope Pius X wrote on the doctrines of the
modernists: To aid them [i.e. historical-critical scholars] in this they call to their assistance
that branch of criticism which they call textual, and labour to show that such a fact or such a
phrase is not in its right place, and adducing other arguments of the same kind. They seem,
in fact, to have constructed for themselves certain types of narration and discourses, upon
which they base their decision as to whether a thing is out of place or not. Judge if you can
how men with such a system are fitted for practising this kind of criticism. To hear them talk
about their works on the Sacred Books, in which they have been able to discover so much
that is defective, one would imagine that before them nobody ever even glanced through the
pages of Scripture, whereas the truth is that a whole multitude of Doctors, infinitely superior
to them in genius, in erudition, in sanctity, have sifted the Sacred Books in every way, and
so far from finding imperfections in them, have thanked God more and more the deeper
they have gone into them, for His divine bounty in having vouchsafed to speak thus to men.
Unfortunately, these great Doctors did not enjoy the same aids to study that are possessed by
the Modernists for their guide and rule,a philosophy borrowed from the negation of God,
and a criterion which consists of themselves (art. 34italics ours).

146 Lemmelijn and Ausloos
was Joseph Coppens who paved the way for text-critical investigations at the
Louvain university.3
Coppenss research made important contributions to understanding the fig-
ure of the Messiah within Old Testament literature.4 Against the background
of his interest in Messianism in the Hebrew Bible, he started to involve the
Septuagint (LXX) as a significant textual witness, although his text-critical
work remained very tentative and preliminary. In one of the volumes of his
magnum opus on Messianism, for example, Coppens demonstrated that the
comparison of the Hebrew and Greek texts of certain passages that are tra-
ditionally taken to be Messianic (Isa. 7:14; 9:15; Ps. 110:3) indicates that the
LXX exhibited a more personal, supernatural and transcendent understanding
of the Messiah.5 While Coppens later work would appear to keep its options
open in this regard,6 he nevertheless set the tone for an extraordinary interest
in the LXX, which became the object of further far-reaching research at the
sister-universities KU Leuven and UCL.7
2 The Centre for Septuagint Studies and Textual Criticism
As one of Mgr Coppens students, Johan Lust revitalized interest in the LXXs
messianic visionor lack thereoffrom the end of the 1970s. The ques-
tion of the relationship between the LXX and Messianism has intrigued Lust
3 Cf. J. Lust, Msgr. J. Coppens: The Old Testament Scholar, ETL 57 (1981) 24165.
4 See, e.g., J. Coppens, Les origines du messianisme. La synthse historique de M. Sigmund
Mowinckel, in B. Rigaux (ed.), Lattente du Messie (Recherches Bibliques, 1), Brugge 1954,
318; Idem, De messiaanse verwachting in het Psalmboek (Mededelingen van de Koninklijke
Vlaamse Academie voor Wetenschappen, Letteren en Schone Kunsten van Belgi. Klasse der
Letteren 17/5), Brussel, 1955; Idem, Les oracles de Bilam: leur origine littraire et leur porte
prophtique, in: Mlanges Eugne Tisserant (Studi e testi, 231), Rome 1964, 6780, esp. 7880.
5 J. Coppens, Le Messianisme royal. Ses origines. Son dveloppement. Son accomplissement
(LD, 54), Paris 1968, 119: un messianisme plus personnel, plus surnaturel, plus transcen-
dant. Coppens added nevertheless: Malheureusement nous ne disposons pas encore dune
thologie de la Septante qui nous permette de mesurer exactement lvolution des ides et
esprances dans les milieux juifs o cette grande et importante uvre sest labore (119).
6 J. Coppens, Le Messianisme et sa relve prophtique. Les anticipations vtrotestamentaires.
Leur accomplissement en Jsus (BETL, 38), Gembloux 1974, 149: Lanalyse de la version
grecque des Septante fait apparatre les traces nombreuses dun dveloppement continu.
7 When the Faculty of Theology divided, Coppens was already emeritus; see G. Van Belle,
Bijbelwetenschap, in L. Gevers, L. Kenis (eds), De faculteit Godgeleerdheid in de K.U. Leuven:
19691995, Leuven 1997, 63154, esp. 63.
Septuagint Studies in Louvain 147
throughout his career.8 Specifically, Lust showed an extraordinary fascination

for the Hebrew and Greek textual witnesses of the book of Ezekiel, which he
studied with ever increasing care and attention.9
There can be little doubt that Lusts special interest in the LXX was his pri-
mary motivation for initiating the Centre for Septuagint Studies and Textual
Criticism (CSSTC), officially established in the Faculty of Theology of the KU
Leuven in 1988.10 The roots, however, go back to the early 1980s, when Lust
discussed the possibility of a LXX lexicon with Jack Abercrombie and Robert
Kraft (University of Pennsylvania) and with Emanuel Tov (Hebrew University
of Jerusalem). At that time, the most recent lexicon of LXX Greek was Johann
Friedrich Schleusners Novus thesaurus philologico-criticus, going back to
18201821.11 As such, the production of an up-to-date LXX lexicon was the
original aim for the foundation of the CSSTC. Lust was able to benefit from
generous financial and/or logistical support of the Research Council of the KU
Leuven, the Research FoundationFlanders (FWO-V), the Faculty of Theology
of the Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen (currently the Radboud University),
the German Bible Societies and the Cistercians of the Abbey of Westmalle
(Belgium). Thanks to this support, Lust could realise this goal together with Erik
Eynikel, Katrin Hauspie, and a large number of research assistants, when he
published the first part of A GreekEnglish Lexicon of the Septuagint in 1992.12
The second part followed in 1996.13 Since then, a revised edition appeared in
8 Lusts contributions concerning the relationship between the LXX and Messianism have
been published by K. Hauspie (ed.), Messianism and the Septuagint. Collected Essays by
J. Lust (BETL, 178), Leuven 2004.
9 See F. Garca Martnez, Johan Lust: Academic Bibliography, in: M. Vervenne, F. Garca
Martnez (eds), Interpreting Translation: Studies on the LXX and Ezekiel in Honour of Johan
Lust (BETL, 192), Leuven 2005, XVIIXLIII.
10 On the history of the CSSTC, see H. Ausloos, B. Lemmelijn, Building on the Past, Reaching
for the Future: The Twentieth Anniversary of the Centre for Septuagint Studies and Textual
Criticism at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, ETL 85 (2009), 24855; B. Lemmelijn,
The Septuagint in Dialogue: Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the Louvain Centre for
Septuagint Studies and Textual Criticism, The Journal of Septuagint and Cognate Studies
47 (2014), 111.
11 Cf. J. Lust, J.F. Schleusner and the Lexicon of the Septuagint, ZAW 102 (1990), 25662.
12 See M. Vervenne, Review of J. Lust et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint. Part I:
I (Stuttgart 1992), ETL 69 (1993), 11724. The introduction to the first volume provides a
list of those who contributed in one way or another to this work (in alphabetical order):
W. Bouciqu, C.C. Caragounis, G. Chamberlain, A. Claes, W. Clarysse, D. Dhuyvetters,
B. Doyle, G. Hauspie, E. Joris, V. Vandermeersch, F. Van Gerven and M. van Rooij.
13 See M. Vervenne, Review of J. Lust et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint.
PartII: (Stuttgart 1996), ETL 74 (1998), 836. A list of co-operators is provided here
2003, which has become one of the standard works used by LXX researchers
over the world, and is also included in a variety of electronic Bible study pro-
grammes.14 The fact that LEH has become a widely used abbreviation gives
further evidence of its impact on a wide readership.15 Prior to the publication
of the revised edition of the LXX Lexicon, Lust initiated the lexicographical
study of the vocabulary used in the LXX revisions Aquila, Symmachus and
Theodotion.16 In addition, the CSSTC was, and continues to be, involved in the
translation projects of La Bible dAlexandrie and Septuaginta-Deutsch.17
3 LXX Studies and Textual Criticism
As the name of the CSSTC reveals, the study of the LXX and its lexicography
has never been a goal in and of itself.18 The LXX, therefore, was not only anal-
ysed as a Greek text for its own sake, but it was equally accepted as one of the
most important materials for Old Testament textual criticism.19 In this regard,
studying the Greek text bolstered the literary-critical analysis of the biblical
text by providing the basis for its text-critical evaluation. In other words, the
LXX tended not only to be the subject of research in its own right, but also an
indirect, albeit privileged, witness to the history of the Hebrew text.20
The focus on the LXX within the discipline of Old Testament textual criti-
cism featured prominently in the research of Marc Vervenne during the late
in alphabetical order: P.M. Bogaert, C.C. Caragounis, A. Claes, W. Clarysse, J. Cook,

D. Dhuyvetters, B. Doyle, G. Hauspie, E. Joris, J. Philips, A. Schoors, G. Sinnaeve, F. Van
Segbroeck and M. Zipor.
14 A third corrected edition has been published in 2015.
15 Additional co-operators involved in the production of the revised edition (in alphabetical
order): I. Dubianetskaya, J. Henion, S.S. Scatolini and A. Ternier.
16 Cf. J. Lust, A Lexicon of Symmachus Translation of the Psalms, ETL 74 (1988), 7882 and
J. Lust, A Lexicon of Symmachus Special Vocabulary in the Psalms, in Textual Criticism 6
(2000) (http://rosetta.reltech.org/TC/v05/Lust2000.htmllast access 03 March 2015).
17 Hauspie is responsible for the French translation of Ezek. 124 for La Bible dAlexandrie.
Lust was also involved as Fachberater in the translation of Ezekiel in LXXD.
18 See in this regard H. Ausloos, Hapax Legomena, the Septuagint, and Hebrew Lexicography,
in M.K.H. Peters (ed.), XIV Congress of the International Organization for Septuagint and
Cognate StudiesHelsinki 2010 (SBL SCS, 59), Atlanta, GA 2013, 291300.
19 B. Lemmelijn, Textual Criticism, in: A. Salvesen, M. Law (eds), The Oxford Handbook of
the Septuagint, Oxford (in press).
20 Cf. Lusts involvement in the edition of the book of Ezekiel in the Biblia Hebraica Quinta
project.
1980s and the early 1990s. In his research into the so-called Sea Narrative in
Exod. 1314, Vervenne convincingly demonstrated that the literary-critical
study of the biblical text remains without foundation if it is not based on a close
analysis of the various Hebrew and non-Hebrew textual witnessesespecially
the LXX.21 In this context, textual criticism has shown itself to be particularly
useful for the literary study of the biblical text. First of all, it is indispensable
as an initial phase in the endeavour to evaluate the textual basis of any literary
study, and second, it already contributes to the recognition of fundamental
literary data, important in the literary and redactional analysis that follows.
Vervenne passed on his interest in the LXX as a constitutive element of Old
Testament textual criticism, and in particular as an indirect witness to the
Hebrew text of the Old Testament, to Bndicte Lemmelijn and Hans Ausloos.
They focused on the analysis of the LXX and its role within textual criticism as
a discipline, with a view to the literary-critical and the redaction-critical study
of the so-called Priestly (Lemmelijn) and Deuteronomistic (Ausloos) layers of
the Pentateuch.22
21 M. Vervenne, Het zeeverhaal (Exodus 13,1714,31). Een literaire studie (4 volumes)
(Unpublished dissertation KU Leuven), Leuven 1986. See also M. Vervenne, Exodus 14,20
MT-LXX: Textual or Literary Variation?, in: J.-M. Auwers, A. Wnin (eds), Lectures et relec-
tures de la Bible: Festschrift P.-M. Bogaert (BETL, 144), Leuven 1999, 325.
22 See, e.g., H. Ausloos, The Septuagint Version of Exod 23:2033: A Deuteronomist at
Work?, JNSL 22 (1996), 89106; Idem, The Risks of Rash Textual Criticism Illustrated
on the Basis of the Numeruswechsel in Exod 23:2033, in BN 97 (1999), 512; Idem, LXX
Num 14:23: Once More a Deuteronomist at Work?, in: B. Taylor (ed.), X Congress of the
International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate StudiesOslo 1998 (SBL SCS, 51),
Atlanta 2001, 41527; H. Ausloos, Traces of Deuteronomic Influence in the Septuagint. A
Text-critical Analysis of Exodus 33:16, JNSL 35 (2009) 2744; B. Lemmelijn, What Are We
Looking for in Doing Text-Critical Research?, JNSL 23 (1997), 6980; Idem, As Many Texts
as Plagues: A Preliminary Report of the Main Results of the Text-Critical Evaluation of
Exod 7:1411:10, JNSL 24 (1998), 11125; Idem, The So-Called Major Expansions in SamP,
4QpaleoExodm and 4QExodj Exod 7:1411:10. On the Edge between Textual Criticism
and Literary Criticism, in: Taylor (ed.), X Congress of the International Organization for
Septuagint and Cognate Studies, 42939; B. Lemmelijn, A Plague of Texts? A Text-Critical
Study of the So-Called Plagues Narrative in Exodus 7,1411,10 (OTS, 56), Leiden 2009;
Idem, Influence of a So-Called P-redaction in the Major Expansions of Exod 711?
Finding Oneself at the Crossroads of Textual and Literary Criticism, in: A. Piquer Otero,
P. Torijano Morales (eds), Textual Criticism and Dead Sea Scrolls Studies in Honour of Julio
Trebolle Barrera: Florilegium Complutense (SJSJ, 157), Leiden 2012, 203222; H. Ausloos,
B. Lemmelijn, Canticles as Allegory? Textual Criticism and Literary Criticism in Dialogue,
in: H. Ausloos et al. (eds), Florilegium Lovaniense: Studies in Septuagint and Textual
Criticism in Honour of Florentino Garca Martnez (BETL, 224), Leuven 2008, 3548.
4 The LXX and Its Translation Technique
When Lust retired in 2003, Ausloos and Lemmelijn succeeded him with a
shared appointment and simultaneously inherited responsibility for the
CSSTC. The continuation of the CSSTC had been entrusted to a new genera-
tion, charged with the task not only to maintain the centres research but also
to encourage and facilitate further growth. Both these tasks were given priority
from the outset.
New projects on the LXX quickly followed with the support of the Research
Council of the KU Leuven and the Research FoundationFlanders (FWO-V).
These projects came into existence against a dual background. On the one
hand, they were more evidently in line with the training that the new leader-
ship of the CSSTC had received under Vervenne, namely the study of textual
criticism, albeit, up to that point, in function of the redactional and literary-
critical study of biblical texts. On the other hand, and against the background
of the serviceability of the LXX for textual criticism, great emphasis was
placed on the complicated matter of the LXXs translation technique: only a
systematic and methodical study of the translation characteristics of the LXX
books can legitimate an understanding of how the variants in the Greek text
originated. In 2005, two projects commenced with the study of the translation
technique of the Song of Songs.23
Within the framework of these research projects, a new criteriology began
to emerge and take shape. Traditional quantitative research into transla-
tion technique on the one hand, and the qualitativeyet almost exclusively
grammaticalstudy of the translation on the other,24 were complemented
by so-called content- and context-related research criteria, i.e. criteria that
mainly concern the analysis of how a translator deals with specific elements
23 The project The Book of Canticles. A Text-critical Analysis of the Textual Witnesses
(20052009) was funded by the Research Council of the KU Leuven (promoter:
H. Ausloos; co-promoter: B. Lemmelijn; research fellow: R. Ceulemans); R. Ceulemans,
The Critical Edition of the Hexaplaric Fragments of the Book of Canticles, with Emphasis
on their Reception in Greek Christian Exegesis (Unpublished dissertation KU Leuven),
Leuven 2009. Simultaneously, the project The Septuagint Text of Canticles. Analysis of
the Translation Technique and the Literary Character of the Translation (20052009)
received funding from the Research FoundationFlanders (FWO) (promoter: H. Ausloos;
co-promoter: B. Lemmelijn; research fellow: D. De Crom): D. De Crom, The LXX Text of
Canticles: A Descriptive Study in Hebrew-Greek Translation (Unpublished dissertation KU
Leuven), Leuven, 2009.
24 H. Ausloos, Translation Technique, in A. Salvesen, M. Law (eds), The Oxford Handbook of
the Septuagint, Oxford (in press).
of the content, taking into consideration the context as well.25 In line with
Anneli Aejmelaeus statement that it is necessary to look for criteria that
more clearly have to do with the qualitative aspect of translation, that is, with
the choice of equivalents, with treatment of idioms and metaphors, with the
activity of the translator on the level of words26 and Albert Pietersmas asser-
tion that translation technique must be studied as exhaustively as is humanly
possible,27 attempts have been made to develop new supplementary criteria
for a more accurate characterisation of the technique of the LXXs translators,
in order not to conclude too rashly that a translation is either literal, slavish or
free. Somewhat similar to the situation in a laboratory, the LXX research group
studies different content- and context-related problems that the translators
confronted, and analyses how the translators handled these specific problems.
The way translators react to a given concrete translational problem can teach
us something about their attitude towards their presumed Vorlage. Hence,
this kind of research not only provides new aspects for characterizing concrete
translational behaviour, it also complements other experiments in the more
traditional quantitative and qualitative approaches. Moreover, these criteria
are not only studied within a particular biblical book. The different content-
and context-related criteria also function as a tool for comparing and charac-
terising the translation techniques that different LXX translators used.
5 New Criteria in Characterising LXX Translation Technique
Preliminary studies of certain aspects of the LXX were undertaken in the light
of the development of content- and context-related methodology. Scholars
at the CSSTC have made a first foray into the Greek rendering of Hebrew
hapax legomena. Against the background of an exemplary analysis of the LXX
25 In 2008, the methodological framework of the development of content- and context-
related criteria was presented at the LXX-D-Tagung in Wuppertal, Germany: H. Ausloos,
B. Lemmelijn, Content-Related Criteria in Characterising the LXX Translation Technique,
in: W. Kraus et al. (eds), Die Septuaginta: Texte, Theologien und Einflsse (WUNT, 252),
Tbingen 2010, 35776.
26 A. Aejmelaeus, Characterizing Criteria for the Characterization of the Septuagint
Translators: Experimenting on the Greek Psalter in: R. Hiebert et al. (eds), The Old Greek
Psalter: Studies in Honour of Albert Pietersma (JSOT Supp, 332), Sheffield 2001, 5473,
esp. 60.
27 A. Pietersma, Septuagint Research. A Plea for a Return to Basic Issues, VT 35 (1985),
296311.
rendering of the Hebrew hapaxes in Canticles,28 the phenomenon has been

investigated in other Old Testament books.29 Thanks to the analysis of how
translators rendered the Hebrew hapaxes in Greek, CSSTC researchers have
been able to nuance the designations literal, or even slavish, which are often
too hastily predicated of translators. The analysis tends to show that, in most
cases, the translator is looking for idiomatic Greek equivalents for the Hebrew
hapaxes that do justice to the literary context. Only occasionally does the trans-
lator transliterate a hapax, thus opting for the easiest solution. Far from being
literal or slavish, the translator can therefore be characterized as a competent
translator, who aims at producing a comprehensible translation.
Secondly, within the content- and context-related criteria, the Greek render-
ing of specific jargon defined Hebrew vocabulary seems to be a good barome-
ter for the characterisation of the LXX translators translation technique. Once
more, the book of Canticles has been taken as a test case. Here, researchers ana-
lysed the Greek rendering of the Hebrew nomenclature for flora and the rural
landscape.30 At this juncture, one has to ask whether the translator succeeded,
firstly, in understanding the exact meaning of the rare Hebrew words and sec-
ondly, in rendering them adequately into Greek. This is all the more difficult in
28 H. Ausloos, B. Lemmelijn, Rendering Love. Hapax Legomena and the Characterisation
of the Translation Technique of Song of Songs, in H. Ausloos et al. (eds.), Translating a
Translation. The LXX and its Modern Translations in the Context of Early Judaism (BETL,
213), Leuven 2008, 4361.
29 H. Ausloos, The Septuagints Rendering of Hebrew Hapax Legomena and the
Characterization of its Translation Technique: The Case of Exodus, Acta Patristica et
Byzantina 20 (2009) 36076; H. Ausloos, B. Lemmelijn, Characterizing the LXX Translation
of Judges on the Basis of Content-Related Criteria: The Greek Rendering of Hebrew
Absolute Hapax Legomena in Judg 3,1230, in: H. Ausloos et al. (eds.), After Qumran:
Old and Modern Editions of the Biblical TextsThe Historical Books (BETL, 246), Leuven
2012, 17192. In this respect, the research project Once-only Hebrew and Uniquely Greek.
The Greek Rendering of Hebrew Hapax Legomena as a Significant Indication for the
Characterisation of the Septuagint Translation (20082011) was funded by the Research
FoundationFlanders (FWO) (promoter: B. Lemmelijn; co-promoter: H. Ausloos;
research fellow: E. Verbeke). In this project, the analysis of the Greek rendering of the
hapaxes within the book of Job was central; see E. Verbeke, The Use of Hebrew Hapax
Legomena in Septuagint Studies: Preliminary Remarks on Methodology in: Ausloos et
al. (eds), Florilegium Lovaniense, 50721; Idem, Hebrew Hapax Legomena and their Greek
Rendering in LXX Job (unpublished dissertation KU Leuven), Leuven 2011.
30 B. Lemmelijn, Flora in Cantico Canticorum: Towards a More Precise Characterisation
of Translation Technique in the LXX of Song of Songs, in: A. Voitila, J. Jokiranta (eds),
Scripture in Transition: Essays on Septuagint, Hebrew Bible, and Dead Sea Scrolls in Honour
of Raija Sollamo (JSJS, 126), Leiden 2008, 2751.
the context of a poetic text, where the Hebrew names for flowers, plants and
spices can equally possess an additional metaphorical meaning. Based on the
conclusions of this analysis of the translation of flowers, trees, fruit, and spices
in Canticles, it once more became clear that it would be inaccurate to describe
this translator as slavish, as past research has tended to do. Confirming the
analysis of his rendering of the hapax legomena, the translator of Canticles
succeeds in providing adequate Greek equivalents for the majority of Hebrew
flora that renders its Vorlage faithfully, not only from the semantic and lexi-
cal points of view but sometimes even from the phonetic perspective. Where
the translator apparently did not understand a particular term, he usually
searched for a creative solution by using, for example, a more generic equiva-
lent. Only on rare occasions, and where the need was greatest, was he obliged
to fall back on transliterations. In many instances, he demonstrates his knowl-
edge of idiomatic Greek, both in the use of vocabulary and grammatical style,
but even in his awareness of the metaphorical connotations characteristic of
the use of Hebrew and Greek vocabulary.
Thirdly, LXX scholars at Louvain argue that the study of the Greek ren-
dering of Hebrew wordplay can function as a supplementary content- and
context-related criterion for characterizing the LXX translators technique.31
As is generally known, wordplay in its various facetsaetiologies are to be
considered as a specific type of wordplayplays a very important role in
Hebrew literature.32 However, it is one of the most difficult problems for a
translator to render wordplay adequately from a source language into a tar-
get language. Assuming that the translator actually notices the Hebrew word-
play, he has several options in rendering it: he could add a footnote in order
to clarify the wordplay that is present in the source language; he could trans-
literate those Hebrew words constituting the wordplay; or he could translate
the Hebrew words and search for good alternatives in the target language. In
31 H. Ausloos, LXXs Rendering of Hebrew Proper Names and the Characterization
of the Translation Technique, in A. Voitila, J. Jokiranta (eds), Scripture in Transition,
5371; H. Ausloos, The Septuagints Rendering of Hebrew Toponyms as an Indication
of the Translation Technique of the Book of Numbers, in: Piquer Otero, P.A. Torijano
Morales (eds), Textual Criticism, 3550; H. Ausloos, Judges 3:1230. An Analysis of the
Greek Rendering of Hebrew Wordplay in: J. Cook, H.-J. Stipp (eds), Text-Critical and
Hermeneutical Studies in the Septuagint (SVT, 157), Leiden 2012, 5368; H. Ausloos et al.,
The Study of Aetiological Wordplay as a Content-Related Criterion in the Characterisation
of LXX Translation Technique, in: S. Kreuzer et al. (eds), Die Septuaginta: Entstehung,
Sprache, Geschichte (WUNT, 286), Tbingen 2012, 27394.
32 V. Kabergs, H. Ausloos, Paronomasia or Wordplay? A Babylonian Confusion: Towards A
Definition of Hebrew Wordplay, Bib 93 (2012), 120.
practice, however, it is an almost impossible task to find two or more terms in

the target language that not only correspond in meaning, but have a similar
connotation or sound as well. As the analysis of several test cases from differ-
ent books of the Old Testament has indicated, it can be a good supplementary
criterion for testing the creativity of the translator, and thus it can contribute
to an evaluation of his translation technique.33
Finally, a basic hypothesis that scholars at the CSSTC share is that the
content- and context-related methodology for analysing the Greek rendering
of stylistic particularities of the Hebrew Vorlage, as well as the stylistic features
used autonomously in the Greek text, can shed light on the Greek translators
technique.34
The dynamism of the LXX research group did not pass unnoticed on the
international level. Respect for its long-standing reputation in addition to its
renewed dynamics have resulted in a number of international cooperation
agreements and invitations to participate in several international projects.35
33 The project The Development of Content-related Criteria in the Characterisation of

the Septuagints Translation technique. A Text-Critical Study of the Greek Rendering of
Hebrew Wordplays (20092015) was funded by the Research Council of the KU Leuven
(promoter: B. Lemmelijn; research fellow: V. Kabergs): V. Kabergs, Creativiteit in het
spel? De Griekse weergave van expliciet Hebreeuws woordspel op basis van eigennamen in
Pentateuch en Twaalf Profeten (unpublished dissertation KU Leuven), Leuven 2014.
34 In 2011, M. Dhont began analysing the Greek use of literary features in the book of Job at
KU Leuven. She currently works at UCL on the project An analysis of the Greek use of lit-
erary features in the Septuagint book of Job as an indication for the characterisation of its
translation technique (20132016), which is funded by the Research Council of the UCL
and the F.R.S.-FNRS (promoter: H. Ausloos). The project The LXXs translation technique
of the Book of Deuteronomy. An analysis of Deut 28,6934,12 (20142016) is funded by
the Research Council of the UCL (promoter: H. Ausloos; researcher: A. Khokhar).
35 In December 2006, and within the framework of a bilateral project financed by the Research
Foundation of the KU Leuven and the South African National Research Foundation
(NRF), a Specialists symposium on the Septuagint Translation was held in Leuven. The
symposiums aim was to review contemporary research on the translations of the LXX.
To this end, the most important LXX translation projects were brought into contact with
one another, from the perspective of their objective and methodology as well as their
concrete application in particular cases or examples. See Ausloos et al. (eds.), Translating
a Translation. As an immediate result of the symposium, Ausloos and Lemmelijn have
been invited to participate in the Handbuch zur Septuaginta project, an international
project with the participation of the Kirchliche Hochschule Wuppertal, the Universitt
des Saarlandes, the Univeritt Kln, the Georg-August-Universitt Gttingen (Germany),
and the Universit de Strasbourg (France). Under the auspices of the IOSCS, the edition
of Canticles is being prepared as part of The Hexapla Project at The Hexapla Institutea
To this day, the CSSTC regularly attracts visiting scholars from different coun-
tries and continents.36
6 The LXX in the French-Speaking Part of Belgium
In 2010, Ausloos handed the presidency of the CSSTC over to Lemmelijn. He

himself moved to the Francophone sister university UCL. Here, he continued
the development of the content- and context-related criteriology, thanks to
funding by the F.R.S.-FNRS and the Research council of the UCL.37 Although
research into the Greek translation of the Old Testament has been less stream-
lined and structured at UCL than in Leuven, the LXX has also been one of the
main points of interest at UCL since its migration to Louvain-la-Neuve. Here,
Pierre-Maurice Bogaert in particular can be considered as the founding father
of a generation of scholars dealing with the LXX in a broader sense.
Bogaert prepared his doctoral dissertation on the Syriac Apocalypse of
Baruch at the University of Strasbourg (France).38 During this period, his inter-
est for the LXX began to germinate. Although the Apocalypse of Baruch is not
co-operative venture of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (Louisville, KY, USA),
VU Amsterdam (The Netherlands), and the University of Oxford (United Kingdom). The
compilation of a Field for the 21st century has been part of Ceulemans doctoral research
on the Song of Songs. Further, the CSSTC has been invited to participate in the Spanish
project Old and Modern Editions of the Biblical Texts: The Book of Kings, directed by Julio
Trebolle-Barrera (Universidad Complutense Madrid, Spain); see Ausloos et al. (eds.), After
Qumran. Further, Louvain LXX scholars are members of the Executive committee of the
International Organisation for Septuagint and Cognate Studies (IOSCS) (Lust as an hon-
orary member, Ausloos and Lemmelijn as members).
36 A considerable number of international colleagues have visited the CSSTC for periods
of varying length, for example, C. Begg (The Catholic University of America), A. Gianto
(Pontificio Istituto Biblico), J. Cook (University of Stellenbosch), G. Steyn (University
of Pretoria), H. Van Rooy (North-West University), G. Prinsloo (University of Pretoria),
P. Kruger (North-West University), P. Krger (University of Stellenbosch), D. Pienaar
(University of the Free State), S.D. Snyman (University of the Free State) and E. Meyer
(University of Pretoria).
37 On the project on the Greek rendering of stylistic peculiarities in the book of Job, see
supra n. 34.
38 P.-M. Bogaert, Apocalypse de Baruch: Introduction, traduction du syriaque et commentaire
(Sources Chrtiennes, 144145), Paris 1969; See J. Ponthot, Le professeur Pierre-Maurice
Bogaert. Parcours acadmique et uvre scientifique, in: J.-M. Auwers, A. Wnin (eds),
Lectures et relectures de la Bible: Festschrift P.-M. Bogaert (BETL, 144), Leuven 1999, XXXI
XLII, esp. XXXIIXXXIII.
a biblical book, the figure of Baruch does play an important role within Old
Testament literature. In the Hebrew Bible, Baruch is presented as Jeremiahs
secretary (cf. Jer. 36). In the LXX, his name is associated with a little book
the Book of Baruchthat figures after Jeremiah. Bogaert has dealt with the
Baruch-episode in Jeremiah through several publications. In particular, he has
shown that the shorter Greek text, at least to a certain extent, is more original
than the longer Hebrew version of the Masoretic text,39 thus paying explicit
attention to the relationship between LXX studies and historical-critical
research.40
Although Bogaerts most important studies on the LXX focus on the books of
Baruch and Jeremiah, he has also extensively contributed to the analysis of the
LXX in general, as well as to the study of specific cases in many biblical books.41
Bogaert retired in 1999. Nevertheless, at the UCL, two of his disciples contin-
ued to analyse the LXX. In 1984, Jean-Claude Haelewyck defended his disserta-
tion on the Lucianic text of the book of Esther.42 Later, however, his interest
39 P.-M. Bogaert, La tradition des oracles et du livre de Jrmie, des origines au moyen
age: essai de synthse, RTL 8 (1977), 30528; Idem, De Baruch Jrmie: les deux rdac-
tions conserves du livre de Jrmie, in: Idem (ed.), Le livre de Jrmie: Le prophte et son
milieuLes oracles et leur transmission. Nouvelle dition mise jour (BETL, 44), Leuven
1997, 16873; 4302.
40 See also the dissertation by S.L.G. Wijesinghe, Convenant and Slavery in Jeremiah
34,822. Structure and Redactional History of the Masoretic Text and of the Septuagint
Hebrew Vorlage (unpublished dissertation UCL), Louvain-la-Neuve 1997; Idem, Tracing
the Shorter Version Behind the Short Text (LXX). A New Approach to the Redaction of
Jeremiah 34,822, Le Muson 110 (1997), 293328; Idem, Jeremiah 34,822. Structure and
Redactional History of the Masoretic Text and of the Septuagint Hebrew Vorlage (Logos,
37), Colombo 1999.
41 For Bogaerts bibliography on the LXX, see J.-M. Auwers, A. Wnin, Bibliographie
de P.-M. Bogaert 19651998, in: Idem (eds), Lectures et relectures de la Bible:
Festschrift P.-M. Bogaert (BETL, 144), Leuven 1999, XIIIXXX. In particular, his contribu-
tion P.-M. Bogaert, Septante et versions grecques, DBS 12 (1993) 536691 (pages 53659
with B. Botte) should be mentioned here. See, more recently, P.-M. Bogaert, La Septante,
tmoin de la plus ancienne forme conserve de lhistoire de Salomon: 1 Rois (III Rgnes)
214, RTL 34 (2003), 2127.
42 J.-C. Haelewyck, le texte dit lucianique du livre dEsther. Sa place parmi les diverses formes
du livre et sa logique propre (unpublished doctoral dissertation UCL), Louvain-la-Neuve,
1984; cf. Idem, Le texte dit Lucianique du livre dEsther: Son tendue et sa cohrence,
Le Muson 98 (1985) 544.
mainly shifted to the Vetus Latina and textual criticism of the New Testament.43
In 1994, Jean-Marie Auwers defended his dissertation on the canonical struc-
ture of the book of Psalms. He also shows a particular interest in the Latin texts
of the Bible. Nevertheless, his investigations into Greek patristic literature
brought him to LXX studies. In his research, the analysis of the Greek text of
Canticles plays a crucial role,44 although his expertise largely exceeds the LXX
version of this biblical book.45 It was thanks to this expertise that Auwers was
asked to participate in the project Bible dAlexandrie, for which he is preparing
the French translation of and commentary on Canticles.46
7 Prospects for the Future
Despite the splitting of the university of Louvain some 40 years ago, collabo-
ration in scientific research into the Bible between KU Leuven and UCL has
never stopped. In this respect, the Colloquium Biblicum Lovaniense cannot be
left unmentioned.47 Moreover, attempts are being made to collaborate on a
43 J.-C. Haelewyck, The Relevance of the Old Latin Version for the Septuagint, with Special
Emphasis on the Book of Esther, JTS 57 (2006) 43973. See also Idem, Le Centre de
recherches sur la Bible latine Louvain-la-Neuve, ETL 65 (1989) 4847; J.-C. Haelewyck,
Evangelium secundum Marcum (Vetus Latina. Die Reste der altlateinischen Bibel, 17),
Freiburg, 20132015 (fascicules 13). Under his supervision, A.-F. Loiseau defended a dis-
sertation on Transmission, traduction, traditions: traduction et procds hermneutiques
luvre dans les versions des XII Petits Prophtes principalement (unpublished doctoral
dissertation UCL), Louvain-la-Neuve 2010.
44 J.-M. Auwers, Les Septante, lecteurs du Cantique des cantiques, Graph 8 (1999), 3347;
Idem, Le traducteur grec a-t-il allgoris ou rotis le Cantique des cantiques?, in: Peters
(ed.), XII Congress of the International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies
Leiden 2004, 1618.
45 See, e.g., J.-M. Auwers, Le Pentateuque dAlexandrie et le Texte Massortique: enjeux
dune confrontation, in: C. Dogniez, M. Harl (eds), Le Pentateuque dAlexandrie: texte grec
et traduction, Paris 2001, 606; J.-M. Auwers, Concordance du Siracide (Grec II et Sacra
Parallela) (Cahiers de la Revue Biblique, 58), Paris 2005; Idem, Lapport du texte long du
Siracide au lexique du grec biblique, in: Vervenne, Garca Martnez (eds), Interpreting
Translation, 3344.
46 J.-M. Auwers, La Bible dAlexandrie. Note sur lesprit dune entreprise en cours, RTL 30
(1999), 7182; Idem, Autour de La Bible dAlexandrie, RTL 41 (2010) 385403. From the
Leuven side, Hauspie collaborates on the translation and commentary of the book of
Ezekiel.
47 Here too the LXX often took a prominent place. See in particular the conference in 2004:
M.A. Knibb (ed.), The Septuagint and Messianism (BETL 195), Leuven 2006.
more structural level with regard to the study of the LXX in particular. In this
respect a research group Septuagint Studies and Textual criticism has been
founded within the framework of the Research Institute RSCS of the UCL. The
establishment of an official structure will undoubtedly facilitate even more
structural collaboration between LXX scholars at the institutes on both sides
of the linguistic border that divides Belgium or even perhaps to the creation
of a bilocated CSSTC. Let us hope that LXX scholarship in Belgium has bright
prospects.
Chapter 9
The Dynamics of the Incomparable God

Highlighted by the Immobility of an Idol:
The Rhetorical Integrity of Isa. 40:1226, 41:17
and 46:113
Pieter van der Lugt
1 Introduction
Previous research into the overall structures of the poems we find in the books
of Psalms and Job has revealed to me that it is on the level of the main parts of
their compositions, the cantos, the Hebrew poets aimed at a well-balanced
design.1 They confined themselves to a number of basic patterns. Three basic
types of overall structures can be distinguished. In terms of lines of poetry,
many poems consist of two (or three) exactly regular cantos; basic pattern 4.4
lines (Type IA). Another group of poems displays a slight variation on this rigid
regularity: one of the cantos may be expanded by one line (in relatively long
poems by two lines); basic pattern 5.4 lines (Type IB). The basic patterns of
Type I may be expanded by an introductory and/or a concluding section. As
a rule, such a section has not more than half the number of lines the main
cantos consist of; basic patterns 2.4.4 lines (Type IIA), 4.4.2 lines (Type IIB),
and 2.4.4.2 lines (Type IIC). A relatively small group of poems has a concentric
macrostructure; basic pattern 2.4.2 lines (Type III). This outcome may inspire
some confidence because in the books of Psalms and Job, as a rule, the begin-
nings of the poems are indicated by headings (and therefore the dimensions
of the poems in most cases coincide with the chapter divisions). The basic pat-
terns provide important information when it comes to the determination of
the beginnings and the ends of the poems in, for instance, a prophetic book
1 See my Rhetorical Criticism and the Poetry of the Book of Job (OTS, 32), Leiden 1995, 456465,
and my Cantos and Strophes in Biblical Hebrew Poetry III: Psalms 90150 and Psalm 1 (OTS,
63), Leiden/Boston 2014, 597606. A canto consists of a combination of mostly two or three
strophes, and a strophe is generally composed of two or three lines of poetry (bicola and/or
tricola). In poems of some lengthas Isa. 40:1226 and 46:113there may be a structural
level of canticles between the cantos and the strophes.

