The Hunt for Ancient Israel; Essays in Honour of Diana V. Edelman; Shafer-Elliott; Joachimsen; Ben Zvi; Viviano;

Edited by

Cynthia Shafer-Elliott [+–]

Baylor University

Cynthia Shafer-Elliott Is Associate Professor of Religion at Baylor University.

Kristin Joachimsen [+–]

Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society

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Kristin Joachimsen is Professor of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament at MF-Norwegian School of Theology, Religion, and Society. She is the author of Identities in Transition: The Pursuit of Isa. 52:13-53:12 (Brill 2011). Her current research focuses on prophetic and poetic literature, as well as the books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther. Theoretically, she elaborates on topics like historiography, identity, cultural imagination, and perspectives taken from postcolonial and gender studies. She is the initiator and PI of the interdisciplinary research project Perception and Reception of Persia (PERSIAS).

Ehud Ben Zvi [+–]

University of Alberta

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Ehud Ben Zvi is a Professor Emeritus in the department of History and Classics at the University of Alberta. He has written extensively on Social Memory in Ancient Israel and the latter’s past-shaping texts, esp. prophetic literature, ‘historical’ books and particularly Chronicles. For list of publications see https://sites.ualberta.ca/~ebenzvi/ebz-publications.html

Pauline A. Viviano [+–]

Loyola University Chicago

Pauline A. Viviano is an Associate Professor Emerita of Theology at Loyola University Chicago where she taught for thirty-five years. She holds a Masters in Philosophy and a doctorate in Biblical Languages and Literature from St. Louis University. Besides articles in academic and popular journals, she has written popular commentaries on the Books of Genesis in the Collegeville Bible Commentary series (1984) and more recently on the Books of Jeremiah and Baruch for the New Collegeville Commentary series (2013) and a commentary on the Book of Joshua for the Paulist Press Biblical Commentary (2018).

The Hunt for Ancient Israel celebrates the contribution of Diana V. Edelman to the field of biblical studies and celebrates her personally as researcher, teacher, mentor, colleague, and mastermind of new research paths and groups. It salutes her unconventional, constant thinking and rethinking outside the box, and her challenging of established consensuses.

This volume includes essays addressing biblical themes and texts, archaeological fieldwork, historical method, social memory and reception history. Contributors include Yairah Amit, James S. Anderson, Bob Becking, Ehud Ben Zvi, Kåre Berge, Anne Fitzpatrick-McKinley, Susanne Gillmayr-Bucher, Lester L. Grabbe, Philippe Guillaume, David Hamidović, Lowell K. Handy, Maria Häusl, Kristin Joachimsen, Christoph Levin, Aren M. Maeir, Reinhard Müller, Jorunn Økland, Daniel Pioske, Thomas Römer, Benedetta Rossi, Cynthia Shafer-Elliott, Jason Silverman, Steinar Aandahl Skarpnes, Pauline A. Viviano, and Anne-Mareike Schol-Wetter.

Front Matter

Abbreviations vii-x

Cynthia Shafer-Elliott,Kristin Joachimsen,Ehud Ben Zvi,Pauline A. Viviano FREE

Baylor University

Cynthia Shafer-Elliott Is Associate Professor of Religion at Baylor University.

Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society

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University of Alberta

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Loyola University Chicago

Introduction

Introduction [+–] 1-9

Cynthia Shafer-Elliott,Kristin Joachimsen,Ehud Ben Zvi,Pauline A. Viviano FREE

Baylor University

Cynthia Shafer-Elliott Is Associate Professor of Religion at Baylor University.

Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society

View Website

University of Alberta

View Website

Loyola University Chicago

This volume honoring Diana V. Edelman focuses on a pervasive topic of her prolific scholarship, namely her pursuit of the history of ancient Israel. She has contributed to Southern Levantine history, archaeology, and culture within the larger framework of the ancient Near East. She has added much to our knowledge of emerging forms of Judaisms in the Persian and Hellenistic periods as well as strategies for re-conceptualizing the divine in the biblical texts. In particular, she has addressed different “sites of memory” (cf. Pierre Nora’s concept lieux de mémoire), which includes, for instance, geography/space, buildings, monuments, religious texts, people/figures, and events. The purpose of these sites of memory is to bring up images that stimulate collective remembrance of the past and offer directions for the future. Diana has argued that characters, places, objects, and the like mentioned in the Hebrew Bible represent such “sites of memory” and that they together form a network of sites of memories, what she has called “the memory landscape” of ancient Israel (2013). In this network, some are emphasized more than others, so as to play a more prominent role and thus becoming a “core central site of memory” (e.g., Abraham, Moses, David). Not only do these characters have much narrative content about their lives, but they are also mentioned as key figures, serving as central and symbolic figures in the community, aiding it in their understanding of its shared past, its current condition, as well as defining aspirations for the future.

