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SCHOOL OF DIVINITY, HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY

ACADEMIC SESSION 2015-2016

DR4553 Contemporary Issues in the Study of the Hebrew Bible/

DR552U The Study of the Hebrew Bible

30 Credits, 11 Weeks

PLEASE NOTE CAREFULLY:

The full set of school regulations and procedures is contained in the

Undergraduate Student Handbook which is available online at your

MyAberdeen page. Students are expected to familiarise themselves not only

with the contents of this leaflet but also with the contents of the Handbook.

Therefore, ignorance of the contents of the Handbook will not excuse the

breach of any School regulation or procedure.

You must familiarise yourself with this important information at the earliest

opportunity.

COURSE CO-ORDINATOR/COURSE TEAM

Professor Joachim Schaper

j.schaper@abdn.ac.uk

Tel. 01224-272840

Office hours: by appointment

Discipline Administration:

Mrs Claire Hargaden

50-52 College Bounds

Room CB001

01224 272366

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divrs@abdn.ac.uk

TIMETABLE

Lecture Mondays 2-3pm MR268

Seminar Tuesdays 12-2pm KCF6

Students can view their university timetable at

http://www.abdn.ac.uk/infohub/study/timetables-550.php

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This lecture course will delineate, analyse and evaluate recent work in the study of

the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, including Septuagint studies. The subjects covered

are those which are currently of special importance to the development of Old

Testament Studies, namely the history of ancient Israel, Pentateuch Studies and

exegetical methodology, anthropology and its use in Old Testament research, and

the history and theology of the Septuagint.

INTENDED AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

(By being introduced to recent developments in the study of the Hebrew Bible/Old

Testament, namely the history of ancient Israel, Pentateuch Studies and exegetical

methodology, anthropology and its use in Old Testament research, and the history

and theology of the Septuagint, the students will understand and learn to evaluate

research methodology in Old Testament Studies. They will be enabled to acquire a

substantial knowledge of key areas and of some of the most important current

debates and will thus be in a position to participate more fully in the exploration of

the Jewish and Christian Bibles.

A. Knowledge and Understanding

- to introduce students to current key debates in Old Testament study

- to enable students to develop an independent view of said debates and the

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conflicting viewpoints they are informed by

- to enable students to gain a substantial knowledge of the data underlying the

current debates

- to deepen the students’ understanding of the historical basis and the theological

consequences of the contemporary issues discussed in the lectures

- to enable students to discern between good and bad methodology with regard to

both historical and theological arguments in the study of the Old Testament/Hebrew

Bible

B. Discipline-specific Skills

- to produce work which coherently presents and astutely assesses central points of

contemporary debates in Old Testament studies and results in a precisely argued,

responsible, independent conclusion

- to assess and evaluate conflicting viewpoints in a complex discussion

- to explore and use the full range of printed, IT and other resources in the subject

- to develop good presentation skills while making use of said resources

- to realise the interplay between historical and theological arguments in Biblical

Studies

C. Transferable Skills

- to develop an independent position through intellectual rigour - to process, analyse

and evaluate a wealth of data

- to gain proficiency in the public presentation of academic work - to strengthen and

further develop academic writing skills

- to produce diligent, self-reliant work

- to develop good time-management skills

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LECTURE/SEMINAR PROGRAMME

The ‘History of Ancient Israel’

Week 25: The History of ‘Ancient Israel’ vs. the History of ‘Ancient Palestine’

Week 26: ‘Biblical History’ and Historical Method: The ‘Copenhagen School’

Week 27: Is it possible to write a ‘History of Ancient Israel/Palestine’?

Anthropology and the Study of the Old Testament

Week 28: History of scholarship; genesis of the current situation

Week 29: How can anthropology contribute to Biblical Studies/OT Studies?

Week 30: Examples from Deuteronomy and some prophetical books

The Resurgence of Septuagint Studies

Week 31: Why the new interest in Septuagint Studies?

Week 32: The relation between the Hebrew Bible and the Septuagint

Week 33: ‘Case studies’ from the Pentateuch and Isaiah

Exegetical Method and Pentateuch Studies

Week 34: A revolution in methodology?

Week 35: The current turmoil in the study of the Pentateuch

I am happy to meet for revision on the scheduled times in Week 39. If you are

interested in structured revision, please contact me by email no later than 31st

March 2016. Please specify which particular topics you would wish to have

addressed.

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READING LIST

Compulsory reading for each week will be specified during the course and will

be chosen from the bibliography given below and from material available on

MyAberdeen.