160 van der Lugt
like Isaiah.2 In the latter case, we mostly look in vain for explicit indications
regarding the beginning and the end of a poem; generally, the poems obviously
do not coincide with the chapter divisions (see, e.g., Isa. 44:2445:8 and 52:13
53:12). And the setumot and petuchot which abound in the ancient manuscripts
of the book of Isaiah are only of limited help.3
On the basis of Isa. 40:1226; 41:17 and 46:113, I shall demonstrate that it
is first and foremost an analysis of the cantos (canticles and strophes) which
can do justice to the inner structures of and mutual relationships between the
poems of Isa. 4055.4 It is my contention that the basic patternsand rhetori-
cal features supporting these patternsI found in the books of Psalms and Job
also occur in the books of the prophets. Isa. 40:1226 is an example of the basic
pattern Type IB (12.11 lines), Isa. 41:17 of the basic pattern Type IA (6.6 lines),
and Isa. 46:113 of the basic pattern Type IIA (3.9.9 lines).
2 The Canto Design of Isa. 40:1226: vv. 1220 and 2126
2.1 The Bipartite Design in Terms of Ideas

According to a current view, Isa. 40:1226 together with Isa. 40:2731 is
a coherent composition.5 At variance with this view is the form-critical
approach which considers vv. 1231 a series of originally individual units,
Disputationsworte.6 In this contribution I will demonstrate that Isa. 40:1226
2 Cf. J. Muilenburg, Form Criticism and Beyond, JBL 88 (1969), 118 (note pp. 89). In this
respect, Muilenburg rightly criticises the one-sided emphasis on what is common to a genre
of the form-critical approach (p. 5).
3 Pace M.C.A. Korpel, J.C. de Moor, The Structure of Classical Hebrew Poetry: Isaiah 4055 (OTS,
41), Leiden/Boston, etc. 1998.
4 See also P. van der Lugt, Form, Context and Meaning of Isa 49,1421, in: S.M. Attard, M. Pavan
(eds), Canter in eterno le misericordie del Signore (Sal 89,2) (FS G. Barbiero; AnBib.Studia,
3), Roma 2015, 121141; for a concise introduction into the history of research regarding the
strophic structures of the book of Isaiah, see pp. 121124. For a description of the methodol-
ogy of my rhetorical approach, see recently my Cantos and Strophes III, 112.
5 See e.g. J. Muilenburg, The Book of Isaiah. Chapters 4066 (IB, 5), New York/Nashville 1956,
J. Goldingay, D. Payne, Isaiah 4055. Volume I (ICC), London/New York 2006, U. Berges, Jesaja
4048 (HThKAT), Freiburg/Basel, etc. 2008, and J. Blenkinsopp, Isaiah 4055 (AB, 19A), New
Haven/London 2002.
6 See e.g. K. Elliger, Deuterojesaja: 40,145,7 (BK, XI.1), Neukirchen-Vluyn 1978, B.D. Naidoff,
The Rhetoric of Encouragement in Isaiah 40,1231. A Form-Critical Study, ZAW 93 (1981),
6276, and J. van Oorschot, Von Babel zum Zion (BZAW, 206); Berlin/New York 1993, 2428.
R.F. Melugin, The Formation of Isaiah 4055 (BZAW, 141), Berlin 1976, 92, characterizes
vv. 1231 as a mosaic arranged by a collector.
The Dynamics of the Incomparable God 161
is a relatively individual composition.7 The poem divides into two almost regu-
lar cantos, vv. 1220 and 2126, and the subsections of these main parts, the
canticles, display a linearly alternating parallelism.
Antoon Schoors was the first exegete to point out the relative individual-
ity of Isa. 40:1226 with an appeal to the parallelism between vv. 1220 and
2126. According to Schoors, the structure of the poem is as follows: 40:12
14b+14d17.1820+41:67|40:2124.2526 > A.B|A.B. Vv. 1217 (A) consist of two
elements: a reference to Gods greatness as Creator (vv. 1214) and the conclu-
sion that before this God, the nations are nothing (vv. 1517; God is not active).
40:1820+41:67 (B) also consist of two elements: the rhetorical question to
whom will you liken God? (v. 18) and the statement that idols are nothing
(40:1920+41:67; God is not active). Vv. 2124 (A) consist of two elements: a
description of Gods greatness as Creator (vv. 2122; cf. vv. 1214) and the con-
clusion that this God brings princes to nothing (vv. 2324; God is active; cf.
vv. 1517). Vv. 2526 (B) also consist of two elements: the rhetorical question
to whom will you liken me? (v. 25; cf. v. 18) and the statement that God has cre-
ated the star gods (v. 26; God is active; cf. 40:1920+41:67).8 Spykerboer, Koole,
and Goldingay basically agree.9
The bipartite division of vv. 1226 pointed out by Schoors clearly shows that
there is a major caesura between vv. 20 and 21. However, in my opinion, vv. 18
and 25 are not to be seen as opening lines but as concluding lines of subsec-
tions; see 2.3 below. Subsequently, within the main parts (cantos) vv. 1220
and 2126, I distinguish three sub-sections (canticles) which display a linearly
alternating parallelism: vv. 1214.1518.1920|2122.2325.26 > A.B.C|A.B.C.
The opening canticle of the poem (vv. 1214) is determined by rhetori-
cal questions concerning measures; note the responsion ( he measures)
7 So P. Volz, Jesaia II (KAT, 9), Leipzig 1932, Ch.R. North, The Second Isaiah, Oxford 1964,
A. Schoors, I am God your Saviour: A Form-Critical Study on the Main Genres in Is. XLLV
(VTS, 24), Leiden 1973, J.L. Koole, Isaiah III.1: Isaiah 4048 (HCOT), Kampen 1997. In my opin-
ion, H. Gressmann, Die literarische Analyse Deuterojesajas, ZAW 34 (1914), 254297, has
rightly characterized vv. 1226 as a hymn functioning as an introduction to the following
message of salvation in vv. 2731 (pp. 293294); see also Koole, Isaiah III.1, 8687.
8 Schoors, Saviour, 258259. This structure is at variance with that proposed by Muilenburg for
vv. 1231: vv. 12.1314.15+17.1820.2124.2527.2831 (7 strophes) > a.a.b.c.d.c.d; Muilenburg,
Isaiah, 434. It also deviates from the structure recently proposed by Berges for vv. 1231:
vv. 1214.1517.1820.2124.2526.2729.3031 (7 strophes) > a.b.c.b.c.a.a; Berges, Jesaja
4048, 125127.
9 H.C. Spykerboer, The Structure and Composition of Deutero-Isaiah. With Special Reference to
the Polemics against Idolatry, Diss. Groningen 1976, 4951; Koole, Isaiah III.1, 87; Goldingay/
Payne, Isaiah 4055, 96. Unlike Schoors, the latter scholars do not insert 41:67 after 40:1920.
162 van der Lugt
in vv. 12b and 13a. The canticle refers to the creation of heaven and earth; in
this respect, it points to the immense dimensions of Gods body ([ with
the hollow of his hand] and [ by hand breath]; v. 12ab), measuring
instruments (v. 12ce) and mind, wisdom ( ;v. 13a). The parallel canticle
(vv. 2122) is also determined by rhetorical questions. Moreover, it also refers
to the creation of heaven and earth; in this respect, it points to the immensity of
the cosmos as Gods abode; note ( the foundations of the earth) in
v. 21d, ( the circle of the earth) in v. 22a, and [ ...] ( it is he
who stretches out [...] and spreads them) in v. 22cd. From this perspective,
the inhabitants of the earth are like grasshoppers (v. 22b).
Subsequently, as opposed to the vastness of Israels God (Canticle I.1),
vv. 1518 (Canticle I.2) underline that the nations and the coastlands are
nothing; even the huge cedars of Lebanon and its overwhelming amount of
wild beasts are not appropriate as burnt offerings for Him. In this way, Canticle
I.2 is a continuation of the hymn which starts in Canticle I.1. Similarly, vv. 2122
and 2325 (Canticles II.1 and II.2 respectively) sing the praises of the contrast
between Gods power to stretch out an immense abode for himself (Canticle
II.1) and the power of earthly rulers which does not hold out (Canticle II.2).
The concluding position of vv. 18 and 25 at the end of Canticles I.2 and
II.2 does not detract from the fact that the lines concerned function as cliff-
hangers, preludes to the climaxes of Cantos I and II, vv. 1920 and 26 respec-
tively. The noun ( image) in v. 18b paves the way for the description
of making idols in vv. 1920. Nevertheless, within Cantos I and II, vv. 1920
(Canticle I.3) and 26 (Canticle II.3) stand out on the basis of their content: skil-
ful craftsmen establish idols that must not topple (vv. 1920); by his power as
Creator, God moves all heavenly bodies (v. 26). Within the context of the poem
as a whole, the description of making idols (vv. 1920) is a negative illustration
of Gods incomparability referred to in the rhetorical question of v. 18.10 The
emphasis on securing the idol at the very end of vv. 1920,
(to set up an image that will not topple; v. 20d), betrays an obvious derision. In
this way, Canticle I.3 about the supposed firmness of Babylons graven images
10 On structural grounds, K. Holter, Second Isaiahs Idol-Fabrication Passages (BET, 28),
Frankfurt am Main 1995, 4247, cogently argues that in terms of meaning in v. 19a
and in v. 20a represent an anaphora, with an appeal to the Ugaritic noun skn and
with reference to and in v. 15a and 15c respectively. That is to say, v. 20a is
a noun clause and to be rendered as the image (being) an offering. This interpretation
fits the preceding and following cola (vv. 19bc and 20bc) which speak of gold, silver,
wood that does not rot and a skilful craftsman (cf. e.g. Ezek. 20:40; Ezra 8:25).
is the concluding apex of the first main part.11 By way of contrast, v. 26 posi-
tively exemplifies Gods incomparability as a reaction to the rhetorical ques-
tion of v. 25.12 The noun ( host; v. 26c) refers to the host of astral gods and
goddesses worshipped by the people of Babylon. It is the God of Israel who
determines their motion in the firmament. In this way, Canticle II.3 is not only
the concluding apex of the second main part but also of the composition in
its entirety.13 I tentatively take it that the thematic and structural connections
between vv. 1920 and 26 are also indicative of the God of Israel as the true
( skilful craftsman; v. 20c).
2.2 The Bipartite Design and Its Formal Aspects

The linear parallelism between vv. 1220 and 2126 pointed out by Schoors is
based on thematic correspondences. In addition, Goldingay notes that in the
corresponding subsections vv. 1214 and 2122 we find the (exclusive!) recur-
rences of the roots ( to know; vv. 13b.14c+d and 21a) and ( to understand;
vv. 14a+d and 21c). And with regard to vv. 1517 and 2324, he points to the
(exclusive!) recurrences of the terms ( nothingness; vv. 16a+b+17a and 23a)
and ( emptiness, vv. 17b and 23b).14 That is to say, the bipartite framework
of Isa. 40:1226 also has formal aspects; it is supported by a pattern of strategi-
cally positioned verbal repetitions. And in this respect, more is to be observed!
In order to get an impression of the structure of a Hebrew poem, its pre-
sentation in a form which clearly marks out the successive cantos, canticles,
strophes, lines, and cola matters greatly. The design of Isa. 40:1226 can be dis-
played as follows; the beginnings of the canticles are indicated by I.1, I.2 etc.
and the transitions between the strophes are marked out by blank lines.15
11 Cf. the abrupt and ironical description of the help by Jobs friends (Job 26:24) at the end
of the first canto of the poem Job 2526 (see my Rhetorical Criticism, 286296); cf. also the
portrayal of the graven images of the nations in Ps. 115:48 as the concluding continuation
of the hymn 115:13 (together the sections represent the first canto of Psalm 115). For Isa.
40:1920 as an integral part of our poem, see also Spykerboer, Structure, 3842, and Holter,
Idol-Fabrication, 7178.
12 With regard to v. 26, Elliger, Deuterojesaja, 89, notes: Das Aufflligste ist die Hufung der
Wrter fr Macht. See also Holter, Idol-Fabrication, 76, n. 118.
13 Muilenburg, Isaiah, 434, mistakenly considers vv. 1517, 2124, and 2831 climaxes within
the poem 40:1231.
14 Goldingay/Payne, Isaiah 4055, 96.
15 For the colometric interpretation of v. 25 (3+3 words), note the anaphora based on the
repetition of the conjunction - at the beginning of v. 25a and 25b and see v. 18 (cf. also
vv. 12ce, 14cd, and 24cd). MT divides with atnach after in v. 25b; similarly
Korpel/de Moor, Structure, 3536, who also frankly note that the atnach finds no support
164 van der Lugt

12 I .1

13

1 4

1 5 I .2

16

17

1 8

19 I .3

2 0

2
1 I I.1

22

2 3 I I.2
24

25

26 I I.3

Both Canticles I.1 and II.1 open with rhetorical questions. In vv. 1214 the ques-
inter- (- (who; thrice) and in v. 21 by tions are introduced by the particle
; 4).16 In terms of verbal repetitions, the parallelism between rogative +
whatsoever in the ancient versions. According to Korpel/de Moor, Structure, 36, v. 26ab
in v. 26b. divides after
-Fragen do not occur at the 16 Elliger, Deuterojesaja, 67, mistakenly asserts that such
is a transition marker which in most cases beginning of a unit in Deutero-Isaiah.
Canticles I.1 and I.2 is not only supported by the exclusive recurrences of
the roots and ( Goldingay), but also by the (exclusive) repetitions of the
noun ( heavens; vv. 12b and 22c) and the expression ( the earth; vv.
12c.21d+22a); note also the chiasmus.17 Additionally, the parallelism between
Canticles I.2 and II.2 is not only supported by the exclusive recurrences of the
lexemes and ( Goldingay), but also by the (varied) refrain vv. 18a and 25a
at the end of the canticles. Furthermore, in v. 18a God is designated ( God)
and in v. 25b ( the Holy One). These designations for God do not occur
elsewhere in the poem; for their semantic correspondence, see and
in Hab. 3:3 and Job 6:810.
The thematic correspondence between Canticles I.3 (vv. 1920) and II.3
(v. 26) is reinforced by the repetition of the root ( to rise, to be high) in
vv. 20a and 26a respectively;18 this root is not found elsewhere in the poem. The
adjective ( wise) and the expression ( mighty of strength) in the
first colon of the concluding lines of the canticles (vv. 20c and 26e respectively)
not only represent an obvious alliteration (note the letters , and )but also
a semantic parallelism; for the parallelism, see Job 9:4a ( ) and
Prov. 24:5. And to crown it all, the very ends of Canticles I.3 and II.3 are marked
by the expressions ( it will not topple) and ( it does not fail to
appear), vv. 20d and 26f respectively. Within Canticle I.3 the adverb fol-
lowed by a verb expressing an objective unconditional negation is prepared
by ( it does not rot) in v. 20b. Such clauses do not appear elsewhere
in the poem. That is to say, the ends of the main parts vv. 1220 and 2126
are highlighted by a kind of epiphora on the canto level by which the prophet
expresses an important contrast. Koole has clearly recognized the conspicu-
ous antithetic parallelism between vv. 20d and 26f: the idol does not move,
, and no celestial body which is revered as a god stays behind after Gods
summons, .19 In my opinion, the contrast can be described as follows:
skilful craftsmen are concerned about the immobility of their idols (v. 20d),
indicates the beginning of a strophe; see 40:28a; 44:8b; 45:21e; 51:9e10; and cf. 57:4d and
58:6a. In 43:19b and 48:6b appears in the opening line of a canto and a canticle
respectively; cf. in 58:7a (at the beginning of a canto). It is only in 42:24c and 44:20c
that occurs at the end of a main part (in 42:24c in the concluding line of a canto and
in 44:20c in the concluding line of a poem); cf. in 57:11e (in the concluding line of a
3-line strophe).
17 Without explicit occurrence of the article - the noun also features in vv. 23b and 24b.
18 For the correspondence between and , cf. J.P. Fokkelman, in
II Sam 1,21aa Non-Existent Crux, ZAW 91 (1979), 290292. For the meaning of v. 20a, see
2.1 above (n. 10).
19 Koole, Isaiah III.1, 87; similarly: the idol on earth must remain motionless on its pedestal,
the imagined gods in the heavens are set in motion like an army obedient to Yahweh (115).
166 van der Lugt
their graven images symbolize a status quo, while the God of Israel is a God of
movement (v. 26f),20 who is concerned about the salvation of his people. This
theological interpretation of the impact of the bipartite framework of 40:1226
is supported by the canto design of Isa. 46. In the latter poem the idea that
an idol, which does not move from its place () , cannot save
his worshippers marks the end of the first main part (Canto II, vv. 37; note
vv. 7ce), while the idea that Gods salvation will not tarry ()
marks the end of the second main part (Canto III, vv. 813; note v. 13).21
It is also to be notedfrom a thematic point of viewthat the phrases to
set up an image that will not topple (v. 20d) and no one fails to appear (v. 26f)
smoothly fit the preceding cantos concerned. The derision expressed in v. 20d
(the idols are powerless) fits the linearly alternating pattern of the strophes
in Canto I (see 2.4 below). The motion expressed in v. 26f is in line with the
verbs for movement which abound in Canto II; see the roots ( to stretch
out; v. 22c), ( to spread; v. 22d), ( to blow; v. 24c), ( to lift up; vv.
24d.26a), ( hifil to lead out; v. 26c).
For the deliberately designed correspondence between the expressions
and at the end of the cantos of Isa. 40:1226, see especially
(it does not come) / ( it will not topple) marking the ends of the can-
tos of Isa. 41:17;22 cf. also by your right hand / by [...] your form at the very
ends of the successive cantos of Psalm 17 (vv. 7b and 15b), in his sanctuary /
in his faithfulness at the very ends of the successive cantos of Psalm 96 (vv. 6b
and 13d), his glory / his holiness at the very ends of the successive cantos of
Psalm 97 (vv. 6b and 12b), in the land of the living / in your midst, O Jerusalem
at the very ends of the successive cantos of Psalm 116 (vv. 9b and 19b).23
The linearly alternating clusters of verbal repetitions in Isa. 40:1226 point
to a deliberately designed ( formal) pattern.24 This is once more demonstrated
by the employment of the noun ( height) in v. 26a. In this colon the poet
20 The rendering no one is missing obscures the dynamics of the phrase; see also
(it is he who leads out) in v. 26c.
21 For the parallelism between the roots and , see Isa. 54:10. For some provisional
observations regarding the canto design of Isaiah 46, see 4 below. Contra P. Trudinger,
To Whom Then Will You Liken God? (A Note on the Interpretation of Isaiah XL 1820),
VT 17 (1967), 220225, who in this respect underlines Gods immovability or unshakeabil-
ity (note pp. 224225).
22 For the rhetorical design of Isa. 41:17, see 3 below. Cf. also ( it does not totter)
referring to an idol in Jer. 10:4c (obviously of major concern in idol-fabrication).
23 For more examples of this device for highlighting the very ends of successive cantos, see
my Cantos and Strophes in Biblical Hebrew Poetry, with Special Reference to the First Book of
the Psalter (OTS, 53), Leiden 2006 (hereafter Cantos and Strophes I), 479.
24 This pattern is ignored by Korpel/de Moor, Structure, 6668.
does not say lift up your eyes to the heavens ( ) as he does

in Isa. 51:6a because by the exclusive use of the noun ( heavens) in vv.
12b and 22c he underlines the distant parallelism between vv. 1214 and 2122.
However, by saying lift up your eyes on high, the root serves to underscore
such parallelism between vv. 1920 and 26; see in v. 20a.25 As I have dem-
onstrated in my previous investigations, in most cases such linearly alternat-
ing patterns of verbal recurrences determine the rhetorical framework of the
poems in the books of Psalms and Job as well. We are dealing with a fundamen-
tal element of the rhetorical framework of biblical Hebrew poetry. At the same
time, as far as I can see, this formal aspect is generally ignored by exegetes.
There are some additional formal phenomena which highlight v. 21 as the
beginning of a canto. First, v. 21 stands out by its device of staircase parallelism;
note in v. 21ac. For this device marking the beginning of a canto, see
e.g. awake, awake in Judg. 5:12ab, God of vengeance in Ps. 94:1, come from
Lebanon in Song 4:8, vanity of vanities in Eccles. 1:2 (all these examples occur
at the beginning of a poem). In Isa. 40:21 the device of staircase parallelism
is expanded by at the beginning of v. 21c and marks v. 21 as a relatively
individual strophe by anaphora. This also occurs in Ps. 29:12 (note give to the
LORD; = Ps. 96:78, the beginning of Canto II) and Num. 24:34,1516 (note
[ utterance of]). In Psalm 29 and Numbers 24 the beginning of the cantos
once again coincide with the beginnings of poems. In Exod. 15:118 the device
of staircase parallelism highlights the beginning of the second, the third and
the fourth canto (vv. 610, 1116b and 16c17 respectively); see your right hand,
O LORD in v. 6, who is like you in v. 11ab, and while your/the people passed
over in v. 16cd.26 Secondly, the beginning of Canto II is also highlighted by
in v. 21b: ( have you not been told from the begin-
ning). In this colon is a verb modifier in terms of time (from the begin-
ning) and is to be taken as a transition marker highlighting the beginning of a
main part; cf. in Isa. 41:4b (at the beginning of Canto II of the
poem 41:17; see 3 below), in Isa. 48:16b (at the begin-
ning of Canticle II.2 of the poem Isa 48:121). In Isa. 41:26a occurs at
25 Cf. my Rhetorical Criticism, 6869, about the variations in the standard strophe Job 4:17
19; 15:1416; and 25:46; cf. further the varied length of the standard canticle Pss. 115:48
and 135:1518 (Cantos and Strophes III, 449 n. 15). In my opinion, there is no theological
reason why the poet should avoid the noun ;pace Berges, Jesaja 4048, 154 (Damit
ist selbst der Anschein einer astralen Gtterwelt von vornherein ausgeschlossen).
26 For vv. 6, 11ab and 16cd as the opening lines of successive cantos in Exod. 15, cf. Keil:
Das Lied gliedert sich in drei (...) Strophen, deren jede mit dem Preise Jahves anhebt;
C.F. Keil, Genesis und Exodus (BC I.1), Leipzig 31878, 457 (italics are mine; PvdL). See now
my The Wave-like Motion of the Song of the Sea (Ex 15,118) and the People of Israel as
a Worshipping Community, ZAW 128/1 (2016), 4963 (note p. 53).
168 van der Lugt
the beginning of a 3-line strophe in the poem 41:2129 () .

In addition (thirdly), the first colon of Isa. 40:21 corresponds to the first colon
of the second strophe of the following poem, which has only three strophes
(vv. 27, 2829, 3031); cf. ( v. 21a) with
( 40:28a).
2.3 Isa. 40:18 and 25 as a Concluding Refrain

Canticles I.2 and II.2 culminate in the crucial question as to whom God can be
compared (vv. 18 and 25). The similar wording of vv. 18a and 25a characterize
these cola as a varied refrain.27 Within the poem as a whole, this ritornello pro-
vides a kind of grid reinforcing the parallelism between the cantos.28 Together
with vv. 18b and 25b, this refrain represents the concluding lines rounding off
Canticles I.2 and II.2. Vv. 18 and 25 unambiguously reveal the meaning of the
preceding lines: it is all about the incomparability of Israels God. The con-
junction - at the beginning of vv. 18 and 25, among other things, indicates
that we are dealing with a concluding line.29 The correspondences between
Isa. 40:18, 25 and the concluding refrain structuring Job 28 are revealing.30
First, in both cases the refrain opens with the conjunction - ;for Job 28, see
at the beginning of vv. 12 and 20; cf. also at the beginning of
v. 28. Second, the interrogative particles // in the latter refrain corre-
spond to // [ ]in Isa. 40:18 and 25. The similarity between Isa. 40:18, 25
and 46:5 ( ) \\ also argues in favour of vv. 18 and
25 as a concluding refrain: 46:5 is the concluding line of Canticle II.1 (vv. 35)
in the poem Isa. 46.31 Further, the epiphora in 40:1718 and the anaphora -
in 40:24c25 indicate that vv. 18 and 25 together with their preceding lines form
a 2-line strophe.32
Especially as far as v. 18 is concerned, the line clearly links up with v. 17 because
both lines of poetry speak of a comparison between God and other persons;
27 On varied refrains in biblical Hebrew poetry, see Cantos and Strophes I, 492495.
28 Cf. the refrains in Psalms 59, 107 and 148 (Cantos and Strophes IIIII); cf. also the refrains
in Amos 1:32:3.
29 Cf. / at the beginning of the refrain in Isa. 49:2226 (vv. 23e and 26c respec-
tively), / at the beginning of the refrain in the third canto of Isa. 51:18
(vv. 6fg and 8cd respectively), at the beginning of the refrain Ps. 49:13 (Cantos
and Strophes II, 6981). As far as I am aware, it is only in Isa. 50:7a and Ps. 59:15a that an
opening refrain begins with - ;see and respectively (however,
cf. in Isa. 50:4a and in Ps. 59:7a). About the structural function of
the refrain in Hebrew poetry, see Cantos and Strophes I, 495498.
30 For the canto design of Job 28, see my Rhetorical Criticism, 309324.
31 For some provisional observations regarding the canto design of Isaiah 46, see 4 below.
32 For a more profound discussion of the strophic structure of 40:1226, see 2.4 below.
for v. 17 note ( before him) and ( for him) referring to God. Additionally,
Isa. 49:21ef, Job 26:14 and the 3-line strophe Job 41:13 once more demonstrate
the concluding function of v. 18. There are remarkable structural correspon-
dences between the former units and Isa. 40:1518 (Canticle I.2). Isa. 40:1518
open with // ( behold!; v. 15) and conclude with [ ...] - // ( v. 18).
Isa. 49:21ef opens with the exclamation and winds up with -( *see BHS)
followed by the interrogative particle ( where?). The tricolon Job 26:14
opens with ( v. 14a) and concludes with // [ ...] -( v. 14bc). The 3-line
strophe Job 41:13 opens with ( v. 1a) and continues with // ( vv. 2b3a).
In other words, within Isa. 40:1518 the particle introduces the protasis
(vv. 1517) and [ ...] introduces the apodosis (v. 18).33 As far as v. 25 is
concerned, the abrupt speech by God himself (note in v. 25b) is to be
taken as a literary device indicating the end of a main part.34
My interpretation of vv. 18 and 25 as concluding lines of poetry militates
against the almost complete unanimity among exegetes that these verses func-
tion as opening lines in the following sub-sections.35 In support of the latter
structural interpretation they point to the interrogative sentences vv. 12 and 21
which obviously open a new section.36 Moreover, at first sight, this interpreta-
tion is supported by the setuma (in some manuscripts it is a petucha)37 pre-
ceding v. 25. However, Labuschagne and van Staalduine-Sulman have pointed
out that in some cases a setuma or petucha functions as a device for highlight-
ing an important (theological) message in the following line.38 The second
33 C.J. Labuschagne, The Particles and , in Syntax and Meaning (OTS, 18), Leiden
1973, 114 (note pp. 712).
34 In this respect, cf. e.g. the switch in the way God is referred to at the end of the second
canto of Psalm 18 (v. 16cd). For the same phenomenon, see Pss. 24:6b (the end of Canto
II) and 25:11 (the end of Canto I); for the canto design of the psalms in question, see
Cantos and Strophes I. In Pss. 20:10a; 33:22; 52:11; 55:24; 62:13; 82:8; 106:47; and 140:14 the
abrupt address to God functions as a device for closure at the end of an entire poem!
35 Delitzsch is an exception; he takes vv. 18 and 25 as syllogistisch abschlieende[n] Fragen;
F. Delitzsch, Das Buch Jesaia (BC, III.1), Leipzig 41889, 419.
36 See e.g. J.K. Kuntz, The Form, Location, and Function of Rhetorical Questions in Deutero-
Isaiah, in C.C. Broyles and C.A. Evans (eds), Writing and Reading the Scroll of Isaiah,
Leiden 1997, 121141 (note p. 134).
37 See Korpel/de Moor, Structure, 21.
38 www.labuschagne.nl/joshua-kings/1Sam1-31.pdf, 34, and Eveline van Staalduine-
Sulman, Theologische petuchot in de boeken Samul, Alef Beet 22/1 (2012), 1625. See also
F. Langlamet, Les divisions massortique du livre de Samuel, RB 91 (1984), 481519, and
by the same author Le Seigneur dit Mose... Une cl de lecture des divisions massor-
tiques, in A. Caquot et al. (eds), Mlanges bibliques et orientaux (FS M. Delcor; AOAT, 215),
Kevelaer/Neukirchen-Vluyn 1985, 255274.
170 van der Lugt
interpretation smoothly fits the function of the setuma (petucha) preceding

v. 25: it is only in v. 25 that God straightforwardly addresses the people of Israel.39
2.4 The Strophic Structure of Canticles I.13 and II.13

It is especially the strophes of Canticles I.1 and I.2 which are almost unambigu-
ously demarcated by a linear positioning of verbal repetitions or responsions.
For Canticle I.1, see in vv. 12a.13a+14a (anaphora), in vv. 12b.13a!,40 and
the conjunction - at the beginning of the line in vv. 12c.14c; for Canticle I.2,
see in vv. 15a.17a!, and in vv. 15b.17b!
From a thematic point of view, the strophes of Canto I display a lin-
early alternating parallelism: vv. 12.1314|1516.1718|1920 > a.b|a.b|a. The
a-strophes are about the incompetence and nothingness of human beings
and their idols in general, while in the b-strophes this nothingness is explic-
itly related to Gods greatness; note ( the mind of the LORD) in v. 13a,
( before him) in v. 17a, ( for him) in vv. 17b+18b, and ( God) in v. 18a.
Therefore, the answer to the questions of v. 12 is God and to the questions of
vv. 1314 nobody.41 This parallelism on strophe level once again coincides with
an exclusive pattern of verbal repetitions; see ( dust) / or ( dust) in
vv. 12c and 15b/c respectively!, ( scales, balance) in vv. 12e and 15b!,
(LORD) / ( before Him) in vv. 13a and 17a respectively! (exactly linear; see
also [ God] in v. 18a!), in vv. 17b+18b and 20c!, and - at the beginning of
the line in vv. 14c, 18a (exactly linear).
The parallelism between vv. 12 and 1516 is reinforced by their colom-
etry: it is only these strophes which are composed of a bicolon and a trico-
lon. Although MT divides with an atnach after in v. 12c, we should not
mechanically follow it.42 The bicolon v. 12ab has a symmetrical word order:
predicateverb modifierobject <> objectverb modifierpredicate. The
tricolon v. 12ce opens with a linear parallel word order: predicateverb mod-
ifierobject // predicateverb modifierobject; in terms of word order,
39 In this respect, cf. also the setuma (petucha) preceding Isa. 46:5, the setumot in 51:21 and
52:2 (introducing the formula and respectively),
and the petuchot preceding the refrain Job 28:12 and 20. In 1QIsa there is a setuma before
( \\ Isa. 53:6cd*), called a proleptic marker of division by
Korpel/de Moor (Structure, 573). I suggest that in this case too, the setuma has a theologi-
cal function. For Qumran, cf. further the setumot after Isa. 43:17; 54:14; and 54:17b.
40 An exclamation mark indicates that the word or root does not occur elsewhere in the
poem.
41 Similarly Muilenburg, Isaiah, 434.436, Naidoff, The Rhetoric of Encouragement, 69, and
Kuntz, Rhetorical Questions, 129135; contra Goldingay/Payne, Isaiah 4055, 99100.
42 Contra Korpel/de Moor, Structure, 4445.
v. 12e ties in symmetrically: objectverb modifier.43 This colometric interpre-

tation is supported by the difference between the natural measures enumer-
ated in v. 12ab (hollow hand and hand breath) and the artificial measures
enumerated in v. 12ce. For the colometric interpretation of vv. 1516 as a bico-
lon and a tricolon, note the device of anaphora: ( behold!) in vv. 15a and 15c;44
cf. / at the beginning of vv. 19 and 20ab, at the beginning
of vv. 21ab and 21cd, / at the beginning of vv. 22ab and 22cd
respectively, and the conjunction - at the beginning of vv. 24cd and 25.45
Our strophic interpretation of vv. 1218 demonstrates the integrity of MT and
militates against the opinion of Duhm, Elliger and Beuken, whoby deleting
vv. 14c and 16 or 17take vv. 1217 as three strophes consisting of five cola.46
In addition, the successive openings of Canticles I.1 and I.2 set the stage for
a characteristic pattern in Isa. 4055. The strophes of Canticle I.1 open with a
rhetorical question, in this case introduced by the interrogative pronoun
(who; vv. 12a and 13a.14a), while Canticle I.2 opens with a positive statement
introduced by the particle ( behold!; vv. 15a.15c). This pattern also occurs in
Isa. 41:2629 () > , 44:1011 () > , 49:1417 (interrogative-) > , 49:21
() > , 50:1 ( // ) > , 50:23 ( // interrogative-) > , 50:89
( // > // ), 50:1011 () > , 55:15 ([ v. 2a] > // [ vv. 45]).47
The 2-line strophes of Canticle II.1 (vv. 21 and 22) coincide with the demar-
cation of the Masoretic verses; cf. vv. 12 and 26. For v. 21 as two successive
bicola, see the Masoretic accentuation; this accentuation is identical with
that of vv. 14, 20, 22 and 24 (in each case two bicola). The openings of the lines
of v. 21 form a semantic anaphora: do you not know? (v. 21a) // do you not
understand? (v. 21c).48 In terms of verbal repetitions, the thematic individual-
ity of v. 21 is supported by in vv. 21ac (4)!, and the thematic individuality
of v. 22 by the root ( to dwell) in vv. 22a+b.22d!
In Canticle II.2, the strophic framework cuts across the Masoretic verse divi-
sion; see v. 24. The regular structure (two 2-line strophes) is supported by the
43 Berges, Jesaja 4048, 131.

44 For / as a device of anaphora marking a strophe, see Isa. 40:10; 50:9; 55:45.
45 The parallelism between vv. 12 and 1516 is also pointed out by Goldingay/Payne, Isaiah
4055, 106.
46 B. Duhm, Das Buch Jesaiah (HK, III.1), Gttingen 41922, Elliger, Deuterojesaja, 4244,
W.A.M. Beuken, Jesaja. Deel IIB (POT), Nijkerk 1979, 39; cf. also Volz, Jesaia II, 8,
and R.P. Merendino, Der Erste und der Letzte: Eine Untersuchung von Jes 4048 (VTS, 31),
Leiden 1981, 83.
47 Cf. Goldingay/Payne, Isaiah 4055, 106. This pattern does not occur in Isaiah 5666.
48 Goldingay also takes v. 21 as two bicola but states that the division of MT is mislead-
ing and divides after ;Goldingay/Payne, Isaiah 4055, 117118. Korpel/de Moor,
Structure, 58, take v. 21 as a tricolon.
172 van der Lugt
emphatic particle in v. 24ab (thrice), which in most cases marks the end
of a strophe,49 and by the anaphora - highlighting vv. 24c25 as an individual
strophe. In this way, in terms of strophic structure, Canticle II.2 adjusts itself
to the regularity of Canticles 1.2 and II.1. In terms of meaning, at the interface
of vv. 2324b and 24c25 there is enjambment: they are really not planted [...]
and then he blows upon them [...].
Both Canticles I.3 (vv. 1920) and II.3 (v. 26) consist of a 3-line strophe. With
an appeal to MT, which divides with atnach after in v. 26c, Korpel/de
Moor take v. 26 as two tricola.50 Although in most cases, when a verse encom-
passes more than one line of poetry, the atnach marks the end of a line (see vv.
14, 15, 20, 21, 22, and 24), once again we should not mechanically follow it (cf.
above about the colometry of v. 12). The internal parallelism in vv. 26ab and
26cd argues in favour of three bicola.51
2.5 The Numerical Design of Isa. 40:1226 and Its Rhetorical Centres
Isa 40:1226 is composed of two almost uniform cantos, vv. 1220 and 2126,
which have 12 and 11 lines of poetry respectively (Type IB). From this point
of view, v. 20cd, about the skilful craftsman who must set up an idol which
will not topple, is the pivotal line of the poem: vv. 1220b.20cd.2126 > 11+1+11
lines. The line has exactly 26 letters; in gematria, 26 is the numerical value of
the Tetragrammaton ( 5+6+5+10). This may support my provisional inter-
pretation of God as the true skilful craftsman (see 2.1 above). The numerical
features concerned show that the derision expressed in the concluding line of
Canto I (v. 20cd) is the deliberately designed rhetorical centre of the poem as
a whole.52
In terms of strophes, lines and cola, vv. 1516 is the centre of Canto I: vv.
1214, 1516, 1720 > 2+1+2 strophes, 5+2+5 lines, and 11+5+11 cola. The central
position of vv. 1516 is highlighted by the device for anaphora based on the
positioning of the exclamation . These formal phenomena probably show
that the nothingness of the nations and of the Lebanon as burnt offering is the
deliberately designed rhetorical centre of the first canto.
49 Cf. e.g. Isa. 46:7cd, 11cd (thrice; see 4 below) and see further Cantos and
StrophesIII, 556.
50 Korpel/de Moor, Structure, 49.
51 So correctly Koole, Isaiah III.1, 113117 (and the layout of v. 26 in the Dutch original of the
commentary, 45!), Goldingay/Payne, Isaiah 4055, 123, and Berges, Jesaja 4048, among
others; see also BHS.
52 Cf. ( an abomination is he who chooses you; Isa. 40:24c) as the pivotal
colon (16+1+16 cola) and the concluding apex of the first canto of the poem Isa. 41:2129.
For Isa. 46:7ac as the central line of the poem Isaiah 46 (and concluding with )! ,
see 4 below.
Canto II has 11 lines and v. 24ab is its middle line (> 5+1+5 lines). The piv-
otal position of this line is underscored by the 11 words forming the bicolon;
note the number 11 highlighted by bold face above. In addition, these 11 words
exceed the number of words of all other lines of the second canto: 8466
71176767 words. The repetition of the emphatic particle introducing
the three clauses of v. 24ab further underlines its central position.53 These
formal phenomena suggest that the idea expressed in v. 24ab (the power of
earthly rulers does not hold out) is to be considered the deliberately designed
rhetorical centre of Canto II.
3 Some Provisional Observations Regarding the Canto Design

of Isa. 41:17
Isa. 41:17 is a relatively individual composition.54 This poem divides into two
regular 6-line cantos, vv. 13 and 47 (Type IA).55 In their turn the cantos have
two 3-line strophes (Canto I) and three 2-line strophes (Canto II).56 This design
can be displayed as follows:57
1 I

2
53 For repetition of the emphatic particle as a device highlighting a central line of poetry,
cf. Isa. 41:26cd (the central line of the second canto, vv. 2529, of the poem Isa. 41:2129).
54 North, Second Isaiah, Koole, Isaiah III.1, Goldingay/Payne, Isaiah 4055, S.M. Paul, Isaiah
4066 (The Eerdmans Critical Commentary), Grand Rapids 2012; see also the petucha at
the end of 40:31 and the setuma at the end of 41:7.
55 For this division, see Korpel/de Moor, Structure; cf. D.H. Mller, Die Propheten in ihrer
ursprnglichen Form. I. Band, Wien 1896, 166169.
56 For vv. 47 as a series of 2-line strophes, see also Koole, Isaiah III.1, Korpel/de Moor,
Structure.
57 In accordance with the accentuation of MT and the majority of the lines, v. 2ab is a bico-
lon consisting of 3+3 words; pace Korpel/de Moor (Structure, 75) who divide after in
v. 2b. The verb form in v. 2d is a qal of ( imperfect) and means he subjugates (HAL,
1110; cf. Isa. 45:1).
174 van der Lugt

4 I I

5

6
The first canto, vv. 13, portrays Gods supremacy in terms of a ruler over
nations and kings who paves unknown ways for the feet of an unnamed vic-
tor. In the second canto, vv. 47, this supremacy is portrayed in terms of power
which is contrasted by the weakness of the terrified nations who trust in idols.58
The bipartite framework of the poem is supported by the refrain-like char-
acter of the concluding lines of the cantos, vv. 3 and 7cd. In this respect, see
( safely) / ( good) in the first colon of these lines (vv. 3a and 7c respec-
tively; compare Isa. 52:7), the preposition - in the second colon of these lines
(vv. 3b and 7d), and the expressions ( he has not come) / ( it will
not topple) highlighting the very ends of the cantos (vv. 3b and 7d respectively;
the adverb followed by a verb expressing an objective unconditional nega-
tion does not occur elsewhere in the poem).59 The latter expressions form a
kind of epiphora on the canto level; compare and in Isa. 40:20d
and 26f respectively. Because in terms of verbal repetitions the correspon-
dences between Isa. 40:1226 and 41:17 abound (see below), we may safely
assume that in 41:3b deliberately refers to in 40:26f.
The proper meaning of the expression within the enigmatic phrase
( v. 3b) only reveals itself when we take into consideration
its counterpart in v. 7d. V. 3b is usually taken to refer to the speed of the vic-
tor (his feet do not touch the road). However, the colon v. 3b is in contrast
with the immobility of an idol andin general termsit portrays the move-
ment of the victor to take into possession new territory: a road with his feet
he has not come (before); the noun is the object of ( he travels) in
58 Cf. Korpel/de Moor, Structure, 117.

59 For Korpel/de Moor, from a structural perspective the bipartite division vv. 13 and 47
is supported by the three strophes each of these sections are supposed to consist of; the
correspondences between vv. 3 and 7cd have been ignored (Korpel/de Moor, Structure,
116117).
v. 3a.60 And it is God who makes the victor successful (v. 2ad). As pointed out
in 2.2 above, within Isa. 40:1226 and express immobility and
movement respectively. The same contrast is found in the phrases and
.61 This means that the ends of the cantos of 40:1226 and 41:17 form
a chiasmus: immobility and movement (40:1226) > movement and immobility
(41:17).
It is additionally to be noted thatfrom a thematic point of viewthe
phrases a road with his feet he has not come (before) (41:3b) and it will
not topple (41:7dB) smoothly fit the preceding canticles in question. Within
Canticle I.2 verbs expressing movement abound; see the roots ( hifil to
wake up; v. 2a), ( to meet; v. 2b), ( to subjugate; v. 2d), ( to disperse;
v. 2f), ( to pursue; v. 3a), ( to pass on; v. 3a). Canticle II.2 is determined
by the root . In v. 6b this root occurs in the qal form (to be strong), but it is
especially the piel form (to strengthen) in v. 7a+d that expresses immobility;
cf. also the roots ( to fear) and ( to tremble) in v. 5ab.62
For the remaining verbal recurrences in 40:1226 and 41:17, see the root
( 41:1a, 7a and 40:20c), ( 41:1a, 5a and 40:15c), ( 41:2a, 4a and 40:12a,
13a, 14a, 18a, 25a), ( 41:2c and 40:15a, 17a), ( 41:2f and 40:24d), ( 41:3b
and 40:14b), ( 41:4b and 40:21b), ( 41:6a and 40:13b, 26f), the root
(41:7a and 40:19b+c), the root ( 41:6b, 7c and 40:25b). Moreover, as is the
case in Isa. 40:1226, ( from the beginning) in 41:4b functions as a transi-
tion marker at the beginning of the second canto of 41:17.
This outcome is at variance with the purely thematic and therefore more
or less subjective view that the main caesura in vv. 17 comes after v. 4.63 My
rhetorical approach shows a regular design in terms of cantos (and stro-
phes), which is especially supported by verbal repetitions and corresponding
60 So Delitzsch, Jesaia, 422423, and E.J. Kissane, The Book of Isaiah. Vol. II, Dublin 1943, 30.
The imperfect ( GKC 107e) further highlights the contrast with in v. 7d.
61 In this respect, Elliger (Deuterojesaja, 130) points to the vllige Immobilitt of the
idols and the contrast gegenber Jahwe, dem Herrn und Lenker der so beweglichen
Weltgeschichte. Berges (Jesaja 4048, 184) also observes a relationship between
and : Whrend die Fe des von JHWH erweckten Helden den Pfad nicht berh-
ren [...], bringen es die Kunsthandwerker mit viel Aufwand gerade einmal zu einem
Gtterbild, das nicht wackelt. And although Berges ignores the major break after v. 3, he
nevertheless notes that the phrases in question occur jeweils in Schlussstellung (see also
Berges, pp. 186187).
62 However, see also ( they come near and approach; v. 5c).
63 So Spykerboer, Structure, 5868, Beuken, Jesaja, Koole, Isaiah III.1, Goldingay/Payne,
Isaiah 4055, Berges, Jesaja 4048; see also J.T. Walsh, Summons to Judgement: a Close
Reading of Isaiah xli 120, VT 43 (1993), 351371 (note pp. 358359).
176 van der Lugt
expressions. This outcome is important because it supports the (conserva-

tive) opinion that Isa. 41:67 is not out of place after 41:1564 by univocally
demonstrating the integrity of Isa. 41:17. It argues against a general opinion
whichin the wake of Duhminterferes with MT by inserting Isa. 41:67
after 40:19 or 40:20 and in this way destroys the ingenious rhetorical relation-
ship between 40:1226 and 41:17.65 And more is to be said in support of the
fundamental parallelism between 40:1226 and 41:17.
4 Some Provisional Observations Regarding the Canto Design

of Isaiah 46
Isaiah 46 is an individual composition.66 This poem divides into an introduc-

tory Canto I (vv. 12; three lines of poetry) and two 9-line main cantos, vv. 37
(Canto II) and 813 (Canto III).67 That is to say, in terms of canto design, Isa. 46
is an example of Type IIA (see 1 above). Both Cantos II and III consist of two
canticles: vv. 35.67 (Canto II) and vv. 811.1213 (Canto III). This design can
be displayed as follows:
1 I

2

3 I I.1

64 Spykerboer, Structure, 6668, Holter, Idol-Fabrication, 107117, among others.

65 So e.g. A. Condamin, Le livre dIsae (tudes bibliques), Paris 1905, Kissane, Isaiah, Schoors,
Saviour, Blenkinsopp, Isaiah 4055. Elliger supposes that 40:1920 and 41:67 are to be
taken as two successive strophes of the same poem (Deuterojesaja, 66.81.115); cf. also
C. Westermann, Das Buch Isaiah: Kapitel 4066 (ATD, 19), Gttingen 1966, 5657, and
J. van Oorschot, Von Babel zum Zion, 2931.
66 Muilenburg, Isaiah, Beuken, Jesaja, Holter, Idol-Fabrication, 220229, Berges, Jesaja 4048.
It is the medieval chapter divisions that rightly recognize that chapters 46 and 47 are self-
contained sections; Goldingay/Payne, Isaiah 4055. Volume II (ICC), London/New York
2006, 65.
67 Goldingay sees vv. 12 as the text for the subsequent exhortations; Goldingay/Payne,
Isaiah 4055, 66. According to Beuken (Jesaja, 259), vv. 17 are an ironical comparison
between the gods and YHWH, while vv. 813 are primarily a disputation speech against the
people of Israel. On similar grounds, Blenkinsopp (Isaiah 4055) takes vv. 17 and 813 as
two (secondary) compositions.

4

5
6 I I.2

8 I II.1

9

10

11

12 I II.2

1 3

From a thematic perspective, Canto I and the successive canticles of

Cantos II and III show a linearly alternating design: vv. 12|35.67|811.1213
> A|B.A|B.A.68 The A-sections vv. 12 and 67 describe the lack of power of
the Babylonian gods to save their worshippers (note vv. 2b and 7),69 and it is
only in these sections that the God of Israel is not involved. In the A-section
vv. 1213 this lack of power is contrasted with Gods power to save his disbeliev-
ing people.70 The B-sections (vv. 35 and 811) are about Gods incomparabil-
ity (note vv. 5 and 9) as demonstrated by the care for his people. The linearly
68 Cf. Goldingay/Payne, Isaiah 4055, 68.