Chapter 1

The Covenant of Circumcision (Genesis 17) as an Identity Marker of Nascent Judaism [+–] 10-26

Thomas Römer £17.50

University of Lausanne

Thomas Römer is Professor at the College and Professor at the University of Lausanne. In 2015 he received the title of Doctor honoris causa of Tel Aviv University. Among his publications are The So-Called Deuteronomistic History: A Sociological, Historical and Literary Introduction (T&T Clark, 2005), L‘invention de Dieu (Paris 2014, translated in several languages).

In the monarchic time, Israelites and Judahites practiced circumcision, as did their neighbors. They practiced circumcision on boys at puberty as a “rite de passages” into (nuptial) maturity. In the exilic period, in the context of the encounter with the Babylonian and Persian civilizations, which did not practice circumcision, the Priestly writers invented a new function of circumcision. It became a “rite de passage” into the world and a sign of the covenant between Yhwh and his people. The circumcision of the newborn male became an identity marker also with regards to people who practiced circumcision at the age of puberty. The circumcision on the eighth day is an invention of P.

Chapter 2

Pain, Gain, or Both? Circumcision, Trauma, and (R)Emasculation in Post-Exlic Israel [+–] 27-49

Anne-Mareike Schol-Wetter £17.50

Dutch Bible Society

Anne-Mareike Wetter holds a PhD in Old Testament Studies from Utrecht University. Her research focuses on concepts of identity in the Hebrew Bible and is informed by contemporary theories on, e.g., gender, social processes, and memory formation. In her current position at the Bible Society for the Netherlands and Flanders, she is mostly concerned with Bible Engagement, bridging the gap between the Bible as a product of
the ancient world, scholarship, and the lives of contemporary readers.

Recent years have seen a turn to the “human factor” of exile, as scholars increasingly apply insights from various social sciences to their interpretation of the events following the demise of the kingdom of Judah. One area of research within this development focuses on issues of gender; more particularly, on the experience of compromised masculinity that would have accompanied defeat and deportation. Leaning on insights from masculinity studies, trauma studies, and postcolonial critique, this article explores the possibility of construing circumcision–a ritual whose popularity seems to have increased during the exile–as a coping mechanism, which functioned to restore a sense of agency, masculinity, and, paradoxically, physical wholeness. This approach not only helps to account for the peculiarly gendered nature of this identity marker, but also offers an explanatory matrix for the ambivalent treatment circumcision receives in the biblical texts, as a ritual that accomplishes both insider identity and otherness, and can symbolize either virility or emasculation.

Chapter 3

Remembering the Roles of Mother, Wives and Daughter in the Formation of the Identity and Story of Israel in Genesis 25–36 [+–] 50-68

Steinar Skarpnes £17.50

Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society (PhD student)

Steinar Skarpnes is Phd student of Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, MF- Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society, and is working on a thesis on memories of Hezekiah in the Chronicles.

In the Hebrew Bible, there are certain characters that plays a significant role in the development of social memory and national or ethnic identity in ancient Israel. A typical example is the patriarch Jacob, who also is identified as Israel and is used as a representation for the nation and people of Israel. This association between the patriarch and the nation makes him a stand out as main figure of cultural memory and the formation of a national identity in ancient Israel, forming what Edelman has coined a “core central site of memory”. A feature I have observed in the narratives in the so-called Jacob cycle in Gen 25-36, is that the female characters in Jacob’s family seems to play a prominent role and have considerable influence on the life direction and choices of the main protagonist. Thus in this article, I therefore want to explore how the three generations of women – his mother Rebekah, his wives Leah and Rachel and his daughter Dinah – each make their active contributions in shaping the destiny, and development of the character of Jacob in these stories. Through the employment of memory studies and intersectionality, I want to look at how the involvements of these female characters alludes to the larger thematic issues regarding Israel in the Hebrew Bible, such as divine selection, fertility and wealth, experience of exile and the relationship with neighboring people. By doing so, I hope I can recognize certain shared memories of the community and what it can tell us about its perceived identity, how it faced its challenges in the past and near present, and what it can expect to face in the present and the near future.