SECONDARY READING

History of Ancient Israel/Palestine

Barr, J., History and Ideology in the Old Testament: Biblical Studies at the End

of a Millennium: The Hensley Henson Lectures for 1997 delivered to the

University of Oxford, Oxford 2000

Carroll, R.P., ‚Poststructuralist approaches: New Historicism and

postmodernism’, in: J. Barton (Hg.), The Cambridge Companion to Biblical

Interpretation, Cambridge Companions to Religion, Cambridge 1998, 50-66

Davies, P.R., In Search of ‚Ancient Israel‘, JSOTS 148, Sheffield 1992

Dever, W.G., What Did the Biblical Writers Know and When Did They Know It?

What Archaeology Can Tell Us about the Reality of Ancient Israel, Grand

Rapids, Michigan und Cambridge, U.K. 2001

Edelman, D., ‚Clio’s Dilemma. The Changing Face of History-Writing’, in: A.

Lemaire and M. Saebo (Hgg.), Congress Volume. Oslo 1998, VTS 80, Leiden

2000, 247-255

Finkelstein, I. and N. A. Silberman, The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology’s New

Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts, New York 2001

Finkelstein, I., The Archaeology of the Israelite Settlement, Jerusalem 1988,

293-356

Finley, M.I., Ancient History: Evidence and Models, London 1985

Garbini, G., History and Ideology in Ancient Israel, ET J. Bowden, London 1988

Grabbe, L.L. (ed.), Can a ‚History of Israel’ Be Written?, JSOTS 245, Sheffield

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1997

Grabbe, L.L., ‚Writing Israel’s History at the End of the Twentieth Century’, in:

A. Lemaire and M. Saebo (Hgg.), Congress Volume. Oslo 1998, VTS 80, Leiden

2000, 203-218

Grabbe, L.L., Ancient Israel: What Do We Know and How Do We Know It?,

London and New York: T&T Clark, 2007.

Hodder, I., Reading the Past: Current Approaches to Interpretation in

Archaeology, Cambridge u.a. 1986

Howard, Th.A., Religion and the Rise of Historicism: W. M. L. de Wette, Jacob

Burckhardt, and the Theological Origins of Nineteenth-Century Historical

Consciousness, Cambridge 2000

Jaeger, F. and J. Rusen, Geschichte des Historismus: Eine Einfuhrung, Munchen

1992

Knauf, E.A., From History to Interpretation, in: D. V. Edelman (ed.), The Fabric

of History: Text, Artifact and Israel’s Past, JSOTS 127, Sheffield 1991, 26-64

Kofoed, J. B., Text and History: Historiography and the Study of the Biblical

Text, Winona Lake (Indiana) 2005

Kofoed, J.B., ‚Epistemology, Historiographical Method, and the „Copenhagen

School“’, in: V. Philips Long et. al. (eds.), Windows into Old Testament History:

Evidence, Argument, and the Crisis of ‚Biblical Israel’, Grand Rapids, Michigan

und Cambridge, U.K. 2002, 23-43

Lemche, N.P., ‚Warum die Theologie des Alten Testaments einen Irrweg

darstellt’, in: JBTh 10 (1995), 79-92

McNutt, P.M., Reconstructing the Society of Ancient Israel, London und

Louisville (Kentucky) 1999

Philips Long, V. (Hg.), Israel’s Past in Present Research: Essays on Ancient

Israelite Historiography, Winona Lake (Indiana) 1999

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Provan, I., ‚Ideologies, Literary and Critical. Reflections on Recent Writing on

the History of Israel’, in: JBL 114 (1995), 585-606

Provan, I., ‚In the Stable with the Dwarves. Testimony, Interpretation, Faith

and the History of Israel’, in: A. Lemaire and M. Saebo (Hgg.), Congress

Volume. Oslo 1998, VTS 80, Leiden 2000, 281-319

Schaper, J., ‚Auf der Suche nach dem alten Israel?’, in two parts, in: ZAW

117/4 (2005) and ZAW 118/1 (2006)

Thompson, Th., Early History of the Israelite People, Leiden 1992 Thompson,

Th., ‚Critical Notes. A Neo-Albrightean School in History and Biblical

Scholarship?’, in: JBL 114 (1995), 683-705

Thompson, Th., ‚Das Alte Testament als theologische Disziplin’, in: JBTh 10

(1995), 157-173

Thompson, Th., The Bible in History: How Writers Create a Past, London 1999

Thompson, Th., ‚Problems of Genre and Historicity with Palestine’s

Inscriptions’, in: A. Lemaire and M. Saebo (Hgg.), Congress Volume. Oslo 1998,

VTS 80, Leiden 2000, 321-326

Veyne, P., Comment on ecrit l’histoire: Texte integral, Paris 1971 (reprint Paris