69 The subjects of the verbs in v. 2ab are the gods Bel and Nebo (cf. v. 2a with v. 1a);
H.-J. Hermisson, Deuterojesaja (BK, XI.2), Neukirchen-Vluyn 2003, 108, contra Koole,
Isaiah III.1, 499500. Hermisson takes the word in v. 2b as an addition (cf. v. 1e),
while Kissane (Isaiah, 92) considers it one of the subjects of v. 2c, with reference to v. 4d
where the verb has no object either; cf. Paul, Isaiah 4066, 278.
70 Berges ( Jesaja 4048, 446) notes: der Aktivitt JHWHs [...] steht die totale Passivitt der
Fremdgtter in ihren Kultbildern gegenber; and according to Koole (Isaiah III.1, 505),
vv. 513 focus on the opposition between the rigid immobility of the idols and Yahwehs
realization of his plan.
178 van der Lugt
alternating pattern in terms of subject matter shows that v. 5 (about Gods

incomparability) is the concluding line of Canticle II.1.71 These and the follow-
ing partially formal observations also demonstrate that vv. 67 and 1213 are
original and functional sections within the poem Isa. 46.72
The contrast between the powerlessness of the Babylonian gods and the
saving power of Israels God is supported by a characteristic series of expres-
sions featuring in exactly the last lines of the cantos. The second colon of the
last line of Canto I says ( they are unable to rescue; v. 2b). The con-
cluding strophe of Canto II is determined by the phrases ( from
his place he does not move; v. 7c), ( and it does not answer; v. 7d) and
( from his distress it does not save him; v. 7e); the phrases vv. 7c
and 7e form a kind of epiphora (note preposition , the suffix -, the negation
and the verbs in the third person singular of the imperfect). The subject of
this cluster of corresponding phrases is the gods of Babylon. In the poem as
a whole these phrases correspond to the phrases ( it is not far off)
and ( it will not tarry) in the second last line of Canto I (v. 13ab).
The adverb followed by a verb expressing an objective unconditional nega-
tion regarding (the salvation of ) a deity does not occur elsewhere in the poem.73
The deliberate correspondence between these concluding lines is reinforced
by the root ( hifil to save) and its semantic equivalent the root ( piel
to rescue). The root only occurs at the very ends of Cantos II and III; see
vv. 7e and 13b+c! The root occurs in v. 2b (the last line of Canto III; express-
ing the powerlessness of the Babylonian gods), but also in v. 4d expressing the
saving power of Israels God.
Taking into account these concluding phenomena highlighting the contrast
between the saving power of God and the powerlessness of a graven image,
the relationship between Isa. 46 and especially 40:1226 cannot be overlooked.
In both cases the first main part concludes with a reference to the immobility
of a graven image (cf. in 40:20d with in 46:7c) and the second
main part concludes with a reference to Gods dynamics (cf. in 40:26f
71 The latter observation militates against the general opinion that v. 5 is the opening line of
the section vv. 67; Delitzsch (Jesaia, 468469) is (once again; cf. 2.3 above about 40:18
and 25) an exception; similarly Kissane (Isaiah). For the function of the setuma preceding
v. 5, see 2.3 above about the setuma preceding Isa. 40:25.
72 At variance with e.g. Merendino, Der Erste und der Letzte, 472.474475, and recently
Hermisson, Deuterojesaja; according to Blenkinsopp (Isaiah 4055, 274), it is apparent on
the linguistic level that 46:1213 have been added as an explanatory comment on the pas-
sage immediately preceding.
73 Cf. the expression ( things not yet done) in v. 10b.
with in 46:13b). Moreover, as is the case with the expression in

40:20d, the expression in 46:7c referring to the immobility of an idol is
strategically positioned at the very end of the central line of the poem: 46:16,
7ac, 7d13 > 10+1+10 lines of poetry; for 40:20cd as the central line of vv. 1226,
see 2.5 above. That is to say, time and againsee also 41:17 abovethe con-
trast between the immobility of a graven image and Gods dynamics to save his
people is supported and underlined by the overall design of the composition
in question.74
5 Summary
This contribution departs from the idea that in terms of canto design the
poems of Isa. 4055 do not differ from the poems we find in the books of
Psalms and Job: three basic patterns can be discerned. This is especially dem-
onstrated with the help of Isa. 40:1226. In this respect I refer to an observation
by Koole regarding the antithetic parallelism between the expressions
(it will not topple) and ( it does not fail to appear) in Isa. 40:20d and
26f respectively. It is pointed out that phrases like these represent strategically
positioned elementsrhetorical cornerstonesnot only in Isa. 40:1226 but
also in Isa. 41:17 and 46:113 for expressing a fundamental contrast. It is the
contrast between the immobility of Babylons graven images and the saving
dynamics of Israels incomparable God.
74 As regards the relationship between especially 46:113 and 41:17, note and
in the context of the arrival of Cyrus as Gods saving instrument (46:1113 and 41:23
respectively). In this respect, see also / ( 46:3a, 12a and 41:1a respec-
tively), ( 46:4a and 41:4d), ( 46:5a and 41:2a, 4a), the root ( 46:4c, 10b+d, 11d
and 41:4a), the root ( 46:6c and 41:7a), ( 46:9a and 41:4c), the root ( 46:10a,
13b and 41:4d), the root ( 46:10c and 41:6b, 7c), the root ( to call) + preposition
(46:11ab and 41:4b), ( 46:11b and 41:6a), the root ( 46:11c and 41:3b), the root
(46:13a and 41:1d.5c), the root ( 46:13d and 41:2c.2e).
Chapter 10
Biblical Violence and the Task of the Exegete*

Ed Noort
Visitors to the National Gallery of Art in Washington may be impressed by the

epic painting Joshua Commanding the Sun to Stand Still upon Gibeon (1816). It
is a panoramic view by the English romantic painter John Martin (17981854).1
Everything here is huge and dramatic, such as the contrasts between light and
darkness, between the light above Gibeon and the dark clouds full of disas-
ter, between the uprising architecture of the city and the wilderness of the
mountain landscape. On the one hand stands an organized army, on the other
hand a chaotic enemy flees for its life. In the middle of this landscape stands
the central figure Joshua, turned towards the light, commanding the sun to
halt in order to have more daylight for destroying the enemy. It is to this com-
mand especiallyformulated as a prayer by a later hand (Josh. 10:12, 14)that
Joshua owes his special position in reception history. The emphasis on the sun
miracle already starts with the renaming of Joshuas burial place in Judg. 2:9,
where ( Josh. 19:50; 24:30) with the aid of a metathesis is transformed
to , Timna of the sun. It can be seen in the grave traditions where
a Hellenistic tombacclaimed to Joshuais embellished with a sun, and in
Sirach where it was through him (Joshua) that the sun stood still and one day
became as long as two (Sir. 46:4). It is repeated in a sermon by Origen, who
states that Joshua was in this respect greater than Moses, because he (Moses)
never halted the sun. This track can be drawn further to Galileo, who had a
hard time with Joshuas sun miracle and with Spinoza and Grotius, who both
suggested theories on what could have actually taken place during the battle
of Gibeon.2
* Reworked and shortened version of the lecture Gttliche und menschliche Gewalt in den
Landgabeerzhlungen des Buches Josua at the University of Munich (9.3.2014). That paper
will be published in the series Themes of Biblical Narrative (Brill, Leiden). In the present
form the paper was delivered at the meeting of OTW on 16.5.2014, the character of the oral
presentation has been preserved.
1 nga.gov > John Martin> Joshua.
2 The material of these examples can be found in E. Noort, Josua 24:2831, Richter 2:69 und
das Josuagrab. Gedanken zu einem Straenschild, in: W. Zwickel (ed), Biblische Welten.
FS Martin Metzger (OBO, 123), Freiburg/Gttingen 1993, 36389 and E. Noort, Joshua and
Copernicus. Josh.10:1215 and the History of Reception, in: A. Hilhorst a.o. (eds), Flores

Biblical Violence and the Task of the Exegete 181
A different approach in the world of arts can be found in the work of Rainer
Maria Rilke. In his poem Joshuas Convocation (1907), the special position of
Joshua and the role of God are portrayed with the help of different images. One
strophe describes the battle at Gibeon, including the command for the sun to
halt, in order to win more time for pursuing and killing the enemy.
How haughty he had been at Gibeon,

to cry out to the sun, commanding HALT
how God had gone out like a slave,
to cringe and hold the sun
until his hands were aching
and it burned on killers living for revenge
because just one had willed the sun to stand.3
Following Joshuas command, a perplexed God obeysand holds the sun until
his fingers burn. YHWH remains passive in this poem. He is just an instrument.
The deadly massacre is accounted to Joshuas armies, the killers living for
revenge.
The narrative itself, however, portrays a much more powerful interference
of the Divine than that of a God who had gone out like a slave. YHWH himself
throws them into a panic (v. 10a), enables a massive defeat of the enemy and
personally interferes in the pursuit of the fleeing troops when he throws down
huge stones ( ) from heaven on them. YHWH thereby kills more
enemies than the IsraeIites killed with the sword (v. 11). The threat of these
, although naturalized to hailstones in v. 11b, nevertheless form an
unique expression in combination with Hif. and YHWH. They also serve as
a bridge to the following scene, in which the five kings who had fled are being
held captive by until their execution (v. 18). The battle itself is pre-
cisely and literally summarized in v. 14 .
In the field of exegesis a consensus can be reached in view of the deuterono-
mistic revisions and the structure of the three parts: the battle 10:114(15), the
execution of the five kings 10:1627, the conquest of the south 10:2839 and
the summary 10:4043. Divergences regarding the image of God, and the world-
and history view of the interpreter become most clear in the explanations of
Florentino. Dead Sea Scrolls and Other Early Jewish Studies. FS Florentino Garca Martnez,
Leiden/Boston 2007, 387401.
3 R.M. Rilke, Josuas Landtag, in: Neue Gedichte. Erster Teil, Leipzig 1907; translation: L. Krisak,
Four Translations of Rilke, in: The Oxonian Review 18.6 (2012).
182 Noort
the motive of YHWH throwing stones in v. 11 and in the sun- and moon miracle
in vv. 1213a and the interpretation of vv. 13b14.
However, these questions do not concern me in this paper. I want to dis-
cuss how we perceive the mythologizing of what was originally a regional
conflict about a treaty. Anda second stephow we see our responsibilities
in explaining texts from antiquity in our present time. That is where the real
problem lies, after all. As long as we act as philologically schooled historians
trying to interpret texts in their own contexts and their original meaning, we
have done our usual job in academia. The question of this paper, however, is:
can we ignore the reception history of these texts, which continues up until
today? This history of reception has two sides. It is an ongoing story used in
changing contexts. Secondly, there are communities for which these ancient
texts do have a meaning today.
What happens in this story? The description of YHWH as an active warrior
wraps him in a mythological garment. Moreover, for every actor in this conflict
the adversary grows beyond measure demonstrating a paradigmatic function.
To the Amorites, Gibeon is a large city, one of the royal cities, larger than Ai,
and all her men were (strong) warriors (10:2). In the beginning, the enemies
are described as five Amorite kings (10:5), but later on they are all the kings
of the Amorites, who live in the hill country (10:6). A change of roles seems to
be an important element in the construction of this narrative. The starting-
point is that of a possible war between Gibeon and an Amorite coalition. But
Gibeon quickly disappears from the stage and the actual opponents enter the
scene: Joshua/Israel on the one hand and all the Amorite kings on the other.
But even they are temporary players. Joshua attacks the enemy, but it is YHWH
who brings the battle to a victorious close by spreading panic among the ene-
mies and ultimately by killing them with stones thrown from heaven. Even
Joshuas sun miracle is used to evoke a complete elimination of the enemy, fol-
lowing YHWHs acts of destruction. This is how the aggressorin this case, the
coalitionbecomes the loser and the underdog becomes the winner through
divine assistance.4
The scene from Joshua 10 has its own place as a parallel to the accounts of
war from the Ancient Near East and the iconographic material that comes with
it. This applies to the Assyrians, the Babylonians and their successors. It also
applies to the differently constructed images of the iconography of Egypt and
to the material of the neighbouring state of Moab, where we have a clear paral-
lel with the biblical ban (). Of course, there are differences. Differences
4 E. Noort, Zwischen Mythos und Realitt. Das Kriegshandeln YHWHs in Jos 10:111, in:
H.H. Schmid (ed), Zwischen Mythos und Rationalitt, Gtersloh 1988, 14961.
in the ways of divine participation, different narrative rationalizations, dif-

ferent explanations as to why one or the other battle was lost. Essentially,
however, they are all victory stories. Narratives in which the glory of divine
assistance and participation heightens and legitimizes the war, the battle, the
victory. Scarcely recognized clues to these parallels were already available to
biblical studies around the 1930s. However, a serious consideration and elabo-
ration of the concept of sacred warfare did not take place until the studies
by Manfred Weippert5 and Fritz Stolz6 in Europe andon the other side
of the oceanwhen researchers stressed the role of the Divine Warrior and
the connections with Ugarit.7 But then, where do we stand today?
The expression Holy War is academically played out, even though it returns
in a horrendous manner in the contemporary political debate regarding the
role of religion, violence and terrorism. The expression 8 from
the Hebrew Bible is partially useful if the terms Ishtar-, Assur- or Kamos-war
are used adjacently.9 The more commonly used terms sacred war or sacrali-
sation of the war, try to do justice to the religious colour of war narratives.
However, it would be a misunderstanding to regard this sacralisation merely
as a byproduct, as if profane warfare really existed in the Ancient Near East.
In analysing the war narratives, the focus has shifted from the time of
Israels settlement in Canaan to the emphasis on the broad range of literature
which uses these motifs. Not only narrative literature and law texts from the
Pentateuch and the Former Prophets do so, but the Psalms too have been stud-
ied in regard to violence and war practices of YHWH.10
During the last decades, war language and imagery were often associated
with the Assyrian rule over Israel and Judea, especially with the presumed
golden days of the reign of Josiah. In accordance with the tendency to a lower
dating of the biblical texts, the search for localizing them in the Persian and
5 M. Weippert, Heiliger Krieg in Israel und Assyrien. Kritische Anmerkungen zu Gerhard
von Rads Konzept des Heiligen Krieges im alten Israel, ZAW 84 (1972), 46093.
6 F. Stolz, Jahwes und Israels Kriege. Kriegstheorien und Kriegserfahrungen im Glauben des
alten Israels (AThANT, 60), Zrich 1972.
7 P.D. Miller, Jr., The Divine Warrior in Early Israel, Cambridge (MA), 1973.
8 Num. 21:14; 1 Sam.18:17; 25:28. The term Jahwe-war was coined in 1963 by R. Smend,
Jahwekrieg und Stmmebund. Erwgungen zur ltesten Geschichte Israels, Gttingen 1963.
9 Weippert, Heiliger Krieg, 490.
10 M. Klingbeil, Yahweh Fighting from Heaven. God as Warrior and as God of Heaven in the
Hebrew Psalter and Ancient Near Eastern Iconography (OBO, 169), Fribourg/Gttingen
1999; H. van Grol, War and Peace in the Psalms: Some Compositional Explorations, in:
J. Liesen, P.C. Beentjes (eds), Visions of Peace and Tales of War (Deuterocanonical and
Cognate Literature Yearbook 2010), Berlin/New York 2010, 173206.
184 Noort
Hellenistic periods has started. The wars in Chronicles, then, are no longer
understood as a spiritualized form of an institution which started in the times
of Judges. According to Jacob Wright, they now serve as significant material for
understanding the historical-ideological matrix that produced the Maccabean-
Hasmonean theology of warfare, texts from Qumran (especially such as the
War Scroll) and images of war in Jewish apocalyptic literature.11
Dismissing the use of an exclusive terminology such as Holy War, one gains
room for the diversity of the texts concerning war and violence, ranging from a
presupposed early history to an apocalyptic future. The bibliography on these
themes is a never-ending stream. A solid overview can be found with Jacques
Vermeylen,12 in the second edition of the Joshua commentary by Trent C.
Butler,13 as well as in the book of Rdiger Schmitt, who offers a history of the
research, textual analyses and examples of the history of reception.14
Much of what is mentioned above consists of reactions to the most influ-
ential study after the Second World War: Der Heilige Krieg im alten Israel von
Gerhard von Rad.15 The central thoughts of this work can already be found in
the Deuteronomium-Studien, written in 1945/46 and published in 1947.16 They
were presented in 1949 at the Society for Old Testament Study in Bangor/Wales
and were finally published in 1951. The development of this thesis thus took
place amidst the turbulent post-war era, when Von Rad was professor of the
Old Testament in Gttingen.
The study itself does not need to be presented nor criticized here. That has
been done sufficiently and Manfred Oemings conclusion that almost all of his
(Gerhard von Rads) historical and literary-historical theories have meanwhile
been called into question17 goes far beyond the usual criticism of the following
generation. That criticism specifically concerns presuppositions such as the
11 J.W. Wright, The Fight for Peace: Narrative and History in the Battle Account in Chronicles,
in: M.P. Graham a.o. (eds), The Chronicler as Historian (JSOTS, 238), Sheffield 1997, 17677.
12 J. Vermeylen, Sacral War and Divine Warrior in Ancient Israel. Its Reception and the
Present State of the Question, in Liesen, Beentjes (eds), Visions, 134.
13 T.C. Butler, Joshua (WBC, 7a and 7b), second edition 2012/2014.
14 R. Schmitt, Der Heilige Krieg im Pentateuch und im deuteronomistischen Geschichtswerk.
Studien zur Forschungs-, Rezeptions- und Religionsgeschichte von Krieg und Bann im Alten
Testament (AOAT, 381), Mnster 2011.
15 G. von Rad, Der Heilige Krieg im alten Israel (AThANT, 20), Zrich 1951, Gttingen 21952.
16 G. von Rad, Deuteronomium-Studien (FRLANT NF, 40), Gttingen 1947, 3041 = G. von
Rad, Gesammelte Studien zum Alten Testament II (ThB, 48), Mnchen 1973, 13243 (Das
Deuteronomium und der heilige Krieg); R. Smend, Deutsche Alttestamentler in drei
Jahrhunderten, Gttingen 1989, 244.
17 M. Oeming, Gerhard von Rad as a Theologian of the Church, Interpretation 62 (2008),
23137 (234).
historical connection of the Holy War to the pre-monarchic history of Israel,

the connection to an amphictyony, the premise of a sacred institution and
finally, the systematic approach in regard to the contemporary methods of
literary and editorial criticism. Almost all of Von Rads founding assumptions
have lost their importance nowadayswithout a unanimous new, conclu-
sive theory.
Nevertheless, I start with the booklet of Von Rad with my central hermeneu-
tic questions, and they are twofold. First of all, there is curiosity regarding the
attractiveness of Von Rads theory concerning the Holy War, because it has
been very attractive indeed.18 It was broadly accepted and it took twenty years
for a serious contradiction to arise from Weippert, Stolz and Fohrer.19 Secondly,
the question remains whether some moments of truth may be recognized
in the picture painted by Von Rad in his contemporary situation. Moments
which exceed our present theories of historical and literary criticism.
The answer to the first question can be found in the person of Gerhard von
Rad and his way of working with the Old Testament, and additionally in the
context and situation directly after the end of the Second World War. A retro-
spective view of his life, as he worded it himself in 1966, helps clarify this:
Als aber der Nationalsozialismus kam mit seiner widerlichen und gro-
ben Absage an das Alte Testament, die doch in weiten Kreisen20 verwir-
rend wirkte, wurde die Lage kritisch, denn sie traf die alttestamentliche
Wissenschaft fast vllig ungerstet (curs. E.N.) Sie hatte mit einem fast
schon religisen Ernst zum Ethos eines unbestechlichen histori-
schen Erkennens erzogen, aber nicht dazu, in entscheidungsvoller
Situation...ffentlich, ja im politischem Raum sich zum Alten Testament
zu bekennen.21
With his lectures before and during the Second World War, as well as with his
work directly after it, Von Rad offered an alternative to the vllig ungerstete
alttestamentliche Wissenschaft with its weakness for philological and
18 Weippert, Heiliger Krieg, 463, n.13.

19 G. Fohrer, Geschichte der israelitischen Religion, Berlin 1969, 78 and 109 not only contested
the thesis of the amphictyony, but also the existence of a Sakralinstitution. According
to himand later research proved him rightno required counterpart to profane war
existed. Every imporant experience in life, individually or institutionally, had a religious
connotation.
20 This means the broader circles within the context of the church and the university.
21 Gerhard von Rad [about himself], in W.E. Bhm, G. Paehlke (eds), Forscher und Gelehrte,
Stuttgart 1966, 1718, reprinted in H.W. Wolff (ed.), Probleme biblischer Theologie. FS
Gerhard von Rad, Mnchen 1971, 65961 (660).
186 Noort
historical knowledge. In his inaugural address in Gttingen, directly after

the end of the Second World War, Von Rad addresses the way in which his-
tory in Israel is theologically interpreted.22 He specifically addressed the
Deuteronomistic History, as reconstructed by Martin Noth.23 As is well known,
Noth identified this composition with the rewriting of the history of Israel in
Deut. 13 and the Early Prophets as the work of one author/editor (Dtr),24 who
had personally experienced the catastrophe of the end of Judah, the destruc-
tion of Jerusalem and the deportation of the elite in 587 BCE. In his view on
the history of Israel, Dtr placed the blame of the complete destruction not on
YHWH but on the leaders, the kings and the people itself. Noth himself saw no
room for the slightest bit of hope for a future of the exiled people. His Dtr had,
offenbar etwas Endgltiges und Abschlieendes gesehen und eine

Zukunftshoffnung nicht einmal in der bescheidensten und einfach-
sten Form einer Erwartung der knftigen Sammlung der zerstreuten
Deportierten zum Ausdruck gebracht.25
Von Rad, however would not accept the latter conclusion. Already in his inau-
gural address in Gttingen, he pointed out the fact that the Deuteronomistic
History ends with the remark that king Jehoiachin of Judah is freed from prison
and invited to the table of the Babylonian king Evil-Merodach. It is a glimmer
of hope for the Davidic dynasty and as such for the future:
In groer Verhaltenheit ist hier nur etwas angedeutet, aber eben doch
ein Ereignis genannt, das zeichenhafte Bedeutung hatte, ein Faktum, an
dem Gott, wenn es denn einmal sein Wille sein sollte, wieder anknpfen
konnte.26
22 G. von Rad, Theologische Geschichtsschreibung im Alten Testament, ThZ 4 (1948),

161174, reprinted in G. von Rad, Gottes Wirken in Israel. Vortrge zum Alten Testament,
O.H. Steck (ed.), Neukirchen-Vluyn 1974, 17590.
23 M. Noth, berlieferungsgeschichtliche Studien. Erster Teil, Halle/Saale 1943, reprinted
Darmstadt 1963.
24 Here, the signum Dtr is used for the deuteronomistic author as described by Noth. The
layered construction of the Deuteronomistic History, its demarcation as well as the cri-
tique of that composition are not relevant to the present thesis.
25 Noth, -Studien I, 108.
26 Von Rad, Theologische Geschichtsschreibung, 189. Also in the manuscript of the lecture
Das Wort Gottes und die Geschichte im Alten Testament(1941), with later additions in
Von Rad, Gottes Wirken, 200 and in G. von Rad, Theologie des Alten Testaments, I, Mnchen
51966, 355, n.22.
This hope for the future nevertheless does not become the focus of his inaugu-
ral address. Von Rad sees the view of the Deuteronomistic History in line with
the prophetic announcements of judgement, and thus concludes:
So ist dieses dstere Werk entstanden als eine Geschichtsschreibung der

Bue. Es ist geschrieben in der Hoffnung, sptere Geschlechter mchten
aus ihr lernen was zu ihrem Frieden dient.27
And those later generations are not only the deported Judeans from the 6th
century BCE, but also the students who sit in his classroom, right in front of him,
so shortly after the war. It is the survivors of that war that come to Gttingen
en masse. To them, the war wasin whatever barbaric formreality. The
hunger for exegesis is enormous. With Noths vision on the Deuteronomistic
History and Von Rads vision on Deuteronomy and the Holy War, the poisoned
climate of the 1930s for the Old Testament ended. After the Entjudaisierung
of the Bible and the devaluation of the Old Testament in theology, and after the
sharpened contrasts between Law and Gospel, there was now a newly found
space for a new biblical orientation. An orientation which started with a theo-
logical composition from the Old Testament geschrieben in der Hoffnung,
sptere Geschlechter mchten aus ihr lernen was zu ihrem Frieden dient.
What did those students in the first post-war years learn from Von Rad
about such a peculiar subject as sacred war? This generation knew that Gott
mit uns had been written on their sword belts. They learned that there had
been a Holy War in Ancient Israel. Nevertheless, it was limited to the era of
the Judges. Only there this sacred institution was permitted and only there
did it become reality. The Holy Wars were defensive wars of the amphictyony,
based on solidarity amongst the tribes. Participation was voluntary. Moreover,
this sacred institution was part of the greater concept of a peaceful settlement,
as described by Albrecht Alt in 1925 and 1939.28 Von Rad proposed that the
end of this Sacred War came with the rise of David and to some extent of
Saul, with their mercenaries and standing armies. Saul and especially David
conducted offensive wars. And however much actual warfare might have taken
place, the concept of this Holy War was gradually completely spiritualized, as
can be seen in the wars of Chronicles. These specific points made Von Rads
concept very attractive in the context of the post-war years. This concept
27 Von Rad, Theologische Geschichtsschreibung, 183.

28 A. Alt, Die Landnahme der Israeliten in Palstina (1925); A. Alt, Erwgungen ber die
Landnahme der Israeliten in Palstina (1939), in: A. Alt, Kleine Schriften zur Geschichte des
Volkes Israel, I, Mnchen 1953, 89125, 126175.
188 Noort
contested a collective memory in the Church as well as in society, in which the

Old Testament was classified as barbaric and violent, not only by Nazi ideology.
Systematic theological constructions such as the Gesetz/Evangelium contrast
or the model of the Church replacing Israel nourished a negative approach to
the Old Testament. In biblical studies, Julius Wellhausens fiercely described
view on the early history of Israel remained influential for a long time:
Die Hhepunkte der Geschichte waren damals und auf Jahrhunderte

hinaus die Kriege. Israel bedeutet El streitet, und Jahve war der streitende
El nach welchem das Volk sich benannte. Das Kriegslager war die Wiege
der Nation und die wahre Schmiede ihrer Einheit, es war auch das lte-
ste Heiligtum. Da war Israel und da war Jahve. Waren in Zeiten der Ruhe
beide miteinander eingeschlafen, so wurden sie durch Feindesgefahr
wieder aufgerttelt; immer begann das Erwachen Israels mit dem
Erwachen Jahves.29
Friedrich Schwally described YHWH as a war god too. He interpreted

as War Demons, belonging to the early times of the beliefs of Israel, whilst
the religion itself was put on a higher level, on an ethical foundation by the
prophets.30 These views belonged to the cultural memory of many theologians,
educated in the first half of the twentieth century in Germany.
Here the hermeneutical question I mentioned above, begins. Von Rad
regretted the fact that the academic approach to the Old Testament was
restricted to purely philological and historical items. When anti-Semitism and
Nazi propaganda entered the stage, the greater part of academia retreated into
inner emigration and stayed safely within the boundaries of highly special-
ized philological and historical studies. Von Rad protested against this ten-
dency with a model in whichas Oeming put italmost all of his historical
and literary-historical theories have meanwhile been called into question. On
the other hand, we must realize that Von Rad, with the models and literary
reconstructions available to him at that time, stated that the divine word has
been realized in history. History understood as Geschichte was a true vehicle
for those models. It was this concept of Holy War and Noths reconstruction
of the Deuteronomic History that freed the way for a theological rebirth of Old
Testament study.
29 J. Wellhausen, Geschichte Israels (Privat printing 1880), in: J. Wellhausen, Grundrisse zum
Alten Testament (ThB, 27), R. Smend (ed.), Mnchen 1965, 18.
30 F. Schwally, Semitische Kriegsaltertmer. Erstes Heft. Der heilige Krieg im alten Israel,
Leipzig 1901, 3, 111.
Nevertheless, Von Rads conclusionthat Old Testament study was in

no way prepared for the threats and challenges of his daysremains valid.
It poses the question as to what real science is or should be. The series of
magnificent portraits of German Old Testament scholars31 by Rudolf Smend,
repeatedly states that the war, leading to a sober situation but also to fewer stu-
dents, left room for doing the real work: writing commentaries and textbooks.
Our discipline has to deal with a text corpus which, in an enigmatic history of
reception became authoritative for later readers. This did not happen to the
other compositions of texts from the Ancient Near East. They literally emerged
from the sand and with them the possibility arose to reconstruct fascinating
but past cultures. The biblical texts that have become authoritative are even
today part of a community of both readers and believers who view these texts
as a part of their belief system.
This is the point where we bring our academic exegesis to a halt. Whether
we explain the texts as parts of the Ancient Near Eastern and/or Hellenistic-
Roman world, or whether we regard the biblical texts as a corpus sui generis
the starting-point and mostly also the end-point is the Hebrew Bible. We
explain the texts as text, diachronically and/or synchronically. We put it in a
historical context or we avoid doing so. We work with linguistic models and
use the wide web of intertextuality. We enter the fascinating world of literary
layers and editing. We study material backgrounds and the visual culture of the
world in which the texts were at home. We compare or integrate them into
the literary traditions of the surrounding cultures.
Mostly however, the reception history of the texts we study remains dis-
regarded. Nevertheless we have a great deal of social, cultural and political
data regarding the groups on this side of the canon and we can use them to
describe the freedom, the creativity, the aspects of faith and ideology during
the processes of reception. We have much more data than we have available
for the prehistory of the text corpora. The advantage of reception history is
the existence of a pre-text which can be used to compare and to describe the
creativity of reinterpretation. In this way, reception history is not an appendix
to exegesis, but a bridge between the texts of the past and the interpretation
models of a later period up to the present time.
We need to return shortly to the starting-point of the battle at Gibeon, which

resulted in the schedule of total destruction of the cities in the south. There
might be much debate regarding the stratification and the dating of these texts,
31 R. Smend, Deutsche Alttestamentler in drei Jahrhunderten, Gttingen 1989.

190 Noort
but there is one point on which consensus can be reached. The concept of the
-texts is part of later deuteronomistic editing. This means that these texts
had their place in a context in which military power and state power played no
role or a very limited one. Even then enough questions remain, but these texts
were written and used in compositions with no political power behind them.
Because of their authoritative character however they travel through time.
There they can easily become Texts of Terror when the groups using the texts
gain political and military power. The reception history from the Byzantine rul-
ers via the Crusades up to the the conquest of the Americas shows how these
texts, and texts related to them, can become Texts of Terror.
This raises the question of what the real work of our discipline is or should
be in times of crisis. Of course I do not want to minimize our exegetical craft or
to criticize our painstaking efforts in highly specialized fields. However, if these
texts of violence, ban and war have been part of a reception history where
they were used as Texts of Terror, the exegete has an extended task. He or
she should not only offer a descriptive explanation, but he or she also may
be charged with posing a normative judgement. Of course it depends on the
audience and the questions posed, but in the wide range in which these texts
still have meaning for parts of the public, stepping back onto the safe side of
a historical or philological explanation only signifies extraditing the texts to
arbitrariness in the present public domain.
This is a very urgent question. How well is our discipline equipped for an
accountability of our exegetical work? Studying the role of religion in the
public domain and the role of classical texts which once had been judged as
normative, an intensification of the debate on violence in religious texts is evi-
dent. Major changes have taken place here. On the one hand, the decline of
the authoritative role of classic religious texts is clear. On the other hand, the
eclectic use of texts and motifs increases with a tendency to simplifications.
The discussion concerning Islam that has flared up and the debates about
terrorism used violence texts from the Bible and the Quran effortlessly and
interchangeably.
Is our discipline sufficiently equipped to face this challenge? Or is this a situ-
ation in which inner immigration to pure science takes place? My comment
on method was that the task of the exegete must be expanded with an inevita-
ble part of reception history and that there are themes and text corpora which
need a normative judgement as well as a descriptive analysis by the exegete.
The common counter argument against reception history is that no indi-
vidual is able to oversee the whole of reception history. A first answer might
be that there is a backwardness in our discipline when it comes to cooperation
and team work, especially when compared to other fields of research. It would
be good for our discipline to encourage and to stimulate this teamwork with
methodical arguments, and not because we are forced to do so by national or
European funders.
A second answer is that the ever-growing databases for E-Humanities can
serve our field in ways that could not even have been dreamt about twenty
years ago. Just as the Oudtestamentisch Werkgezelschap looked different at
the celebration of its fiftieth anniversary than at the very beginning in 1939
both in membership and in terms of methodical approachesI do hope that
at the celebration of its hundredth anniversary the Society may conclude that,
compared to the state of the art at the seventy-fifth anniversary in 2014, our
discipline has developed in both unexpected and exciting ways.
Chapter 11
Computer-Assisted Analysis of Old Testament

Texts: The Contribution of the WIVU to
Old Testament Scholarship
Reinoud Oosting*
1 Introduction
The Werkgroep Informatica at the Faculty of Theology of Vrije Universiteit

Amsterdam (WIVU) has occupied a distinct position in Old Testament scholar-
ship in the Netherlands since its foundation in 1977. Building up an electronic
database of the Masoretic Text of the Old Testament, the WIVU developed a
powerful instrument for biblical scholars to explore the Hebrew Bible. In addi-
tion, the members of the WIVU made clear why computer-assisted research is
relevant for the study of the Old Testament. They showed that a database pro-
vides an instrument for Semitists, exegetes, and Bible translators to analyse the
linguistic patterns in a text, without paying too much attention to the literary
composition in which they are used. As a result, the analysis of the text will be
based more on the available textual data, and, as a result, will be less ad hoc.
The close connection between the WIVU database and the methodologi-
cal line of thinking is possibly the main reason why the WIVU persisted dur-
ing the last thirty-five years, while several other computer projects that started
in the seventies and the eighties of the previous century did not survive.1 A
further reason may be the fact that this approach was used not only for the
analysis of the Hebrew text of the Old Testament, but also for other ancient
Semitic texts, both biblical and non-biblical.
By describing the history of the WIVU, this paper intends to show the close
relationship between the WIVU database and its methodological line of think-
ing. In doing so, it seeks to explain how the WIVU developed in the course of
time and how it will deal with the challenges of the near future.
* With the assistance of Janet Dyk, Wido van Peursen, and Eep Talstra.
1 Most of the computer projects that started in that period are listed in: J.J. Hughes (ed.), Bits,
Bytes, and Biblical Studies: A Resource Guide for the Use of Computers in Biblical and Classical
Studies, Grand Rapids 1987.

Computer-Assisted Analysis of Old Testament Texts 193
2 The WIVU Database
The WIVU was founded by Eep Talstra in 1977 and remained under his direction
until his retirement in 2011. The main purpose of the WIVU was to contribute to
the study of the linguistic and the literary features of the Hebrew and Aramaic
text of the Old Testament by applying the computer. The main concern was to
build up a database of the Masoretic Text, so that one could search through it
for linguistic features.
The text of the WIVU database is based on the scholarly edition of the Old
Testament, the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS),2 which in turn is based on
a single ancient manuscript, the Leningrad Codex, preserved in St. Petersburg
and dating from 1009 CE. Like other manuscripts of the Old Testament, the
Leningrad Codex has been written mainly in Classical Hebrew and is the prod-
uct of rabbinic tradition. Some isolated words and several chapters are written
in Aramaic.
The database of the WIVU follows the principle of bottom-up analysis. This
means that the procedure starts with the analysis of smaller elements and
builds up to the analysis of larger textual units. First, the text was marked with
boundary markers between morphemes and a description of all the morpho-
logical forms was prepared. Patterns of morphemes are recognized as words.
The information from morpheme level is added to the information at word
level, including parts of speech. Then the phrase and clause levels of the texts
are analysed, and, finally comes the level of clause hierarchy, which deals
with the connections between clauses, compound clauses, and sentences.3
The analysis of the elements in a text is meant to reflect the process of read-
ing. The connections between the various clauses and sentences show how a
reader is guided through a textual composition.
When preparing the text database, the grammatical form is given prior-
ity over the grammatical function. Unlike other computer projects that add
grammatical tags to the elements of the computer text in order to label their
grammatical function, the WIVU lets the computer identify and analyse the
elements of the text on the basis of their composite elements and distribution
and to store the outcome of such analysis. Though the choice for registering
2 K. Elliger, W. Rudolph (eds), Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, Stuttgart 51997.

3 An exhaustive description of the categories used in the WIVU database is found in: E. Talstra,
C.J. Sikkel, Genese und Kategorienentwicklung der WIVU Datenbank: Oder: ein Versuch,
dem Computer Hebrisch beizubringen, in: C.F. Hardmeier et al. (eds), Ad Fontes! Quellen
erfassenlesendeuten. Was ist Computerphilologie? Ansatzpunkte und Methodologie
Instrumente und Praxis (Applicatio, 15), Amsterdam 2000, 3368.
194 Oosting
simple and complex linguistic forms seems to be a longer and more compli-
cated approach, it is also more rewarding, because the outcome of the analyses
can be used in making further calculations. In doing so, an iterative process is
created by which the computer programs learn progressively more about the
grammatical rules in Biblical Hebrew by means of pattern recognition. That
means that the creation of the database itself leads to an increasing knowledge
of Hebrew grammar and syntax.
When analysing the Hebrew text of the BHS, the linguistic features of the text
in its present form are described. Even in those cases where the Masoretic Text
is unclear or may be assumed to be wrong, the features of the text as it stands
are registered. In order to conduct corpus-linguistic research on the Hebrew
text of the Old Testament, it is not necessary first to establish a text that is
linguistically fully correct. The purpose of the WIVU is to make a text database
that is searchable, so that it can be used both for discovering linguistic regulari-
ties and for tracing exceptions to these rules within the Masoretic Text.
The WIVU database is meant to be helpful to various groups of users. First,
it can be used by Semitists for developing and testing linguistic theories, espe-
cially in relation to Classical Hebrew. Furthermore, it can help Bible transla-
tors in rendering similar syntactic constructions in the same way, because it
provides insight into the patterns of elements in the Hebrew text. Finally, the
WIVU database provides an instrument for biblical exegetes to examine gram-
matical, syntactic, and text-syntactic constructions in the Old Testament, in
order to arrive at a better understanding of the text.
3 Building up the WIVU Database (19771987)
The first ten years of the WIVU were used to create a morphologically encoded
database of the Old Testament and to develop programs for analysing the lin-
guistic features of the biblical texts. In order to build up the text database, it
was necessary to make all kinds of decisions concerning the structure of the
database and the storage of linguistic information. The present article will not
discuss at length the founding years of the WIVU, because these have already
been described in two contributions.4 In this paper, we will only touch upon
the most important developments in the first decade of the WIVU.
4 For the research conducted by the WIVU in the first ten years, see: E. Talstra, F. Postma,
OTIKOld Testament in the Computer, in: Hughes (ed.), Bits, Bytes, and Biblical Studies,
5059. An extended version of that report appeared in 1989: idem, On Text and Tools:
A Short History of the Werkgroep Informatica (19771987), in: E. Talstra (ed.), Computer
When the WIVU started, it was the era of mainframe computers with punch
cards and computer tape for storage. After several years, the punch card
machines were replaced by display terminals which were connected to two
Cyber mainframe computers. In the late 1980s, a PC-network became available,
which was used for teaching and text processing purposes; however, due to the
more limited capacities of PCs at that time, the WIVU continued to make use of
the mainframe computers for its research until the early 1990s.
Like comparable computer projects, the WIVU started by imitating exist-
ing tools, such as classified bibliographies, concordances, and word indices. In
order to demonstrate the results of computer-assisted research, the members
of the WIVU published various classified bibliographies and concordances of
particular biblical books. Especially worth mentioning are the concordances
of Exodus and of Isaiah 4055 and 5666 produced for exegetical research
in cooperation with other biblical scholars in the Netherlands and Belgium.5
These concordances not only contain a survey of all lexemes, with their fre-
quency, reference, and context, but also offer illustrations of the possibilities
a text database has for grammatical, syntactic, and literary study of the Bible.
Besides the cooperation with Dutch speaking scholars, the WIVU partici-
pated in the Association Internationale Bible et Informatique (AIBI), an interna-
tional platform for scholars interested in the automated processing of biblical
texts. The aim of the AIBI was to promote the use of computerized tools for text
processing and publishing in biblical studies and to stimulate the exchange of
methods and results among the various research groups. After the first AIBI
meeting in Louvain-la-Neuve in September 1985, AIBI conferences continued
to be held every three years at various places.6
In November 1987, the WIVU celebrated its tenth anniversary with an
international symposium at VU Amsterdam. In the opening address, Talstra
noted that computer applications in biblical research had started because one
Assisted Analysis of Biblical Texts: Papers Read at the Workshop on the Occasion of the Tenth
Anniversary of the Werkgroep Informatica Faculty of Theology Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam,
November, 56, 1987 (Applicatio, 7), Amsterdam 1989, 927.
5 E. Talstra et al., Deuterojesaja: Proeve van automatische tekstverwerking ten dienste van
de exegese, Amsterdam 11980; 21981; F. Postma et al., Exodus: Materials in Automatic Text
Processing, part 1: Morphological, Syntactical and Literary Case Studies, part 2: Concordance,
Amsterdam/Turnhout 1983; J. Bastiaens et al., Trito-Isaiah: An Exhaustive Concordance of Isa.
5666, especially with Reference to Deutero-Isaiah: An Example of Computer-Assisted Research
(Applicatio, 4), Amsterdam 1984.
6 Cf. R.-F. Poswick, From Louvain-la-Neuve (1985) to El Escorial in Madrid (2008): 25 Years
of AIBI in: L. Vegas Montaner et al. (eds), Computer Assisted Research on the Bible in the
21st Century (Bible in Technology, 5), Piscataway 2010, 323.
196 Oosting
intended to produce new tools. The main purpose was to improve the existing
tools, so that biblical scholars had better instruments for doing their exegetical
work. According to Talstra, the WIVU database was meant not only to produce
better tools, but also to reconsider the existing methods of exegesis:
In addition, not contrary, to these existing approaches, the work of our

Werkgroep from the very beginning has been somewhat more analytical,
a little more concerned with the methodology involved in reading and
analysing biblical texts with the help of only formally defined tools.7
In the same month, Talstra defended his doctoral dissertation, written under
the supervision of M.J. Mulder, at Leiden University.8 In his thesis, he dis-
cusses the complementarity of synchronic and diachronic examination of the
Hebrew text based on the text of 1 Kings 8:1461. Talstra comes to the con-
clusion that the two approaches can be considered to be complementary, if
applied in the right order: first the synchronic analysis of the text, then the
diachronic. Giving synchronic examination priority over diachronic examina-
tion has the advantage that it leaves more room for studying the language of
the biblical text as a subject in its own right. The linguistic and literary features
of the text in its final form can be analysed to some degree independently of
assumptions concerning the historical background or the development of the
text. On the basis of the linguistic and literary analyses, the literary unity of
the current composition can be described. In addition, synchronic analysis
will reveal shifts of idiom and unexpected changes in the text. The questions
raised by the synchronic examination concerning the development of the text
are to be answered by the diachronic examination.
Talstras emphasis on the analysis of the linguistic and literary features
of the biblical text in its present form is in line with his work on the WIVU
database. The interpretation of the biblical text should be based as much as
possible on the available textual data and not on assumptions concerning the
historical background or the development of the text.
7 E. Talstra, Introduction: Opening Address and Report, in: Talstra (ed.), Computer Assisted
Analysis of Biblical Texts, 18 (2).
8 E. Talstra, Het gebed van Salomo: Synchronie en Diachronie in de kompositie van I Kon. 8,1461,
Amsterdam 1987. An English translation appeared in 1993: idem, Solomons Prayer: Synchrony
and Diachrony in the Composition of 1 Kings 8,1461 (CBET, 3), Kampen 1993. In 1995, Talstra
was awarded the Professor Willem Mallinckrodt price by Groningen University for the best
theological dissertation written between 1985 and 1995.
4 Publishing the WIVU Database (19881999)
The WIVU database became available to the wider public in the early 1990s.
This goal was reached in collaboration with the Netherlands Bible Society
(NBG) in Haarlem, AND software in Rotterdam, the Kirchliche Hochschule
Bethel in Bielefeld, and Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia.
This collaboration made it possible to develop the program Quest containing a
database of the Hebrew Bible plus retrieval software.9
Quest is a MS-DOS based program. It has a user interface which enables the
user to write queries to search through the WIVU database. In addition, Quest
contains a tool called Menu Query Language (MQL). In this tool, the user is
recursively given choices about the specific layout of his query. This tool was
meant to help a user to write a syntactically correct query.10 After running the
query, the results appeared on the screen in Hebrew font in a list of individual
references or in the context of their occurrence in the Hebrew text. Due to col-
laboration with the Westminster Theological Seminary, which developed a dig-
ital representation of the Leningrad Codex in the 1980s, it was possible to view
the output in the context of the BHS.11 The advantage of using the Westminster
Leningrad Codex in Quest was that exegetes could view the results of their que-
ries in the context of the Hebrew text with which they were familiar.
The collaboration between the NBG and the WIVU was strengthened by the
establishment of a special chair on Bible Translation at VU Amsterdam, spon-
sored by the NBG. As a result, the corpus-linguistic research of the WIVU
was directly linked to the education and training of Bible translators in the
Netherlands.12 The first extraordinary professor of Bible Translation was Jan de
Waard (19881996). He was succeeded by Lourens de Vries as ordinary professor
of Bible Translation in 1997. The master program in Bible translation is aimed
9 E. Talstra et al., Quest: Electronic Concordance Application for the Hebrew Bible, Haarlem
1992.
10 Cf. C.-J. Doedens, Text Databases: One Database Model and Several Retrieval Languages
(Language and Computers, 14), Amsterdam/Atlanta 1994, 2445.
11 Alan Groves of Westminster Theological Seminary joined the team of the WIVU in
1988. For many years he participated in the work of the WIVU, until his untimely death
in February 2007. The work on the Westminster Leningrad Codex is maintained in the
J. Alan Groves Center: http://grovescenter.org/.
12 In addition, Talstra was also personally involved in Bible translation. He participated as
exegetical advisor in the development of the Startbijbel (1994), a simple translation of
large portions of the Bible for children between the ages of 10 to 12. For all his activities
in the field of Bible translation, Talstra was appointed an honorary member of the NBG
in June 2013.
198 Oosting
at training students in biblical languages, general linguistics, information tech-

nology, theology, translation studies and anthropology. One of the options is to
take courses in the computer-assisted analysis of Old Testament texts and to
become acquainted with the work of the WIVU. Some students of Bible trans-
lation became so enthusiastic about the possibilities of the WIVU database
that they decided to continue their study and to write a doctoral dissertation
on the benefit of using the database has for interpreting and translating the
Hebrew text of the Old Testament.
The establishment of the chair of Bible Translation provided a platform for
combining theoretical linguistic insights with the data-oriented approach of
the WIVU. Linguists could use the WIVU database for developing and testing
their theories, especially in relation to Classical Hebrew. The members of the
WIVU, on the other hand, could use general linguistic insights for reflecting on
the categories and the structure of the database in order to exploit its poten-
tial for further research goals and to interact with other approaches and theo-
ries. That the combination of the two disciplines is fruitful was demonstrated
by Janet Dyk in her doctoral dissertation on the functioning of the Hebrew
participle.13 By applying insights from the Government and Binding theory of
syntax, she shows that it is possible to analyse all of the structures in which
participles occur in the Hebrew Bible within one system of syntactic rules.
In November 1991, Talstra was appointed extraordinary professor of Biblical
Studies and Alpha Informatica especially the computer-driven text analysis at
the Faculty of Theology of VU Amsterdam. He delivered his inaugural lecture
in June 1992, a few weeks before the official presentation of the program Quest
at the NBG office in Haarlem. In his inaugural lecture, Talstra emphasized that
the combination of computers and biblical texts does not create a new disci-
pline, but changes the order of exegetical methods.14 The use of computers
offers the possibility of arguing more systematically and independently on
the basis of the language. Thus, the formal aspects of the biblical language are
given priority over literary arguments or assumptions concerning the histori-
cal background or the development of the text. Though Talstra admits that it is
unclear how far we can go with formal text analysis, he demonstrates that this
is the route to be followed.15
13 J.W. Dyk, Participles in Context: A Computer-Assisted Study of Old Testament Hebrew