Chapter 4

The Joseph Story: Between a Family and a Polemical Story [+–] 69-92

Yairah Amit £17.50

Tel Aviv University

Yairah Amit is Professor Emerita of Hebrew Bible in the Department of Hebrew Bible and in the School of Education at Tel Aviv University. Amit emphasizes critical approaches to the study of the Hebrew Bible. She is especially interested in aspects of story, history, ideology and editing, and in their combination in the biblical text. Her books include The Book of Judges – The Art of Editing (Brill, 1999), Hidden Polemics in Biblical Narrative (Brill, 2000), In Praise of Editing in the Hebrew Bible (Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2012).

It is well known that I perceive the Bible as polemic literature. This declaration opens my book “Hidden Polemics in Biblical Narrative,” which discusses the ideologies and types of polemics. My use of the term “polemic” assumes a topic on which opinions differ and in biblical times would have been a subject of intellectual and public debate, of which we have evidence. In my book I describe four types of such polemics: the explicit or open; the indirect; the implicit or hidden, and the seemingly hidden polemic too. They can be distinguished from one another by the way they relate to the topic of the polemic and to the attitude towards. All of them appear in the story of Joseph, therefore this contribution deals with the four types of polemics in this story. Moreover, these polemics prove that the story of Joseph reflects the Persian period.

Chapter 5

Shibboleth: Folklore and Redaction-History [+–] 93-104

Christoph Levin £17.50

University of Munich

Christoph Levin, Prof. emeritus at the University of Munich; corresponding member of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities and of the Finnish Academy; 2010-2013 President of the International Organization for the Study of the Old Testament. Author of: The Old Testament: A Brief Introduction (Princeton U.P., 2005); Re-Reading the Scriptures (Mohr Siebeck, 2013).

The famous Shibboleth-Episode combines features of historical record, popular tradition, redaction history of the Deuteronomistic History and theological motifs such as justice in case of mass murder and the divine war-motif. This contribution intends to unfold these different layers of the present text in order to demonstrate the development of a section of the book of Judges that is of special significance until today.

Chapter 6

A Masterpiece of Early Hebrew Storytelling: The Seance at En-Dor (1 Samuel 28) [+–] 105-125

Reinhard Müller £17.50

University of Göttingen

Reinhard Müller is Professor for Old Testament Studies in the Department of Protestant Theology at the University of Göttingen. He is author of Königtum und Gottesherrschaft (Mohr Siebeck, 2004), Jahwe als Wettergott (de Gruyter, 2008), Ausgebliebene Einsicht (Neukirchener, 2012), and co-author of Evidence of Editing (Society of Biblical Literature, 2014).

This contribution investigates the literary history of 1 Sam 28 and its contexts in religious history. Contrary to recent models postulating a late Deuteronomistic origin of the narrative, it shows that the literary core of 1 Sam 28 was drafted much earlier, namely in the era of the Northern Israelite monarchy. This core mirrors practices of ancestral cult and necromancy that were an important field of ancient Israelite religion, including the religion of the court, closely related to Ancient Near Eastern and particularly North-West Semitic traditions. At the same time, the original narrative proves a masterpiece of early Hebrew literature, depicting king Saul compassionately as a tragic hero and in no way criticizing him. Only several additions change Saul’s picture according to Deuteronomistic ideas, and the failing king becomes more and more criticized for turning to idolatrous religious practices instead of trusting in Yahweh.

Chapter 7

The Irrevocable Word of God (1 Kings 13:1–32) [+–] 126-136

Pauline A. Viviano £17.50

Loyola University Chicago

The story of the man of God and the old prophet in 1 Kings 13 has been analyzed using various methods of interpretation. Some scholars have been concerned to determine the source or sources of the story; others have focused on its placement in the book of Kings or its function in the Deuteronomistic History as a whole. These approaches have enriched our knowledge of the story, but debate continues, especially regarding the point of the story. Is it a moral lesson drawn from the consequences of obedience and disobedience to the word of God? Does the story give the reader a way to distinguish true and false prophecy? Is the authority of the prophet its main concern? Is its point to say something of significance about the nature of the word of God? This essay will enter into the debate surrounding the point of the story employing a literary analysis of the structure of the narrative and its dialogue to determine the central message of the story.