1996)

Anthropology and the Study of the Old Testament

Assmann, A., Assmann, J., Hardmeier, C. (eds.), Schrift und Gedachtnis:

Beitrage zur Archaologie der literarischen Kommunikation, Archaologie der

literarischen Kommunikation 1, Munchen 1983 (21993)

Assmann, J., Das kulturelle Gedachtnis: Schrift, Erinnerung und politische

Identitat in fruhen Hochkulturen, Munchen 1992

Davis, E. F., Swallowing the Scroll: Textuality and the Dynamics of Discourse in

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Ezekiel’s Prophecy, JSOTS 78; Bible and Literature Series 21, Sheffield 1989

Goody, J., The Domestication of the Savage Mind, Cambridge 1977

Goody, J., The Logic of Writing and the Organisation of Society, Studies in

Literacy, Family, Culture and the State, Cambridge 1986

Goody, J., The Interface between the Written and the Oral, Cambridge 1987

Goody, J. and I. Watt 1968, ‘The Consequences of Literacy’, in: J. Goody (ed.),

Literacy in Traditional Societies, Cambridge 1968, 27-68 (= Comparative

Studies in Society and History 5 [1963], 304-345)

Lawrence, L. and M. Aguilar (eds.), Anthropology and Biblical Studies: Avenues

of Research, Leiden 2004

Niditch, S., Oral World and Written Word, Library of Ancient Israel, Louisville,

KY 1996

Ong, W. J., Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word, London and

New York 2002 (repr.; first published: New York 1982)

Schaper, J., ‘A Theology of Writing: Deuteronomy, the Oral and the Written,

and God as Scribe’, in: L. Lawrence and M. Aguilar (eds.), Anthropology and

Biblical Studies: Avenues of Research, 97-119

Schniedewind, W. M. 2000, ‘Orality and Literacy in Ancient Israel’, in: Religious

Studies Review 26 (2000), 327-332

Thomas, R., Literacy and Orality in Ancient Greece, Key Themes in Ancient

History, Cambridge 1999 (repr.; first published in 1992)

The Resurgence of Septuagint Studies

Collins, N. L. The Library in Alexandria and the Bible in Greek, Boston 2000

Dines, J. M., The Septuagint, London 2004

Fernandez Marcos, N., The Septuagint in Context: Introduction to the Greek

Versions of the Bible, Leiden/Boston/Koeln 2000

Jellicoe, The Septuagint and Modern Study, Oxford 1968 (repr. Winona Lake,

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Ind. 1993)

Jobes, K. H. and M. Silva, Invitation to the Septuagint, Grand Rapids, MI 22001

McLay, R. T., The Use of the Septuagint in New Testament Research, Grand

Rapids, MI 2003

Muller, M., The First Bible of the Church, Sheffield 1996

Schaper, J., Eschatology in the Greek Psalter, WUNT II/76, Tuebingen 1995

Swete, H.B., An Introduction to the Old Testament in Greek, Cambridge 21914

(repr. Peabody, MA 1989)

Tov, E., The Greek and Hebrew Bible, Leiden/Boston 1999

Exegetical Method and Pentateuch Studies

Alter, R. and F. Kermode (eds.), The Literary Guide to the Bible, Cambridge,

MA 1987

Fishbane, M., ‚Inner-biblical Exegesis: Types and Strategies of Interpretation in

Ancient Israel’, in: idem, The Garments of Torah. Essays in Biblical

Hermeneutics, Indiana Studies in Biblical Literature, Bloomington/Indianapolis

1989, 3-18

Fishbane, M., ‚Inner-Biblical Exegesis’, in: M. Saebø (ed.), Hebrew Bible/Old

Testament. The History of Its Interpretation, I: From the Beginnings to the

Middle Ages (Until 1300), 1: Antiquity, Gottingen 1996, 33-48

Fishbane, M., ‚Midrash and the Nature of Scripture’, in: idem, The Exegetical

Imagination: On Jewish Thought and Theology, Cambridge (MA)/London 1998,

9-21.