(Applicatio, 12), Amsterdam 1994.
14 E. Talstra, Schermen met Schrift: De kombinatie van bijbelwetenschappen en computer gel-
lustreerd aan de tekst van Genesis 48, Amsterdam 1992, 1.
15 Several PhD candidates used the WIVU database to demonstrate how the formal text anal-
ysis can contribute to the exegetical discussion. For example, A.L.H.M. van Wieringen,
After finishing the work on the textual data for Quest, the WIVU obtained its
own UNIX computer network. The installation of the network was an important
impetus for a thorough revision of the morphological encoding of the WIVU
database. The outcome of this revision has been described by Arian Verheij in
Grammatica Digitalis I.16 Verheij gives a full description of the morphological
code of the database by presenting all the symbols used in the electronic text
and explaining their meaning. Though in the course of time some adaptations
of the morphological code have been made, the study of Verheij still serves as
an introduction for those interested in the morphologically encoded text of
the WIVU database. Another advantage of having the UNIX network was that it
could be used for hands-on classes, so that master and doctoral students could
work with the programs developed by the WIVU. In doing so, they learned in an
interactive way the effects of the choices made in syntactic analysis.
In August 1994, the fourth international conference on Bible and Computers
was held in Amsterdam and organized by the WIVU with support of the NBG.
The theme of the fourth AIBI meeting was: Desk and Disciple: The Impact of
Computers on Biblical Studies. The guiding question of the conference was:
Is the machine, strictly speaking, only organizing our desk, or is it also

capable of organizing our discipline? In other words, does the computer
help us at our desk by replacing our books (dictionaries, text editions)
and files (notes on cards), or does the computer also rearrange our dis-
cipline by changing or making explicit the order and the type of our
linguistic and literary argumentation?17
Analogies in Isaiah, vol. 1: Computerized Analysis of Parallel Texts between Isaiah 5666
and Isaiah 4066, vol. 2: Computerized Concordance of Analogies between Isaiah
5666 and Isaiah 4066 (Applicatio, 10), Amsterdam 1993; T.L. Walton, Experimenting
with Qohelet: A Text-Linguistic Approach to Reading Qohelet as Discourse (Amsterdamse
Cahiers voor Exegese van de Bijbel en zijn Tradities Supplement Series, 5), Maastricht
2006.
16 A.J.C. Verheij, Grammatica Digitalis I: The Morphological Code in the Werkgroep
Informatica Computer Text of the Hebrew Bible (Applicatio, 11), Amsterdam 1994. Though
there were plans to publish sequels to this study, as the title suggests, further volumes
have not yet appeared.
17 Cf. E. Talstra, Desk and Discipline: The Impact of Computers on Biblical Studies,
in: Proceedings of the Fourth International Colloquium Bible and Computer: Desk and
Discipline: The Impact of Computers on Biblical Studies, Amsterdam, 1518 August 1994,
Paris/Geneva 1995, 2543 (27).
200 Oosting
In the program of the fourth AIBI conference the close relation between the
use of the computer and the methodological consequences clearly shows that
the WIVU was involved in the organization.
Another illustration of the international contacts of the WIVU was the grow-
ing number of doctoral students from abroad. Especially worth mentioning
are the three PhD candidates of Lund University. The subjects of their disserta-
tions show that the WIVU database is used by biblical scholars with different
interests: some use it to examine the relation between linguistic structure and
literary strategy (Cheney), others focus on the connection between corpus-
linguistic research and general linguistics (Winther-Nielsen), while others use
it for analysing Hebrew grammar, especially the Biblical Hebrew verbal system
(Ljungberg).18
Finally, the international orientation of the WIVU can be illustrated by the
collaboration of the WIVU with the German Bible Society (DBG) in Stuttgart,
the University of Greifswald, and Westminster Theological Seminary in
Philadelphia in developing a successor to the program Quest. In November
1998, a conference on Computer philology was held in Greifswald.19 One of
the papers was the lecture by Wolf-Dieter Syring, in which he discusses the
development of the program Quest 2.20 Unlike its precursor Quest 1, Quest 2
was planned to be a Windows-based program. Furthermore, it would contain
not only an extended version of the WIVU database but also the text-critical
apparatus of the BHS, a Hebrew lexicon, some ancient versions, and various
modern translations. By adding various tools to the biblical text, Quest 2 was
intended to be used as a study Bible by a broad public. Unfortunately, the
development of the software for Quest 2 ran into serious problems. As a conse-
quence, the program Quest 2 got no further than a test version and was never
officially published.
18 M.S. Cheney, Dust, Wind and Agony: Character, Speech, and Genre in Job (CBOT, 36), Stock-
holm 1994; N. Winther-Nielsen, A Functional Discourse Grammar of Joshua: A Computer-
Assisted Rhetorical Structure Analysis (CBOT, 40), Stockholm 1995; B.-K. Ljungberg, Verbal
Meaning: A Linguistic, Literary, and Theological Framework for Interpretive Categories of
the Biblical Hebrew Verbal System as Elaborated in the Book of Ruth, Lund 2001.
19 The contributions to the conference were published in: C.F. Hardmeier et al. (eds),
Ad Fontes! Quellen erfassenlesendeuten: Was ist Computerphilologie? Ansatzpunkte
und MethodologieInstrumente und Praxis (Applicatio, 15), Amsterdam 2000.
20 W.-D. Syring, Nutzung grammatischer Textdatenbanken zur Analyse literarischer Texte
mit Quest 2, in: Hardmeier et al. (eds), Ad Fontes!, 15970; see also: idem, Quest 2
Computergesttzte Philologie und Exegese, ZAH 11 (1998), 859.
5 Expanding the WIVU Database (20002009)
An important development in the late 1990s was the cooperation between the
WIVU and the Peshita Institute Leiden (PIL).21 The two research groups joined
forces in the project Computer-Assisted Linguistic Analysis of the Peshita
(CALAP) (19992004), funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific
Research (NWO). The goal of this project was to extend the computer-assisted
analysis to the Peshita, an ancient version of the Old and New Testaments in
Syriac. The Old Testament of the Peshita was probably translated from Hebrew
into Syriac in the 2nd century CE. By extending the WIVU model to the Peshita,
it became possible to analyse Syriac texts by the same method. Furthermore, it
opened the door to compare the Syriac text of the Peshita with the Hebrew
text of the Masoretic tradition. The main focus of the CALAP project was
the comparison of the Syriac translation of 12 Kings in the Peshita with the
Hebrew text of the two biblical books in the Masoretic tradition.22 In addition,
the CALAP model was used for analysing the Syriac version of Ben Sira and for
comparing the Syriac poetry of Ben Sira with the Syriac prose of Kings.23
The comparison of the Syriac and the Hebrew texts of 12 Kings provided
the basis for discussing the relation between a text-critical and text-historical
diachronic analysis of the Hebrew Bible and the Peshita, on the one hand,
and a synchronic linguistic and literary analysis on the other. In the interaction
between the two disciplines, the priority of one discipline over the other plays
an important role.
One could say that corpus linguistics can only start if the corpus to be
investigated and its status from a text-historical perspective has been
established.... However, if it is acknowledged that linguistic phenomena
belong to the essential characteristics of a text, then corpus linguistics is
also an instrument for textual criticism.24
21 The PIL was founded in 1959 when the Leiden Professor P.A.H. de Boer was appointed as
chief editor of the new critical edition of the Old Testament Peshita. Due to the termina-
tion of biblical studies at Leiden University, the institute moved to VU Amsterdam in 2014.
22 The results were published in: J.W. Dyk, P.S.F. van Keulen, Language System, Translation
Technique, and Textual Tradition in the Peshita of Kings (Monographs of the Peshita
Institute Leiden, 19), Leiden 2013.
23 The results appeared in: W.Th. van Peursen, Language and Interpretation in the Syriac
Text of Ben Sira: A Comparative Linguistic and Literary Study (Monographs of the Peshitta
Institute Leiden, 16), Leiden 2007.
24 Cf. K.D. Jenner et al., CALAP: An Interdisciplinary Debate between Textual Criticism,
Textual History and Computer-Assisted Linguistic Analysis, in: P.S.F. van Keulen,
202 Oosting
One of the conclusions of the CALAP project was that both linguistic analysis
and text-critical investigation are of value and have their own contribution.
To cope with the complexity of biblical texts, it is necessary to start with both
disciplines. The rich field of research into ancient versions of the Hebrew Bible
and their contribution to our understanding of the text was embarked upon.
The collaboration between the WIVU and the PIL was continued in the
project Turgama: Computer-Assisted Analysis of the Peshita and the Targum:
Text, Language and Interpretation (20052010), again financed by NWO. In
that project, under supervision of Wido van Peursen, the CALAP model was
applied to other books of the Peshita (Judges, Psalms, Epistle of Baruch, Prayer
of Manasseh),25 to the book of Judges in the Aramaic version, the Targum, and
to a non-biblical text originally written in Syriac.26
In 2002, Talstra succeeded Henk Leene as professor of Old Testament
at VU Amsterdam. Leene had held the ordinary chair of Old Testament and
Talstra the extraordinary chair of Alpha Informatica, but with the new
appointment, Talstra combined the two. His appointment was as profes-
sor of Old Testament with special attention to the application of informa-
tion technology.27 In the same year, Talstra published a study on methods of
exegesis in which he calls attention to the relation between various exegeti-
cal methods. In his view, both classic and modern approaches can contribute
to the exegesis of biblical texts, when applied in the right order.28 The analysis
of the language of the text should precede the analysis of the literary com-
position. Furthermore, the analysis of the text in its final form should have
W.Th. van Peursen (eds), Corpus Linguistics and Textual History: A Computer-Assisted
Interdisciplinary Approach to the Peshita (SSN, 48), Assen 2006, 1344 (41).
25 Cf. A. Gutman, W.Th. van Peursen, The Two Syriac Versions of the Prayer of Manasseh
(Gorgias Eastern Christian Studies, 30), Piscataway 2011.
26 In his doctoral dissertation, Dirk Bakker used the CALAP model for the analyzing the
Syriac text of a manuscript of the 7th century of the Book of the Laws of the Countries. See
D. Bakker, Bardaisans Book of the Laws of the Countries: A Computer-Assisted Linguistic
Analysis, Leiden 2011. By applying the model to a non-biblical text originally written in
Syriac, it became possible to compare the linguistic features of Syriac versions of biblical
texts with those of an original Syriac text.
27 Talstra explicitly mentioned the addition in his inaugural lecture delivered in March
2003: E. Talstra,Zou er ook wetenschap zijn bij de Allerhoogste? (Psalm 73:11), Amsterdam
2003, 28.
28 Cf. E. Talstra, Oude en nieuwe lezers: Een inleiding in de methoden van uitleg van het Oude
Testament (Ontwerpen, 2), Kampen 2002, 1127; cf. also: idem, From the Eclipse to the
Art of Biblical Narrative: Reflections on Methods of Biblical Exegesis, in: E. Noort (ed.),
Perspectives on the Study of the Old Testament and Early Judaism: A Symposium in Honour
of Adam S. van der Woude on the Occasion of His 70th Birthday (VTS, 73), Leiden 1998,
141 (136).
priority over the examination of the development of the text. Finally, questions
concerning the interpretation of the text by former readers should precede
questions concerning the interpretation of the text by current readers. Talstras
arrangement of the exegetical methods shows that he considers linguistic
analysis of the biblical text to be the first task of an exegete. This conclusion
concurs with his efforts to build up a database of the Old Testament which
provides an exegete with an instrument to analyse the linguistic patterns
independently to some degree of the literary composition and the historical
background of the text.
Another important step forward was the publication of the Stuttgart
Electronic Study Bible (SESB).29 After the unsuccessful attempts to develop
Quest 2, the DBG decided to cooperate with Logos Bible Software in Seattle
to produce a study Bible that not only contained resources for studying the
Bible but also provided access to the WIVU database of the Old Testament.
SESB is published by the DBG and the NBG, while the software and the graphi-
cal user interface were developed by Logos Bible Software. Unlike its precursor
Quest 1, SESB is a Windows-based program, which is more user friendly. Instead
of writing queries, a user could click on the icons representing linguistic and
literary features. After the publication of the first edition in 2004, a slightly
revised edition of SESB appeared in 2006.
Though the linguistic information added to the WIVU database increased
through the years, the first two editions of SESB did not contain versions
of the database that provided a fully analysed text of the complete Hebrew
Bible. While the database in Quest 1 provided an analysed text of the complete
Hebrew Bible at word level and a fully analysed text of about 10 percent of
the biblical text, the versions of the database in the first two editions of SESB
provided a fully analysed text of about 50 percent of the Hebrew Bible. Most
narrative books (e.g. Genesis) were prepared up through the level of clause
hierarchy, while many prophetic and poetic books (e.g. Isaiah, Psalms) were
only partly analysed above phrase level.30
Thus far, the WIVU had mainly concentrated on the analysis of narrative
texts and the poetic and prophetic texts had received less attention. As a step
forward, the WIVU embarked on a new project, Linguistic System and Literary
Design: Computer-Assisted Analysis of Non-narrative Texts of the Hebrew Bible
(20052009), financed by NWO. The first goal of this project was to prepare
29 C.F. Hardmeier et al. (eds), Stuttgarter Elektronische Studienbibel, Stuttgart/Haarlem

12004; 22006; 32009.
30 Rightly noted by A.J.C. Verheij in his review of the first edition of SESB, De Stuttgarter
Elektronische Studiebijbel (SESB): Een kennismaking, Met Andere Woorden 24/1 (2005),
3743 (41).
204 Oosting
a fully analysed text of the prophetic books of Isaiah and Jeremiah and the
poetic book of the Psalms to be added to the third edition of SESB.31
The second goal of the project was to examine the syntax of prophetic and
poetic texts more closely. Unlike narrative texts, prophetic and poetic texts fre-
quently make use of literary devices, such as parallelism, chiasmus, inclusion,
and acrostics. In addition, they often use compact language, with unexpected
shifts in person, number, and with participants that are not or not fully iden-
tified. Because in the first years the WIVU had concentrated on the analysis
of narrative texts, the programs designed for the analysis of the higher levels of
the text mainly rely on the syntactic structures used in narrative texts. When
using the same techniques for analysing poetic and prophetic texts, the pro-
cedures bring to light the similarities and differences between the syntactic
structures used in narrative texts and in prophetic and poetic texts.
Though it is to be expected that the Hebrew grammar of prophetic and
poetic texts makes a different use of the language system than do narrative
texts, there are still syntactic patterns to be found in those texts. For that rea-
son, attention must be paid not only to the literary presentation of the text,
but also to the underlying linguistic system.32 Only in doing so, can the coop-
eration of linguistic rules and literary devices in prophetic and poetic texts be
understood correctly.
6 Exploiting the WIVU Database (2010present)
After the publication of the third edition of SESB in 2009, the WIVU looked
for new ways to contribute to Old Testament exegesis and teaching. In a new
project, Bridging Data and Tradition: The Hebrew Bible as a Linguistic Corpus
and as a Literary Composition (20102014), again funded by NWO, the WIVU
sought to connect computational linguistic analysis and philological research
of the Hebrew Bible. There were two main foci in trying to bridge the gap
between linguistic data and the tradition of interpretation.
31 The third edition of SESB, which appeared in 2009, contains a version of the database that
was expanded with a fully analysed text of several biblical books, including the prophetic
books of Isaiah and Jeremiah.
32 The analyses of Jeremiah and Isaiah provided the basis for the doctoral dissertations of
O. Glanz, Understanding Participant-Reference Shifts in the Book of Jeremiah: A Study of
Exegetical Method and Its Consequences for the Interpretation of Referential Incoherence
(SSN, 60), Leiden 2013; and R.H. Oosting, The Role of Zion/Jerusalem in Isaiah 4055:
A Corpus-Linguistic Approach (SSN, 59), Leiden 2013.
The first purpose was to enrich the database further with information on ver-
bal valence patterns and the identification of participants. Valence is the abil-
ity of a verb to combine with other sentence constituents in specific patterns.
Insight into the different combinations of elements occurring with the same
verb helps to recognize the particular meaning of a verb in a given instance.33
Identification of participants concerns whether the identity of personages in
the text can be traced, despite shifts in person, gender, and number and despite
gaps in information. With the help of a computer, one can calculate whether
a marker of a participant in the text most probably refers to one personage or
another.34 The second purpose was to develop instruments which would allow
the WIVU database to be used by a broader group of researchers and teachers.
This is done in cooperation with other research groups, such as the team of
Nicolai Winther-Nielsen in developing the PLOTlearner, a computer program
for learning Biblical Hebrew, available to students worldwide.35
The collaboration with the Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS),
an institute the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) and
NWO, brought the database into a broader playing field. From 2008 onwards,
DANS has hosted a website containing a query interface to the WIVU database
of the Old Testament. The aim of the website is to give researchers the oppor-
tunity of searching the database, and to provide a platform for sharing interest-
ing queries.
In cooperation with DANS and New Testament scholars, the WIVU orga-
nized an international workshop on Biblical Scholarship and Humanities
Computing at the Lorentz Center in Leiden in February 2012. The guiding
question of the conference was: How can we analyse, store, and retrieve lin-
guistic data at the level of syntax and discourse, especially when we know
that texts have been reworked and updated during the long period of their
transmission? The theme of the workshop at the Lorentz Center nicely illus-
trates the relevance of the work of the WIVU in the field of Digital Humanities.36
33 Cf. J.W. Dyk et al., Analysing Valence Patterns in Biblical Hebrew: Theoretical Questions
and Analytical Frameworks, JNSL 40/1 (2014), 4362.
34 Cf. E. Talstra, The Bible as Data and as Literature: The Example of Exod 16, in: H. Ausloos,
B. Lemmelijn (eds), A Pillar of Cloud to Guide: Text-Critical, Redactional, and Linguistic
Perspectives on the Old Testament in Honour of Marc Vervenne (BETL, 269), Leuven 2014,
54967.
35 The PLOTLearner can be downloaded for free from: http://eplot.3bmoodle.dk/.
36 The growing interest of computer linguists in biblical texts was already visible in the
preceding years. Talstra and Van Peursen were involved in the KNAW Colloquium on
E-Philology in October 2008, and Talstra was president of the Scientific Advisory Board
206 Oosting
Though the Hebrew Bible is not a large corpusthe WIVU database consists
of approximately 426,000 individual wordsit is a unique literary artifact pro-
duced by scribes and copyists before the art of printing was invented. As a con-
sequence, it cannot be analysed in the same way as writings produced after the
invention of printing, but requires an approach that integrates general models
of human cognition with the process of specific changes through history.37
In August 2011, Talstra retired as professor of Old Testament, but has
remained involved in the work of the WIVU.38 Talstra was succeeded by Wido
van Peursen as professor of Old Testament and head of the WIVU. Due to his
involvement in the projects CALAP, Turgama, and Bridging Data and Tradition,
Van Peursen was acquainted with the research of the WIVU. At Van Peursens
inaugural address in May 2013, the WIVU was renamed the Eep Talstra Centre
for Bible and Computer (ETCBC).39
The current ETCBC database contains a morphologically fully analysed text
of the complete Hebrew Bible; the analysis of all levels up through text hier-
archy will soon be complete. Though the syntactic analysis is almost finished,
there remains much to do. In the course of time, new insights into Hebrew
grammar and syntax have developed. As yet, however, not all those insights
have been incorporated in the database. Furthermore, the ETCBCs aim is to
make the analysis of the data more consistent. Over the years, the various
people working on the database did not always make the same choices. When
looking more closely at the inconsistencies in the database, it is to be expected
that new insights into Hebrew grammar and syntax will appear. The cases in
of the Virtual Knowledge Studio for the Humanities and Social Sciences (http://virtual
knowledgestudio.nl/) from 2006 to 2010. For an elaborated view on the collaboration
between biblical scholars and computer linguists, see Eep Talstras contribution to the
present volume.
37 E. Talstra, In the Beginning, when Making Copies Used to be an Art...: The Bible among
Poets and Engineers, in: W.Th. van Peursen et al. (eds), Text Comparison and Digital
Creativity: The Production of Presence and Meaning in Digital Text Scholarship, Leiden
2010, 3156 (54); idem, The Hebrew Bible and the Computer: The Poet and the Engineer
in Dialogue, International Journal of Humanities and Arts Computing 1 (2007), 4959.
38 At his farewell in October 2011, Talstra received a Festschrift edited by W.Th. van Peursen
and J.W. Dyk, Tradition and Innovation in Biblical Interpretation: Studies Presented to
Professor Eep Talstra on the Occasion of his Sixty-Fifth Birthday (SSN, 57), Leiden 2011.
This study contains an overview of all doctoral dissertations written under his guidance
(4613), and an overview of his publications up to 2011 (46582).
39 Cf. W.Th. van Peursen, Grip op grillige gegevens: De exegeet als systematicus, Amsterdam
2013, 15. The current web address of the ETCBC is: http://godgeleerdheid.vu.nl/nl/
onderzoek/instituten-en-centra/eep-talstra-centre-for-bible-and-computer/.
which analysts preferred different options are usually the most interesting
ones. Finally, the ETCBC is still working on possibilities to enrich the ETCBC
database with information about verbal valence patterns, clause connections,
and the identification of participants. The development of functional labels
for the various clause connections is relevant for research into the structure
of both narrative and poetic texts,40 but it also helps Bible translators render
similar constructions consistently. As a result, the rendering of conjunctions,
verbal tenses, and verbal valence patterns in Bible translations will be less
ad hoc and more based on comparable constructions in the Hebrew Bible.
Recently, the collaboration of DANS and the ETCBC has been extended
in order to develop a successor to the website hosted by DANS containing a
query interface to the ETCBC database. In order to improve the opportunities
for researchers to search the database and to share interesting queries via the
internet, DANS and the ETCBC joined forces in the project System for Hebrew
Text: Annotations for Queries and Markup (SHEBANQ) (20132014), funded by
CLARIN-NL.41 The aim of the project is not only to enable students, teachers,
and researchers to perform advanced searches on the database, but also to
save and publish significant results as annotations to this resource. After the
first release of the website in July 2014, Dirk Roorda and others are looking for
opportunities to improve and enrich the utility of the website.42
Besides working on the consistency and the accessibility of the database,
the ETCBC also aims at expanding the database with other texts. Within the
framework of the project Does Syntactic Variation reflect Language Change?
Tracing Syntactic Diversity in Biblical Hebrew Texts (20132017), funded by NWO,
under the supervision of Dyk and Van Peursen, the ETCBC database is being
expanded with ancient inscriptions, Dead Sea manuscripts, and Rabbinic
texts in both Hebrew and Aramaic. The purpose of the project is to chart a
broad spectrum of syntactic constructions in specified syntactic environments
throughout biblical and non-biblical texts in order to document linguistic
variation. By analysing syntactic contexts in which a textual variant occurs
and by implementing general linguistic insights into language variation and
change, the project seeks to bring to light whether the texts show a random
use of multiple variants or whether a shift and development in the use of the
possibilities can be traced.
40 Cf. G.J. Kalkman, Verbal Forms in Biblical Hebrew Poetry: Poetical Freedom or Linguistic
System?, Amsterdam 2015.
41 C LARIN-NL stands for Common Language Resources and Technology Infrastructure in
the Netherlands.
42 The web address of the SHEBANQ project is: https://shebanq.ancient-data.org/.
208 Oosting
Finally, the ETCBC works together with various research groups in the field
of Digital Humanities. The approach of the ETCBC fits well into the increasing
use of computer-assisted research in Humanities to uncover patterns, struc-
tures and mechanisms that are present in human artifacts. It is not without
reason that in his inaugural address, Rens Bod mentioned Talstra as one of
the pioneers of Digital Humanities: The Netherlands played a pioneering
role in digital theology, specifically in the computer-assisted study of the Old
Testament (Eep Talstra).43
The database model developed by the ETCBC can be applied both to bibli-
cal and non-biblical texts and to other languages besides Hebrew. The model
is particularly helpful for examining the textual corpora of manually copied
manuscripts. Due to the complex process of their reworking and transmis-
sion, these texts cannot be analysed in the same way as writings produced
after the invention of printing. Recently, a first step has been made in extending
the ETCBC model to Syriac manuscripts from the 2nd and 4th centuries CE by
analysing and comparing texts of Bardaisan of Edessa and Ephrem the Syrian.
Though there has thus far been little funding for Greek projects, the ETCBC has
developed a morphological coding system for Greek, which has been applied
to a limited number of texts.44
7 Conclusions
When describing the history of the WIVU, it becomes clear that its database
and its methodological line of thinking are closely related. This connection is
already visible in its founding years (19771987). The work of the WIVU started
in the 1970s of the previous century, when various computer projects were ini-
tiated. In order to build up the textual database, it was necessary to make many
decisions concerning the structure of the database and the storage of linguis-
tic information. Unlike other projects, the WIVU intended not only to imitate
existing tools, but also to develop the methodology of reading and analysing
biblical texts. At its tenth anniversary, Talstra characterized the position of the
43 R. Bod, Het Einde van de Geesteswetenschappen 1.0, Amsterdam 2012, 11: Nederland had
een voortrekkersrol in de digitale theologie, vooral in de computerondersteunde studie
van het oude testament (Eep Talstra).
44 In her PhD project on the Book of Esther, Staci King intends to incorporate the Alpha text
of Esther and the Septuagint of Esther in order to treat text-historical questions in rela-
tion to the book.
WIVU as follows: the work of our Werkgroep from the very beginning has been
somewhat more analytical, a little more concerned with the methodology in
reading and analysing biblical texts.
The connection between the WIVU database and its methodology contin-
ued to be crucial in the period that the database was published (19881999). In
his inaugural lecture, Talstra emphasized that the combination of computers
and biblical texts does not create a new discipline. Yet, the computer-assisted
analysis of biblical texts changes the order of exegetical methods. The use of
computers offers the possibility of arguing more systematically and indepen-
dently on the basis of language. The publication of Quest 1 and its successor
SESB opened up to exegetes, Bible translators, and Semitists the possibility of
searching through the database for linguistic features. In doing so, they were
able to give the formal aspects of the language of the biblical text priority over
literary arguments or assumptions concerning the historical background or
the development of the text.
The WIVU database was expanded during the years 20002009 through
the systematic analysis of syntactic structures of non-narrative texts in the
Hebrew Bible, and through the joint projects with the PIL in which the WIVU
model was applied to Syriac texts, both biblical and non-biblical. In both cases
the connection between the database and methodology played an important
role. The systematic analysis of linguistic patterns of poetic and prophetic
texts concurs with Talstras study on the methods of exegesis: the analysis
of the biblical language of the text should precede the analysis of its literary
composition. Furthermore, the linguistic analysis of Syriac texts and compari-
son with the original Hebrew text shows that corpus linguistic research does
not have to wait until the original text has been reconstructed, but rather that
corpus linguistics can be used as a tool for textual criticism.
From 2010 onwards, the WIVU database, now named after its founder ETCBC
database, is exploitable for further research and teaching. The SHEBANQ web-
site opens up to students, teachers and researchers worldwide the possibility
of a more ready access to the database. As a result, it is easier to use the ETCBC
database in classes, so that students can learn how to search for linguistic pat-
terns in the Old Testament. Furthermore, the database is still being expanded
with biblical and non-biblical texts in Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac and Greek.
These expansions are not only preparation for research to be done, but are
themselves part of the research itself. Finally, the database is being enriched
with information on verbal valence, clause connections and the identification
of participants. That information is not only relevant for users of the database,
but the examination of verbal valence, clause connections and participants in
the text will also provide new insights into Hebrew grammar and syntax.
chapter 12
Old Testament Exegesis and Biblical Theology

from an Ede/Leuven Evangelical Perspective*
Mart-Jan Paul
1 Introduction
Het Oudtestamentisch Werkgezelschap in Nederland en Belgi has a long tra-

dition of historical critical research into the Old Testament. In the last decade,
the diversity in the methods of research used in this field has increased. In
addition, the question persists as to how neutral the theological study of the
Old Testament can and should be. It highlights the reality that people from
various world-views and cultures are involved in projects to interpret the Bible.
In this article I will introduce two projects, the first regarding the twelve-part
Old Testament Study Bible, published in 20042015, and then the project lead-
ing to the book Theology of the Old Testament, published in 2013. Next to my
role as researcher and author, other professors and teachers of the Christelijke
Hogeschool Ede (CHE) in Ede, the Netherlands, and the Evangelical Theological
Faculty in Leuven, Belgium have been involved in these two projects. In this
article I will point out specifics about the aforementioned publications and
situate these projects in a historical perspective. Lastly, I will share plans for
future publications.
Regarding my habitus in the field of Old Testament, I want to disclose the
following. As a student at the University of Leiden, I have been influenced
by Professor Piet A.H. de Boer in study of the Old Testament. He repeatedly
pointed out the need to go ad fontes and to be critical of any belief or theory.
I learned a lot from him, even though we went down different roads theologi-
cally. He stimulated us as students to become acquainted with Old Testament
Studies and Vetus Testamentum early on. In the 1970s we were also allowed
to attend one of the meetings of the Oudtestamentisch Werkgezelschap,
which he had co-founded in 1939. Professor de Boer retired in 1978 and was
* The locations of schools in the title of this article are named to distinguish our work from
related approaches in Apeldoorn and Kampen, The Netherlands. I am grateful to Johan
Hegeman for the improvement of the English language in this article.

Old Testament Exegesis and Biblical Theology 211
succeeded by Martin J. Mulder, who supervised the writing of my dissertation,

Het Archimedisch punt van de Pentateuchkritiek, concerning the reputed dating
of Deuteronomy during the reign of King Josiah.1
2 Studiebijbel Oude Testament
Shortly after my appointment as professor of Old Testament in the depart-

ment of Godsdienst Pastoraal Werk (Christian Ministries and Church Work)
at the Christelijke Hogeschool Ede, I was asked to chair the publication of a
Dutch series of Bible commentaries on the Old Testament.2 Previously, a series
on the New Testament had been completed (17 volumes, including word stud-
ies). This project with the name Studiebijbel Oude Testament or Study Bible Old
Testament (abbreviated SBOT) began in 2002. The objective was to provide the
reader with as much information as possible from the original Hebrew and
Aramaic texts, without needing to be familiar with these languages. Because
the Hebrew text and an interlinear translation are included, the SBOT approach
differs from ordinary Bible commentaries. The layout is also different from
usual, for the left reading page contains the Hebrew text and interlinear spac-
ing with transliteration and word-for-word translation. Strongs numbers give
the reader the facility to check if words are derived from the same verb and to
check concepts in word studies. This page also contains a compilation of the
most commonly used Dutch Bible translations with emphasis on differences.
This allows the reader to see at a glance whether the information or the trans-
lation is fairly fixed, or whether multiple variations exist.
The explanation is provided on the right reading page in the main text,
where also two or three explanations can be mentioned. The bottom of the
pages contains notes explaining Hebrew words, other possibilities of inter-
pretation and references to literature. Geographic maps and drawings are also
1 Het Archimedisch punt van de Pentateuchkritiek: Een historisch en exegetisch onderzoek

naar de verhouding van Deuteronomium en de reformatie van koning Josia (2 Kon. 2223),
s-Gravenhage 1988. The book contains an English Summary (The Archimedean Point of
Pentateuch Criticism); an expanded German summary came later and appeared in Jahrbuch
fr evangelikale Theologie 20 (2006), 11537. Cf. also King Josiahs Renewal of the Covenant
(2 Kings 2223), in: C. Brekelmans, J. Lust (eds), Pentateuchal and Deuteronomistic Studies
(BETL), Leuven 1990, 26976. For more information visit www.mjpaul.nl.
2 In the intermediate years I contributed six pieces to W.A. VanGemeren (ed.), New International
Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis (NIDOTTE), 5 volumes, Grand Rapids 1997.
212 Paul
included (for example, Ezekiels Temple). The intent is that the reader will be
provided with as much important information as possible in one volume.
2.1 Relation to Other Commentaries

In some respects, the SBOT series is comparable to the Dutch Korte Verklaring
der Heilige Schrift (KV), published by Kok, and also the Prediking van het Oude
Testament (POT), published by Callenbach and later by Kok. The authors of the
KV series also have published the more academic Commentaar Oude Testament,
but the COT series is difficult for readers to understand without knowledge of
Hebrew, Latin and Greek. While the authors of the KV had primarily been cal-
vinists, the authors of both the POT and SBOT were more interdenominational.
Other series that were of influence are:
In Germany: C.F. Keil & F. Delitzsch, Biblischer Kommentar ber das Alte
Testament (second half of the 19th century). In the recent past, these were
the Wuppertaler Studienbibel and the Edition C Kommentar, published by
Brockhaus.
In Britain and America: Tyndale Commentary on the OT, New International
Commentary on the OT and Word Biblical Commentary. The most recent
commentaries include the New American Commentary and the Concordia
Commentary (only several volumes).
In our approach to the Bible, we (SBOT) find ourselves leaning towards the
KV. Our starting-point is found in the Protestant-Christian approach with its
high appreciation for the canonicity and historicity of the Bible. This stand
is known as evangelical in the more classical sense of the word. However,
we distance ourselves from naive Biblicism and fundamentalism and fully
embrace contemporary methods of research. The pursuit of a scientific stan-
dard is reflected by the way we incorporate recent academic literature with
its diversity in methodologies. Regarding points of controversy, we provide an
overview of the history of an explanation so that readers can form their own
opinion. Where necessary, the differences in transmission of the text are also
discussed, often with references to the writings of Qumran and the Septuagint.
SBOT explanations are founded on the canonical form of the Old Testament
and are more synchronic than diachronic in nature. It is possible that ancient
sources were incorporated in various books of the Bible, however we aim to
base our explanation on the available text. In doing so, we pay substantial
attention to archaeological finds, capitalizing on increased understanding of
the world at the time when the texts were written. For example, while scholars
in the 19th century knew little about the period prior to David and Solomon, our
present knowledge of that time is significantly greater. This is especially true
regarding the treaties made between parties and the pertaining legislation. In
such a sense, we try to incorporate the most recent findings. The explanation
we provide of texts also refers to the importance of the history of salvation and
the relationship of the explanation to the New Testament.
2.2 Authors
While most series of Bible commentaries are composed of volumes that are
written by one individual, SBOT is the result of a collaboration involving vari-
ous authors and editors. The concept of a section is overseen and discussed
by an editorial board. The tasks are divided amongst a team of authors. The
submitted contributions are thoroughly discussed and revised before being
accepted for publication. The editorial staff consists of Mart-Jan Paul, Gijs van
den Brink and Hans Bette, the latter two also are involved with organisational
aspects.3 Marco Rotman, Cees Stavleu and Annechiena van Veen-Vrolijk make
up the editorial board. In addition, various authors from Belgium and the
Netherlands contribute.4
2.3 Introductory Articles

SBOT introductory articles provide an overview of the most important posi-
tions regarding authorship, date and structure of a Bible book. In many cases,
we opt for a traditional position, staying as close to the books own statements
about date and authorship as possible. For instance, we consider there to be
insufficient grounds for dating the book of Deuteronomy much later than the
time of Moses. Because such views are debatable, we cover these in detail.
SBOT also devotes an article to the structure of the book of Psalms, portraying
how it has been studied over the past decades (particularly since 1985). This
commentary has added value when compared to older commentaries that
view Psalms as separate units. In Job, Psalms and Song of Songs, the reader is
given a historical synopsis of the explanation in which various approaches are
presented. The prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel are each given
three or four introductory articles, due to the amount of significant topics: the
time in which they lived, the structure of each book, and the books overall
message. The underlying academic discussions are discussed separately. In
3 Hans Bette is chair of the Centrum voor Bijbelonderzoek.

4 E.g. Hans van Nes, former professor and researcher at the ETF.
214 Paul
the book of Jeremiah, for example, the relation between the Hebrew text and
shorter Greek text is discussed. In Ezekiel it means paying attention to Papyrus
967, which has an odd sequence in some chapters.
2.4 Background Articles

Many topics require a more comprehensive approach and are not done jus-
tice by mere comments on a Bible verse. That is why additional articles are
included at the back of the twelve volumes, ranging in number from four to
eleven per volume, with a total of 95 articles. The following is a thematic por-
trayal of types of articles, where the categories somewhat overlap.
a) Various articles concern chronological issues, in order to date the written

history as accurately as possible. For example, the events found in the
Pentateuch are associated with numerous theories which beg discussion,
while more unanimity exists regarding the dates of the kings.
b) All the ancient Near East nations who were repeatedly mentioned in the
Old Testament are treated separately.
c) A good amount of actual archaeological information is provided, in order
to inform the reader of recent discoveries. Some examples are: Genesis
111 and the traditions of the ancient Near East, The Amarna Letters,
The religion of the Canaanites and Archaeological data on King Hezekiah.
d) Difficult issues, such as the route of the exodus from Egypt or the large
numbers mentioned in the book of Numbers are discussed separately.
This happens repeatedly when the history of an exegesis is explained, for
instance as with the many views on The Servant of the Lord (Isaiah
4253), Ezekiels temple vision and The Son of man.
e) Special attention is paid to issues of general significance regarding how
the Old Testament is viewed, such as The origin of the prophetic books,
The Messianic expectation in the Old Testament and The Hebrew
canon of the books of the Bible.
f) Our greatest focus is on Biblical theological topics. A selection of the top-
ics treated: The significance of blessing, The variety of offerings and
their significance, The purpose of genealogies in the Bible, The musical
worship service, The sons of God and Satan, Life after death in the Old
Testament, Disease and healing in the Old Testament, Violence and
retaliation in the Psalms, The retribution of behaviour in Job, Proverbs
and Ecclesiastes, The explanation of the prophecies about the future of
Israel, The new covenant and other covenants with Israel, Mourning in
the Old Testament, God and evil in the Bible and Salvation for the rem-
nant of Israel.
2.5 Influences
A number of individuals, organizations and books have exerted influence on
the concepts chosen and positions taken in SBOT.
In the late 1970s, Thoralf Gilbrant in Norway published a five-volume Bible
Exegesis, containing all sorts of data that would otherwise need to be looked
up in multiple books. The New Testament scholar Gijs van den Brink and the
classicist Henk Courtz applied this Norwegian concept to the Dutch con-
text and designed a more comprehensive series. Nearly every year, between
1986 and 2001, a new part on the New Testament has appeared.5 In 2002, the
Centrum voor Bijbelonderzoek decided that an Old Testament version also
ought to be written, at which point I was approached. Many technical prob-
lems needed to be mastered in order to produce a version in book form that
allowed for the inclusion of Hebrew text, interlinear translation, compilations
of Bible translations, explanations and commentary. Due to the altered market
and in order to keep the sale price acceptable, a twelve-volume series in a more
compact format than the series on the New Testament was chosen. Since 2004,
the considerable volumes (averaging 1000 pages per volume) have been com-
piled and published in-house in order to keep costs as low as possible. Due to
the rise of the internet and the gradual decrease in the sale of books, a digital
medium was also created. Since 2009, subscribers have access to an internet
version, which is constantly being expanded and updated (formerly this would
have only been possible by reprinting the volumes).
Of the organizations that have exerted influence on the content of the
commentary, it is especially important to mention the Tyndale Fellowship at
Cambridge in England.6 I have been attending their conferences for a number
of decades. While my study in Leiden focused heavily on the prevailing German
exegetical methods, I became acquainted with the international Evangelical
approaches via Cambridge.7 The extensive library and my acquaintance with
5 In total, 17 parts on the New Testament: one part Introduction and synopsis, nine parts with
explanation, six parts with word studies and one part personal names and index. The vol-
umes were first published in Soest, from 1999 on by the Centrum voor Bijbelonderzoek in
Veenendaal (in Doorn since late 2014). For more information visit www.studiebijbel.nl.
6 The complete name is The Tyndale Fellowship for Biblical and Theological Research. The
organization was founded in 1944 and is now part of the Universities and Colleges Christian
Fellowship. Hundreds of theologians who work elsewhere have embraced Cambridge
as a place to study and exchange ideas. See T.A. Noble, Research for the Academy and the
Church: Tyndale House and Fellowship, the First Sixty Years, Leicester 2006. Cf. http://tyndale
fellowship.com.
7 Many publications are issued by International Varsity Press in Leicester in England and in
Downers Grove, Illinois in the U.SA. E.g. J.D. Douglas (ed.), The Illustrated Bible Dictionary,
216 Paul
professors such as Alan Millard, Kenneth Kitchen, Gordon Wenham, Gordon

McConville and others have been indispensable, as demonstrated in my dis-
sertation completed in 1988.8
Since then, I gained personal contacts with colleagues at the Reformed uni-
versities in Kampen and Apeldoorn, although previously I had been familiar
with their writings.9 The network of contacts at the Evangelical Theological
Faculty in Leuven has shown itself to be conducive since early 2002.
2.6 Historicity
The classic traditions of Judaism and Christianity are based on the historicity
of the events as described in the Old Testament. Criticised since the enlighten-
ment in Western Europe, this led to a radical reconstruction of the history. This
generated beliefs that Deuteronomy could not have been written in the time of
Mosesmore probable was the time of King Josiah. Such an idea is held to be
a pia fraus, a pious fraud, given the writings are attributed to the authorship of
Moses. The Graf-Kuenen-Wellhausen hypothesis argued that the Pentateuch
was made up of four basic writings: the Jahwist, the Elohist, the Deuteronomist
and the Priestly code. Whereas the first two sources are dated from the time
of the first Kings (10th9th centuries BC), most of Deuteronomy is dated back
to the time of Josiah (c. 622 BC) and the Priestly code was considered as written
in the time of the Babylonian captivity (6th century BC). The consequences of
this proposition are that the origins of the people of Israel are held to be largely
unknown and that the prophets primarily were religious innovators with new
ideas. Moreover, the conjecture is that in later times the authors and editors of
the Bible books would have projected various concepts such as the Covenant
relationship and the extensive religious practices back to the time of Moses.
Adherence to this thorough reconstruction of history continues to the pres-
ent day, although numerous adjustments and variations have developed since.
3 volumes, 1980. Another influential publication was the comprehensive work by the
American R.K. Harrison, Introduction to the Old Testament, 1969.
8 Later publications include: K.A. Kitchen, On the Reliability of the Old Testament, Grand Rapids
2003. A.R. Millard et al. (eds), Faith, Tradition, and History: Old Testament Historiography in
Its Near Eastern Context, Winona Lake 1994. G.J. Wenham, Genesis 115 (WBC), Waco 1987;
Genesis 1650, 1994. J.G. McConville, Deuteronomy (Apollos OT Commentary), Leicester 2002.
A lecture that I held in Cambridge is published as Genesis 4:1724: a case-study in eisegesis,
Tyndale Bulletin 47 (1996), 14362.
9 See the contribution by Peels and Van Bekkum in this volume. Cf. Zephaniah, Prophet of the
Day of YHWH, in H.G.L. Peels, S.D. Snyman (eds), The Lion Has Roared: Theological Themes in
the Prophetic Literature of the Old Testament, Eugene 2012, 8795. There are also many con-
tacts via the journal Theologia Reformata.
In the meantime, various archaeological finds show that the laws and cove-
nants may be much older than originally thought. It is no longer a problem to
date these prior to the time of the Kings, considering it is becoming increas-
ingly clear that advanced civilizations already existed in the third and second
millennia BC, well before Israels existence.
The question is legitimate whether it is of importance for the validity of the
Biblical message, as to whether the events indeed took place as portrayed. For
many researchers, this is not necessary. Quite notably, a strong literary approach
has formed over the last few decades that places more emphasis on the nar-
rative strategy and literary relationships of the OT, without certain historical
questions coming into play. In this situation a collection of articles appeared
under the title: Do Historical Matters Matter to Faith? A Critical Appraisal of
Modern and Postmodern Approaches to Scripture.10 Its authors defend the clas-
sic views and dates by using various Biblical theological findings and referenc-
ing scientific theories and archaeological arguments.11
The series SBOT finds itself along this line as well. The main reason for this
position is our taking into account the Bibles own witness, whereby earlier
events are repeatedly referred back to and prove to be fundamental for later
developments. Our stand is that the Bible is a historical book recording Gods
dealings with people during the course of history. The result is that the main-
line of Genesis to Joshua is accepted as historical. This is the starting-point
of the discussion, whereby our explanations continually demonstrate how we
recognize limits in our own perception and understanding.
2.7 Canonicity
The Hebrew canon is a collection of sacred books that grew slowly and
over time has been closed. Many schools of thought in the study of the Old
Testament are based upon the assumption that writings in the canon were
edited for a long time before ultimately receiving canonical status. Yet, there
is evidence that books in the canon gained official authority before it was
dubbed a canon, or a closed group of writings. For instance, Deuteronomy is
constructed according to the form of old eastern vassal treaties. Regulations
of invariance applied to similar types of agreements (Deut. 4:2; 13:1).12 The Old
10 J.K. Hoffmeier, D.R. Magary (eds), Wheaton 2012.