Chapter 8

The Pragmatic Challenge to Moses: Jeremiah 30:1-4 in Light of Deuteronomy [+–] 137-151

Benedetta Rossi £17.50

Pontifical Biblical Institute

Benedetta Rossi is Associate Professor of Old Testament Exegesis at Pontifical Biblical Institute (Rome). Her research interests are Prophecy and the book of Jeremiah; Deuteronomy, its composition and production; the relation between Pentateuch and Prophetic Literature. She also focuses on Cultural Hegemony and the production of sacred texts in the Second Temple period. Her recent publications are articles and book chapters on Deuteronomy, Jeremiah, and prophetic books. She recently coedited with Diana Edelman, Kåre Berge and Philippe Guillaume the volume Deuteronomy in the Making: Studies in the Production of Debarim (De Gruyter: 2021).

While lexical cross-references play a pivotal role for exploring the book of Jeremiah’s relation to Deuteronomy, similar pragmatic strategies have remained marginal to the debate. Against this background, this essay shows how the book of Jeremiah employs a pragmatic strategy pivotal to Deuteronomy to challenge the role that the sefer hattorah written by Moses plays in the restoration after the exile. Jer 30:1–4 will be considered as a test case.

Chapter 9

Dating Haggai: Or Reframing the Context of a Prophetic Book [+–] 152-167

Bob Becking £17.50

Utrecht University

Bob Becking is a retired Senior Research Professor. He studied theology and semitics at Utrecht University. He has been a minister in the Dutch Reformed Church for ten years before he started teaching at Utrecht University in 1987. His most recent book is Ezra – Nehemiah (Peeters, 2018), among his many other contributions are Ezra, Nehemiah, and the Construction of Early Jewish Identity (Mohr Siebeck, 2011) and From David to Gedaliah: The Book of Kings as Story and History (Vandenhoeck Ruprecht, 2007).

Traditionally, the Books of Haggai and Zechariah (1–8) are connected with the rebuilding of the temple in the reign of Darius I. This rebuilding would have taken place in the reign of Darius I i.e. around 520–515 BCE. In her magnificent monograph on the ‘Origins of the Second Temple’, Diana Edelman has challenged the chronology of the events that took place in Persian period Yehud. As far as I can see, she does not draw any conclusions as to the fate of Haggai (or Zechariah). In this paper, I would like to elaborate on the idea that the Darius mentioned in the Book of Haggai should be identified with Darius II.

Chapter 10

It’s All in the Lists! Building the Community through the Lists in the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah [+–] 168-194

Maria Häusl £17.50

Technical University of Dresden

Maria Häusl is Professor of Biblical Studies, Technical University of Dresden, Germany, and Research Associate at the Department of Old Testament Studies, University of Pretoria, South Africa. Her most recent publication is Susanne Gillmayr-Bucher and Maria Häusl (ed.) Prayers and the Construction of Israelite Identity (SBL, 2019).

An interpretation of the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah cannot neglect the various lists. The lists build a network of their own, which interweaves the books and highlights every important event. They function as documentation and as legitimation for special groups. All lists, except Neh 3:1–32, use the groups of the priests, Levites and the lay-people as the backbone of their structure. The group-based description of the community is also integrated in most of the narrative units, only missing in Ezra 4:8–24, Ezra 5:3–6:14/15, and Neh 1:1–7:3. With regard to the priests, neither the lists nor the narrative units legitimize one single priestly character. On the contrary, the diversity of priestly persons is striking. Only the high priestly lineage is used as an important argument throughout the various texts and lists, though the people with a high priestly genealogy are rarely related to each other. The situation appears quite different with regard to the Levites. A group of (six) Levites is clearly emphasized, as they appear in almost every list and, beyond, in narrative texts. The Levites Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani/Binnui/Bunni, Hodaviah/Hodiah/Judah, Sherebiah and Hashabiah/Hashabneiah build a network all over the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah, disregarding even the chronological setting of the events.

Chapter 11

References to Josiah in the Chronicles’ Narrative [+–] 195-217

Lowell K. Handy £17.50

Loyola University Chicago (retired)

Lowell K. Handy received his M.A. from the University of Iowa School of Religion and his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago Divinity School. Before retirement he taught for 15 years at Loyola University Chicago and was employed at the American Theological Library Association Religion Index Project for 28 years. He has been an active member of the Chicago Society of Biblical Research, Society of Biblical Literature, and American Schools of Oriental Research. In addition to journal articles and reference entries, Dr. Handy has published several books, including: Among the Host of Heaven: The Syro-Palestinian Pantheon as Bureaucracy; Entertaining Faith: Reading Short Stories in the Bible; Jonah’s World: Social Science and the Reading of Prophetic Story; and edited volumes: The Age of Solomon: Scholarship at the Turn of the Millennium; Psalm 29 through Time and Tradition.