Fishbane, M., ‚Types of Biblical Intertextuality’, in: A. Lemaire and M. Saebø

(eds.), Congress Volume. Oslo 1998, VTS 80, Leiden/Boston/Cologne 2000, 39-

44

Fishbane, M., Biblical Interpretation in Ancient Israel, Oxford , sec. edn. 1991

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Kugel, J., ‚The Bible’s Earliest Interpreters’, Prooftexts 7 (1987), 275-276

Levinson, B. M. 1991, ‘The Right Chorale: From the Poetics to the

Hermeneutics of the Hebrew Bible’, in: J. P. Rosenblatt and J. C. Sitterson, Jr.

(eds.), ‘Not in Heaven’: Coherence and Complexity in Biblical Narrative,

Indiana Studies in Biblical Literature, Bloomington and Indianapolis, 129-53

Levinson, B.M., Deuteronomy and the Hermeneutics of Legal Innovation, New

York and Oxford 1997

Schaper, J., ‚Re-reading the Law – Inner-biblical Exegeses of Divine Oracles in

Ezechiel 44 and Isaiah 56’, in: B. M. Levinson and E. Otto (eds.), Recht und

Ethik im Alten Testament: Beitrage des Symposiums “Das Alte Testament und

die Kultur der Moderne” anlasslich des 100. Geburtstags Gerhard von Rads

(1901-1971), Heidelberg, 18.-21. Oktober 2001, Altes Testament und Moderne

13, Munster 2004, 125-144

Schmid, K., ‚Innerbiblische Schriftauslegung: Aspekte der

Forschungsgeschichte’, in: R.G. Kratz/Th. Kruger/K. Schmid (eds.),

Schriftauslegung in der Schrift. Festschrift fur Odil-Hannes Steck zu seinem 65.

Geburtstag, BZAW 300, Berlin/New York 2000, 1-22

Seeligmann, I.L., ‚Voraussetzungen der Midrasch-Exegese’, in: Congress

Volume Copenhagen 1953, VTS 1, Leiden 1953, 150-181.

Sternberg, M., The Poetics of Biblical Narrative: Ideological Literature and the

Drama of Reading, Bloomington, Ind. 1985

ASSESSMENT

PLEASE NOTE: In order to pass a course on the first attempt, a student must attain a Common Grading Scale (CGS) mark of at least E3 on each element of course assessment. Failure to do so will result in a grade of no greater than CGS E1 for the course as a whole. DR4553 One three hour written examination (60%);

in-course assessment: one essay (30%) and one presentation (10%).

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DR552U Written examination (60%); 5000 word essay (30%); oral presentation

(10%).

Click to view the University Level Descriptors (ANNEX A).

Click to view the University Assessment Scale Band Descriptors (ANNEX B).

ESSAYS

Essays should be approximately 4000 words long for DR4553 & 5000 words

long for DR552U, including quotations and footnotes but excluding

bibliography; students should note that they will be penalised for work which

is either too long or too short.

The essays should be carried out in informed and critical dialogue with

relevant and up-to-date scholarly secondary literature. All interaction with

secondary literature must be annotated with footnotes. Failure to do so will

be penalized.

Try being concise and to the point.

Do not include material that is irrelevant to the topic at hand.

If you have any questions or concerns about submitting your essays, ask the

course co-coordinator before the essay is due.

ASSESSMENT DEADLINES

The presentation will be given in the course of the seminar. The essay must be submitted to the course co-ordinator no later than Monday 25th April 2016.

SUBMISSION ARRANGEMENTS

Submit one paper copy to the drop boxes in CB008 in 50-52 College Bounds

and one electronic copy to Turnitin via MyAberdeen. Both copies to be

submitted by 3.00pm on the due date.

Failure to submit both an electronic copy to Turnitin and a hard copy to the school office, by the stated deadline, will result in a zero mark.

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N.B Turnitin doesn’t accept Mac documents in Pages. If using a Mac please go to File and export work as a Word document. All coursework must be submitted to the course co-ordinator no later than Monday 25th April 2016. Failure to comply will disqualify the student from taking the final exam AND the resit. The student must retake the course in order to be eligible to take the final exam / resit.

EXAMINATION

Duration: 3 hours.

Structure of examination papers: of. previous examination papers which are

available on databases; past examination papers can be downloaded from

MyAberdeen.

General exam guidance will be given in the Student Handbook.)

RESIT INFORMATION

100% examination.

Access to the resit is provisional on:

All submitted coursework having been submitted and graded at CGS E3

or higher.

Student having a valid Class Certificate. Students with C7’s are not

eligible for resits.

Past exam papers can be viewed at http://www.abdn.ac.uk/library/learning-

and-teaching/for-students/exam-papers/.