11 Cf. A.R. Millard et al., Faith, Tradition, and History, and V. Long et al. (eds), Windows into
Old Testament History: Evidence, Argument, and the Crisis of Biblical Israel, Grand Rapids
2002.
12 Regulations against changes are stated in texts such as the treaty of Esarhaddon and in the
Sfire-texts. Cf. the epilogue to the Code of Hammurabi (ANET, 17879). These regulations
218 Paul
Testament mentions on several occasions that writings were stored away in

the sanctuary. Preserving sacred writings in a holy place was also an Egyptian,
Greek and Roman custom. A book could no longer be amended once accepted
as a holy book and deposited in the Temple.13
The historian Herodotus (5th century BC) mentions that Onomatrikos was
punished because he had changed the prediction of a prophet.14 In Against
Apion, Flavius Josephus points to the work of the Egyptians, Babylonians and
Phoenicians, who for many centuries carefully recorded their own history.
According to him, Jewish scribes kept careful historical records. Their reports
have been handed down with scrupulous accuracy. In this way, the names
of the high priests and their succession had been preserved for two thou-
sand years.15
Josephus also claims that for centuries, out of respect for the Scriptures, no
Jew had ventured to add, change or delete something in it. He would rather
risk prison, torture and martyrdom than amend laws and related writings.16
Naturally, Josephus has his own motives for emphasizing this, but it seems
plausible that his statements are based on accepted practices.
Research regarding pseudepigraphythat is publishing writings in the
name of another person from the past in ancient Jewish Greek and Roman
worldsshows that this practice was accepted if the non-binding character
of the book was clear, or when no official interests were involved. In all other
cases, the authors of counterfeits were severely persecuted.17
These examples show that ancient scribes adhered to a correct representa-
tion of events and that the precise authorship of statements in various situa-
tions was considered of great importance. The SBOT builds upon this practice
by allowing the text to speak for itself, emphasizing the final writings, not the
history of its origin.
are of importance for the preservation of the texts. Apparently people in that time were
already aware that the canonical literature must not be tampered with.
13 Beckwith points out that this collection was so esteemed that it was not permitted to
copy or submit new transcripts. See R.T. Beckwith, The Old Testament Canon of the New
Testament Church and its Background in Early Judaism, Grand Rapids 1985, 8086.
14 Herodotus, Histories, VII, 6.
15 Against Apion, I, 89, 29, 36.
16 Against Apion, I, 42f.; II, 219.
17 Cf. N. Brox (ed.), Pseudepigraphie in der heidnischen en jdisch-christlichen Antike,
Darmstadt 1977.
2.8 The Fulfilment of Prophecies

Most prophets in the Old Testament not only noted what transpired in their
time (in history), but also spoke words about the future, repeatedly announc-
ing the coming of Gods intervention in this world. How does SBOT approach
the fulfilment of prophecies?
The academic discussion on prophecy fulfilment during the last two centu-
ries has often stressed that the prophets mainly interpreted their own time and
thereby used statements about the future to influence their contemporaries. It
is conjectured that some parts of the prophetic writings were even added later,
under the assumption that true prophecy could not be possible.
Notwithstanding, SBOT is based on the following four conceptual
approaches:
1) Historical explanation: fulfilment in the contemporary history of the

prophet. Fulfilment is often the case within a few years or a few decades.
For Ezekiel, who lived during the Babylonian captivity, it meant the
return from being dispersed. It is a characteristic of prophecy that mat-
ters are communicated in advance (Isa. 41:2229), thus enabling the truth
of the prophecy to be tested (Deut. 18:2122).
2) Spiritual-typological explanation: fulfilment in the Christian church.
This approach can be characterized as spiritual-typological, because the
spiritual principles are sought, as are the typological similarities between
Israel (Jerusalem, etc.) and the Church. This approach is continually
put into practice by Christian tradition and finds its origins in the New
Testament. The question remains as to whether this is a complete fulfil-
ment of the original prophecy.
3) Concrete earthly explanation: the fulfilment of the promises to Israel in
a distant future on earth. It is possible to use the expression concrete
earthly eschatology. This approach is in line with the concrete expecta-
tion that the Jewish people still have today. Even after 70 AD, when the
city and temple were destroyed, Jerusalem and the temple remained
the focus of the Jews. After the devastation of World War II, in 1948 the
State of Israel was founded and many see this as a partial fulfilment of
Old Testament promises.18
4) In conclusion, there are eschatological prophecies that relate to eternity.
Certain prophecies concerning the day of YHWH and cosmic changes are
18 This approach fits with Hebrew Christians (19th century) and Messianic Jews (20th cen-
tury). Cf. the overview of positions in A.G. Fruchtenbaum, Israelology: The Missing Link in
Systematic Theology, San Antonio, rev. ed. 2001.
220 Paul
related to this. There will be a new heaven and a new earth in which righ-
teousness dwells. The prophets speak more than once about a real and
glorious future that seems to have a definitive character.
Finally, there are many other important aspects regarding the approaches of
prophecy, such as the degree of imagery and the conditional aspect of the mes-
sage (as seen in the book of Jonah), but these points are less specific than the
points mentioned above.
2.9 Publications and Plans for the Future

Explaining the Bible over the years has generated new insights for publications19
and future projects. Working with the digital edition will allow further
review and expansion rather easily. Word studies (as is already done in the
explanation of the New Testament) with priority given to important theologi-
cal concepts can be added straightforward. The digital version could also suit-
ably be combined with e-learning through distance education, now that this
form of education has been applied at the Christelijke Hogeschool Ede.20
The SBOT will also be translated into Spanish due to the relatively little
exegetical material available in that language. The Spanish edition of the New
Testament explanation has already been translated. Digital publication has
been chosen due to the cost and due to the cultural interaction that will allow
the commentary to better reach its target groups.21
3 Theology of the Old Testament
The Evangelical Theological Faculty (ETF) in Leuven has a venerable tradition

as a Bible school, yet in recent decades the focus has been on higher academic
education and research. I have been involved in developing its curriculum
19 A few examples of publications are: Mart-Jan Paul, Soziale Gewohnheiten und Bruche
der Erzvterzeit, in: P. van der Veen, U. Zerbst, Volk ohne Ahnen? Auf den Spuren der
Erzvter und des frhen Israel, Holzgerlingen 2013, 232236; The Identity of the Angel
of the LORD, Hiphil 4 (2007) http://www.see-j.net/index.php/hiphil/issue/view/5;
Behemoth and Leviathan in the Book of Job, Journal of Creation 24 (2010), 94100;
The Disturbing Experience of Eliphaz in Job 4: Divine or Demonic Manifestation?, in
George J. Brooke, Pierre Van Hecke (eds), Goochem in Mokum, Wisdom in Amsterdam (OTS
68), Leiden 2016, 10820. Cees Stavleu supervised by Klaas Spronk, is writing his disserta-
tion about the laws regarding clean and unclean animals.
20 The CHE has a partnership with the NET Foundation (www.netfoundation.nl).
21 For the Spanish edition see www.BiblicaDeEstudio.org.
since 2002 and have worked closely with Hendrik Koorevaar over the past
years.22 In 2013 Koorevaar and I edited and authored Theologie van het Oude
Testament23 (abbreviated TOT), the subtitle being De blijvende boodschap
van de Hebreeuwse Bijbel (The continuing message of the Hebrew Bible). The
volume will also be published in German in 2016.24
Other coauthors of TOT are teachers and graduates of the ETF: Walter
Hillbrands, Herbert Klement, Geert W. Lorein, W. Creighton Marlowe, Siegbert
Riecker, Eveline van Staalduine-Sulman and Julius Steinberg.
The book has four parts: 1) Introduction: history and methodology; 2) A liter-
ary-theological approach; 3) A thematic-theological approach; and 4) Moving
from the Old to the New Testament. I will treat each part separately.
3.1 Introduction: History and Methodology

A great diversity exists in structuring the theology of the Old Testament: there
are approaches that work with themes, others that pay attention to the histori-
cal development of the writings, while others again approach it as a literary
work. A difficulty with the first approach is that the coherence of the Bible
is compromised. The second approach places more emphasis on the process
than on the end result, even though that has been accepted in synagogues and
churches. The third approach is based on the canonical end result, but is often
seen as a final stage in writing with the drawback that the historical dimension
of the Old Testament is discussed less frequently.
We can observe a tension between the descriptive method of collecting data
on themes and the normative statements found in Scripture. Within this ten-
sion, we are not required to choose just one approach, but a dual combina-
tion, such as first looking historically and then thematically (E. Sellin, E. Knig
and O. Procksch), or first looking canonically and then thematically (G. Hasel,
B.S. Childs and R. Rendtorff).
In TOT we have chosen a combination of the literary and the thematic
approach. We linked literary approach to the idea that regards the canon as
the end result to take into account the historical nature of the Old Testament.
Following the literary approach we have assumed the order of the books of the
Bible in the Hebrew canon, as specified by the order indicated in the Talmud
22 Koorevaar obtained his doctorate in Brussels under the supervision of H. Jagersma

with his dissertation De opbouw van het boek Jozua. For more information visit https://
nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hendrik_Koorevaar.
23 Zoetermeer 2013; third edition in 2015.
24 Theologie des Alten Testaments: Die bleibende Botschaft der hebrischen Bibel, Giessen,
expected in 2016.
222 Paul
(Baba Bathra 15). To gain a more detailed format we applied our own terminol-
ogy: the Priest Canon (Genesis-Kings), the Prophet Canon (Jeremiah-Malachi)
and the Wisdom Canon (Ruth-Chronicles).
In his Theology of the Old Testament, Rolf Rendtorff interestingly observes
that most subjects in the canon are already present in the Pentateuch.25 Upon
closer inspection, it becomes clear that most of the subjects have already been
identified in the book of Genesis alone. This led us to the idea that the book
of Genesis could be used as the foundation for developing a theology of the
Old Testament. Hence, we detected six main themes in the book of Genesis,
whereby all other messages in the Old Testament can be linked. The first three
topics are determined by their presence and sequence in Gen. 13. The last
three topics are found within the first four chapters, and receive special atten-
tion later in Genesis.
1. The creation by God (1:12:3).

2. The ways of God: His will, commandments and laws (2:425).
3. Sin: origins and destruction, healing and victory (3:124).
4. The promise of the womans seed and the calling of Abraham to be a
blessing for all people (3:1415; 12:13).
5. Worship for God and JHWH dwelling in Israels midst (4:34; 9:2427).
6. The possession of the earth and the land of Canaan (13; 12:7; 13:14).26
Our topical approach has not been used previously and we hope that this
unique variation will be included in further discussions concerning the frame-
work for a theology of the Old Testament.
25 R. Rendtorff, Theologie des Alten Testaments, Band 2 Thematische Entfaltung, Neukirchen-
Vluyn 2001, 4.
26 Wisdom is not a theological subject but a specific approach intended to aid with life in
general. Prophecy is also not a theological subject but a way to approach life. The six
themes can also be applied to the prophets. In his detailed review W. van Peursen pro-
vides an alternative, to choose being a foreigner instead of earth and Canaan. In our
opinion, designation of this subject does not remain applicable to the entire history of
Israel. See Van Peursen, De blijvende boodschap van de Hebreeuwse Bijbel opnieuw ver-
woord: Kanttekeningen bij de Theologie van het Oude Testament van Hendrik Koorevaar
en Mart-Jan Paul, in: Nederlands Theologisch Tijdschrift 68 (2014), 194210. Cf. also Guus
Labooy, Theologie van het Oude Testament en historisch denken, Kerk en Theologie 65
(2014), 24973.
3.2 A Literary-Theological Approach

The second part involves a discussion about the entire structure of the Old
Testament canon. One proposition is that after the emergence of the indi-
vidual books, more substantial links between the books were made. It has
often been pointed out that the concept Torah has emerged on the princi-
pal parts of the tripartite Hebrew canon. Final editors may have intentionally
added texts containing the word Torah in the seams. Their aim would have
been to connect and subordinate the second part of the canon of the prophets
(Neviim) and the third part of the canon with the writings (Ketuvim) with
the first part, the Torah. In this way, all parts would become connected by a
common theme. The texts used to support this claim are Deut. 34, Josh. 1:19,
Mal. 3:2224 and Ps. 1.
Koorevaar used these observations to develop his exile-and-return-model.27
Following this model, our book presents the opening and closing of the three
part canon:
Priest Canon: arrival in Gen. 1:12:3, exile in 2 Kgs 25:2730.

Prophet Canon: impending exile in Jer. 1:119, likewise in Mal. 3:2224.
Wisdom Canon: voluntary exile in Ruth 1:15, voluntary return in 2 Chr.
36:2223.
The Priest Canon begins with the arrival of man on earth and ends with the
exile. The Prophet canon begins with the threat of exile and also ends with
the threat of exile. The Wisdom Canon starts with a voluntary exile and ends
with a call for a voluntary return. In this model, the Priest Canon emphasizes
the historical factual aspect, the Prophet Canon emphasizes the impending
prophetic threat and the Wisdom Canon emphasizes the voluntary autonomy
aspect. An example of the latter is found in the book of Ruth, where Naomi
had no obligation to return to the land, but doing so serves as an illustration of
a voluntary return at the beginning of the Wisdom Canon. Her return ended
in a blessing, even a world-class blessing: David and his messianic kingship.
Also, the call to return at the end of Chronicles, the end of the Wisdom Canon,
was foreshadowed by the encouraging example found at the beginning of
this canon.
27 Koorevaar, The Torah Model as the Original Macrostructure of the Hebrew Canon: A
Critical Evaluation, ZAW 122 (2010), 6480; The Book of Joshua and the Hypothesis of
the Deuteronomistic History: Indications for an Open Serial Model, in: E. Noort (ed.), The
Book of Joshua (BETL), Leuven 2012, 21932; The Exile and Return Model: Proposal for
the Original Macrostructure of the Hebrew Canon, JETS 57 (2014), 50112.
224 Paul
Without going into the pros and cons of this model, it is apparent that by
keeping an eye on the structure of the canon, more theological aspects are
noticed than if we only looked at individual Bible books.
3.3 A Thematic-Theological Approach

This part is treated most substantially in TOT. For an elucidation of the six
chapters (510), I have chosen Worship for God and YHWH dwelling in Israels
midst (chapter 9) as an example, written by Eveline van Staalduine-Sulman.28
In her treatment, the book of Genesis clearly demonstrates aspects of wor-
ship. When Noah speaks about the future of his sons in Gen. 9:6, he probably
means that God (not Japheth) will live in the tents of Shem. In that case, even
in this book of the Bible, it points to God as dwelling in Israels midst in the
future.29 The article continues to treat the aforementioned tripartite division
of the Old Testament and contains the following structure:
The Priest Canon

Genesis: walking with God
Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers: holiness
Deuteronomy: one in God, place and society
Joshua-Judges: one God
Samuel-Kings: fixed temple practices
The Prophet Canon

Jeremiah, Hosea, Joel and Amos: one God
Ezekiel: for the sake of Gods holy name
Isaiah, Micah and Zephaniah: treat another justly
Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi: God first
The Wisdom Canon

Psalms: experiencing the liturgy
Wisdom: outside the practice of worship
Daniel, Ezra and Nehemiah: confession and restoration
Chronicles: worship restored as a standard
28 She studied at the ETF and at other schools and is now connected to the VU in Amsterdam.
29 The usual explanation is that Japheth will live in the tents of Shem. The two different
interpretations are already found in Midrash Genesis Rabba 36:8.
3.4 Moving from the Old to the New Testament

While many theologies of the Old Testament could be placed into the afore-
mentioned approach, we have added two chapters about the later periods. The
first chapter relates to the intertestamental period. Geert Lorein describes the
developments between the Old and New Testament, paying close attention
to the many non-canonical writings. This is followed by the chapter I wrote
entitled The New Testament as a continuation and completion of the Old
Testament. In doing so, we return to crucial themes in TOT.
The Christian Church has always accepted the holy books of Israel as the
first part of Gods revelation. Over time, the term Old Testament emerged
to denote the collection of Israels writings and the term New Testament
was coined for books written later concerning Jesus Christ. The relationship
between the two parts of the Bible has never been easy and various approaches
regarding this relationship have been proposed over the centuries. Therefore
we discuss how a literary approach to the theology of the Old Testament con-
tributes to the overall Biblical theology that also includes the New Testament.
The final chapter also treats the formal structure of the canon (the order
of the books of MatthewRevelation). This is done in accordance with the
structural canonical approach as presented in Chapter 2 of TOT. The close
of this chapter consists of an inventory regarding how the six theological
themes, which are covered in chapters 5 through 10, are dealt with in the New
Testament.
Various statements found in the New Testament confirm what can be found
in the Old Testament, namely that Gods plan exists, gradually unfolds and after
promises regarding it have been made, that these are (partially) brought to ful-
filment or remain open-ended for the future. This view regarding the unfolding
of Gods plan of salvation differs from the purely religious historical approach.
We chose to consider the OT and NT as one unit in which Gods revela-
tion becomes increasingly richer and his promises continue to unfold. The
New Testament is the crowning glory of the Old Testament and so also of
Old Testament theology, both with regard to literary structure and content.
Therefore, we conclude TOT by expounding upon certain lines of thought
regarding the connection between the Old and New Testaments.
4 Two More Projects of the ETF
The aforementioned project was a result of the cooperation between contribu-

tors associated with the Department of Old Testament at the ETF. For the com-
ing years, two new projects have been started in this Department.
226 Paul
One project concerns the forming of a collection on the meaning of the

land in the Old Testament. Lectures from symposia are gathered for this col-
lection. The various meanings of the land of Canaan in the books of the Bible
are explored, as well as the history of the explanation and its contemporary
relevance are discussed. The latter is done via contributions such as: The
Function/Meaning of the Land in Rabbinic Tradition and Belief, Aspects of
Islamic Perspectives on the Land of Palestine and The Land and the Zionist
State of Israel. The publication will be edited by Hendrik Koorevaar and Mart-
Jan Paul under the title The Earth and the Land: Studies about the Value of the
Land of Israel in the Old Testament and Beyond.30
Another project concerns a new publication: an introduction to the Old
Testament in German. Several theological institutes (as in Basel and Giessen)
desire a German introduction to the Old Testament from an evangelical per-
spective, because current publications are written from other points of view.
Hence, in the coming years the project: Das Zeugnis des Alten Testaments: Eine
internationale Einleitung will be undertaken by the editorial board consist-
ing of Hendrik Koorevaar and Walter Hilbrands.31 Due to the international
nature of the team of proposed authors, publications in other languages are
also being considered.
The volume in this German language project is likely to be around 1200 pages,
and will be published in one or more parts. The structure will be: 1) a general
introduction; 2) an introduction to the three parts of the canon; 3) a spe-
cial introduction to the books of the Old Testament.
The theological premises of this volume are classical Protestant, but not
fundamentalist and also not liberal evangelical. The volume ought to provide
a broad overview of the current approaches and schools of thought regard-
ing the Old Testament. The selected approach can be described as historical-
canonical. The term historical indicates that the content of the volume is
based on historical and chronological pointers found in the text. The term
canonical denotes that the current form of the canon affects the explanation.
While this previously would lead to a form of dichotomy, as with authors such
as B.S. Childs (whereby the canonical text form is seen as the end of a lengthy
operation), our policy attempts to bring these approaches closer together. Our
canonical approach also means that literary coherence in smaller and larger
degrees must be investigated.
30 The publication was accepted in the series Edition Israelogie by the publisher Peter Lang
in Frankfurt am Main. It is likely to be released in 2017.
31 Hilbrands is Dean at the Freie Theologisch Hochschule in Giessen (D) and obtained his
PhD in Kampen under Cees Houtman on the history of the exegesis of Genesis 38.
Members of the editorial staff are: Geert Lorein (ETF), Siegbert Riecker
(Bibelschule Kirchberg), Mart-Jan Paul (ETF, CHE) and Julius Steinberg
(Theological Hochschule Ewersbach). I personally intend to contribute in
relation to the Dutch publications and in the processing of the introductory
articles drawn from the aforementioned SBOT.
Now that Professor Hendrik Koorevaar has retired, Markus Zehnder has
been appointed as his successor at the ETF.32 He taught at the University of
Basel and at Ansgar Theological Seminary in Norway and his publications
focus strongly on the research of words and concepts33 thus contributing
another and different accent from that of his predecessor.
Through these new projects, international collaboration will continue in
conjunction with ETFs wide network of contacts.
32 Cf. my contribution The Translation of Hebel in Ecclesiastes, in S. Riecker, J. Steinberg

(eds), Das Heilige Herz der Tora: Festschrift fr Hendrik Koorevaar zu seinem 65. Geburtstag,
Aachen 2011, 285301.
33 M. Zehnder, Wegmethaphorik im Alten Testament: Eine semantische Untersuchung der
alttestamentlichen und altorientlischen Weg-Lexeme unter besonderer Bercksichtigung
ihrer metaphorischen Verwendung (BZAW, 268), Berlin 1999. Idem, Umgang mit Fremden
in Israel und Assyrien: Ein Beitrag zur Anthropologie des Fremden im Licht antiker Quellen
(BWANT, 9. Folge, Heft 8), Stuttgart 2005.
Chapter 13
Data, Knowledge and Tradition: Biblical

Scholarship and the Humanities 2.0: Exodus 19
as a Laboratory Text
Eep Talstra
1 Introduction
The topic I want to address in this paper is the question of what it means for the
discipline of Old Testament scholarship to be part of the study of Humanities
in general. This question is relevant in the context of the actual discussions
about academic biblical research and the role of the Bible in churches and
theology, since it appears that two somewhat contradictory movements have
been developing.
On the one hand, one can observe that existing paradigms of defining the
task of biblical scholarship in a setting of academic theology are in the pro-
cess of losing credibility. Biblical research as a necessary critical voice within
Christian theology seems to have become less urgent, since the general theo-
logical debate is moving from the arena of historical versus systematic theol-
ogy into the arena of Biblical tradition or Christian theology versus present
day religions. Hermeneutics and religious views on the meaning of human life
are becoming the major themes, rather than a focus on the history of Judaism
or Christianity and the texts documenting biblical tradition. An illustration of
this movement can be found in comments made by John Collins: in 1990 his
article, Is a Critical Biblical Theology Possible?,1 focused on the classical ten-
sions between critical scholarship and biblical theology, whereas later, in 2005,
in his chapter on postmodern biblical scholarship, Is a Postmodern Biblical
Theology Possible?, he discusses biblical scholarship in the context of todays
western culture. He writes:
1 J.J. Collins, Is a Critical Biblical Theology Possible?, in: W.H. Propp et al. (eds), The Hebrew
Bible and its Interpreters, Indiana, 1990, 117.

Data, Knowledge and Tradition 229
To a great degree, the old paradigms in biblical studies were theological,

tacitly if not explicitly. It is not surprising, then, that the impact of their
collapse should be felt especially in the subfield of biblical theology.2
Are we thus experiencing the ending of an era? The phrase expresses some
weariness; yet, it also raises the questions that have been addressed during past
years discussions at the Oudtestamentisch Werkgezelschap. Should biblical
scholars leave their historical critical focus behind and join the hermeneutical
turn in theology and the study of religions? Should biblical scholarship become
actively engaged in actual debates about society and religion? In any case, tak-
ing part in public debate and bringing experience with classical authoritative
texts is not a bad idea. After all, that kind of input is completely absent there.3
However, the movement from theology to social and religious studies is not the
only shift that can be observed today.
There is also another shift on its way, i.e. from science, especially from
the domain of ICT, to humanities, theology included. Researchers working
at the boundary area of computer technology and culture show a growing
interest in the great variety of cultural artefacts, such as painting, music, lit-
erary texts. This is quite new. Computer linguists of the seventies and eight-
ies did not, in my experience, exhibit much interest in the computer-assisted
analysis of ancient texts such as the Bible since, for their statistical linguistic
research, our corpora were considered too small and too diverse due to their
long period of transmission by manuscripts. However, the next generation of
researchers in ICT appears to be intrigued by the historical complexity and
the semantic fuzziness of texts dating from far before the invention of print-
ing. These ancient cultural artefacts are now considered an interesting chal-
lenge for computer-assisted analysis and cognition: can one detect patterns
in cultural objects, such as music or ancient texts? Or is every cultural artefact
unique, requiring an individual interpretation?
This development presents biblical scholars with a new opportunity to con-
centrate more on the texts as we have received them (i.e. as part of a long tradi-
tion) and to bring biblical and other ancients texts, together with a large variety
of historical critical methods of reading, to a new common field of research:
2 J.J. Collins, The Bible after Babel. Historical Criticism in a Postmodern Age, Grand Rapids,
2005, 131.
3 See the complete absence of biblical scholarship in, for example, T. Eagleton, Culture and
the Death of God, New Haven/London 2014, and also in more popular books on the topic in
Dutch public debate: G. Kuijer, De bijbel voor ongelovigen. Deel 2 De uittocht en de intocht,
Amsterdam 2013; C. ter Linden, Wat doe ik hier in Godsnaam? Utrecht, 2013.
230 Talstra
Humanities and Computing. On December 14, 2012, Rens Bod, as professor of

Computational and Digital Humanities in both the Faculty of Humanities and
the Faculty of Science at the University of Amsterdam, presented his inaugural
address: The ending of Humanities 1.0.4 Concerning this new interaction of
humanities and science,5 he writes:
New in the academic research of these days is the bringing together of

science and humanities. Alpha and Beta had grown apart during the
19th century, but the technology of the 20th century has brought them
together again. This appears to have become a broad and comprehensive
development: not only has it managed to bring Alpha and Beta together,
but also the hermeneutical and the positivistic schools in Humanities.
For that reason this new approach can with good reason be called a
breach with Diltheys monomaniac view of the humanities. This devel-
opment is Humanities 2.0.6
The research project of Bod and other computational Humanists has provoked
a lively debate.7 At first sight his proposal looks a little as if Dilthey is simply
being dismissed, only to be replaced by data and databases. But that is not the
case. It is important to be aware of the fact that none of the participants in this
debate simply wants to argue in favour of only one option: whether that be
4 R. Bod, Het Einde van de Geesteswetenschappen 1.0. Oratie uitgesproken bij de aanvaarding van
het ambt van hoogleraar Computationele en Digitale Geesteswetenschappen aan de Faculteit
der Geesteswetenschappen en de Faculteit der Natuurwetenschappen, Wiskunde en Informatica
van de Universiteit van Amsterdam, Amsterdam, 2013.
5 My translation. See Bod, Het Einde van de Geesteswetenschappen 1.0., 1718.: Wat nieuw is
in de hedendaagse wetenschap is het bijeenbrengen van technologie en geestesweten
schap. Alfa en bta waren uit elkaar gegroeid in de 19e eeuw, maar technologie heeft ze in de
20e eeuw weer bij elkaar gebracht. Deze ontwikkeling is veelomvattend gebleken: ze heeft
niet alleen alfa en bta, maar ook de hermeneutische en positivistische richtingen in de
geesteswetenschap bijeen weten te brengen. Deze aanpak mag daarom met recht een breuk
met de monomane opvatting van geesteswetenschap door Dilthey worden genoemd. Dit zijn
de Geesteswetenschappen 2.0.
6 Understandably, though somewhat regrettably, with regard to theology as a discipline
Bod has only paid attention to its philological and historical research: R. Bod, De vergeten
Wetenschappen: Een geschiedenis van de Humaniora, Amsterdam 2010; English edition: A New
History of the Humanities: The Search for Principles and Patterns from Antiquity to the Present,
Oxford 2013.
7 For example, M. Winkler, Interpretatie en/of patroon? Over Het einde van de geestesweten-
schappen 1.0 en het onderscheid tussen kritiek en wetenschap, Vooys 31.1 (2013) 3141. See:
http://tijdschriftvooys.nl/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Winkler-31.1.pdf.
calculation or interpretation. Bod himself wants to proceed from Humanities

2.0 (using databases and techniques for pattern recognition) to Humanities 3.0
(the necessary interaction of pattern recognition and hermeneutics). But he
also thinks that it is only through an increasing integration of humanities and
methods of ICT that we will be able to re-address the questions of textual anal-
ysis, interpretation and history in a fruitful way. One may remain somewhat
hesitant about that much optimism, but in my view it is exceedingly worth-
while to do this experiment with the various disciplines of biblical research,
covering the full area from grammatical analysis to biblical theology. Theology,
exegesis included, tends to depend too much either on views on ancient reli-
gion or on ideas about God and the worldconcerning this point Collins
remarks are correctrather than on data, i.e. both the archaeological findings
and the textual archives and collections with their processes of transmission
and appropriation. To me this new cooperation with ICT is not only of impor-
tance for assisting biblical studies in occupying their rightful place within the
humanities, but I consider it also to be helpful in the theological debate on
biblical scholarship and systematic theology and the public debate on Bible
and religion. I argued about this in my valedictory lecture:
Could historical critical biblical scholarship, in addition to its careful reg-

istration of how biblical texts in various stages and variations speak about
God, also say something about the same texts as representing speech
by God? In my view that is possible, but only if the methods of mod-
ern biblical scholarship are also welcomed into academic theology. That
implies a theology that does not take its starting-point as the scientific
status of our knowledge of God, but rather the nature of our data. On
that basis, theology can make meaningful statements about knowledge
of God in the world of human experiences.8
8 E. Talstra, De ne God is de andere niet: Theologie en rolverdeling in Jeremia 5: 19. Rede uit-
gesproken bij het afscheid als hoogleraar Oude Testament aan de Vrije Universiteit 7 oktober
2011, Amsterdam 2011, 49: Kan historisch-kritische bijbelwetenschap, behalve nauwkeurig
waarnemen hoe de bijbelteksten in allerlei stadia en variaties spreken over God, ook iets
zeggen over dezelfde teksten als teksten die het spreken van God representeren? Naar mijn
inzicht kan dat, maar alleen als de moderne bijbelwetenschappen ook in methodologische
zin welkom zijn in de academische theologie. Dat wil zeggen, in een theologie die niet bij
voorkeur de wetenschappelijke status van onze kennis omtrent God, maar eerst de aard van
onze data als vertrekpunt neemt. En van daaruit iets zegt over ons kennen van God in de
menselijke ervaringswereld.
232 Talstra
In this contribution I will try to explain some of the ICT techniques for textual
analysis being used for the study of the Hebrew Bible and make proposals on
how one could proceed from this analysis to contributions in the area of tex-
tual interpretation and biblical theology.
2 Textual Analysis and Humanities 2.0. Sample text of Exodus 19
This paragraph will present some of the recent developments in the area of
Bible and Computer on which our research group in Amsterdam has been
working. One could suggest that this type of text linguistic research implies
a test of the question of how far one can get with algorithms and analytical
methods. Bod claims that pattern recognition is a basic feature of research in
the Humanities, so for that reason alone the use of ICT techniques is meaning-
ful and stimulating. In my view and in my own experience, that is correct, even
if one acknowledges that texts from Antiquity, on account of their long period
of creation and transmission, on occasion strongly resist the expectation of
mere patterns and system. History has had its effects too. But before one raises
questions about where the search for patterns and system(s) ends and where
the interpretation of individual pieces of classical biblical literature begins, it
is worthwhile to try things out and to test. It will teach us a lot about the com-
plex interaction of linguistics, literature and historical change.
Thinking about the creation and the use of text databases and exegetical
methods, one has to ask the question: What is it that we would like to know
about a text? What is there in the text corpora that we would like to regis-
ter, sort and categorize, so that the results could help us in answering ques-
tions of interpretation? In our research we have chosen to concentrate on
possibilities that are beyond searching through texts for particular elements.
It is equally important to be able to present a textual composition in its text
syntactic structure and to be able to label, for example, segments of a text as
a direct speech section or as a further embedded direct speech section. For
translation it is important to be able to identify the patterns that help us
label the syntactic functions of particular clause connections or the valence
of verbs in interaction with particular sets of constituents. For exegesis it
would be helpful to know, for example, whether or not the you in one seg-
ment of text has the same referent as the you or she in a next segment. The
moment these data can be identified and calculated, these new results can
then in their turn be added into the database. Having these kinds of data avail-
able would allow us to relate questions of exegesis and translation directly to
linguistic patterns.
First, I will present some of our searching for linguistic patterns that is being
used in text syntactic analysis and in proposals for a basic translation from
Hebrew into Dutch (2.1.). Secondly I will present some of our work on par-
ticipant tracking in Hebrew texts (2.2.). This demonstrates that entering
Humanities 2.0 with our discipline can serve us well. The real question to be
addressed, of course, comes afterwards: what about Humanities 3.0? Are we,
with computer-assisted textual analysis, only creating instruments to be used
for a convenient access to well-structured material that we want to study for
our task of textual interpretation? Or are we also contributing to the task of
interpretation itself (3.1 and 3.2)?
2.1 Pattern Recognition at Clause Level and Sentence Level.

Experimenting with Syntax and Translation
The text of Exodus 19 is our test case for the interaction of pattern recognition
and syntactic research in Biblical Hebrew. This experimental research takes as
its starting-point the basic text with a grammatical hierarchy as we have pro-
duced it over the years and as stored in our database.9 (Figure 13.1) Basic here
means that at this level of research only formal codes of clause relations and
linguistic dependencies have been assigned. A major part of these hierarchical
relations are calculated and identified by formal codes proposed by programs.
During the calculations these proposals can be corrected and complemented
in an interactive process, which helps the programs to improve its proposed
analyses. As a result, this basic textual hierarchy has the status of a hypoth-
esis about a texts syntax, which we try to make as consistent as possible. The
idea is that such neutral codes allow for a first hierarchical presentation of a
texts syntactic structure, as yet independent from additional linguistic theory
about the functional labelling of all the relationships at the level of sentences
or paragraphs. This approach thus allows further research and testing of ones
linguistic theories in order to add new analytical results as data. (Figure 13.3)
The clause connection codes will be explained below, in figure 13.1. They are
presented in the textual hierarchy, together with some empty categories, to be
filled in by the actual research. For example, between lines 7 and 8 one finds:
<<...>><<427>><<...>> The first empty spot <<...>> will have to be filled in
9
E. Talstra, A Hierarchy of Clauses in Biblical Hebrew Narrative, in: E.J. van Wolde
(ed.), Narrative Syntax and the Hebrew Bible. Papers of the Tilburg Conference 1996
(Biblical Interpretation Series 29), Leiden 1997, 85118; E. Talstra, C. Sikkel, Genese und
Kategorienentwicklung der WIVU-Datenbank, oder: ein Versuch, dem Computer Hebrisch
beizubringen, in: C. Hardmeier et al. (eds), Ad Fontes! Quellen erfassenlesendeuten. Was
ist Computerphilologie? (Applicatio 15), Amsterdam 2000, 3368.
234 Talstra
Starting point of research: database with an analysis of phrases, clauses and textual hierarchy
LineSentence: Clauseclause label

1 S: 1: 1 Defc EXO 19,01[
< Ti>]
.. .. .. ||
3 S: 1: 1 xQt0 EXO 19,01. || \_[< Co>][< Pr>][< Ti>]
.. .. .. ||
.. .. .. || <<...>><<472>><<...>>
7 S: 5: 1 WayX EXO 19,02. |\_[< Lo>][< Su>][< Lo>][< Pr>][ -<Cj>]
||
||<<...>><<427>><<...>>
8 S: 6: 1 WXQt EXO 19,03. |.\_[ - < Co>][< Pr>][< Su>][-<Cj>]
||
||<<...>><<472>><<...>>
9 S: 7: 1 WayX EXO 19,03. |..\_[ - < Lo>][< Su>][< Co>][< Pr>][ -<Cj>]
||||
||||<<adjunct>><<64>><<...>>
10 S: 7: 2 InfC EXO 19,03. |..||\_[< Pr>]
||||
||||<<dir. Sp.>><<999>><<...>>
11 S: 8: 1 xYq0 EXO 19,03. |..||.\_[< Co>][ <Pr>][<Mo>]
Clause connection codes:

472 conjunction [ 4], wayyiqtol [7] in daughter clause, qatal [2] in mother clause
427 conjunction [ 4], qatal [2] in daughter clause, wayyiqtol [7] in mother clause
64 infinitive clause, preposition
999 this clause is the start of a direct speech section
Figure 13.1 Selected lines from Exodus 19:13.
with a label for the function of the clause connection, e.g. coordination or
result. The final empty spot <<...>> will be filled in with a proposal for the
verbal tense or mood that the clause has in this context.
This is possible only if we can find the syntactic patterns that will help give the
proper argumentation.
The research that is being performed is based on the data of the basic tex-
tual hierarchy. It is an investigation in patterns of verbal valence (2.1.1) and in
patterns of the functional labelling of clause connections (2.1.2). As a further
step, I have been experimenting with a number of programs that, by taking
these patterns as input, will be able to propose a (very) basic translation of
Hebrew texts into Dutch (2.1.3). In other words, it provides you with the lin-
guistic boundaries within which you have to think about restyling the basic
translation proposal into proper Dutch. At the moment we are using these
possibilities as basic materials to produce a Dutch translation of the book of
Exodus.10 For computer assisted textual analysis this project is an interesting

test of the possibilities of pattern recognition of lexical and syntactic items.
Patterns found at one level produce the input for the calculations at the
next level.
2.1.1 Verbal Valence

From experience with reading and translation it is clear that only in combi-
nation with their surrounding constituents do verbs constitute meaning. An
example of this is the verb . It occurs seven times in Exod. 19. In only two
cases do we find the verb in the imperative form, without any further nominal
or prepositional phrases (vv. 21 and 24: Go down). The other cases are:
11 + + come down, in the sight of, upon

14 + + go down, from, to
18 + + come down, upon, in
20 + + come down, upon, to
25 + go down, to
In the case of the verb + English translations (RSV, NRSV and NIV) render
come down upon or descend upon, whereas in the case of + they give
the rendering go down to. Apparently the patterns describe the movement
downwards from a different viewpoint. The other prepositions present do not
alter the translation. Research in this field has been started and stimulated
especially by Janet Dyk.11 For this work, lists of particular verbs and their satel-
lites are derived from the existing data, sorted and categorized, and studied
in view of the interaction of syntax and semantics. One of the results to be
produced comprises lists of patterns that will be used in further analysis and
interpretation of texts. As will be shown below, these kinds of data sets are also
needed for the preparation of a basic Bible translation.
10 This experiment is part of a translation project by members of the Amsterdam Societas

Hebraica, supported by the Netherlands Bible Society. See: E. Talstra, System and Design.
Reading, Computing and Translating Biblical Hebrew into Dutch, in: A. Brenner-Idan
(ed.), Discourse, Dialogue and Debate in the Bible. Essays in Honour of Frank H. Polak,
Sheffield 2014, 218235.
11 J.W. Dyk, Traces of Valence Shift in Classical Hebrew, in: Brenner-Idan (ed.), Discourse,
Dialogue and Debate in the Bible, 4865; J.W. Dyk, O. Glanz, R. Oosting, Analysing Valence
Patterns in Biblical Hebrew: Theoretical Questions and Analytical Frameworks, JNSL 40/1
(2014), 4362.
236 Talstra
As a result of the apparent increase of our lexicological knowledge, this

research also contributes greatly to improving the initial grammatical pars-
ing in our database, because it helps us see what complements to a verb are
obligatory, on account of their being part of the meaning of the pattern, and
which ones are merely additional.
2.1.2 The Functional Labelling of Clause Connections

Can we find patterns of syntactic clause connections, so that, using that infor-
mation, one would be able to provide particular clause connections in a text
with a functional label? For example, the wayyiqtol-subject clause
in line 7 is followed by a w-subject-qatal clause -
. (See above, figure 13. 1.) The formal relation code is 427 (conjunction
[4], qatal [2] in daughter clause, wayyiqtol [7] in mother clause). Translations
sometimes disregard the Qatal and simply translate And Moses went up to
God (RSV),12 but this neglects a signal of textual structure. The formal codes
can assist us in experimenting. Let us accept the hypothesis that the clause
order wayyiqtol - w-Subject-qatal signals parallel actions by two different sub-
jects, in this case Israel and Moses.13 Then the function label of clause 8 will
be circumstantial clause, to be translated with while or in the meantime:
While Moses had gone up to the Lord. Searching for more cases with a code
427 in this chapter gives us lines 77 and 78 (vv. 1718): They (the people) took
their stand at the foot of the mountain . while mount Sinai
had become completely wrapped in smoke .14
Another example is the syntax of v. 5. In lines 18 and 19 we have the clause
order x-yiqtol >> w-qatal (identical person number gender of the verbs) and
in lines 18 and 20 the same clause order (identical person number gender
of the verbs). In line 19 the w-qatal can be read as a continuation of line 18:
if you listen and keep... But in line 20 this does not work: if you listen and
keep...and become for me.... So it seems that we have the pattern (x-yiqtol
>> w-qatal) active twice here, but actually there is also a hierarchical pattern
active, making sure when a range of w-qatal clauses follows a yiqtol clause
(with identical person number gender), the final w-qatal clause is not express-
ing coordination (and, line 19 to 18), but consecution or result (then, line 20
to 18).
12 Then Moses went up to God (NRSV and NIV).

13 E.Talstra,Text linguistics: Biblical Hebrew in: G. Khan (ed.), Encyclopedia of Hebrew
Language and Linguistics III (EHLL), New York 2013, 755760.
14 With syntax one can observe much inconsistency in Bible translations: And mount Sinai
was wrapped in smoke (RSV); Now mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke (NRSV); Mount
Sinai was covered with smoke (NIV).
Line Clause Type

18 xYq0 EXO19,05 |\_[< Co>] [< Pr>] [
< Mo>] [< Cj>]
|||
|||<<coord >><<421>><< 1:pres.tense>>
19 WQt0 EXO19,05 ||\_[< Ob>] [< Pr>] [-< Cj>]
||
||<<consec >><<421>><< 2:fut.tense>>
20 WQt0 EXO19,05 |\_[< Co>][< Co>] [< Pr>][- <Cj>]
|||[ -
< Aj>]
||
If one develops a grammar of such patterns and applies them to these texts,
one will be able to insert additional labels into the database. In this research
they will be labels indicating the functionality of the clause connection (coor-
dination, consecution,...) and labels that propose the function of the verbal
tense (present, future, should...). (See figure 13.3).
2.1.3 Translation by Pattern Recognition

Generally speaking, discussions on Bible Translation focus on the question of
how much in the language of the source text depends on linguistic system,
which is not to be regarded as part of the literary design of a particular text,
and which elements in the text go beyond linguistic system and can be
regarded as part of a deliberate literary or theological textual design. Further
debates on texts in terms of culture and theology are derived from this initial
question. Therefore, imitating the translation process, through a program that
analyses from lexeme level up to the levels of sentence and text, results in an
interesting experiment where one will find out more about how and where
linguistic system and literary design interact.
The procedure is presented below. It is an attempt at pattern recognition
at each linguistic level followed by a substitution15 of the Hebrew patterns
found there with Dutch patterns that are to be used at the same level. This
is, of course, mainly a description of processes of pattern recognition in the
source language. Only a few transpositions of the Hebrew constituent order
are applied to the constituent order in Dutch. For the moment that is sufficient.
The main goal of this project is the combination of interests: to help transla-
tors with automatically generated basic material and to use this procedure as a
test of the linguistic consistency of our database.
15 R. Sproat, Language, technology and Society, Oxford 2010.