While Kings foretells Josiah with the prophet from Judah, Chronicles makes no explicit prediction in advance of the king. However, the highly adapted narrative of Josiah from that in Kings contains several references to earlier material in Chronicles. This will include the stated genealogy in 1 Chr 3. While acknowledging the obvious rewrite of the “reform” backward from Josiah to Hezekiah and Manasseh, that will not be the focus of this essay. Instead, narrative inclusions useful for the Josiah portrayal from the earlier text will be considered. David and Solomon as temple cultus authors as well as other literary connections throughout the work will be contemplated.

Chapter 12

Keys to the Past? Archaeological Correlates of Social and Cultural Memory from the Ancient Levant [+–] 218-232

Aren Maeir £17.50

Bar-Ilan University

Aren M. Maeir is a professor of archaeology at the Institute of Archaeology of the Martin (Szusz) Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology at Bar-Ilan University (Ramat-Gan, Israel). He has published extensively on the Bronze and Iron Age of the Ancient Near East, including most recently Berlejung, A., Maeir. A. M., and Schuele, A., Wandering Arameans: Arameans Outside Syria – Textual and Archaeological Perspectives (Harrassowitz, 2017).

This contribution uses a memory-oriented perspective to shed light on three aspects of the archaeology of the Southern Levant, which perhaps can be seen as material correlates of cultural and social memory. The examples are from Late Bronze Age New Kingdom Egypt, Iron Age Philistia, and the Hellenistic Hasmonean culture. These examples can serve as an indication of the potential contribution of memory-oriented perspectives in the study of the ancient cultures of the Southern Levant.

Chapter 13

Putting One’s House in Order: Household Archaeology at Tell Halif, Israel [+–] 233-257

Cynthia Shafer-Elliott £17.50

Baylor University

Cynthia Shafer-Elliott Is Associate Professor of Religion at Baylor University.

The recent excavations at Tell Halif utilized household archaeology in order to focus on its Iron 2B dwellings; as a result, Halif is uniquely placed to help archaeologists and biblical scholars alike to better understand the cultural context of ancient Israel/Judah. In order to better understand daily life, our focus must shift from the monumental places (like palaces and temples) to the common stage where daily life occurred – the home. In this paper, a detailed analysis of Halif’s most recently excavated house (aka the A8 house), will be presented followed by a preliminary investigation into its position in the “neighborhood.” The focus of household archaeology and its methodology of spatial analysis will be employed to better understand the daily activities of this Iron 2B Judahite household.

Chapter 14

Jericho by Qumran and Qumran by Jericho in Late Antiquity: A Multispectral Cultural Landscape through the New Cultural Studies [+–] 258-293

David Hamidovic £17.50

University of Lausanne

David Hamidovič is Full Professor and holder of the chair of “Jewish Apocryphal Literature and History of Judaism in Antiquity” at the Faculty of Theology and Sciences of Religions, University of Lausanne (Switzerland). He has published many articles and monographies concerning Ancient Judaism, especially the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Jewish apocryphal texts.

The memory of Jericho in Ancient Judaism is generally related to the conquest of Canaan and luxuriant palm groves. Numerous geographical, historical, archaeological, epigraphic, literary and administrative data are now available to reconstruct the cultural landscape of the region and its dynamics in Late Antiquity. The relationships between Jericho and Qumran, i.e. the Khirbeh and its inhabitants – the Essenes – during the Hasmonean and Herodian periods reveal dynamics at work between the centre of Jericho’s territory and its southern periphery, i.e. Khirbet Qumran, and vice-versa. The multispectral approach, following the New Cultural Studies, results in (re )evaluation of Jericho in the origins of the Essene community, and the not negligible role of Khirbet Qumran and its inhabitants within the territory of Jericho.

Chapter 15

Kings Saul, David, and Arthur: On Writing a History of the ‘Dark Age’ [+–] 294-312

Lester L. Grabbe £17.50

University of Hull

Lester L. Grabbe is Professor Emeritus at the University of Hull and has written extensively on ancient Israel, including Ancient Israel: What Do We Know and How Do We Know it (T&T Clark, 2017) and the edited collection, The Hebrew Bible and History: Critical Readings (T&T Clark, 2018).