238 Talstra
The following are the levels of analysis and substitution. (See figure 13.2)
-1. Words: from the lexical and grammatical information in the database of
each Hebrew word, the lexeme, a Dutch gloss, and, if applicable, its gram-
matical features are listed.
-2. Phrases: in a previous run, all the phrases in a text (a book) were col-
lected, sorted and analysed. A first analysis, completely based on lexicon
and word grammar will, for example, produce for : the trans-
lation: the totality of the sons of Israel. This is stored in a list. The list has
a second field where one can store a translation in the style one prefers:
all the sons of Israel or all the Israelites. The translation program can
now substitute the Hebrew phrase with a Dutch phrase from one of the
fields in the list.
-3. Valence pattern: search for the verb and the actual constituents in the list
of valence patterns (2.1.1). Take the (adjusted) meaning of the verb from
there, with the translation of the various prepositions that belong to the
pattern.
-4+5. Clause; constituent order: apply the valence pattern to the clause(s) of the
text. Substitute the Hebrew constituent order with a constituent order in
Dutch, also to be taken from a list of Hebrew and Dutch patterns.
-6. Sentence and Text: identify the syntactic clause connection in the actual
text with a pattern from a list of patterns produced by syntactic research
(2.1.2). This may also imply a change of verbal tense and a change of the
rendering of the conjunction. For example, the rendering of and may
become while.
The results of these analyses in the previous paragraphs are (to be) added to the
database. We are experimenting with an expansion of our data type models:
1. Functional labels of clause connections and verbal valence patterns

(language);
2. Labelling clause functions, based on their position in a particular hierar-
chy (text);
3. A preliminary translation for each clause in a text.
See below, figure 13.3. For the benefit of the reader of this paper, text lines
in Hebrew and some phrases in English imitating the proposed preliminary
translation into Dutch have been added.
Order of the levels of pattern analysis and the resulting translation [English phrases added]
EXO 19,03 [W-<Cj>][MCH <Su>][<LH <Pr>][>L H->LHJM <Co>] (text in transliteration)

[ < Co>][< Pr>][< Su>][-< Cj>]
Lexeme level information (derived from database: lexicon and word grammar)
I LEX: | W en and| MCH Mozes Moses|< LH[Q:opgaan go up pf3ms|
|> L :naar/tot towards/to| DefArt| > LHJM/:God{en} God{s} mp:Ab
Phrases (taken from a list of phrase patterns with analysis and translation proposal)
II PHR: |1: en and|2: Mozes Moses|3: hij is opgegaan he has gone up
|4: naar/tot God towards/to God
Verbal valence (taken from a list with verbal lexemes and their patterns of prepositional groups)
IIIVAL:|<LH : opgaan go up + >L : naar to
Clause: apply valence pattern to clause (from III)

IV CLA:|1: en and|2: Mozes Moses|3: hij is opgegaan he has gone up|4: naar God to God
Clause: reorder constituents (to word order in Dutch; skip subject marker from the predicate)
V SYN:|en and|Mozes Moses|is opgegaan has gone up|naar God to God
Sentence and text level (calculated from patterns of clause connections [wayyiqtol-X >> W-X-Qatal])
VI TXT:= VoltTijd perfect tense form
|terwijl while|Mozes Moses|is opgegaan has gone up|naar God to God|
Figure 13.2 Translating a text line into Dutch.
2.2 Text Grammar and Participant Tracking

The next step in this research brings us closer to understanding the structure of
a particular text. The questions to study and the programs to experiment with
are located in the overlapping area between linguistic and literary study. Can
one find patterns that explain how participants in a text are introduced, are
referred to by pronouns or by lexical elements, and/or are reintroduced in the
same narrative layer or in an embedded direct speech section? It is clear that, in
each segment of a text, patterns of introduction and reintroduction are present
that are related to the set of participants. For example, God speaks to Moses,
commanding him to address the people in order to have them consecrated in
preparation for YHWH descending on the mountain. Go to the people (v. 10);
240 Talstra
Selected lines. (Hebrew texts and a rendering in Dutch of the translation proposals; English phrases added)
7S:5:1WayX EXO19,02.|\_en Isral legerde_zich daar tegenover de berg
| | Israel camped
| |
| |<<while>><<427>><<31:volt.t>>
8S:6:1WXQt EXO19,03.|.\_terwijl Mozes is opgegaan naar God -
| | while Moses had gone up
| |
| |<<coord>><<472>><<11:verl.t>>
9S:7:1 WayX EXO19,03.|..\_en JHWH riep naar hem vanaf de berg -
| ||YHWH called him
| ||
| |||<<adjunct>><<64>><<0:>>
10S:7:2InfC EXO19,03.|..||\_door te zeggen
| || | by saying
| || |
| || |<<dir. Sp.>><<999>><<5:opdr>>
11S:8:1xYq0 EXO19,03.|..||.\_als volgt jij moet zeggen tot het huis van Jacob
| || | Thus shall you say
| || |
| || |||<<coord>><<411>><<5:opdr>>
12S:9:1WYq0 EXO19,03.|..||..||\_en jij moet meedelen aan de zonen van Isral
| || || and you shall tell
| || ||
| || ||<<dir. Sp.>><<999>><<3:volt.t>>
13S:10:1XQtl EXO19,04.|..||..|\_jullie zelf hebben waargenomen
| || | ||You yourself have seen
| || | ||
| || | ||<<object>><<522>><<3:volt.t>>
14S:10:2xQt0 EXO19,04.|..||..|.| \_die/dat ik heb gedaan aan Egypte

| || | | |what I have done
[...] | || | |
| || | |<<macro syn>><<402>><<0:>>
17S:11:1MSyn EXO19,05.|..||..|.\_en nu
| || | | and now
| || | |
| || | |<<0>><<610>><<1:tegw.t>>
18S:12:1xYq0 EXO19,05.|..||..|.. \_gesteld dat werkelijk jullie luisteren naar mijn stemgeluid
| || | ||assuming you are really listening -
| || | ||
| || | ||<<coord>><<421>><<1:tegw.t>>
19S:13:1WQt0 EXO19,05.|..||..|... |\_en jullie bewaren mijn verbond
| || | | and you are keeping
| || | |
| || | |<<consec>><<421>><<2:toek.t>>
20S:14:1WQt0 EXO19,05.|..||..|... \_dan jullie zullen zijn voor mij een eigendom uit alle volken
| || | ||then you will be
[...] | || |
| || |<<0 >><<101>><<0: >>
23S:17:1NmCl EXO19,06.|..||..\_dezen de woorden
| || | these [are] the words
| || |
| || |<<attribtv>><<11>><<43:moeten>>
24S:17:2xYq0 EXO19,06.|..||...\_die/dat jij moet spreken tot de zonen van Isral
| || that you shall speak -
| ||<<paral>><<200>><<11:verl.t>>
25S:18:1WayX EXO19,07.|..|\_en Mozes kwam
| ||And Moses came
Figure 13.3 Results (1., 2., 3.) inserted into the textual hierarchy.
Set limits for the people (v. 12); They will/may go up on the mountain (v. 13).
In terms of linguistic features it is clear: the first back reference is achieved
by lexical repetition (people), the second one by pronominal reference, .
Analysing and storing such linguistic phenomena will give us the opportunity
to do participant tracking: e.g. who is active in a text? How is someone being
introduced or reintroduced? With a database that allows for participant track-
ing one would be able to proceed further with linguistic analysis of the full
corpus, before turning to the exegetical explanation of a particular text. For
example, in Exod. 19, what is the function in v. 13 of a back reference to the
people by the independent noun in a fronting position?
Participant tracking is an interesting but complicated type of linguistic
research. One does not always know where linguistic system ends and liter-
ary composition begins. For example, in the transition from narrative to direct
speech sections, linguistic patterns are active that allow us to calculate the
change of the third person audience in the narrative to the second person
addressee in the direct speech. See, for example, v. 3:
Line 9: - From the preceding line 8 one can calculate that

him= Moses. From the clause itself one can derive that is connected to
YHWH.
Line 10 being dependent on line 9, is also connected to YHWH.
Line 11 From patterns of introduction to direct speech, such
as the one used here, we can deduce that in this narrative text YHWH is the
speaker and he (Moses) is the audience. As the pattern dictates that the audi-
ence in the narrative equals the addressee in the direct speech section, we can
thus conclude that the you-subject of equals he (Moses). In this way
participant analysis will provide us with information about who is who in a
text, even in cases where the text itself does not explicitly mark it. However, in
a number of situations it is not immediately obvious what kind of additional
information is needed to allow the computer to make correct identifications.
Here the research reveals a number of cultural, religious or literary questions.
The program needs to know, for example, whether in v. 3 the phrase
refers to the same entity as the phrase does. Furthermore, in v. 3
is
the same as ? Should a researcher make a decision about this,
declare it a pattern and thus always allow the computer to make that kind of
identification? Or should one add it to the database as an option, to be real-
ized only in certain linguistic contexts, based on syntactic conditions such as
coordinated clauses? After all, if such identifications are of a literary kind, one
cannot deal with them as if they were part of the system of language.
242 Talstra
It is clear that this research is very much in the experimental stage.16 That
is, however, only a problem if one is just waiting for the final results to apply
them. It is, in my experience, a much more fruitful attitude to accept that this
ongoing research to enrich the Old Testament database is not just data produc-
tion, but at the same time is also fundamental research in Hebrew language
and in Old Testament texts.
The various activities for linguistic research mentioned above have provided
us with sufficient questions and material to be able to consider what Bod has
called the transition from Humanities 2.0 to Humanities 3.0, i.e. the necessary
interaction of databases and computer assisted linguistic analysis with ques-
tions of method and interpretation. This transition requires working in two
domains: the language system of a particular textual corpus (the Hebrew Bible)
and the literary design of individual textual compositions (such as Exod. 19).
Here the dialogue with biblical exegesis begins.
3 Exodus 19 and Humanities 3.0. From System to Design?
Once our experiments with text grammatical patterns have been successful
in proposing a text syntactic hierarchy and a preliminary inventory of all who
are present as participants in the narrative sections or the direct speeches
of a text, we can also try to contribute to the ongoing exegetical discussions
about the plot, the segmentation and the themes of a biblical text. To be sure,
Humanities 2.0 (i.e. the presence of databases and tools for computer assisted
linguistic analysis) does not imply or suggest that classical debates about
interpretation will now quickly be brought to an end or even leave the scene.
Rather, it implies reconsidering the balance of linguistic analysis and literary
critical or exegetical analysis; insight in system and patterns will allow us to
concentrate substantially longer on language and structure, before turning
to questions of history, writers, readers and theology.17 Exod. 19 (in combination
16 More details in: E. Talstra, The Bible as Data and as Literature: The Example of Exodus
16, in: H. Ausloos, B. Lemmelijn (eds), A Pillar of Cloud to Guide: Text-Critical, Redactional,
and Linguistic Perspectives on the Old Testament in Honour of Marc Vervenne (BETL, 269),
Leuven 2014, 54967.
17 While using a different set of arguments, biblical exegesis is familiar with that distinction:
R. Rendtorff, Der Text in seiner Endgestalt. berlegungen zu Exodus 19, in: D. Daniels
et al. (eds), Ernten, was man st (FS Klaus Koch), Neukirchen-Vluyn 1991, 459470.
with ch. 20 and the unexpected position of the Decalogue) is a complex text18
which provides a good reason to choose the chapter here. The use of comput-
ers in biblical studies is not an attempt to make things simple, it is an attempt
to make things explicit. It is a stimulating experience to enter into a discus-
sion between the reading based on the recognition of system or patterns in
linguistic phenomena and in textual structure and the reading of a particular
text in search for design in interpreting classical topics such as theme, literary
roles and plot. I see two areas of textual analysis where the two approaches
can interact:
text linguistic structure and literary plot (3.1.) and

sets of participants in text segments and themes or literary roles. (3.2.)
3.1 Text Linguistic Structure and Literary Plot

Speaking of pattern recognition, it is interesting to notice that the term pat-
tern is also used in the Exodus commentary by Childs.19 He recognizes that
Moses actually has two different roles in the Sinai texts. Moses is summoned
by God to climb mount Sinai where God himself is prepared to emphasize the
authority of Moses (Exod. 19:9, 19). Because of this he can then lead the people
into covenant (Exod. 24). On the other hand, it is the frightened people them-
selves who, after experiencing the theophany and the proclamation of the Ten
Words, urge Moses to become their mediator (Exod. 20:1821). Childs speaks of
two patterns of oral tradition being combined in the texts.
The two patterns being joined in this chapter also seem to have an impact
on how Childs perceives the text division. In his view20 a new section begins in
19:10, i.e. the preparation for the holy event, the theophany. After the words on
the covenant in vv. 39 (pattern 1) we now enter a new section on the consecra-
tion of the people. This text division is also present in NRSV, which starts the
second section, however, not with v. 10 but with v. 9b. A complication is that
Childs himself presents his translation of ch. 19 with a completely different
18 E. Zenger, Wie und wozu die Tora zum Sinai kam: Literarische und theologische
Beobachtungen zu Exodus1934, in: M. Vervenne (ed.), Studies in the Book of Exodus:
RedactionReceptionInterpretation (BETL, 126), Leuven 1996, 265288; C. Houtman,
Exodus Vol. 2 (COT) Kampen 1989, 383; B.S. Childs, Exodus. A Commentary, (OTL), London
1974, 344.
19 Childs, Exodus, 350.
20 Childs, Exodus, 368369; Childs mentions 1024 and 2025; so 1024 should be 1019?
244 Talstra
text division: breaks in vv. 7, 16 and 18.21 This illustrates the usually rather loose
connection of syntactic analysis and textual interpretation among exegetes.
A computer-made text linguistic proposal for (narrative) textual structure
relies on a number of parameters: (1) explicit references to time or location,
(2) particular clause types, such as W-X-Qatal clauses and clauses, and
(3) wayyiqtol clauses with explicit references to one or more participants.
Occasionally, as in v. 19, one finds yiqtol clauses marking special sections or a
peak within the narrative.
Ch. 19 has two clause initial time references in vv. 1 and 16. Paragraph mark-
ers of the type W-X-Qatal appear only in vv. 3 and 18, where they indicate
parallel paragraphs, in vv. 36 and in v. 18. Most of the linguistic markers of
text division in this chapter are wayyiqtol clauses with explicit mention of the
participants: YHWH and Moses. After v. 3 we find wayyiqtol clauses with a re-
nominalisation of and/or in vv. 9, 10, 14 and in vv. 20, 21, 23; with
and in between, in vv. 1415.
Using these markers one can start the analysis of the chapter from a number
of smaller units:
12: time reference and location.

38; 9: YHWH, Moses, covenant, the people and the elders.
1013; 1415: Moses; preparation and consecration of the people.
1619: time reference. Theophany, warning; Yiqtol clauses in v. 19: direct
presentation of communication between Moses and YHWH.22
2025: YHWH to Moses about people and priests.
Using these linguistic markers of textual structure, one can not only analyse
Childs division based on the two roles for Moses, but also a number of trans-
lations that easily neglect differences in clause type. For example, the NRSV
translates the wayyiqtol in v. 9b with when Moses had told..., as if it were
some conjunction-Subject-Qatal clause, and the wayyiqtol in v. 20a with
when the Lord descended.... In contrast to this, the W-X-Qatal in v. 3 is ren-
dered as if it were a wayyiqtolThen Moses went upand the W-X-Qatal in
v. 18 is rendered not with while but with now. The rendering of the yiqtols
in v. 19, not as direct communication ( Moses speaks) but by would speak
and would answer, as if we are watching a procedure, makes it really difficult
to understand the text.
21 Childs, Exodus, 341.

22 E. Talstra, Syntax and Composition. The use of yiqtol in narrative sections in the book
of Exodus, in: R. Roukema et al (eds), The Interpretation of Exodus. Studies in Honour of
Cornelis Houtman (Contributions to Exegesis and Theology, 44), Leuven: 2006, 225236.
An interesting observation can also be made regarding the difference in

translations of the phrase + go up the mountain in vv. 12 and 13. (cf.
20, 26 and Deut. 5:5). In v. 12 Childs translates this as beware of going up the
mountain. In v. 13, however, he uses they shall come up to the mountain. The
change of verb and preposition suggests a preparation for the reading of v. 17
where the people do not pass the foot of the mountain and v. 23 where it is said
that the people are not permitted to come up to the mountain: constructed
there, however, with : -( RSV has a similar shift, from not go
up into (12) to come up to (13)). One gets the impression of a translation that
skips the phenomena of verbal valence and thus somewhat smooths out the
tensions in the role of the people in this chapter.
At all of these points within the interaction of Humanities 2.0 and 3.0, a dis-
cussion of patterns and interpretation would certainly be helpful in order to
produce a more consistent and linguistically independent textual structure
and translation.
3.2 Sets of Participants, Themes or Literary Roles

In addition to comparing a linguistic and a literary approach of structure and
translation, one also has to discuss the role of participants in the text from
both these angles. To a large extent one could even call exegesis a kind of par-
ticipant analysis: who is who in a text and how do the various participants, the
writer and the reader included, interact?
Presentation of the participants active in text segments shows, for example,
the changing role of the people in vv. 115 and in vv. 1625. The promise to be
able to climb the mountain contrasts first with the people halting at the foot of
the mountain, and, secondly, with the shift from the people into the very few
who are allowed to actually climb the mountain (v. 24). We also observe the
unexpected introduction of the priests as a separate group in vv. 2125. One
actually has to analyse beyond the boundary of this chapter, since in ch. 20,
after the proclamation of the Decalogue, the narrative about the role of the
people in 20:18 connects back to 19:18.
So we actually have to discuss both the changing roles of the participants
in the various text segments and the exegetical tradition of textual recon-
struction. The history of research has made clear that there is an end to our
search for linguistic patterns and structure. One cannot force the actual text of
Exod. 19 and 20 into one consistent structure.23 But one can continue to act as a
23 There is general agreement about the assumption that the text of the Decalogue has been
inserted into chapters 1920. Apart from that, the plot of these chapters does not present
246 Talstra
careful reader and concentrate on the linguistic markers indicating paragraphs

and indicating the interaction of participants. From there one can register the
changing roles of various participants and enter into discussion with exegeti-
cal tradition about the topics being addressed in the chapter and in the book.
For instance, the mention of obedience and my covenant in v. 5 and
the words about the priests - approaching YHWH in v. 22 are
remarkable, since they do not fit the literary plot. In the composition of the
book they clearly come too early. The phrase my covenant has been used
before (Exod. 6:4, 5), but only to refer to Gods promise to the fathers. One
does not find a covenant to be kept by Israel before Exod. 24:7 and 34:10, 27.
Regulations about the priests approaching the sanctuary or the altar are not
found before Exod. 28:14 and 29:4. Exegetes wonder why these phrases are
already introduced in Exod. 19. To Brueggemann24 the mentioning of cove-
nant here is theologically motivated. He sees listening to the commandments
as the basic requirement for Israel in the Sinai episode (Exod. 19Num. 10).
In his view, the effect is that in Exod. 19:38 Israel, not yet knowing the con-
tent of the covenant, signs a blank check of obedience. Regarding v. 22 Childs25
writes: The mention of priests is an old crux. He proposes to call it an historical
anachronism.
The question here is whether we are faced with more or less isolated cases
of a weakness in the literary plot, something only to be dealt with in terms of
the history of text production. To answer this question, the search for patterns,
more in terms of literary analysis now, appears still to be profitable. Can we
find more cases of topics being introduced seemingly too early within the
books plot? That indeed is the case. In Exod. 1519, the episode from the pass-
ing through the Sea until the experiences at mount Sinai, one finds, for exam-
ple, references to Gods regulations: 15:25 (see 21:1), the Torah 16:4, 2826 (see
24:12), and the testimony 16: 34 (see 25:16, 21).
Houtman27 also sees some sort of pattern here and speaks of a period of
building trust between God and Israel. So we may need to rethink the plot.
itself as very logical (Houtman, Exodus, 385; Childs, Exodus, 344). In this line of thinking
it is very likely that Exod. 20:1821 originally had its position directly after 19:19 and that
19:2025 is an addition, elaborating on the required consecration initially needed for the
theophany, but now also for the proclamation of the Decalogue.
24 W. Brueggemann, Theology of the Old Testament. Testimony, Dispute, Advocacy,
Minneapolis 1997, 183.
25 Exodus, 375, n. 22.
26 One could also begin a little earlier and add the special Torah on Pesach in 12:49 and 13:9.
27 Exodus, 391.
This part of the book of Exodus can be read better as an intended mixture
of experiences,28 theophany29 and commandments. Reading about God and
Israel is reading about real life.
With reference to the introduction to this paper, one may conclude that
the observed inconsistency, the complicated plot of the texts as the result
of the experiences of multiple generations, is not something to filter out or to
overcome, before we can enter the modern debate about God and religion. It
is precisely this nature of our text data that is missing in actual debates about
God and it is precisely these data that biblical scholarship is able to contribute
as necessary input into the debate about God and culture. Much philosophy
of religion continues to live in Humanities 1.0 and thus, unfortunately, avoids
reflection on the nature of our data.
Linguistic analysis and the use of databases will not solve the fundamental
questions in the area of text production and interpretation. Humanities 2.0
will not be able to end discussions of text production and historical context.
Classical biblical scholarship, also being reformatted as Humanities 3.0, is
indeed a discipline by itself. But we need these new analytical instruments to
have a sound methodology. They cannot be omitted from the study of language
and in presenting textual phenomena within a larger context or even within
the composition of an entire book, in order to assist us in testing the argu-
ments used for hypotheses. As a result one makes text features much more
explicit, both those of the system of language and those of the complexity of
the literary plot.
28 J.L. Ska, Exode 19, 3b6 et lidentit de lIsrael postexilique, in: Vervenne (ed.), Studies in
the Book of Exodus, 289319.
29 F. Polak, Theophany and Mediator: The Unfolding of a Theme in the Book of Exodus, in:
Vervenne (ed.), Studies in the Book of Exodus, 113148.
Chapter 14
Towards an Annotated Edition of Tannaitic Parables

Lieve M. Teugels
And the Lord said to Moses: Why do you cry out to Me? Speak to the chil-
dren of Israel that they go forward. (Exod. 14:15)
[...]
R. Absalom, the elder, giving a parable, says: To what is the matter simi-
lar? To a man who got angry with his son and drove him out of his house.
His friend then came to him, requesting that he allow the son to come
back to the house. He said to his friend: You are only asking me on behalf
of my own son. I am already reconciled to my son.
So also did the Holy One say to Moses: Why do you cry out to Me? Is it
not on behalf of My own sons? I am already reconciled to My sons. Speak
to the children of Israel that they go forward.
Mekhilta de Rabbi Ishmael, tractate Beshalah 4; edition and translation
J. Lauterbach.1

This is one of about 300 early rabbinic parables that are studied at Utrecht
University and the Tilburg School of Theology in the framework of the NWO
project Parables and the Partings of the Ways.2 The ways are these of emerg-
ing Christianity and emerging Judaism; the parting(s) gradually happened
sometime in the first centuries CE.3 The individual researchers in the team
1 Free after Jacob Z. Lauterbach and David Stern, Mekhilta de-Rabbi Ishmael (JPS Classic
Reissues), Philadelphia 2010 (original edition 19331935).
2 This 5-year NWO project was applied for by Eric Ottenheijm (UU) in cooperation with Annette
Merz (PThU) and Marcel Poorthuis (TsT). It has officially started with my appointment as
postdoctoral researcher in April 2014. Since September 2014, three Ph.D students have joined
the team. Albertina Oegema, Martijn Stoutjesdijk and Jonathan Pater study parables on fam-
ily relations, slavery, and meals, respectively.
3 The reflection on whether or not, how and when, Judaism and Christianity became sepa-
rate religions has led to a number of publications in the past decades. Noteworthy is the
shift in terminology used by James Dunn. Cf. J.D.G. Dunn, The Parting of the Ways: AD 70135,
Tbingen 1992 and J.D.G. Dunn, The Partings of the Ways: between Christianity and Judaism
and their Significance for the Character of Christianity, 2nd edition, London/Philadelphia

Towards an Annotated Edition of Tannaitic Parables 249
focus on multiple aspects of early-rabbinic and early-Christian parables such

as form, message, historical reality, textual criticism, and the comparison
between the two groups. My research consist in creating an annotated edition
and a translation of the early-rabbinic (=tannaitic) parables.4
In this paper I will discuss some of the text-critical issues that are at the core
of my work, but I want to do so in a multi-focal way, because the rabbinic par-
able needs to be approached from various angles.5 Acknowledging their inter-
relatedness, some domains can be distinguished in the field that is covered
by our research project, most notably the socio- or religio-historical side, and
the textual side. As my research deals primarily with the latter, rather than the
first, I will be brief with regard to the historical and religious aspects of these
parables, which are covered by our PhD students. I look forward to learn their
findings in the following four years. Yet in my study of the texts, I obviously
2006. A selection of other relevant studies: D. Boyarin, Border Lines: The Partition of Judaeo-
Christianity, Philadelphia 2006; A. Becker, A. Yoshiko Reed (eds), The Ways That Never Parted:
Jews and Christians in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, Tubingen 2007; H.L. Shanks
(ed.), Partings: how Judaism and Christianity became Two, Washington 2013.
4 There are various criteria for the identification of parables as tannaitic. The three most
obvious onces are: the presence of a parable in a tannaitic Midrash or another tannaitic
work, most notably the Mishnah and the Tosefta; a parable that is transmitted in the name
of a known tanna, even in a later (amoraitic) rabbinic work; and a parable that is contained
in a passage marked as a baraita, i.e. a tannaitic passage in the Talmud. My edition will
be divided in parts according to the works in which the parables are contained. The first
part will treat Parables in Mekhilta de Rabbi Ishmael and Mekhilta de Rabbi Shimon bar
Johai. For tannaitic or halakhic Midrashim, see G. Stemberger, Einleitung in Talmud und
Midrasch, Munich 2011, 273305; M. Kahana, The Halakhic Midrashim, in: S. Safrai a.o. (eds),
The Literature of the Sages. Part II: Midrash, and Targum; Liturgy, Poetry, Mysticism; Contracts,
Inscriptions, Ancient Science and the Languages of Rabbinic Literature (CRINT), Assen 2006,
3105.
5 Some bibliography on the rabbinic mashal: I. Ziegler, Die Knigsgleichnisse des Midrasch,
beleuchtet durch die rmerische Kaiserzeit, Breslau 1903; R.M. Johnston, Parabolic
Interpretations Attributed to Tannaim (PhD), Hartford Seminary Foundation, 1977; D. Flusser,
Die rabbinischen Gleichnisse und der Gleichniserzhler Jesus. 1. Teil Das Wesen der Gleichnissen
(Judaica et Christiana; 4), Bern 1981; H.K. McArthur, R.M. Johnston, They Also Taught in
Parables. Rabbinic Parables from the First Centuries of the Christian Era, Grand Rapids 1990;
D. Stern, Parables in Midrash: narrative and exegesis in Rabbinic literature, Cambridge 1991;
C. Heszer, Rabbinische Gleichnisse und Ihre Vergleichbarkeit mit neutestamentlichen
Gleichnissen, in: R. Zimmermann (ed.), Hermeneutik der Gleichnisse Jesu. Methodische
Neuanstze zum Verstehen urchristlicher Parabeltexte (WUNT, 231), Tbingen 2008, 217237;
A.C. Kooyman, Als een koning van vlees en bloed: rabbijnse parabels en midrasjiem, Kampen
1997; S. Notley, S. Safrai, Parables of the Sages. Jewish Wisdom from Jesus to Rav Ashi, Jerusalem
2011; Y. Fraenkel, Ch. 11: Hamashal in his Darkhei haAggadah vehaMidrash, Jerusalem 2007,
323393. See also Goldberg, cf. n. 7.
250 Teugels
encounter aspects of the historical setting in which the parables emerged.

A simple example is the use of different titles for the man and the friend
used in the various textual witnesses and parallels of the parable presented at
the beginning of this paper. The man becomes a king in two versions, and the
variants for the friend include paedagogos (pedagogue) and epitropos (admin-
istrator, guardian). These differences, brought to light by textual criticism, may
teach us something about the members of the hellenistic household or the
entourage of a king, whoever that figure may have represented in Jewish late
antiquity. The multi-faceted approach will never be out of sight.
The parables to be studied in our project were produced in Roman Palestine
by early Christians and tannaim, the scholars that were responsible for the
creation of the earliest rabbinic literature (1st3rd cent. CE). Therefore the lit-
erary features of these parables and their contents are likely to reveal some-
thing about what bound and what separated both religious movements, as
well as about the historical reality of these groups under Roman rule. Since
we are dealing with this early period of rabbinic literature, the comparison
with early-Christian parables, especially those in the Gospels, stands to rea-
son. However, unlike their Christian counterparts, rabbinic parables continued
to be produced until the Middle Ages. This observation underpins the hypo-
thetical assumption behind the project that the ceasing of Christian parable-
production after the New Testament has something to do with the parting
of the ways.6 Because of the unceasing, and even increasing, appearance of
parables in classical and late rabbinic midrash, the comparison with parables
in Islam is a desideratum. Moreover, classical and Hellenistic counterparts of
the parable are also worth looking at in this context.
In line with my multi-focal view on parable research as a whole, I developed some
methodological steps that involve a dialectical combination of a form-analytical
approach and textual criticism. After an introduction of the form-analytical
approach (1), and its application to the mashal quoted at the beginning (2), I will
explain this method (3). An introduction in textual criticism of rabbinic literature
(4) is followed by the textcritical study of the same mashal (5).
1 Form-Analysis of the Rabbinic Parable
The term form-analysis of rabbinic texts (not to be confused with form-

criticism) was coined by Arnold Goldberg and developed in a series of articles
6 Another indication that the parables were considered a Jewish genre by early Christians
would be the (mocking) use of rabbinic-style parables by Christians in polemical works. See
Johnston, Parabolic Interpretations, p. 210.
most of which were published from 1974 to 1990 in the Frankfurter Judaistische
Studien.7 These studies focus on the interrelatedness of form and function in
rabbinic literature, especially midrash and its sub-forms. The following remarks
are inspired by Goldbergs writings but by no means restricted to his views.
To be sure, other scholars have said similar things about rabbinic meshalim
without calling their method form-analysis. These are, in my opinion, the most
elucidating insights of Goldberg: First, most rabbinic literature and almost all
midrash is metasprachlich, i.e. it refers to another text, i.c. the Hebrew Bible.
Others would call this hermeneuic or exegetical. Second, the form and the
(hermeneutical) function of rabbinic texts are closely related. For example,
the function of the Form Midrash is interpreting (not summarizing or merely
restating in other words) a biblical text. I.e. each midrashic interpretation does
something with the biblical text: it may elucidate something that is not clear, or
fill in a gap.8 Similarly, the mashal is a form with a typical function. In rabbinic
midrash, the mashal is a sub-form of the larger form midrash.9 Hence, it has a
function in the interpretation of the midrash, and it does this is a specific way:
by comparing a biblical situation with a situation in real life.
Because the mashal functions primarily10 in midrash, I will start with some
introductory remarks about midrash.11 Midrash is no objective form of bib-
lical interpretationif such could ever exist. Midrash is exhortative, often
7 Most of these articles are collected in A. Goldberg, Rabbinische Texte als Gegenstand der
Auslegung. Gesammelte Studien II, ed. Margarete Schlter and Peter Schfer, Tbingen
1999. A programmatic study, the only English article in the collection, is his Form-Analysis
of Midrashic Literature as a Method of Description (8095), which originally appeared in
JJS 36 (1985) 159174.
8 On gap-filling in midrash, see L.M. Teugels, Gap Filling and Linkage in the Midrash on the
Rebekah Cycle, in A. Wenin e.a. (eds), Studies in the Book of Genesis. Literature, Redaction
and History (BETL, 155), Leuven 2000, 585598.
9 Cf. Goldberg, Das Schriftauslegende Gleichnis in Midrash, in Goldberg, Rabbinische
Texte, 134198.
10 According to Stern, Parables, 67, rabbinic literature also contains meshalim in narrative
contexts, but most meshalim...are preserved not in narrative contexts but in exegetical
ones. The example Stern gives here, from Gen. R. 64:10 is a mashal in a narrative con-
text that indirectly still functions in the interpretation of a biblical text (Gen. 26:18): the
midrash as well as the mashal deal with the limits of the generosity of foreign powers
(Abimelekh c/q the Romans). I am inclined to say that all meshalim in rabbinic Midrashic
works have an exegetical or hermeneutical function. An additional complication in
Sterns example is that the animal tale found there is not marked as a mashal, as it is not
introduced by any of the standard introductory formulae. For an extensive description of
the hermeneutical workings of the mashal in midrash, see Fraenkel, The Mashal.
11 On the term midrash see Stemberger, Einleitung, 255268, and the bibliography cited
there; L.M. Teugels, Midrash in the Bible or Midrash on the Bible? Critical Remarks about
252 Teugels
polemical, chauvinistic and, not the least, the exponent of a culture in which a
written text, the Tenakh, is considered the unchangeable, infallible, yet inter-
pretable divine word that rules every aspect of human life. This view of the
text as the divine word in the strictest sense infuses the formal features of
the interpretation in midrash.12 Midrash is idiosyncratic in terms of its herme-
neutic techniques: it tends to be atomistici.e. focus on small details, even let-
ters, of a textand utilize a more or less fixed set of hermeneutic techniques.
All this concerns the rabbinic view of the text as the divine word that by nature
cannot not contain ambiguities, repetitions or contradictions, let alone mis-
takes. If such appears to be the case in our limited, human, perception, the
rabbis will find a way to explain the apparent contradiction or repetition in
such a way that an extra meaning or difference is revealed. The hermeneu-
tic techniques used to reveal this hidden meaning are believed to be part of
Oral Torah, i.e. they were revealed to Moses together with Written Torah and
are hence of the same divine origin. Without going in all the details, it should
be clear that theology, hermeneutics and the literary production of midrash
are intertwined. To complicate things for the present-day reader of midrash,
it is often not always immediately obvious which aspect in the biblical text
is the focal point of the interpretation; in other words, what the problem
(repetition, contradiction, gap etc.) is that is the peg on which the midrash
hangs. This could be a word, a verse, an entire biblical pericope, or anything
in between. Hence midrash needs to be approached with a method of analysis
that is focused on laying bare the way it presents a specific reading of the par-
ticular biblical text at hand.
A mashal occurring in a midrash has a function in this process of midrashic
interpretation: it is essentially hermeneutical. Moreover, the form of the
mashal and its hermeneutical function are intrinsically related. Yet the mashal
is only one of several forms used in midrash. It is a distinctive literary form that is
chosen for its specific capacities of interpretation, which are not necessarily
found in other midrashic forms.13 The paradigmatic form14 of the rabbinic
the Uncritical Use of a Term, in: G. Bodendorfer, M. Millard (eds), Bibel und Midrasch
(FAT, 22), Tbingen 1998, 4363.
12 On the relation between the rabbinic view of the Tenakh and the literary form of midrash,
see most forcefully Goldberg, Die Schrift der rabbinischen Schriftausleger, in: Goldberg,
Rabbinische texte, 230241.
13 Such as the midrash-sentence, petichta, chatimah and the homily. On the forms of
midrash, see Stemberger, Einleitung, 268272 and the works cited there; and Goldberg,
Rabbinische Texte, which contains various articles that each deal with a different form.
14 This is a notion of Arnold Goldberg who distinguishes ideal-typical or paradigmatic
structures for each form used in rabbinic midrash. In other studies he used the term
parable is bipartite: The mashal proper is typically introduced by a stereotypi-

cal formula, such as Rabbi XX told a parable; they told a parable (;)
to what is the matter similar? () , or a combination of these.
The nimshal is usually introduced with so also (). The mashal proper uses
images and figures from daily life, often stereotypical, to illuminate situations
depicted in the biblical text, often the relation between God and Israel, or a
biblical character. The way a mashal offers an interpretation of an aspect of the
biblical text appears to be rather transparent because the nimshal brings the
interpretation back to the passage at hand. However, only seldom is such
transparency complete, because rabbinic parables often do not cover their
nimshal one hundred percentor the other way aroundthe combination of
both does not usually match completely the biblical text they are adduced to
illuminate. Our case-study will demonstrate this feature, as well as the work-
ings of the mashal in general.
2 The Rabbinic Parable as Biblical Interpretation
The parable of the man, the son and the friend quoted at the beginning, will
serve as our model. The Mekhilta de rabbi Ishmael in which this parable is
found, is a tannaitic Midrash15 to part of the book of Exodus, which originated
in Palestine in the second half of the third century CE.16 The selected peri-
copes from Exodus covered in this Midrash are treated in detail and at length,
often presenting multiple interpretations of one verse. Our parable is part of a
midrash on Exod. 14:15. I call this verse the base-text.
functional form. On the paradigmatic form of the rabbinic parable, see his Das
Schriftauslegende Gleichnis, esp. p. 149167. Mashal and nimshal, which he refers to as
Relat and Korrelat, are both essential elements of the Form Mashal in his analysis. The
actual texts in which the paradigmatic or functional forms are applied are literary
forms in his terminology. In these literary forms, the paradigmatic form may be modified,
supplemented with other smaller forms, or else essential parts, such as e.g. the nimshal in
the form mashal, may be missing.
15 I differentiate between midrash and Midrash. With a capital, Midrash denotes a work
that is entirely devoted to rabbinic interpretation of the Bible, such as Genesis Rabbah,
or Mekhilta de rabbi Ishmael; I use midrash for a unit of such interpretation, and also for
rabbinic midrashic interpretation in general. Both may be found in a Midrash, but also
e.g. in the Babylonian Talmud.
16 Cf. Stemberger, Einleitung, 2847; Kahana, The halakhic Midrashim, 6872.
254 Teugels
In the biblical account, this verse is not a logical move. In the preceding
verses, the Israelites are said to be complaining to Moses, and he says that God
will help them and defeat the Egyptians.17
10 As Pharaoh drew near, the Israelites caught sight of the Egyptians

advancing upon them. Greatly frightened, the Israelites cried out to the
Lord. 11 And they said to Moses, Was it for want of graves in Egypt that
you brought us to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us, taking
us out of Egypt? 12 Is this not the very thing we told you in Egypt, saying,
Let us be, and we will serve the Egyptians, for it is better for us to serve
the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness? 13 But Moses said to the peo-
ple, Have no fear! Stand by, and witness the deliverance which the Lord
will work for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today you will
never see again. 14 The Lord will battle for you; you hold your peace!
15 Then the Lord said to Moses, Why do you cry out to Me? Tell the
Israelites to go forward.
The midrash needs to offer an explanation of Gods remark to Moses in v. 15:

Moses did not cry out to God at this moment; rather the Israelites cried out to
the Lord (v. 10) and Moses calms down the people by assuring them of Gods
help. Why then does v. 15 have God mention Moses crying out to Him? This is
a peg, a gap to be filled in by the midrash.
A note about the expression crying out to God is due here. In her study of
the Sodom episode in Gen. 1819, Van Wolde investigates, among other expres-
sions, the verbal construction that is also used here.18 Following Bovati,
she demonstrates that this expression is used in a legal context in the Bible,
and denotes a crying out for help towards someone who can act as a judge,
such as a king, or towards God, who also acts as a judge. In Ex. 14:10, as in the
Sodom case, crying out to God implies a call for help by a group of people to
God. I cannot detect a legal context in Exod. 4, but the relationship is that of
a group or a person in an inferior position expecting help from someone in a
superior position. In v. 15 the same expression is found, this time with respect
to Moses. In line with the obvious meaning of the expression in v. 10, it makes
sense also to read Gods rebuke of Moses Why do you cry out to Me in v. 15 as
referring to an (inappropriate) call for help from Moses towards God.
17 J PS translation 1985, bold type added by me.

18 E. van Wolde, Cognitive Grammar at Work in Sodom and Gomorrah, in: B. Howe,
J.B. Green (eds), Cognitive Linguistic Explorations in Biblical Studies, Berlin 2004, 193221,
esp. 204211.
The midrash in the Mekhilta to this passage, including the mashal, demon-
states that this connotation of the biblical expression was known by the
rabbinic sages, even though, in rabbinic language, the expression was supple-
mented by other verbs denoting a call for help, such as , to ask, beg. The
rabbis solve the question of the unexpected mentioning of Moses crying out
in v. 15, by applying it to his words in vv. 1314. His reassuring words towards
the Israelites in these verses were read as his cry out for help to God, i.e. as a
prayer. The words Have no fear! Stand by, and witness the deliverance which
the Lord will work for you today (..) The Lord will battle for you etc. can indeed
be read as an indirect prayer. Moses addresses the people, but at the same time
he asks God to do as he promises the Israelites. Gods rebuke Why do you cry
out to me?, questions the validity of this prayer/call for help. Why does Moses
need to cry out to God now; or at all? As we shall see by studying some sec-
tions of the midrash, this is indeed how the midrash fills in the gap in the
biblical text. God says: This is no time for crying out to me c.q. praying! I will
do what I need to do, and you should do what you have to do and lead this
people to the Sea.
In the passages preceding the mashal, several explanations are given, such
as that of Rabbi Eliezer:
R. Eliezer says: The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: Moses, My
children are in distress, the sea forming a bar and the enemy pursuing,
and you stand there reciting long prayers; why do you cry out to Me? For
R. Eliezer used to say: There is a time to be brief in prayer and a time to
be lengthy. Heal her now, O God, I beseech Thee (Num. 12:13). This is
an instance of being brief. And I fell down before the Lord as at the first
time, etc. (Deut. 9:18). This is an instance of being lengthy.
R. Eliezers interpretation focuses on the length of Moses words in vv. 1314.

His lengthy prayer is identified with crying out, as the sequence you stand
there reciting long prayers; why do you cry out to Me? in the midrash implies. In
the two cases given in this passage, the first, Num. 12:13 (Moses praying for his
leprous sister) is considered an example of appropriate brevity,19 whereas the
second, Deut. 9:18 (Moses 40-day prayer after the sin of the golden calf) is given
as an example of appropriate lengthiness in prayer. In the case of Ex. 14:1314,
Moses is being lengthy whereas the situation is so urgent that brevity would
have been appropriate.
19 It should be noted that Num. 12:13 starts with and Moses cried out to the Lord
( -) .
256 Teugels
Another interpretation, which in our text comes after the mashal, tackles
the problem in a similar way.
Rabbi says: Yesterday you were saying For since I came to Pharaoh, etc.
(Ex. 5.23). And now you are standing there reciting long prayers. Why do
you cry out to Me?
Also Rabbi (short for Rabbi Jehuda ha-Nasi) refers back to an earlier instance
in the text (Exod. 5:2223) where Moses was directing a rather lengthy com-
plaint at God. The comparison with this passage reveals that, according to the
Rabbi, Moses length of words is also the real problem: He should shut up and
do something!
A third passage in the midrash makes the explicit connection between the
crying out for help of the Israelites in v. 10 and that of Moses in vv. 1314.
R. Simon son of Judah says: Why do you cry out to me? Their own crying
has already preceded your crying, as it is said And the Children of Israel
cried out to the Lord.
The mashal, which is presented as yet another interpretation by a third sage,

transposes Moses cry for help to God to a human situation of a king and his
friend (), who comes to ask ( )on behalf of the kings son.
R. Absalom, the elder, giving a parable, says: To what is the matter simi-
lar? To a man who got angry with his son and drove him out of his house.
His friend then came to him, requesting that he allow the son to come
back to the house. He said to his friend: You are only asking me on behalf
of my own son. I am already reconciled to my son.
So also did the Holy One say to Moses: Why do you cry out tot Me? Is it
not on behalf of My own sons? I am already reconciled to My sons. Speak
to the Children of Israel that They Go Forward.
The word , and the translation friend, seem to imply a situation of equal-
ity between the partners in the conversation. However, the verb that is used
in the rabbinic text, , to ask, beg, implies a position of dependency of
the person asking, just like the biblical crying out. In some textual witnesses,
including a Geniza fragment, we find a king20 instead of a man, and the
20 This is the more stereotypical form in the rabbinic mashal, which makes the association
with God more evident. On king-meshalim and stereotyping, see Stern, Parables, 1924.
friend is given the title of a functionary, a guardian (). These terms

leave no doubt about the subordinate position of the petitioner.21
I said earlier that form-analysis lays bare the relation between the function
and the form of the mashal. In other words, the form of the mashal is espe-
cially suitable to serve a certain type of biblical interpretation. The structure
of the present mashal is rather regular, displaying a clear mashal-nimshal
unit.22 However, as we shall see, not every aspect of the nimshal is covered
by the mashal. How does this two-part mashal function as an interpretation
of the base verse? Even though meshalim are no strict analogies, it is usually
possible to identify corresponding elements in the mashal with their counter-
part in the nimshal c/q the base text. The following equations can be made.
Man = God
Friend, interceding on behalf of son = Moses, interceding on behalf of Israel
Son = (Children of) Israel23
Man reconciled with son = God reconciled with Israel
The interpretation in the mashal-nimshal combination puts the focus on the

sons of Israel on behalf of whom Moses cries out for help. Even though they
are behaving in an annoying way with their complaints, Moses should do
what he is supposed to do rather than keep praying and expecting help from
God: he himself should lead the Israelites towards the sea. The important mes-
sage, brought by the quotation at the end of the unit: Speak to the Children of
21 The verb , and the characters of a king (also found in textual witnesses of our mashal)
who is angry at his son, and his interceding friend, are used in a similar mashal in another
tannaitic midrash: Sifre Numbers 86. Base verse in this midrash is Num. 11:2, which also
refers to the praying of Moses.
. , - ; -
And the people cried out at Moses (Num. 11:2). What could Moses accomplish for them?
Should it not have said: And the people cried out at the Lord? Why does Scripture
say: And the people cried out at Moses? R. Simeon said: A parable, to what is the matter
similar? To a king of flesh and blood who was angry at his son, and that son went to his
fathers friend (). He said to him: go, ask ( )on behalf of me from my father.
So Israel went to Moses. They said to him: So and ask on behalf of us from the Place.
(My translation from M. Kahana, Sifre on Numbers, Jerusalem 2011, vol 1, p. 216).
This mashal is very similar to our mashal in the Mekhilta, yet it is not parallel in the strict
sense as the characters play different roles and the point is different. This is due to the
different exegetical embedding.
22 We will see in the next section that an important textual witness misses the nimshal.
23 In Hebrew this is , which reflects the association with the son, .
258 Teugels
Israel that They Go Forward (Ex. 14:15), has no explicit equivalent in the mashal.
If the mashal were to be completed, one could imagine that it would read:
Tell my son that he can come home. The message issuing from this mashal-
nimshal unit is therefore that despite Israels misbehaving, God is ultimately
bound to saving them. And Moses, his friend-yet-subordinate, is his mediator:
he needs to lead them towards the sea by which they, unexpectedly, will be
saved rather than swallowed.
This reading also implies that Moses crying out to God shows his lack of
faith, because he should know that in the end God will save his people. The lat-
ter idea is supported by yet another section of midrash coming after the mashal.
R. Eleazar of Modiin says: Why do you cry out at me? Do I need any urging
concerning my sons? For it is said: Concerning my sons and concerning
the work of my hands, do you command me? (Is 45:11). Have they not
already from the time of the six days of creation been designed before
me? For it is said: If these ordinance depart from before Me, saith the
Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation from
before Me for ever (Jer. 31:35).24
3 Between Form-Analysis and Textual Criticism: a Note on Method
In the introduction I pleaded for a multi-focal approach of rabbinic parables.