One of our problems in writing the early history of ancient Israel is that the period of its beginnings is essentially a “Dark Age.” Yet this is hardly the only period of history known as the “Dark Age”; another well-known one is the period of two centuries or so after the Romans left the British Isles. It is during this period that King Arthur is placed. This essay will attempt to work out principles for writing a history of Israel’s Dark Age by looking at the historiographic problems and their proposed solutions arising from the British Dark Age and, especially, the historicity of King Arthur.

Chapter 16

The Appearance of Hebrew Prose and the Fabric of History [+–] 313-335

Daniel Pioske £17.50

University of St Thomas

Daniel Pioske is an Associate Professor of Theology at the University of St. Thomas, Minnesota. He is the author of three books, David’s Jerusalem: Between Memory and History (Routledge, 2015), Memory in a Time of Prose (Oxford, 2018), and The Bible Among Ruins (Cambridge, 2023).

In the preface to The Fabric of History, Diana Edelman appeals for more theoretically attuned approaches to the history of ancient Israel that attend, critically and self-consciously, to the type of sources we weave into the fabric of those histories we write. This study pursues one thread of this larger cloth by examining the conditions under which the referential claims of the Hebrew Bible first became possible. A key provision for the composition of these biblical stories, this investigation argues, was the appearance of a native Hebrew prose tradition in the ancient world of the southern Levant. This investigation retraces elements of the genealogy of this prose tradition by exploring comparative instances of prose writing from other literary cultures in antiquity and epigraphic evidence from the region, texts that, this study maintains, helps us to both situate the emergence of Hebrew prose historically and understand better the types of past knowledge these writings convey.

Chapter 17

If I Ever Forget You, Benjamin… [+–] 336-359

James S. Anderson,Philippe Guillaume £17.50

University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, Texas

James S. Anderson is a Licensed Professional Counselor in Texas and serves as Adjunct Professor of Religious Studies at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, TX. His books include Monotheism and Yahweh’s Appropriation of Baal (T&T Clark, 2015), Manifesting Peace: 12 Principles for Cultivating Peace, Healing & Wellness Distilled from the World’s Spiritual Traditions and Psychology (Wipf and Stock, 2019) and Extolling Yeshua (Wipf and Stock, 2019).

University of Berne

Philippe Guillaume is Lecturer at the University of Berne. His latest publications are A History of Biblical Israel co-authored with Ernst Axel Knauf (Equinox, 2016) and Deuteronomy in the Making, Studies in the Production of Debarim, edited with Diana Edelman, Benedetta Rossi and Kåre Berge (De Gruyter, 2021).

Diana Edelman devoted much attention to Benjamin. Philip Davies, Diana’s long time Sheffield colleague, elaborated the hypothesis of a Benjaminite prototype for the two biblical historiographies. This article deconstructs various rebuttals to Davies’ Benjaminite History of Israel that use Josiah’s reform to trump a Benjaminite prototype. Given the historical problems relative to Josiah, we conclude that a Benjaminite subtext for Joshua–Kings and for Chronicles remains a persuasive hypothesis. We suggest some additional episodes from the Book of Judges to those identified by Davies as part of the Benjaminite prototype.

Chapter 18

“He Shall Accomplish My Desired Will”: The Yehudized Cyrus in the Book of Isaiah [+–] 360-382

Kristin Joachimsen £17.50

Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society

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This paper analyses the presentation of Cyrus in Isa 40–48 by emphasising its imperial context. After locating the Cyrus discourse in Isa 40–48, in which this foreign king is situated among Israel, YHWH, other deities, kings and peoples, I will explore how scholars have compared the presentation of Cyrus in Isa 40–48 to various material related to Persian kings. Such comparisons are carried out from different points of view, like pursuit of influence or a comparison that aims at shedding light on the prophetic discourse by bringing in new perspectives. I will discuss two recent studies, by Kratz and Silverman, which both explicate the presentation of the topic of creation and Cyrus in Isaiah as due to an influence of Achaemenid imperial ideology and cosmology. When scholars read this prophetic discourse through the lens of this scholarly constructed ideology, the focus tends to be on assumed similarities without paying enough attention to decisive differences. While Kratz and Silverman map influence of the prophetic discourse of Cyrus mainly from material related to Darius I, I will rather compare the presentation of Cyrus in Isa 40–48 to the Cyrus cylinder. This analysis will be informed by perspectives taken from postcolonial studies, illuminating how accommodation and resistance to the Empire were simultaneously engaged. In all instances, what matters is how Cyrus is placed under the authority of the deity of Israel in this prophetic discourse.