Restricting myself here to the textual (as opposed to historical) side of parable
research, I want to explain how I favour a dialectical combination of form-
analysis and textual criticism. I first approach the parables as they are found
in an accepted text, i.c. the Lauterbach edition of Mekhilta de rabbi Ishmael.
The form-analytical approach is strictly synchronic: the text as it stands now
is the focus of the analysis. Yet this does not mean that redactional and scribal
changes in the transmission history of a text are denied. Rather, if more than
24 This is not to say that the rabbinic readings of a text tend to present a uniform view.
In midrash as in the Talmud, diametrically opposed readings are found within the same
discourse. Another midrash in this set of interpretations of Exod. 15:115 in the Mekhilta
offers an entirely different interpretation: Moses crying out is seen here in a positive light,
whereas that of the Israelites could have been their demise were it not for Moses: R. Aha
says: Why do you cry out to me? For your sake I will do it. The Holy One, blessed be He,
said to Moses: If not for your crying out I would already have destroyed them from the
world (...). In this sense it is said here: Why do you cry out to me, speak to the children
of Israel that they go forwardit is because of your crying that they can go forward.
one textual witness is availablewhich is generally the case with tannaitic

textsand if their analyses reveal substantial differences, the individual texts
of these witnesses should in turn be submitted to form-analysis. In reality this
process need not be so linear (that is why I call it dialectical): usually it will
not be necessary to subject each textual witness to a separate form-analysis.
After the study of the form, function and hermeneutic workings of the mashal
in the accepted text, I usually have a fair idea of what the form and contents
of this parable are, or should be. Moreover, while doing the form-analysis,
I already consider textual variants as they may give insights in certain problem-
atic aspects of the accepted text. Often the analysis of the various witnesses
shows anomalies in the paradigmatic form of the mashal (e.g. the omission
of a nimshal) that may be an indication of scribal mistakes, corruption, delib-
erate redaction, or even originality. This combination of form-analysis and
textual analysis allows me to offer some hypotheses as to the history of trans-
mission of the text.
4 Textual Criticism of Tannaitic Meshalim
Before we proceed to the text-critical study of our mashal, I want to address

two issues. First, the unique text-critical situation of rabbinic texts, and
second the use of parallels in textual criticism of meshalim.
The study of the textual witnesses is the fundamental work behind my edi-
tion of tannaitic meshalim. The question as to the presentation of rabbinic
texts in an edition is a much debated issue among rabbinic scholars. Over the
past 35 years, this debate has been dominated by two leading scholars with
opposing views on the matter, Peter Schfer and Chaim Milikowsky.25 The
fact that the two opinions seem irreconcilable is partly due to the text-critical
nature of the material. Students of rabbinic texts are faced with particular
problems that are more prominent in this corpus than in the Hebrew Bible.
This is not the place to go into all the depths of the discussion; I will merely
25 P. Schfer, Research into Rabbinic Literature: an Attempt to Define the Status Questionis,
JJS 37 (1986), 139152; Ch. Milikowsky The Status Questionis of Research in Rabbinic
Literature, JJS 39 (1988), 201211; P. Schfer, Once again the Status Questionis of Research
in Rabbinic Literature: Answer to Chaim Milikowsky, JJS 40 (1989), 8994; Ch. Milikowsky
and P. Schfer, Current views on the Editing of the Rabbinic Texts of Late Antiquity:
Reflections on a Debate after Twenty Years in: Ph.S. Alexander, M. Goodman (eds),
Rabbinic texts and the history of late-Roman Palestine, Oxford 2010, 7988. The latter work
also includes the three previous articles.
260 Teugels
offer a survey of the factors at stake. First of all, rabbinic literature is not a
closed corpus; there is no canon, and new works are being discovered until
the present day. Second, the amount of texts is large, and the text-critical situ-
ation is different for every work. To restrict ourselves to the tannaitic works: for
the Mekhilta de Rabbi Ishmael, for example, we have the two earliest printed
editions, four large manuscripts, and many smaller fragments. Until recently,
its twin-work, the Mekhilta de rabbi Shimon bar Yohai, as well as the Mekhilta
to Deuteronomy, were only known from their citations in the mediaeval yalkut
Midrash Hagadol. In the past century, some geniza fragments of these works
have been identified but these fragments do not cover the entire works by
far. Even more scant evidence is present for the newly identified Sifre Zuta to
Deuteronomy, which is only known from one set of fragments discovered in St
Petersburg.26 Third, all rabbinic works have long and complicated transmission
histories, oral transmissions following upon earlier written editions, and cre-
ative additions added by mediaeval scribes.27 It needs to be noted here that all
textual witnesses are late with respect to the accepted 3rd century origin of the
tannaitic texts. This is an inherent handicap in all textual criticism of rabbinic
texts: we do not have more or less contemporary papyri as in New Testament
criticism, and rabbinic texts are not found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. Hence
the Geniza fragments, most of which date from the 9th11th centuries, are
usually our earliest witnesses. Fourth, many works exist in several recensions
which originated because of geographical dispersion: a work that, e.g. origi-
nated in Palestine, developed differently once it arrived in Babylonia, Italy, or
Ashkenaz.28 Fifth, because of the previously described situations, many schol-
ars often deem it impossible to decide upon a best manuscript. As a result, the
idea of an Urtext and of stemmatics, which is accepted in biblical textual criti-
cism, is deemed unfit for rabbinic textual criticism by many. Therefore scholars
such as Peter Schfer have opted for synoptic editions of rabbinic and related
works.29 Chaim Milikowsky, on the other hand, holds that synoptic editions
26 M. Kahana, Sifre Zuta on Deuteronomy. Citations from a New Tannaitic Midrash (Heb.),
Jerusalem 2002.
27 Cf. Y. Elman, I. Gershoni (eds.) Transmitting Jewish Traditions. Orality, Textuality, and
Cultural Diffusion, New Haven 2000. M. Jaffee, Torah in the Mouth.Writing and Oral
Tradition in Palestinian Judaism. 200 BCE400 CE, New York 2000.
28 For tannaitic works, see Avot de rabbi Nathan A and B. An example of a later Midrash
is the Tanchuma, which exists in two recensions: the so-called printed Tanchuma and
Tanchuma Buber.
29 E.g. P. Schfer, Synopse zur Hekhalot-Literatur (Texte und Studien zum Antiken Judentum,
2), Tbingen, 1981; Id. a.o., Synopse zum Talmud Yerushalmi, 7 vols, 19912001.
and diplomatic transcriptions of manuscripts may be scholarly editions, but

not real critical editions.30
Our edition of tannaitic meshalim is different from other editions in that
it does not concern complete works but only small pieces of many works. For
some of these, good recent critical editions exist,31 for others only outdated
editions from the beginning of the 20th century.32 Eventually, we hope to over-
come the disadvantages and complexities of this situation by means of the
new possibilities of digital media, which allow us to present the various tex-
tual witnesses of each mashal in a comparable, searchable way. For now, my
edition of the meshalim in tannaitic Midrashim, which will be published by
Mohr-Siebeck, will present the variants of the meshalim in synoptic columns,
followed by a discussion of the differences between the versions.
Meshalim are known to be itinerant narratives that may show up in various
rabbinic works. If it is evident that the mashal proper of two parables has the
same storyline and makes the same point,33 then we can treat such recurrent
parables as parallels. Parallels can have text-critical value and they are often
used in critical editions to correct corruptions and to establish a meaningful
text. Sometimes the midrashic context in which the parallel mashal occurs is
the same, as is the case with a parallel to our mashal in Exodus Rabbah, which
deals with the same base verse. It also happens that the same mashal is found
in the interpretation of a different biblical text; yet it is clearly still the same
parable.34 The nimshal may be different in such a case so as to make the par-
able fit the new situation. The reasons for these multiple occurrences of the
same mashal in different exegetical contexts may be due to the (oral or writ-
ten) circulation of stock meshalim that were multi-applicable and could be
moulded to new contexts.
The text-critical value of a parallel depends on the date and relation of the
respective works: when the same mashal occurs in two tannaitic Midrashim on
the same biblical book, such as is often the case in Mekhilta de Rabbi Ishmael
and Mekhilta de Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai (both Midrashim on Exodus), or in
Sifre to Deuteronomy and Mekhilta to Deuteronomy then the parallel is part
30 For a summary of the opinions and problems on editing rabbinic texts, see B. Visotzky,
On critical editions of midrash, in L.M. Teugels, R. Ulmer (eds), Recent Developments
in Midrash Research. Proceedings of the 2002 and 2003 SBL Consultation on Midrash,
Piscataway 2005, 155161.
31 E.g. M. Kahana, Sifre on Numbers, Jerusalem 2011.
32 E.g. D.Z. Hoffmann, Midrash Tannaim zu Deuteronomium, Berlin 19089.
33 Because of the stock images used, two parables dealing with, say, a king giving a wedding
banquet for his son, are not necessarily parallels.
34 As in the mashal in Sifre Deuteronomy in note 21.
262 Teugels
of the larger question of the relation between these respective sources. These
may be assessed as different recensions of the same work, as early separate
developments of the same source or as stemming from two rabbinic schools.35
The relation between two such works may be comparable to that between the
synoptic gospels. It may make sense to present such parallel meshalim in dif-
ferent tannaitic works synoptically, yet they should not be seen as variant tex-
tual witnesses. In the case of the occurrence of the same mashal, in a similar
exegetical context, in an early and in a later source, such as is the case with our
example, it is feasible that the earlier Midrash (the Mekhilta, 3rd cent.) was a
written source for the later midrash (Exodus Rabbah, 9th cent.). Also in this
case a parallel may have text-critical value as it is possible that the later work
used a textual witness of the earlier work that is now lost. In either case, a
parallel should not be considered the same as a variant textual witness. In my
edition, parallels will be presented, but in a way that clearly distinguishes them
from the textual witnesses of the work at hand. Moreover, for each parallel,
multiple textual witnesses are likely to exist. Since my edition is restricted to
tannaitic parables, multiple versions of later (amoraitic or mediaeval) parallels
will not be presented unless there is a compelling reason to do so. Rather, the
text of a standard edition will be given.
5 Textual Witnesses of the Mashal about the Man/King, the Son and
the Friend/Overseer
The table contains the three main manuscript witnesses that contain this par-
able, as well as a geniza fragment.36 Ms Vatican and the Geniza fragment, the
two oldest textual witnesses, were not used by Lauterbach, nor by Horovitz-
35 M. Kahana, like many before him, distinguishes two schools of rabbinic exegesis, named
after Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Ishmael. Both schools, each showing distinct hermeneutic
views and using distinct techniques, would have produced tannaitic midrashim on the
five books of the Torah. In the case of Exodus, the Mekhilta de Rabbi Ismael obviously
represents the school of Rabbi Ishmael, and the Mekhilta de rabbi Shimon bar Yohai that
of Rabbi Akiva. See M. Kahana, The Halakhic Midrashim, 1739. Kahana asserts, how-
ever, that the differences between the schools hold only for the halakhic parts, not for the
aggadic sections, to which the meshalim belong (p. 45).
36 I derived the transcription of the texts of the three large manuscripts from the database
Torat hatanaim which is administered by the university of Bar Ilan: biu.ac.il/js/tannaim.
The transcription of the Geniza fragment comes from M. Kahana, Geniza Fragments of the
Tannaitic Midrashim (Heb.), Jerusalem 2005, 49. For Exodus Rabbah, I use the Vilna 1878
edition as rendered on the Bar Ilan Responsa CD-Rom.
Rabin, who published the other standard edition of the Mekhikta.37 The right
column contains the parallel in Exodus Rabbah.
The beginning of the mashal/nimshal is indicated in bold type. Remarkable
differences and similarities are underlined. The sections of the text are num-
bered for easy reference in the discussion that follows the table.
Ms Oxford Ms Munich Ms Vatican- Geniza Exod R 21:8

Bodl. Marshal Bayerische Bibl. Apost. fragment T-S
Or. 24 (1291)a Staatsbibliothek, Ebr. 299 (11th C4.8, p. 2b (11th
)Cod. Hebr. 11 (1435 )cent. cent.)b
1 ?/? []

2

3

4

5

6

7 xx xx

8 xx xx

9
[
]
10 xx xx
37 Lauterbach, see note 1. H.S. Horovitz, I.A. Rabin (eds.), Mechilta dRabbi Ismael, 2nd ed.
Jerusalem 1970.
264 Teugels
(cont.)
Ms Oxford Ms Munich Ms Vatican- Geniza Exod R 21:8

Bodl. Marshal Bayerische Bibl. Apost. fragment T-S
Or. 24 (1291)a Staatsbibliothek, Ebr. 299 (11th C4.8, p. 2b (11th
Cod. Hebr. 11 (1435) cent.) cent.)b
11 ()[]
[]

12

13

a Dates as given in the Maagarim database of the Academy of Hebrew Language: maagarim.
hebrew-academy.org.il.
b Date according to the catalogue of M. Kahana, Manuscripts of the Halakhic MidrashimAn
Annotated Catalogue (Heb.), Jerusalem, 1995.
The following peculiarities are evident in the synoptic comparison of the ver-
sions of the Mekhilta text (not the parallel in Exodus Rabbah).
Section 1: There are some differences in the name of the tradent: in Ms.
Munich and Vatican he is called Abshalom, Ms. Oxford and the Geniza frag-
ment have Abtulus or Abtulum.
Section 3: The Geniza fragment has the standardized38 form king ()
whereas the other witnesses have simply one ().
Section 4: Ms. Munich and Ms. Vatican call the intermediary his friend (lit.
his beloved one, )whereas Ms. Oxford and the Geniza fragment have
Hebrew renderings of the Greek word guardian.
Section 5: This contains several variations, some of which are clearly cor-
rupt. For example in Ms. Munich the man says to the friend: you dont ask
anything of him but my sons. Ms. Oxford and the Geniza fragment seem to
38 See note 18.

have a superfluous negation as they read you dont ask anything of me not
because of my son.
Section 6: Three different forms of the same verb ( )are used in the
different textual witnesses. The parallel version in Exodus Rabbah has yet
another variant. There might be a slight difference in meaning but this is not
necessary.
Sections 78: The Geniza fragment omits the nimshal entirely and has the
quotation of the base verse immediately following the mashal.
Section 9: Ms. Oxford has a doublet here, which is a copying mistake.
Section 1012: Ms Munich and Ms. Vatican mark the last section as a new
interpretation, introduced by Rabbi says. In Ms Oxford, this introduction is
missing, so that the text starting with yesterday you said can be considered as
part of the mashal/nimshal unit. The geniza fragment, which lacks a nimshal,
has the interesting variant yesterday he was saying ( ) in section
11, where the other witnesses have you were saying. Because of the lack of a
nimshal in the fragment, it is possible that this he refers to Moses, and that
the you in section 12 refers to the epitropos. If so, for want of a nimshal, there
would still be a contrast between the situation of the king, the son and the
overseer (now) and God, the Israelites and Moses (yesterday). It is also pos-
sible, however, that in the fragment is a simple mistake for .
Taking the parallel in consideration, we note two remarkable similarities
between the mashal in Exodus Rabbah and the version of (only) the Geniza
fragment: Like the fragment, Exodus Rabbah features the king, and it also
omits the nimshal. Like the Geniza fragment, and probably Ms. Oxford, it calls
the tradent Abtulis/Abtulus.
Can we draw any conclusions from these findings? First, it is remarkable
that the oldest textual witnesses, the Geniza fragment and Ms. Vatican that
are more or less contemporary, have different readings in all four parts of the
text that were just highlighted: the name of the tradent, one vs. king, friend
vs. guardian and, most remarkably, the presence of a nismhal in ms. Vatican
where it is absent from the fragment. The Vatican manuscript is written in
Italian script;39 the Geniza fragment in square oriental script.40 These differ-
ent scripts could be explained by geographic dispersion and the existence of
two recensions. The preference of the Geniza fragment for a king instead of a
39 Cf. the Bar Ilan Torat hatannaim site: biu.ac.il/js/tannaim, which quotes the catalogue of
the Israel National Library.
40 See Kahana, Catalogue.
266 Teugels
mere one is also found in another mashal covered in the same manuscript of
which our fragment is a part, i.e. Mekh RI Beshalach 5:1531.41
Second, it is noticeable that the parallel in Exodus Rabbah, a late midrash
from the 9th century, follows the version without nimshal reflected in the
Geniza fragment, and that it also shares other features found therein. There
are many possibilities to account for these similarities. The author of Exodus
Rabbah need not have had this specific manuscript in front of him, and the
Geniza fragment need not have been the first or only textual witness to have
this shorter version. In terms of textual witnesses, the original text of Exodus
Rabbah must have been older than the oldest, 11th century witnesses of the
Mekhilta. The only conclusion we can draw is that the similarities between
the mashal in Exodus Rabbah and the Geniza fragment seem to indicate
that the author of Exodus Rabbah used the the Mekhilta as a source, and that
he knew it in the version represented by the Geniza fragment.
6 Conclusion
In view of our edition, a case like this shows that it is impossible to choose
between the two main versions of the mashal represented by these textual
witnesses: one with, and one without a nimshal. Even if it can be proven that
the Geniza fragment is the oldest version of this mashal, and that the nimshal
was added later to make it conform to the stereotypical structure of the form,
it does not seem wise to publish this mashal without the nimshal, or simply
to refer the nimshal to the apparatus. Doing so would suggest that the most
original text is the best text. But why would this be so in a literature that is by
nature traditional, i.e. formed by oral and written transmission, and that has
not been canonized c.q. closed in a certain stage of its transmission? Seeing
that the longer version including the nimshal has a steady tradition in the
transmission of the text, both versions need to be represented in an edition.
41 T-S C4.5, see Kahana, Geniza Fragments, 50. In his Catalogue, Kahana lists T-S C4.8 and T-S
C4.5 as parts of the same manuscript. The parable functions in a midrash on Exod. 14:19
and deals with a man/king who was walking with his son in front of him when robbers
and wolves came.
Chapter 15
Delimitation Criticism: An Interim Evaluation

Wilfred G.E. Watson
1 Introduction
The title of my previous essay on this topic was Unit Delimitation in the Old
Testament: An Appraisal1 but in retrospect it seems somewhat restricted since
it does not include ancient Near Eastern texts, the Dead Sea scrolls (although,
in fact, both sets were discussed), the Septuagint or the New Testament. Now
that eight volumes in the Pericope series have been published,2 as well as sev-
eral other related studies,3 it seems appropriate to take stock once more.
Delimitation Criticism has two principal aims, which of course are related.
The first is to draw the attention of scholars to the wealth of information on
divisions in the text that is available in manuscripts and text editions and show
them how worthwhile it is to take all this into account.4 The second is to deter-
mine the exact layout of ancient texts, chiefly in Hebrew, by locating syntactic
breaks and verse structure or colometry, ultimately in order to establish their
1 W.G.E. Watson, Unit Delimitation in the Old Testament: An Appraisal, in: Pericope 6, 16284;
see also W.G.E. Watson, review of Pericope 4, JSS 50 (2005), 1802.
2 M.C.A. Korpel, J. Oesch (eds), Delimitation Criticism. A New Tool in Biblical Scholarship
(Pericope 1), Assen 2000; M.C.A. Korpel, The Structure of the Book of Ruth (Pericope 2), Assen
2001; M.C.A. Korpel, J. Oesch (eds), Studies in Scriptural Unit Division (Pericope 3), Assen
2002; M.C.A. Korpel, J. Oesch (eds), Unit Delimitation in Biblical Hebrew and Northwest Semitic
Literature (Pericope 4), Assen 2003; M.C.A. Korpel, J. Oesch (eds), Layout Markers in Biblical
Manuscripts and Ugaritic Tablets (Pericope 5), Assen 2005; M.C.A. Korpel, J. Oesch, S. Porter
(eds), Method in Unit Delimitation (Pericope 6), Assen 2007; R. de Hoop, M. Korpel, S. Porter
(eds), The Impact of Unit Delimitation on Exegesis (Pericope 7), Assen 2008; W.M. de Bruin,
Isaiah 112 as Written and Read in Antiquity (Pericope 8), Sheffield 2013.
3 R. de Hoop, The Colometry of Hebrew Verse and the Masoretic Accents: Evaluation of a
Recent Approach (Part I), JNSL 26/1 (2000), 4773; The Colometry of Hebrew Verse and the
Masoretic Accents: Evaluation of a Recent Approach (Part II), JNSL 26/2 (2000), 65100;
J.W. Olley, Ezekiel: A Commentary on Iezekil in Codex Vaticanus (Septuagint Commentary
Series), Leiden 2009.
4 As noted by one reviewer (M.A. Sweeney, review of Pericope 1 and Pericope 3, JSS 50 (2005),
207209, 207), while questions of textual delimitation or demarcation have stood at the basis
of biblical exegesis for well over two millennia...modern biblical scholarship has largely
ignored the traditional sense-unit division markers, such as the masoretic stmt and
ptt, in their analyses of biblical texts.

268 Watson
meaning.5 This requires painstaking examination of ancient manuscripts, but

fortunately such work has been made somewhat easier since many of them are
now available on line. The survey that follows is simply an outline of the results
achieved so far, which represent considerable effort and dedication.
2 Indicators of Units and Subdivisions
In general, indicators of spacing, major or minor divisions, sense units, para-

graphs, segments of verse and the like can be classified into three groups:
(a) Graphic devices
spaces or blanks markers (dots, wedges etc.)6

lineation oversized letters
indentation horizontal/vertical ruled lines
(b) Linguistic indicators
introductory particles introductory formulae

prose/poetry shifts messenger formulae
change of speaker closing formulae7
superscriptions
(c) Verse patterns8
acrostics9 chiasmus
refrains paronomasia
5 See De Hoop, The Colometry of Hebrew Verse; E.B. Dresher, The Prosodic Basis of the
Tiberian Hebrew System of Accents, Language 70 (2000), 152.
6 Note that these should be differentiated from checkmarks, on which cf. R. Hawley, On
the Alphabetic Scribal Curriculum at Ugarit, in: R.D. Biggs et al. (eds), Proceedings of the
51st Rencontre Assyriologique International Held at the Oriental Institute of the University of
Chicago July 1822, 2005 (SAOC, 62), Chicago IL, 5767, 66 and n. 74.
7 Including the presence of a colophon.
8 See generally W.G.E. Watson, Classical Hebrew Poetry: A Guide to its Techniques (JSOTS, 26),
Sheffield 1984, 4655; De Hoop, Pericope 5, 4077 and De Bruin, Isaiah 112 (esp. chapter 2).
J.R. Lundbom, Demarcation of Units in the Book of Jeremiah, Pericope 7 (2009), 14674,
1567, lists fourteen criteria, some overlapping with those given here.
9 F.W. Dobbs-Allsopp, Acrostic, in: H.-J. Klauck et al. (eds), Encyclopedia of the Bible and 1st
Reception, Berlin 2009, ad loc.; Watson, Classical Hebrew Poetry, 190200. Besides Ben Sira
Delimitation Criticism: An Interim Evaluation 269
catchwords enjambment
repetitions10 parallelism
inclusio keywords
These lists, which do not follow any particular order, provide only some of
the main markers indicative of divisions and subdivisions. The main focus
of delimitation criticism is on the first set (a) but always with an awareness of
the relevance of the other two sets, (b) and (c).
3 Graphic Indicators in Ancient Near Eastern Texts
The various markers present in Old Assyrian, Ugaritic, Egyptian and Akkadian
have been studied in a recent doctoral thesis.11 However, as a rule, such markers
and even the use of a planned layout are absent from Northwest Semitic texts12
and in Akkadian and Babylonian texts, the chief indicator of structure (and
verse, where applicable) is lineation.13 Graphic indicators in Ugaritic include
horizontal lines, vertical wedges acting as word-dividers (possibly with a
51:1319, they also occur in the Hymn to Zion and in Psalm 155; for my own attempt
to reflect these in an English translation see F. Garca Martnez, The Dead Sea Scrolls
Translated. The Qumran Texts in English (Translated by W.G.E. Watson), Leiden etc. 19962,
306309.
10 Including duplicate passages, which is noted as a criterion by Lundbom, Demarcation of
Units, 156: Duplication of verses or larger passages appearing in different contexts.
11 A.F. Robertson, Word Dividers, Spot Markers and Clause Markers in Old Assyrian, Ugaritic,
and Egyptian Texts: Sources for Understanding the Use of the Red Ink Points in the Two
Akkadian Literary Texts, Adapa and Ereshkigal, Found in Egypt, PhD New York 1994.
See also Korpel, Pericope 1, 256, 34, 47; E. Tov, Pericope 1, 3345; T. Linafelt, F.W. Dobbs-
Allsopp, Poetic Line Structure in Qoheleth 3:1, VT 60 (2010), 24959, 250 n. 4; Dobbs-
Allsopp, Acrostic, 256.
12 So I. Kottsieper, Zu graphischen Abschnittsmarkierungen in nordwestsemitischen
Texten, Pericope 4 (2003), 12161, 1568; see also A.R. Millard, Scriptio Continua in Early
Hebrew: Ancient Practice or Modern Surmise?, JSS 15 (1970), 215, and J. Naveh, Word
Division in West Semitic Writing, IEJ 23 (1973), 2068.
13 As J.F.J. van Rensburg, A Numerical Characterization of Poetical Lines: Statistical Theory
and Young Babylonian Application, Journal for Semitics 9 (1997), 3947, 44, notes: Lines
are usually clearly demarcated in Babylonian poetry. M. Worthington, Principles of
Akkadian Textual Criticism, Berlin 2012, 258 n. 847, comments that In literary manu-
scripts, line ends often coincided with syntactic boundaries, but that this was not the
case in letters. On Akkadian metre see J.F.J. van Rensburg, Characterizing a poetic line
in Young Babylonian: a metrical and grammatical approach, Journal for Semitics 2 (1990),
909; S. Helle, Rhythm and Expression in Akkadian Poetry, ZA 104 2014), 5673.
270 Watson
metrical function)14 not to mention lineation (where present).15 Double words

and double word-dividers can indicate a heading16 as is the case in Egypt.17
To a limited extent, markers and lineation are present in Aramaic18 and in
Phoenician19 inscriptions. There are markings in the Hebrew manuscripts
from the Dead Sea Scrolls.20 As Dobbs-Allsopp has pointed out: The earli-
est written copies of biblical poems currently extant come from the Judean
14 See the study of KTU 1.10 in W.G.E. Watson, Unit Delimitation in the Old Testament: An
Appraisal, Pericope 6 (2007), 16284, 1635. Another example is KTU 1.24, on which cf.
A.F. Robertson, Non-Word Divider Use of the Small Vertical Wedge in Yari and Nikkal
and in an Akkadian Text Written in Alphabetic Cuneiform, in: R. Chazan et al. (eds),
Ki Baruch Hu: Ancient Near Eastern, Biblical and Judaic Studies in Honour of Baruch A.
Levine, Winona Lake IN 1999, 89109 and G. Theuer, Der Mondgott in den Religionen
Syrien-Palstinas: unter besonderer Bercksichtigung von KTU 1.24 (OBO, 173), Freiburg /
Gttingen 2000, 138. In neither text are the dividers used consistently.
15 See W. Horwitz, Graphemic Representation of Word Boundary: The Small Vertical Wedge
in Ugarit (Ph.D. diss. Yale University 1971); A Study of Scribal Practices and Prosody in
CTA 2:4, UF 5 (1973), 16573; Some Possible Results of Rudimentary Scribal Training, UF
6 (1974), 7583; Our Ugaritic Mythological Texts: Copied or Dictated?, UF 9 (1977), 12330;
The Ugaritic Scribe, UF 11 (1979), 38994; M.C.A. Korpel, Unit Delimitation in Ugaritic
Cultic Texts and Some Babylonian and Hebrew Parallels, Pericope 5 (2005), 14160;
Kottsieper, Zu graphischen Abschnittsmarkierungen, 1223; F. Mabie, Scribal Syntactical
Markings in Texts from El-Amarna and Ugarit (Ph.D. diss UCLA) 2004; The Syntactical and
Structural Functions of Horizontal Dividing Lines in the Literary and Religious Texts of
the Ugaritic Corpus (KTU 1), UF 36 (2004), 291311; Robertson, Non-Word Divider Use;
M.S. Smith, The Ugaritic Baal Cycle, Volume I II (VTS, 55), Leiden 1994, 35; M.S. Smith,
W.T. Pitard, The Ugaritic Baal Cycle, Volume II (VTS, 114), Leiden 2009, 21, 237, 506 n. 12;
J. Tropper, Ugaritische Grammatik (AOAT, 273), Mnster 20122, 27 21.237; 6872 21.4; also
S. Segert, Words Spread Over Two Lines, UF 19 (1987), 23888.
16 J.C. de Moor, An Anthology of Religious Texts from Ugarit (Nisaba), Leiden 1987, 183 n. 2;
J.N. Ford, The Ugaritic Incantation against Sorcery RIH 78/20 (KTU 2 1.169), UF 34 (2002),
119211, 156 and n. 10.
17 J.F. Borghouts, Ancient Egyptian Magical Texts (Nisaba 9), Leiden 1978, passim, as
mentioned by Ford, The Ugaritic Incantation, 156. See also N. Tacke, Verspunkte als
Gliederungsmittel in ramessidischen Schlerhandschriften (SAGA, 22), Heidelberg 2001.
18 See Kottsieper, Zu graphischen Abschnittsmarkierungen, 1239, 14256. On the
Carpentras Stele (KAI 269) see Linafelt, Dobbs-Allsopp, Poetic Line Structure, 250 n. 4.
19 See Kottsieper, Zu graphischen Abschnittsmarkierungen, 12937. For the Azatiwada
Inscription see A. Schade, A Text Linguistic Approach to the Syntax and Style of the
Phoenician Inscription of Azatiwada, JSS 50 (2005), 3558.
20 See E. Tov, Special Layout of Poetical Units in the Texts from the Judean Desert, in: J. Dyk
(ed.), Give Ear to My Words: Psalms and Other Poetry In and Around the Hebrew Bible.
Essays in Honour of Professor N. A. van Uchelen, Amsterdam 1996, 10528.
Desert. And not a few of these exhibit some kind of special formatting.21
However, later texts could be quite different, e.g. the book of Isaiah.22 Red dots
were used in some ancient Egyptian texts23 and stanzas could be marked off by
numbering, superscriptions or red ink.24 In Hittite, vertical or horizontal lines
were used25 and to a limited extent, lineation was observed.26 However, this
usage was not consistent.27 In some Hurrian texts, sloping wedges act as colon
markers.28 In Greek texts, paragraphs were separated by the paragraphos,
21 Dobbs-Allsopp, Acrostic, 19.

22 E. Ulrich, Impressions and Intuition: Sense Divisions in Ancient Manuscripts in Isaiah,
Pericope 4 (2003), 279307.
23 From no later than the New Kingdom, metre ceased to coincide with the sentence
intonation of living speech so that writing reading metrical texts increasingly became
an acquired skill. In the situation they [the Egyptians] had to resort to clarification of
verse by a system of points. These verse points are superscript red dots in hieratic texts
written on ostraca or papyrus...Unfortunately, however, the verse points must be used
with extreme caution as they vary greatly in reliability (G. Fecht, The Structural Principle
of Ancient Egyptian Elevated Language, in: J.C. de Moor, W.G.E.Watson (eds), Verse in
Ancient Near Eastern Prose (AOAT, 42), Neukirchen-Vluyn 1993, 6984, 823). See also
G. Fecht, Die Wiedergewinnung der altgyptischen Verskunst, MDAIK 19 (1963), 5496.
24 B. Mathieu, La posie amoureuse de lgypte ancienne. Recherches sur un genre littraire au
Novel Empire, Cairo 1996, 21115, as quoted by Korpel, Pericope 2, 89, who also refers to J.L.
Foster, Wisdom Texts, in: D.B. Redford (ed.), The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt,
vol. 3, Oxford 2001, 5037, 507. See also H.-W. Fischer-Elfert, WortVersText Bausteine
einer altgyptischen Textologie in: C. Wilcke (ed.), Das geistige Erfassen der Welt im Alten
Orient. Beitrge zu Sprache, Religion, Kultur und Gesellschaft, Wiesbaden 2007, 2738.
25 As elsewhere from the second millennium on, the cuneiform Hittite scribe might use
vertical lines to separate the left hand column from the one or more columns to the right
on the front of the tablet... (C.F. Justus, Visible Sentences in Cuneiform Hittite, in:
M.A. Powell, Jr. [ed.], Aspects of Cuneiform Writing [= Visible Language 15/4], Cleveland,
OH 1981, 373408, 379).
26 In a ritual involving birds, Both vertical and horizontal lines segment the tablet. Double
verticals separate the last column...while double horizontals with wedged left ends
mark the boundary between the preceding ritual and the Aphasia text.... However,
Hittite scribes sometimes find it convenient to maintain the cuneiform equivalence,
one line equals one clause...but the rule is to abandon it (Justus, Visible Sentences in
Cuneiform Hittite, 380). As noted (loc. cit.) this may be because Hittite is Indo-European.
27 For example, for copies of the Hittite Laws, there is occasional lack of scribal agree-
ment among the many extant copies as to where the ruling should fall (Justus, Visible
Sentences in Cuneiform Hittite, 380).
28 Sichere Hinweise auf Versstrukturen geben die Kolon-Markierer, das sind schrg
gesetzte Keile, welche die Verse markieren. Solche in ugaritischen Texten hufig belegte
Verstrenner finden sich im hurritischen Schrifttum aus Boazky in Abstzen der
272 Watson
a short stroke, a wedge or a curved line, inserted at the end of a paragraph.

This was replaced by a letter which protruded into the margin that later was
simply enlarged.29
In all these cases, the physical constraints of the material on which the
scribe was writing affected how he arranged his text (in columns or writing
across the available width, leaving gaps, indenting etc.) particularly in respect
of lineation.30 An example of a text written as prose, but probably to be consid-
ered as poetry, is a fragment of a poem embedded in an Assyrian inscription:
dI[tar] ibat Arba-ilu erubamma Ishtar dwelling in Arbela entered,

imna u umla tullata ipti right and left she bore quivers;
tamat qata ina idia she held a bow in her hand;
alpat nam[ru] zaqtu a epe tzi she unsheathed a sharp sword
for battle.31
4 Some Results of Pericope Volumes 18
Here, some comments can be made in respect of the overall approach adopted
in delimitation criticism. As regards methodology, J. Oesch32 argues for a com-
bination of the synchronic and diachronic approaches. In a systematic way, J.
C. de Moor33 set out five guidelines to be followed in the application of unit
delimitation criticism:
itkahi- und itkalzi-Rituale, in dem Gebet der Tadubeha, in zwei mythisch-epischen Texten
und in der hurritischen Parabelsammlung der Bilingue. Die Verse unterliegen einer
Rhythmik, die sich nach Silbenzahlen orientiert, wobei Vokal- und Silbenquantitten
allerdings weitgehend unbekannt sind (V. Haas, I. Wegner, Beispiele poetischer
Techniken im hurritischen Schrifttum, SMEA 50 [2008], 34754, 348).
29 See E.M. Thompson, An Introduction to Greek and Latin Palaeography, Cambridge 2013
(reprint of 1912 edition), 589.
30 Especially for end-of-line divisions, the scribe was at the mercy of the physical dimen-
sions of the manuscript onto which he was copying (Ulrich, Pericope 4, 304) and of
course the same would apply to tablets, monumental inscriptions etc.
31 Text and translation: A.C. Piepkorn, Historical Prism Inscriptions of Ashurbanipal I
(Assyriological Studies, 5), Chicago, IL 1933, 667 (col. v 5255). For other examples see
Korpel, Pericope 7, 11921.
32 M. Oesch, Skizze einer synchronen und diachronen Gliederungskritik im Rahmen der
alttestamentlichen Textkritik, Pericope 1, 197229.
33 J.C. de Moor, Micah 7:113: The Lament of a Disillusioned Prophet, Pericope 1, 14996,
15860.
1. Study of the relative ages of the witnesses.

2. Awareness of the spread of the testimony in the various channels of
transmission.
3. Determination of the structure of the immediate context.
4. Evaluation of possible alternative divisions within the structure of the
wider context.
5. Any false division present requires a plausible explanation.
In more general terms, the layout of a single codex should not be considered
unreservedly as the norm: Nobody disputes the necessity to use L [Codex
Leningradensis] as the master codex on which all editions of the Hebrew
Bible should be based, but in our opinion that basic decision does not imply
that also its spacing should be taken over uncritically. A manuscript such as
BN 8034 provides a useful counterpoise.35 In fact, some MSS are running texts,
i.e. they have no markers for paragraphs or sections.36 E. Tovs contribution is
to examine sense divisions of the biblical texts with special attention to the
manuscripts from Qumran and the Samaritan Pentateuch.37 S.E. Porter shows
how delimitation influenced later lectionaries38 and in another study, looks at
definition of paragraph.39 E.J. Revell40 argues that the basic purpose of the
[Masoretic] accent system was to represent the melody to which the text was
chanted (p. 88).
From his study of ancient mediaeval manuscripts, Tatu concludes that Our
data suggest that marking poems by special structural patterns is not a recent
technique. Also One should consider carefully the division of each poem into
its respective verse-lines according to each textual tradition and only then
compare the results for more exact conclusions on this matter.41 This is why
34 I.e. Manuscript B[ibliothque]. N[ationale]. hbreu No. 80, formerly Sorbonne 254.
35 De Moor, Korpel, Pericope 6, 27.
36 K. De Troyer, The Leviticus and Joshua Codex from the Schoyen Collection: A Closer Look
at the Text Divisions, Pericope 6, 3543. As noted above, this would seem to have been the
norm in Northwest Semitic.
37 E. Tov, The Background of the Sense Divisions in the Biblical Texts, Pericope 1, 31250.
38 S.E. Porter, The Influence of Unit Delimitation on Reading and Use of Greek Manuscripts,
Pericope 6, 4460.
39 S.E. Porter, Pericope Markers and the Paragraph: Textual and Linguistic Implications,
Pericope 7, 17595.
40 E.J. Revell, The Accents: Hierarchy and Meaning, Pericope 6, 6191.
41 S. Tatu, Graphic Devices Used by the Editors of Ancient and Mediaeval Manuscripts to
Mark Verse-Lines in Classical Hebrew Poetry, Pericope 6, 92140, 133.
274 Watson
R. de Hoop42 argues for a synoptic presentation in text editions, using the MT

as a base text. W.M. de Bruin shows that, while Jeromes bible commentar-
ies cannot be used for divisions as set out in the Proto-masoretic text, they
do support the assumption that a Proto-masoretic Hebrew text delimitation
existed, and that these delimitations were to a large extent similar to the later
Masoretic text delimitation in petuot and setumot.43 R. de Hoop shows that
trichotomic accentuation indicates a single long colon44 and P. Sanders shows
that the distribution of pausal forms provides an indication for delimiting
units in poetic texts.45
As for the individual books,46 some idea of the conclusions reached can be
gained from the following brief summary.47 R. de Hoop48 shows that the mac-
rostructure of the Testament of Jacob [Gen. 49] was transmitted uniformly to
a large extent, which is partly due to the contents: the eleven sayings (p. 11).
Clark has provided a survey of the delimitation markers in Numbers.49 From
the ancient witnesses, Korpel50 shows that Num. 6:2227 is a single textual
unit, within which vv. 2427 form a single canticle. In his comparison of
2 Samuel 22 with Psalm 18, P. Sanders is in effect dealing with a duplicated
text and their respective textual traditions prove to be particularly illuminat-
ing. In his recent book,51 W.M. de Bruin applies both Delimitation Criticism
(division of the text based on manuscripts and versions) and the method pro-
posed by the Kampen School (division into cantos and subdivision into sub-
cantos, canticles, strophes etc.) to determine the structure of Isaiah 12, which is
42 R. de Hoop, Diverging Traditions: Jeremiah 2729 (MT, Peshitta, Vulgate): A Proposal for
a New Text Edition, Pericope 6, 185215.
43 W.M. de Bruin, Traces of a Hebrew Text Division in the Bible Commentaries of Jerome,
Pericope 5, 2139, 29.
44 R. de Hoop, Trichotomy in Masoretic Accentuation in Comparison with the Delimitation
of Units in the VersionsWith Special Attention to the Introduction to Direct Speech,
Pericope 4, 3360.
45 P. Sanders, Pausal Forms and the Delimitation of Cola in Biblical Hebrew Poetry, Pericope
4, 26478.
46 See the list in n. 2.
47 The sequence is as in the Hebrew Bible.
48 R. de Hoop, Genesis 49 Revisited: The Poetic Structure of Jacobs Testament and the
Ancient Versions, Pericope 4, 132.
49 D.J. Clark, Delimitation Markers in the Book of Numbers, Pericope 5, 120.
50 M.C.A. Korpel, The Priestly Blessing Revisited, Pericope 4, 6188.
51 De Bruin, Pericope 8.
shown to comprise seven cantos.52 By examining ancient manuscripts (includ-

ing 1QIsaa) and versions, R. de Hoop sets Isaiah 56:9 in its immediate context53
and in another study, proposes a verse Vorlage for Jeremiah 29.54 B. Becking
deals with petuah and setumah in Jeremiah 3031, which proves to be a single
canto with ten subcantos.55 J. W. Olley,56 discussing paragraphs in the Book of
Ezekiel, shows how varying interpretations of this text are reflected in the divi-
sions found in its manuscripts.57
Significantly, in his discussion of Amos, M. Dijkstra includes the Qumran
manuscripts.58 J. Renkema analyses Obadiah from colon to the complete book,
arguing for five sub-cantos within which there are as many as ten canticles.59
J.C. de Moor evaluates the contribution of ancient witnesses to the structure
of Micah 2:113, which generally coincide with modern subdivisions60 and
in a workshop he studied the unit delimitation of Micah 4:145:8, compar-
ing ancient divisions with modern proposals.61 In addition, he argues that, by
and large, ancient divisions of Micah 6 have been ignored by scholars, but if
they are taken into account it seems that vv. 18 and 619 each have the same
structure,62 which has implications for identifying the speaker in vv. 67.63
Similarly, he argues that the disillusioned prophet in Micah 7:113 is Micah
52 See previously W.M. de Bruin, Interpreting Delimiters: The Complexity of Text

Delimitation in Four Major Septuagint Manuscripts, Pericope 3, 6689 on the four major
Septuagint manuscripts for Isaiah 112.
53 R. de Hoop, Unit Delimitation and Exegesis: Isaiah 56 as an Introduction to the Theme,
Pericope 7, 128.
54 R. de Hoop, Textual, Literary, and Delimitation Criticism: The Case of Jeremiah 29 in MT
and LXX, Pericope 7,2962.
55 B. Becking, Petuhah and Setumah in Jeremiah 3031, Pericope 3, 145.
56 J.W. Olley, Trajectories in Paragraphing of the Book of Ezekiel, Pericope 4, 20431.
57 In another study (Paragraphing in the Greek text of Ezekiel in P967, Pericope 3, 20225)
he shows that the Greek text of Ezekiel in P967 (which he was actually able to examine) is
a good early guide to paragraphing (p. 215).
58 M. Dijkstra, Unit Delimitation and Interpretation in the Book of Amos, Pericope 5,
11440.
59 J. Renkema, The Literary Structure of Obadiah, Pericope 1, 23076.
60 J.C. de Moor, The Structure of Micah 2:113: The Contribution of the Ancient Witnesses,
Pericope 3, 90120.
61 J.C. de Moor, Workshop on Unit Delimitation: Micah 4:145:8, Pericope 3, 25875.
62 I.e. after an introductory canticle of two strophes, in both sections there are two canticles,
each with three strophes.
63 J.C. de Moor, The Structure of Micah 6 in the Light of the Ancient Delimitations, Pericope
5, 78113.
276 Watson
himself.64 K. Spronk provides new evidence from Greek manuscripts for the
line-acrostic in Nahum 1.65 The ancient divisions of Habakkuk are shown to be
consistent, but curiously, they do not match modern delimitations.66
M. van Amerongen has shown that, by and large, the divisions indicated
in MT are matched by the versions of Haggai,67 and in another study, con-
cludes that the delimitation of Zechariah 4 as a chapter is justified by the
divisions witnessed in the manuscripts.68 P. Sanders has compared the layout
of Psalms 114 in the Aleppo Codex with the divisions present in BHS, showing
that they do not always match.69 In the absence of superscriptions, delimita-
tion analysis can supply valuable data, for example for Psalms 113118.70 R. de
Hoop71 uses a combination of markers in MSS and indicators suggested in a
handbook on poetry72 to determine whether the frame story of the Book of Job
is prose or verse. He concludes that it seems to be in verse. Cook looks at the
LXX of Proverbs, assessing how closely the translator followed the divisions
present in MT.73
Korpel suggests that Canticles is an anthology linked by keywords rather
than a coherent composition.74 It is sometimes difficult to assign speakers,
but using a combination of comparison with related ancient Near Eastern
texts, structural analysis and examination of the manuscript tradition, she
concludes that in Canticles 8:14 the bride is speaking, in 8:5a the speakers
are the Maidens of Jerusalem and in vv. 67 either the groom or the bride or
even both may be the speaker(s). In contrast, the Syriac tradition of the text of
64 J.C. de Moor, Micah 7:113: The Lament of a Disillusioned Prophet, Pericope 1, 14996.
65 K. Spronk, The Line-Acrostic in Nahum 1: New Evidence from Ancient Greek Manuscripts
and from the Literary Analysis of the Hebrew Text, Pericope 7, 22840.
66 G.T.M. Prinsloo, Petuhot/Setumot and the Structure of Habakkuk: Evaluating the
Evidence, Pericope 7, 196227.
67 M. van Amerongen, Structuring Division Markers in Haggai, Pericope 1, 5179.
68 M. van Amerongen, The Structure of Zechariah 4: A Comparison Between the Divisions
in the Masoretic Text, Ancient Translations, and Modern Commentaries, Pericope 5,
191208.
69 P. Sanders, The Colometric Layout of Psalms 1 to 14 in the Aleppo Codex, Pericope 3,
22657.
70 G.T.M. Prinsloo, Unit Delimitation in the Egyptian Hallel (Psalms 113118), Pericope 4,
23263.
71 R. de Hoop, The Frame Story of the Book of Job: Prose or Verse? Job 1:15 as a Test Case,
Pericope 5, 4077.
72 See Watson, Classical Hebrew Poetry, 4660.
73 J. Cook, Unit Delimitation in the Book of Proverbs in the Light of the Septuagint of
Proverbs, Pericope 3, 4665.
74 M.C.A. Korpel, Who Is Who? The Structure of Canticles 8:17, Pericope 4, 89120.
Daniel is somewhat confused, and requires attentive evaluation, as shown by

Jenner.75 However, the text-divisions within the book of Daniel [as in the BHS]
are significant for interpretation.76 In addition, Janz has studied a system of
unit division found in Byzantine manuscripts of Ezra-Nehemiah.77 Jenner and
Van Peursen have compared the divisions proposed by modern scholars with
the delimitation marked in Syriac manuscripts of Ben Sira.78
5 Additional Outcomes of Delimitation Criticism
Besides the immense amount of data gleaned from ancient manuscripts use-
ful for segmenting biblical (and ancient Near Eastern) texts, there are what
may be termed spin-offs not strictly connected to such divisions. Examples are
the identification of the speakers in Cant. 879 or considerations concerning the
relative value of MSS, especially the biblical texts from Qumran. Occasionally,
too, difficult words or expressions may be explained80 and prose texts may be
reclassified as poetry.81 Yet another related field concerns metre,82 including
a re-evaluation of the so-called qinah-metre in Lamentations.83 By exam-
ining Isaiah 8:16, Dekker suggests how the OT was actually written down.84
Furthermore, there seems to be a strong differentiation between biblical
75 K.D. Jenner, The Unit Delimitation in the Syriac Text of Daniel and its Consequences
for the Interpretation, Pericope 1, 10529.
76 G. Goswell, The Divisions of the Book of Daniel, Pericope 7, 89114 (quote from p. 108).
77 T. Janz, A System of Unit Division from Byzantine Manuscripts of Ezra-Nehemiah,
Pericope 3, 12143.
78 K.D. Jenner, W.Th. van Peursen, Unit Delimitation and the Text of Ben Sira, Pericope 3,
144201.
79 Korpel, Who Is Who?
80 E.g. Korpel, Pericope 4, 98.
81 E.g. M.C.A. Korpel, Introduction to the Series Pericope, Pericope 2, 150; De Hoop,
The Frame Story of the Book of Job; M.C.A. Korpel, The Demarcation of Hymns and
Prayers in the Prophets (I), Pericope 7, 11545.
82 See V. DeCaen, Theme and Variation in Psalm 111: Metrical Phrase and Foot in Generative
Perspective, JSS 54 (2009), 81109, who takes consideration of manuscript markings a
stage further by also using the Tiberian system for liturgical chant to establish the met-
rical form of Hebrew poetry, and V. DeCaen, On the Distribution of Major and Minor
Pause in Tiberian Hebrew in the Light of the Variants of the Second Person Independent
Pronouns, JSS 50 (2005), 3217.
83 R. de Hoop, Lamentations: The Qinah-Metre Questioned, Pericope 1, 80104.
84 J. Dekker, Bind Up the Testimony: Isaiah 8:16 and the Making of the Hebrew Bible,
Pericope 7, 6388.
278 Watson
traditions, where indicators of various divisions are supplied in various forms,

and ancient Near Eastern texts where, as a general rule, the text is written con-
tinuously, with few markers for the reader.85
However, the indicators provided in the MSS cannot be followed slavishly.
As Prinsloo comments regarding the petuot and setumot: the sections demar-
cated in ancient witnesses can often differ considerably from the demarcation
in modern critical scholarship.86 One example recently published is Qoh 3:1,
where the standard division has been shown as incorrect.87 A new example
may be the lineation of Song 4:4:
Usually, the line division proposed for this verse is a tetracolon, based on the
Masoretic accentuation, e.g.
Your neck is a tower of David,

built in courses;
A thousand shields hang upon it,
all the weapons of warriors.88
In a slight departure from this standard stichometry, there may be a tricolon

here, with the first line ending at built:
Like a tower of David your neck is built,

with a thousand shields for decoration,89
all the warriors bucklers hang upon it.
85 The indicators discussed above prove to be the exception rather than the rule; see, for
example, Worthington Principles of Akkadian Textual Criticism, 258. However, it is clear
that the scribes who compiled the many lists in the Ugaritic economic texts were well
aware of layout, using lineation and columns as well as ruled lines to divide up texts,
although not consistently. The same applies to some Egyptian texts: cf. N.C. Strudwick,
Texts from the Pyramid Age (WAW, 16), Atlanta GA 2005, 99, 16971, 1968 etc.
86 Prinsloo, Pericope 7, 218.
87 Linafelt, Dobbs-Allsopp, Poetic Line Structure, 259.
88 R.E. Murphy, The Song of Songs: A Commentary on the Book of Canticles or the Song of
Songs, Minneapolis 1990, 154.
89 This word remains obscure but may correspond to Akk. talpittu, application, coating
(with colour) (cf. CDA, 396), perhaps with the meaning decoration or the like.
In conclusion it can be said that the work on delimitation criticism has proved
to be of great value.90 It has reminded scholars that the divisions and mark-
ings in the various traditions that have transmitted the Hebrew Bible need to
be taken into account and in doing so it has focussed their attention on how
these texts should be segmented in our own modern analysis. The biblical
(and other) texts so far studied in terms of manuscript markings have been
listed in the Appendix. While the coverage is extensive, several books in verse
have not yet examined in this way,91 not to mention a few of the prose books.92
Ultimately, though, the demarcating indicators present in the ancient texts
can only be guidelines93 and it is up to the modern scholar to make the final
decisions.94
6 Appendix: Texts and Topics Discussed in the Pericope Series
Hebrew
Genesis 12:125:11 (Pericope 7:24166)
Genesis 49 (Pericope 4:132)
Leviticus (Pericope 6:3543)
Numbers (Pericope 5:120)
Numbers 6:2227 (Pericope 4:6188)
Joshua (Pericope 6:3543)
2 Samuel 22 (Pericope 1:277311)
Prophets (Pericope 6:134; Pericope 7:11545)
Isaiah (Pericope 4:279307)
Isaiah 112 (Pericope 8)
Isaiah 8:16 (Pericope 7:6388)
Isaiah 42:1012 (Pericope 7:1304)
Isaiah 56 (Pericope 7:128)
90 Generally speaking, the reviewers have been positive.

91 E.g. most of Hosea and Job, Psalms 1517, 19112 and 119150, and seven chapters of Song.
92 Notably Exodus, Deuteronomy, Judges, 1 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles as
well as most of Genesis and 2 Samuel. However, see De Moor, Korpel, Pericope 6, 134.
93 As noted by De Moor (Pericope 3, 99): the paragraphing of the ancient manuscripts can-
not be accepted uncritically. One must always weigh the total available evidence carefully
94 As expressed succinctly by Linafelt, Dobbs-Allsopp, Poetic Line Structure, 259: And at
times, as we think is likely in the case of Qoh 3:1, it may prove necessary to line a poem
contrary to the accentuation rhythms of the Masoretes, who are, after all, no matter how
impressive, but one interpretive tradition among many others, including the ideas and
musings of contemporary scholars and critics.
280 Watson
Jeremiah (Pericope 7:14674)

Jeremiah 2729 (Pericope 6:185214)
Ezekiel (Pericope 4:20431)
Hosea 6:13 (Pericope 7:1229)
Amos (Pericope 5:11440)
Obadiah (Pericope 1:23079; Pericope 4:48)
Micah 2:113 (Pericope 3:90120)
Micah 2; 5 (Pericope 4:49)
Micah 4:145:8 (Pericope 3:25875)
Micah 6 (Pericope 5:78113)
Micah 7:113 (Pericope 1:14996)
Nahum 1 (Pericope 7:22840)
Habakkuk (Pericope 7:196227)
Haggai (Pericope 1:5179; Pericope 4:524)
Zechariah 4 (Pericope 5:191208)
Writings (Pericope 6:134)
Psalms 114 (Pericope 3:22657)
Psalm 18 (Pericope 1:277311)
Psalms 11318 (Pericope 4:23263)
Job 1:15 (Pericope 5:4077)
Proverbs (Pericope 3:4665)
Ruth (Pericope 2; Pericope 4:558)
Ruth 3 (Pericope 1:13048)
Song 8:17 (Pericope 4:89120)
Lamentations (Pericope 1:80104)
Daniel (Pericope 1:10529; Pericope 7:89114)
Ezra-Nehemiah (Pericope 3:12143)
Ben Sira (Pericope 3:144201)
Sifre Torah (Pericope 4:162203)
Qumran texts
Isaiah (Pericope 4:279304)
Psalms (Pericope 4:2414)
Syriac
Daniel (Pericope 1:10529; Pericope 7:89114)
Greek
MSS (Pericope 6:4460)
LXX (Pericope 3:6689)
Ezekiel (Pericope 3:20225; Pericope 4:20431)
NT (Pericope 5:16176; Pericope 5:17790)
Latin
Jeromes version (Pericope 5:2139)
Ancient Near Eastern texts

General (Pericope 4:12158; Pericope 6:1625; Pericope 7:11921)
Aramaic (Pericope 4:1239; Pericope 4:14256)
Phoenician (Pericope 4:12942)
Ugaritic (Pericope 4:1223; Pericope 5:14160; Pericope 6:1635)
Modern Analysis
Cola (Pericope 1:277311; Pericope 4:26478)
Divisions (Pericope 1:197229; Pericope 1:31250; Pericope 6:14160)
Interpretation (Pericope 7:89114 and passim)
Paragraphs (Pericope 7:17595)
Qinah metre (Pericope 1:80104)
Trichotomy (Pericope 4:3360)
Index of Authors
Aalders, G.Ch.4 Bodendorfer, G.252

Abercrombie, J.147 Bhl, F.70, 95, 96, 98
Achenbach, R.124 Bhm, W.E.185
Aejmelaeus, A.151 Boertien, J.H.79
Albertz, R.24, 44 Boertien, M.3
Albright, W.F.33, 98 Bogaert, P.-M.148, 155, 156
Alexander, Ph.S.259 Boogaart, T.A.19
Alexander, T.D.44 Borghouts, J.F.270
Alfrink, B.4 Bosman, H.132
Al-Ghul, O.86 Bouma, J.34, 43, 44
Alt, A.187 Boyarin, D.249
Alter, R.33 Braulik, G.135
Andersen, F.I.21 Brekelmans, C.H.W.2, 129, 211
Attard, S.M.160 Brenner-Idan, A.235
Auld, A.G.130 Brooke, G.J.220
Ausloos, H.11, 125, 129, 147155, 205 Brox, N.218
Auwers, J.-M.149, 156, 157 Broyles, C.C.169
Bru, J.Ph.39, 41
Baars, W.3, 8 Brueggemann, W.246
Baasten, M.57 Budde, K.59
Baker, D.W.44 Burkitt, F.C.20
Bakker, D.202 Butler, T.C.184
Balogh, C.38
Barstad, H.M.28 Campbell, E.F.98
Barton, J.28 Caquot, A.17, 169
Bastiaens, J.195 Caragounis, C.C.148
Bavinck, H.31 Cathcart, K.22
Becker, A.249 Ceulemans, R.150
Becking, B.7, 11, 13, 28, 39, 41, 44, 275 Chazan, R.270
Beckwith, R.T.218 Cheney, M.S.200
Beek, M.A.4, 19, 142 Childs, B.S.221, 226, 243246
Beelaerts van Blokland, W.88 Claes, A.148
Beentjes, P.183 Clark, D.J.274
Begerau, G.37 Clarysse, W.148
Begg, C.155 Clines, D.49, 125, 141
Benvenisti, M.66 Closen, G.E.4
Berges, U.160, 161, 167, 171, 172, 175, 176, 178 Collins, J.J.228, 229
Berntsen, S.96 Collins, T.21
Berthoud, P.44 Condamin, A.176
Bette, H.213 Cook, J.148, 153, 155, 276
Beuken, W.A.M.2, 171, 176 Coppens, J.14, 146
Biggs, R.D.268 Courtz, H.215
Bleeker, C.J.33 Cross, F.M.125
Blenkinsopp, J.129, 160, 176, 178
Bod, R.208, 230 Daniels, D.242
Boda, M.J.40 David, M.4
284 Index Of Authors
De Boer, P.A.H.16, 8, 20, 30, 64, 201, 210 Duhm, B.171

De Bruin, W.M.267, 268, 274 Dunn, J.D.G.248
De Buck, A.4 Dyk, J.9, 39, 40, 192, 198, 201, 205207, 235,
DeCaen, V.277 270
De Crom, D.150
Deden, D.14 Eagleton, T.229
De Geus, J.-K.64 Edelkoort, A.H.14, 15, 16
De Groot, A.15 Eerdmans, B.D.4, 5
De Groot, J.4 Eissfeldt, O.20
De Hoop, R.38, 267, 268, 274277 Elliger, K.160, 163, 164, 171, 175, 176, 193
De Jong, H.33, 34 Elman, Y.260
Dekker, J.34, 38, 43, 44, 277 Enghy, S.43
Delitzsch, F.169, 175, 178, 212 Enns, P.41
Delsman, W.2 Evans, C.169
De Moor, J.C.1012, 2528, 32, 38, 160, 163, Eynikel, E.127, 147
164, 166, 169174, 270273, 275, 279
Dempsey, C.J.22 Fecht, G.271
Den Hertog, G.C.39, 44 Finley, Th.10
Denz, F.83 Fischer, P.M.75
De Pury, A.124, 125, 141 Fischer-Elfert, H.-W.271
Dercksen, J.G.64, 96 Fitzgerald, J.T.42
De Troyer, K.273 Flusser, D.249
Deurloo, K.A.13 Fohrer, G.17, 185
De Vos, Chr.41 Fokkelman, J.P.7, 34, 53, 56, 156
De Vos, D.13 Ford, J.N.270
De Vos, J.C.39 Foster, J.L.271
De Vries, S.J.13 Fraenkel, Y.249
De Waard, J.197 Franken, H.J.2, 7, 30, 64, 65, 69, 71, 72, 74, 76,
De Wette, W.M.L.126 77
DHaenens, A.145 Freedman, D.N.21
Dhont, M.154 Frevel, C.142, 143
Dhuyvetters, D.148 Fruchtenbaum, A.G.219
Diebner, B.141, 142
Dietrich, W.23 Galil, G.37
Dijkstra, M.30, 275 Gammie, J.G.15
Dimant, D.9 Garca Martnez, F.9, 10, 14, 21, 129, 147, 269
Dirksen, P.8 Gebel, H.G.K.86
Dobbs-Allsopp, F.W.268271, 278, 279 Gershoni, I.260
Doedens, C.-J.197 Gevers, L.146
Doedens, J.J.T.41 Gianto, A.155
Dogniez, C.157 Gilbrant, T.215
Dorman, A.10 Gispen, W.H.32
Douglas, J.D.215 Glanz, O.204, 235
Doyle, B.148 Goldberg, A.250, 251, 252
Dresher, E.B.268 Goldingay, J.160, 161, 163, 165, 170173, 176,
Dubbink, A.43 177
Dubianetskaya, I.148 Goodman, M.259
Dring, B.S.67 Gordon, R.P.28
Index Of Authors 285
Goswell, G.277 Howe, B.254

Graham, M.P.124, 184 Hughes, J.J.192
Green, J.B.254 Human, D.J.39
Gressmann, H.161
Grollenberg, L.13, 69 Ibrahim, M.72, 73, 77, 81
Groot, N.C.F. 77, 80
Grootveld, E.83 Jaffee, M.260
Grosheide, H.H.32 Jagersma, H. 221
Grossfeld, B.10 Jansen, M.87
Groves, J.A.197 Jansma, T. 3
Gurin, V.91 Janz, T.277
Gugler, W.34 Jenner, K.D. 8, 201, 277
Gunkel, H.27 Jeremias, J.19, 20, 21
Gutman, A.202 Johnston, R.M.249, 250
Jokiranta, J.152
Haas, V.272 Jongeling, B.9
Habel, N.C.49, 59, 63 Joris, E.148
Haelewyck, J.-C.156, 157 Justus, C.F.271
Hagedorn, A.C.24
Hagstrom, D.G.20 Kabergs, V.153, 154
Hardmeier, C.F.193, 200, 203, 233 Kafafi, Z.72, 76, 77, 83, 86
Harinck, G.33 Kahana, M.249, 253, 257, 260266
Harl, M.157 Kalkman, G.207
Harrison, R.K.216 Kaper, O.E.64, 96
Hartmann, B.3 Kaptijn, E.83, 84
Hasel, G.221 Keil, C.F.167, 212
Hauspie, K.147, 148 Keller, D.R.83
Hawley, R.268 Kenis, L.146
Helle, S.269 Kenyon, K.71, 72, 98
Henion, J.148 Kerkhof, V.I.95
Hense, M.103 Kessler, M.142
Hermisson, H.-J.177, 178 Kessler, R.21
Heszer, C.249 Khokhar, A.154
Hiebert, R.151 Killebrew, A.E.7
Hilhorst, A.180 Kim, J.S.43
Hillbrands, W.221, 226 King, S.208
Hoffmann, D.Z.261 Kirkbride, D.74
Hoffmeier, J.K.217 Kissane, E.J.175, 176, 177, 178
Hoftijzer, J.3, 79, 80 Kitchen, K.A.216
Holter, K.162, 163, 176 Klauck, H.-J.268
Holwerda, B.33 Klement, H.221
Holwerda, H.38 Klingbeil, J.183
Horovitz, H.S.263 Knauf, E.A.125
Horwitz, W.270 Knibb, M.A.157
Hospers, J.H.2 Knoppers, G.N.124
Hourani, F.83 Knig, E.221
Houtman, C.2, 32, 226, 243 Koole, J.L.2, 32, 161, 165, 172, 173, 176178
Houtman, D.10 Koorevaar, H.221, 223, 226, 227
Kooyman, A.C.249 Macdonald, J.136

Korpel, M.C.A.11, 12, 26, 160, 163, 164, 166, Magary, D.R.217
169174, 267279 Maris, J.W.41
Koster, M.8 Marlowe, W.C.221
Kottsieper, I.269, 270 Marxsen, W.23
Kraft, R. 147 Mathieu, B.271
Kratz, R.G.23, 124 Mays, J.L.21
Kraus, W.151 McArthur, H.K.249
Kreuzer, S.153 McConville, J.G.124, 216
Krisak, L.181 McKane, W.21
Krger, P.155 McKenzie, S.L.124
Kruger, P.155 Melugin, R.F.160
Kuenen, A.5 Merendino, R.P.171, 178
Kuijer, G.229 Merk, O.23
Kuntz, J.K.169, 170 Merz, A.248
Kuyper, A.31 Meskell, L.66
Kuyt, A.10 Meyer, E.155
Kwakkel, G.34, 37, 39, 40, 41, 43, 44 Milikowsky, Ch.259
Millard, A.R.216, 269
Labahn, A.39, 41 Millard, M.252
Labooy, G.222 Miller, P.D.183
Labuschagne, C.J.7, 20, 21, 25, 127, 131, 133, Muilenburg, J.160, 161, 163, 170, 176
138, 169 Mulder, M.J.2, 8, 196, 211
Langlamet, F.169 Murphy, R.E.278
Lauterbach, J.Z.248, 263
Law, M.150 Naidoff, B.D.160, 170
Lebram, J.C.3 Naveh, J.269
LeCureux, J.T.24 Nissinen, M.28
Leene, H.3, 32, 202 Noble, T.A.215
Lemmelijn, B.11, 125, 147155, 205 Nogalski, J.L.24
Lescow, Th.20 Noort, E.14, 32, 37, 40, 180, 182, 202, 223
Lettinga, J.P.33 North, Ch.R.161, 173
Levin, C.143 Noth, M.123126, 128, 130, 186
Liesen, J.183 Notley, S.249
Linafelt, T.269, 278, 279
Liss, H.53 Oegema, A.248
Ljungberg, B.-K.200 Oeming, M.53, 184, 188
Lohfink, N.135, 136, 141 Oesch, J.12, 25, 26, 267, 272
Loiseau, A.-F.157 Ohmann, H.M.34
Long, V.217 Olley, J.W.267, 275
Longman, T.28, 41 Oost, R.2, 142
Lorein, G.W.40, 221, 227 Oosterhoff, B.J.2, 32, 33, 38, 42
Lundbom, J.R.268, 269 Oosterhuis, M.H.44
Lust, J.11, 126, 146150, 211 Oosting, R.7, 10, 204, 235
Luyten, J.3 Ottenheijm, E.248
Otto, E.124, 126, 135
Maarsingh, B.2
Maass, F.17 Paas, S.24, 25
Mabie, F.270 Paehlke, G.185
Pater, J.248 Rose, W.H.34, 40, 44

Paul, M.-J.211, 213, 220, 221, 226, 227 Rotman, M.213
Paul, S.M.173, 177 Roukema, R.138, 244
Pavan, M.160 Rowland, C.28
Payne, D.160, 161, 163, 170177 Rowley, H.H.33
Peels, H.G.L.4, 33, 34, 3744, 216 Rudolph, W.193
Peters, M.K.H.148
Petit, L.83, 84, 86, 96 Safrai, S.249
Philip, L.B.13 Said, E.66
Philips, J.148 Salvesen, A.150
Philonenko, M.17 Sanders, P.274, 276
Pienaar, D.155 Scatolini, S.S.148
Piepkorn, A.C.272 Schade, A.270
Pietersma, A.151 Schfer, P.251, 259, 260
Piquer Otero, A.149 Schaeffer, J.H.F.40
Pirson, R.3 Schearing, L.S.124
Pitard, W.T.270 Schart, A.24
Pol, A.93 Scheiber, Th.43
Polak, F.247 Schedl, C.144
Polzin, R.125 Schilder, H.J.33
Ponthot, J.155 Schleusner, J.F.147
Poorthuis, M.248 Schlter, M.251
Pope, M.H.49 Schmid, H.H.182
Pope Pius X145 Schmid, K.126
Popovi, M.10, 46 Schmitt, R.184
Porter, S.267, 273 Schoon, S.S.44
Postma, F.39, 194, 195 Schoors, A.148, 161, 176
Poswick, R.-F.195 Schuman, N.A.13
Powell, M.A.271 Schwally, F.188
Prinsloo, G.155, 278 Segert, S.270
Procksch, O.221 Sellin, E.97, 221
Propp, W.H.228 Seow, C.L.28, 49
Provan, I.W.40 Sepmeijer, F.10
Shanks, H.L.249
Rabin, I.A.263 Shanks, M.66
Redford, D.B.271 Shepard, A.71
Reed, A.Y.249 Sikkel, C.J.193, 233
Rendtorff, R.221, 222, 242 Silberman, N.A.66
Renkema, J.32, 275 Simons, J.4
Revell, E.J.273 Sinnaeve, G.148
Ridderbos, J.4, 14 Ska, J.L.247
Ridderbos, N.H.4, 32 Smelik, W.10
Riecker, S.221, 227 Smend, R.125, 183, 184, 189
Rigaux, B.146 Smith, M.S.270
Rilke, R.M.181 Snyman, S.D.3740, 155, 216
Ritner, R.K.28 Sproat, R.237
Robertson, A.F.269, 270 Spronk, K. 11, 220, 276
Roegiers, J.145 Spykerboer, H.C.161, 163, 175
Rmer, Th.124, 141, 142 Stavleu, C.213, 220
Steck, O.H.186 Van Belle, G.146

Steinberg, J.221, 227 Van Daalen, A.G.2
Steiner, M.7 Van Dam, C.34
Stemberger, G.249, 251, 252, 253 Van den Brink, G.213, 215
Stern, D.248, 249, 251, 256 Van den Dries, M.H.72
Steyn, G.155 Van den Hout, C.F.M.25
Stipp, H.-J.153 Van der Horst, P. 11
Stoker, W.32 Van Houwelingen, P.H.R.44
Stolz, F. 183 Van der Kooij, A. 2, 8
Stoutjesdijk, M.248 Van der Kooij, G.7, 67, 7286, 89, 91, 93
Stricker, B.H.3 Van der Kooij, H.103
Strudwick, N.C.278 Van der Leeuw, G.33
Strydom, J.G.19 Van der Linde, S.J.66, 72, 87
Sweeney, M.A.267 Van der Lugt, P.7, 32, 61, 159, 160, 166, 167,
Syring, W.-D.200 168
Van der Meer, W.3, 32
Tacke, N.270 Van der Ploeg, J.P.M.3, 9
Taha, H.88, 89, 91, 93, 94 Van der Sar, H.C.32
Talstra, E.10, 23, 32, 192209, 231, 233, 235, Van der Steen, E.J.37
236, 242, 244 Van der Toorn, K.11
Tatu, S.273 Van der Veen, P.220
Taylor, B.149 Van der Wal, A.J.O.23
Ter Beek, R.33, 41 Van der Woude, A.S.1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, 1317, 19,
Ter Haar Romeny, R.B.8, 9, 11 22, 25, 28, 30, 40
Ter Linden, C.229 Van der Ziel, C.N.38
Ternier, A.148 Vandevivere, I.145
Teugels, L.M.11, 251, 261 Van Driel, C.M.32
Te Velde, M.37, 40 Van Duin, C.3
Theuer, G.270 VanGemeren, W.A.211
Thierry, G.J.4 Van Grol, H.183
Thompson, E.M.272 Van Hecke, P.7, 41, 60, 220
Tigchelaar, E.J.C.9, 10 Van Keulen, P.S.F.9, 201
Tilley, Chr.66 Van Koningsveld, P.S.30
Torijano Morales, P.149 Van Leeuwen, C.16
Tov, E.147, 269, 270, 273 Van Nes, H.213
Trebolle-Barrera, J.155 Van Oorschot, J.160, 176
Tromp, N.3 Van Peursen, W.Th.8, 9, 39, 40, 57, 192,
Tropper, J.270 201207, 222
Trudinger, P.166 Van Rensburg, J.F.J.269
Tuttle, C.A.83 Van Rooy, H.F.38, 155
Van Ruiten, J.39
Ulmer, R.261 Van Segbroeck, F.148
Ulrich, E.271, 272 Van Selms, A.16
Utzschneider, D.C.21 Van Staalduine-Sulman, E.10, 169, 221, 224
Van Veen-Vrolijk, A.213
Van Amerongen, M.276 Van Vliet, J.44
Van Arendonk, C.4 Van Wieringen, A.L.H.M.198
Van Bekkum, K.4, 3234, 37, 4244, 216 Van Woerden, M.13
Van Wolde, E.J.7, 233, 254 Westermann, C.125, 127, 176

Van Zoest, C.96 Wijsinghe, S.L.G.156
Veenhof, K.R.32 Wilcke, C.271
Vegas Montaner, L.195 Williamson, H.G.M.40
Veldhuijzen, H.A.82, 83 Willi-Plein, I.20
Verbeke, E.152 Willis, J.T.20
Verheij, A.J.C.199, 203 Wilson, R.R.143
Vermeylern, J.184 Winkler, M.230
Versluis, A.43 Winther-Nielsen, N.200
Vervenne, M.126, 129, 147, 149, 150, 243 Witte, M.124
Visotzky, B.261 Whrle, J.24
Visscher, G.H.37, 40 Wolff, H.W.15, 185
Voirila, A.152 Wolterstorff, N.P.31
Volz, P.161, 171 Wood, J.R.22
Von Rad, G.125, 184189 Worthington, M.269, 278
Vos, J.S.32 Wright, G.E.97, 98
Vriezen, K.7, 30 Wright, G.R.H.7, 98
Vriezen, Th.C.37, 13, 14, 19, 20, 30 Wright, J.W.184
Wrthwein, E.127
Wagenaar, J.A.21, 22, 25
Walsh, J.T.175 Zangenberg, J.73
Walton, T.L.199 Zapff, B.M.24
Watson, W.G.E.12, 267, 268, 270, 271, 276 Zehnder, M.227
Wegner, I.272 Zenger, E.243
Weippert, M.183, 185 Zerbst, U.220
Wellhausen, J.18, 19, 21, 22, 33, 124, 188 Ziegler, I.249
Wells, P.44 Zimmermann, R.249
Wendrich, W.79 Zipor, M.148
Wenham, G.J.216 Zwickel, W.180
Wnin, A.149, 156, 251 Zwiep, I.E.10
Wesselius, J.-W.10, 136, 138
Index of Textual References
Hebrew Bible 15:11 131, 139

15:25 246
Genesis 44, 123 16:4 246
111 42, 214 16:28 246
1:12:3 223 16:34 246
1:15 138 17:813 131
6 49 1924 129
6:14 41 19 233246
9:6 224 19:6 134
11:39 2 20:36 36
12:125:11 279 20:1821 243
12:4 2 20:18 245
15:6 41 21:1 246
1819 254 23:2033 132
18 60 24 243
25:7 2 24:7 246
26:18 251 24:12 246
38 226 24:13 131
49 138, 274, 279 25:16 246
50:2425 138 25:21 246
28:14 246
Exodus 44, 123, 195 29:4 246
2:1 134 3234 129
4:14 134 32:17 131
5:2223 256 32:2529 134
6:45 246 33:11 131
6:1428 134 34:10 246
6:26 131 34:27 246
7:4 131 40:3438 138
8:6 131, 139
9:1314 139 Leviticus 123, 279
9:14 131
12:17 131 Numbers 123, 279
12:41 131 1:53 134
12:49 246 34 134
12:51 131 3:2137 134
13:9 246 4:45 134
1314 149 6:2227 274, 279
13:1416 132 8:2326 134
13:18 131 11:2 257
14:10 254 12 132
14:1314 255, 256 12:13 255
14:15 248, 253, 254, 258 14:1124 132
15:118 131, 167 20:12 132
15:115 258 21:14 183
Index Of Textual References 291
2224 132 Judges 36, 123, 202

24:34 167 1 37
24:1516 167 2:9 180
26:5759 134 3:1230 152
27:1214 132 5:12 167
33:3 131
33:5035:8 132 1 Samuel 36, 123
36:13 129, 130 2:12 140
12 138
Deuteronomy 123, 213 18:17 183
130 138 25:28 183
13 186 31:913 138
1:37 132
3:24 139 2 Samuel 36
3:2528 132 1:21 165
4:149 132 7:2223 140
4:2 217 21 43
4:7 139 22 274, 279
4:21 132 22:32 140
4:3239 139 24:2325 138
5:5 245
6:4 36 1 Kings 36, 123, 201
6:2025 132 2:19 138
7 43 4 37
31:1 217 8:1461 196
17:18 134 8:23 141
18:1422 132 22:42 1
18:2122 219 25:2730 223
28:6934:12 154
30 128 2 Kings 36, 201
31:9 134 2223 211
32:143 138 25:2330 138
32:31 140
32:39 140 Isaiah 44, 204, 213, 279
33:129 138 112 279
33:2629 140 2 14, 15, 19
34 223 7:14 146
34:4 132 8:16 277, 279
34:912 138 8:18 38
9:15 146
Joshua 36, 123, 279 1820 38
1:119 223 28 38
4:2124 132 29:1524 38
9:113:7 37 33:12 38
10 181182 4055 19, 131, 195
10:1014 180182 40:10 171
19:50 180 40:1226 159179
23 138 40:2731 160
24:30 180 40:28 165, 168
292 Index Of Textual References
Isaiah (cont.) 57:11 165

41:17 159179 58:6 165
41:2129 167, 172 58:7 165
41:2229 219 59:15 168
41:2629 171
41:26 173 Jeremiah 32, 38, 204, 213, 280
4253 214 1:119 223
42:1012 279 26 18
42:24 165 2729 280
43:17 170 29 280
43:19 165 29:47 39
44:8 165 3031 275, 280
44:1011 171 31:35 258
44:20 165 34:822 156
44:2445:8 160 36 156
45 41 46:1326 39
45:1 173 46:2526a 39
45:11 258 47 39
45:21 165 49:3439 38
46:113 159179
48:121 167 Ezekiel 147, 213, 214, 275, 280
48:6 165 124 148
48:16 167 14 60
49:1417 171 14:14 47
49:21 168, 169, 171 14:22 48
49:2226 168 20:40 162
50:1 171 40:1 1
50:23 171
50:4 168 Hosea 19, 39
50:7 168 1:2 40
50:89 171 3:1 40
50:9 171 5:12 39
50:1011 171 6:13 280
51:18 168 9:36 39
51:6 167 11:1 40
51:910 165
51:21 170 Amos 275, 280
52:2 170 1:32:3 168
52:1353:12 160
53 44 Obadiah 275, 280
53:6 170
54:10 166 Micah
54:14 170 15 20, 28
54:17 170 1 17, 22, 28
55:15 171 25 15, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 25, 28
55:45 171 23 22
5666 195 2:113 26, 275, 280
56 279 2:15 26
57:4 165 2:611 15, 26
2:1213 26 26 41
2:12 22 29:12 167
3:8 22 33:22 169
3:12 14, 18 36 58
4 15, 19, 21 44 41
4:15 22 49:13 168
4:14 17, 18 52:11 169
4:25 14 55:24 169
4:67a 22 59 168
4:8 22 62:13 169
4:910 22 69 41
4:145:8 275, 280 82:8 169
4:14 22 89:7 49
5:4 22 94:1 167
5:913 22 96 58, 166
67 19, 20, 22, 28 96:78 167
6 275, 280 105 133
6:8 14 106 133
7 14 106:47 169
7:113 280 107 133, 168
7:16 27 110:3 146
7:720 15 111 58
7:710 27 113118 276, 280
7:10 27 115 163
115:48 167
Nahum 116 166
1 276, 280 135:1518 167
140:14 169
Habakkuk 280 148 168
Haggai 276, 280 Job 154, 159, 179, 213

12 49, 51, 276
Zechariah 25, 40 1:15 280
4 276, 280 1:1 50, 55
1:8 50, 61
Maleachi 2:3 48, 50, 61
3:2224 223 2:9 50
2:1113 62
Psalms 40, 42, 157, 159, 179, 202, 2:11 47, 62
204, 213 2:13 60
114 276, 280 3 56, 58
1 223 426 53
7 41 4:2 60
16:3 41 4:6 51
17 41, 166 4:1719 167
18 41, 169, 274, 280 4:1718 53
20:10 169 5:8 60
24:6 169 6:10 63
25:11 169 7:16 62
294 Index Of Textual References
Job (cont.) 31:6 51

910 58 31:3537 57
9:4 165 31:37 51, 57
9:14 60 3236 59
9:1618 48 34:17 49
9:2022 50 36:4 50
9:21 62 37:16 50
11 56 3842 56
1214 58 3841 59
12:4 50 40:16 59
13:3 60 40:45 58
15 56, 59 40:732 56
15:1416 167 40:27 60
16 59 41:13 168, 169
16:2 63 41:17 49
19 58, 63 42 51
19:2324 57 42:26 48, 58, 59
21:23 51 42:3 63
21:34 63 42:5 63
22:29 48 42:6 47, 60, 62, 63
22:3 51 42:79 60, 61
25:46 167 42:78 62
2631 58 42:11 48, 62
26:24 163
26:23 53 Proverbs 276, 280
26:46 53 11:3 50
26:14 53, 168, 169 24:5 165
27:1 54, 55
27:26 50 Ruth 280
28 53, 54, 55, 168 1:15 223
28:111 54 3 280
28:12 54, 55, 170
28:13 55 Song of Songs 150, 152, 153, 213
28:14 55 4:4 278
28:2028 54 4:8 167
28:20 54, 170 8:17 276, 280
28:21 55
28:22 55 Lamentations 280
28:28 55
2931 55, 56 Ecclesiastes
29 53 1:2 167
29:1 54, 55 3:1 278, 279
29:25 63
30 53 Esther 156, 208
30:19 60, 62
31 53, 56, 57, 58 Daniel 213, 280
31:4 51, 57
1 Chronicles New Testament

11:2 137
21:27 137 Matthew
2:5 40
2 Chronicles 23:35 44
6:8 137
6:14 137 Luke
14:10 137, 141 11:5051 44
18:16 137
18:19 137 Acts
18:20 137 4:12 36
20:67 141
36:2223 223
Pseudepigrapha and
Ezra 280 Deuterocanonical Literature
7:16 134
7:12 134 Epistle of Baruch 202
7:14 134
7:21 134 Prayer of Manasseh 202
8:25 162
Sirach 280
Nehemiah 280 46:4 180
8:18 134

(OS 069) Spronk (Ed.) - The Present State of Old Testament Studies in The Low Countries PDF

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The Present State of Old Testament Studies in the Low Countries

P. Van Hecke (Leuven)

The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/ots

Names: Spronk, Klaas, editor.

Copyright 2016 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.

This book is printed on acid-free paper and produced in a sustainable manner.

1 Seventy-Five Years Oudtestamentisch Werkgezelschap: The Study of the

2 Micah in the Low Countries13

3 Revelation, History and Religious Plurality: Old Testament Studies from

4 Salient Features in the Book of Job47

5 A Changing Archaeology of Palestine at the University of Leiden,

6 Gender Perspectives on Hosea 2:425: Contributions from the

7 The Rise and Demise of the So-called Deuteronomistic History: A Plea

8 Septuagint Studies in Louvain145

9 The Dynamics of the Incomparable God Highlighted by the Immobility

10 Biblical Violence and the Task of the Exegete180

11 Computer-Assisted Analysis of Old Testament Texts: The Contribution

12 Old Testament Exegesis and Biblical Theology from an Ede/Leuven

13 Data, Knowledge and Tradition: Biblical Scholarship and the

14 Towards an Annotated Edition of Tannaitic Parables248

15 Delimitation Criticism: An Interim Evaluation267

Koert van Bekkum

Gerrit van der Kooij

Pieter van der Lugt

Wilfred G.E. Watson

Seventy-Five Years Oudtestamentisch

1 Remarks on the OTW, Its Members and Its Character

On the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary in 1965 the then president of

koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 6|doi .63/9789004326255_002

P.A.H. de Boer (1989)

J.C. Lebram (2004)

May their memory be a blessing.

On the occasion of the anniversary in 1965 Theodoor Vriezen presented an

5 O TS 14, pp. 397416.

a) The advancement of the study of the Old Testament

To achieve these goals the following arrangements were made:

1) Regular meetings with lectures

2 Old Testament Research in the Netherlands in the Last Twenty-Five

11 Its archive can be consulted at http://www.dans.knaw.nl/.

2.1 The Peshitta Institute

2.2 The Qumran Institute

18 For a summary and the overview of the output see: http://www.nwo.nl/en/research-and-

2.3 Other Projects

Micah in the Low Countries

1 Starting Point: Vriezen 1948

koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 6|doi .63/9789004326255_003

2 Fifties and Sixties: The Calm before the Storm

3 Dispute and Discussion: Adam van der Woude

3.1 A Geographically Ordered Prophecy of Doom

3.2 A Dispute with Pseudo-Prophets

Zion will be ploughed like a field,

18 Micha 4:14, KJV.

augmented with optimistic phrases borrowed from the school of Deutero-

3.3 A Northern Micah

4 A Numerological Analysis: Cas Labuschagne

Cas Labuschagnewho worked together with Adam van der Woude in

5 Wellhausen Redivivus: Jan A. Wagenaar

In 2001, Jan Wagenaar published a revision of his hitherto unpublished Utrecht

31 C.J. Labuschagne, Opmerkelijke compositietechnieken in het Boek Micha, in: F. Garca

According to Wagenaar, this approach fails to explain coherently the fissures

solution to the problem of the enigmatic alternation of the themes of hope

6 A Helpful Tool: Adri van der Wal

When the Personal Computer reached the scholarly world of humanities

5 O TS 14, pp. 397416.

11 Its archive can be consulted at http://www.dans.knaw.nl/.

18 For a summary and the overview of the output see: http://www.nwo.nl/en/research-and-

18 Micha 4:14, KJV.

31 C.J. Labuschagne, Opmerkelijke compositietechnieken in het Boek Micha, in: F. Garca

43 A.J.O. van der Wal, Micah: a classified bibliography, Amsterdam 1990.

59 H. Gunkel, Der Micha-Schlu. Zur Einfhrung in die literaturgeschichtliche Arbeit am

63 De Moor, The Structure of Micah 2: 113, 99.

65 Van der Woude, Deutero-Micha.

24 G. Kwakkel, According to My Righteousness. Upright Behaviour as Grounds for Deliverance

Three sites in the archaeological history of Palestine-Transjordan