Chapter 19

Where a Shattered Visage Lies? Warrants for Authority in Persian Yehud [+–] 383-406

Jason M. Silverman £17.50

Jason M. Silverman earned a PhD from Trinity College Dublin. His research includes
communication and social history in the Persian Empire and the Bible in Film. He authored
“Pseudepigraphy, Anonymity, and Auteur Theory,” Religion and the Arts 15.4 (2011): 520–555.

Much has been written on the development of “authoritative texts” in Persian Yehud, but there remains little consensus on what authority itself means or the relevant social structures in which it operated. This essay sketches a framework for analyzing authority and emphasizes the impact of the social structure of Yehud on authority with reference to the memory of Davidic kingship and the presence of Persian kingship. Since the evidence for social structure is currently inconclusive, the essay will outline several potential scenarios and explore how authority may have functioned in each instance.

Chapter 20

The Production of Literature in Judean Military Communities in Egypt [+–] 407-435

Anne Fitzpatrick-McKinley £17.50

Trinity College Dublin

Anne Fitzpatrick-McKinley is Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Near and Middle Eastern Studies, Trinity College Dublin. She is the author of monographs on Torah and on the Nehemiah memoir as well as of a number of articles on the Persian and Ptolemaic period.

Against a background of an examination of Judean military communities in Egypt this paper asks if the institution of the politeuma, or of the synagogue, or other associations of Judean military communities had libraries, and whether Judean scribes in Egypt may have been influenced by the literary culture of other groups, Egyptian and non-Egyptian, among whom they lived? Was this the context for the production, copying, preservation, and exchange of Judean-Greek stories and traditions? Did the politeuma, the synagogue, and other institutions of military communities, including private associations, provide the context for the preservation and production of literature?

Chapter 21

Praying History: Taking a Joyful Leap of Trust [+–] 436-454

Susanne Gillmayr-Bucher £17.50

Catholic Private University of Linz, Austria

Susanne Gillmayr-Bucher is professor of Biblical Studies / Old Testament at the Catholic Private University of Linz, Austria. Her research focusses on narratological and poetic approaches to biblical texts and the history of the reception of the Bible in literature and art. Her special interest is the Book of Psalms.

When Ps 105 and 106 remember history, they do so in different ways. Not only do they recall different episodes from the past, focus on the role of God or the people, emphasis different theological themes, but they also highlight different emotions connected with the retold events. In this way, they also evoke different emotions in the readers. This paper focusses on the emotional dimension of Ps 105 and 106. Following the argumentation of these psalms, it describes the explicitly mentioned emotions, the emotional evaluations of the remembered events and it points out an emotional dynamic that these texts can evoke in their readers. I argue that this emotional process of remembering the past strengthen the persuasive power of these prayers and enables the readers to join in the viewpoint of these psalms.

Chapter 22

Cultural Memory, Identity, and the Past [+–] 455-475

Kåre Berge £17.50

Faculty of Theology, University of Oslo

Kåre Berge is Professor emeritus and guest researcher at the Faculty of Theology, University of Oslo. His studies cover the Pentateuch, especially Genesis, Exodus and Deuteronomy, focusing on cultural memory, politics of identity, didacticism, and symbolization of power-relations. In particular, “Dynamics of Power and the Re-invention of ‘Israel’ in Persian Empire Judah.” Pages 293–321 in Levantine Entanglements. Edited by T. Stordalen and Ø.S. LaBianca. Sheffield: Equinox, 2021; and “Cities in Deuteronomy: Imperial Ideology, Resilience, and the Imagination of Yahwistic Religion.” Pages 77–96 in Deuteronomy in the Making. Edited by D. Edelman, B. Rossi, K. Berge, P. Guillaume. BZAW 533; Berlin: W. de Gruyter, 2021.

The notion of ‘cultural memory’ or ‘social memory’ has been commonplace in biblical research since about 2008, when an EABS research group bearing that name had its first meeting. Central in the use and development of that concept was Ehud Ben Zvi. A number of scholars, like Philip R. Davies and Niels P. Lemche, adopted the term and included it in their study of biblical historiography. Mostly, people refer to Jan Assmann, but a closer look shows that the term is not quite clear in his writings. There is the impression that research in the wake of Assmann’s work maintained this lack of clarity. Accordingly, the concept is still being used, not only in works on historiographic texts in the Bible, but also on prophetic and poetic texts, often combined with re-use of older texts in late 2nd Temple texts. The objective of this contribution is to assess the latest development of “cultural/social memory-studies” and especially its relation to other terms and concepts, some of them now becoming important in works related to biblical studies, like utopia/dystopia, the older term “charter myth,” and concepts like ‘trauma literature’ (a notion also studied by D. Edelman). Deuteronomy is a text central to Diana Edelman’s latest research. Relating the assessment of the present situation in memory-studies to Deuteronomy (and the Exodus story) should also include a discussion of its relation to didactical terms used in that book and current research about them. Some years ago (in FS E. Ben Zvi), I discussed his concept of social memory. As Ben Zvi and Edelman have collaborated on several publications, including also work on the book of Deuteronomy, it is time to see how the concept has developed and its implication for that book (and the Exodus story).

Chapter 23

Alexander as a Site of Memory in Hellenistic Judah in the Context of Mnemonic Appropriations of ‘High-Value’ Outsiders [+–] 476-495

Ehud Ben Zvi £17.50

University of Alberta

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This contribution explores a range of Alexanders of memory of the late Second Temple Judah, as we may reconstruct them based on extant literary texts (e.g., Josephus), and as it does, so it sheds cross-cultural light on a more general issue, namely that of “mnemonic appropriations of ‘high-value’ outsiders” by local, groups engaged in asymmetric power relations with “imperial” courts and settings. This contribution explores, inter alia, how a subaltern community may shape for itself an in-between conceptual area shared by the local community and the ‘foreigner’ symbolically embodied in the figure of the relevant ‘high value’ character, which is important for not only the subaltern construction of and interaction with the Other, but also for the construction of the subaltern Self. To be sure, such processes often go together with the emergence of voices hinting at local hesitations and concerns about foreign rulers, and the whole business of appropriating and thus lionizing the ‘high value’ outsider.

Chapter 24

Women’s Bravery: Jane Dieulafoy, Queen Parysatis, and the Reception of the Persian Empire in Nineteenth-Century France [+–] 496-520

Jorunn Okland £17.50

University of Oslo

Jorunn Okland, Professor at the University of Oslo; Director, Norwegian Institute at Athens; Translator, Norwegian Bible Society; Literature reviewer in the daily newspaper Vårt Land. Publications: Women in their Place: Paul and the Corinthian Discourse of Gender and Sanctuary Space (T&T Clark, 2004); Constructions of Space III: Biblical Spatiality and the Sacred (T&T Clark, 2016).

“Ancient Persia and the “Persian Period” have been important for the production of biblical literature. This essay presents Jane Dieulafoy, French explorer, excavator of Susa, writer, and ethnographer, whose work complemented the knowledge produced by biblical scholars – through studies of material remains, archaeological excavations, and ethnographic fieldwork. Based on and inspired by her findings in the mentioned research areas, she turned her prize-winning novel on the Ancient Persian queen Parysatis into a libretto for a drame lyrique (an operatic sub-genre) of the same name, with incidental music by French composer Camille Saint-Saëns. The drama is discussed under the umbrella of reception history, including the reception history of the Persian Empire in the imperial ambitions of 19th Century France. Dieulafoy’s interest in the opera format, as demonstrated through the libretto for Parysatis, represents the convergence point for her research areas, cultural engagements and political entanglements

End Matter

List of Diana V. Edelman’s Publications [+–] 521-530

Cynthia Shafer-Elliott,Kristin Joachimsen,Ehud Ben Zvi,Pauline A. Viviano FREE

Baylor University

Cynthia Shafer-Elliott Is Associate Professor of Religion at Baylor University.

Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society

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University of Alberta

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Loyola University Chicago

Index of Authors 531-544

Cynthia Shafer-Elliott,Kristin Joachimsen,Ehud Ben Zvi,Pauline A. Viviano FREE

Baylor University

Cynthia Shafer-Elliott Is Associate Professor of Religion at Baylor University.

Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society

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University of Alberta

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Loyola University Chicago

Index of Ancient Textual Sources 545-571

Cynthia Shafer-Elliott,Kristin Joachimsen,Ehud Ben Zvi,Pauline A. Viviano FREE

Baylor University

Cynthia Shafer-Elliott Is Associate Professor of Religion at Baylor University.

Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society

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University of Alberta

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Loyola University Chicago

Reviews

If the history of scholarship has shown us anything, it’s just how insightful historical investigation can be—so long as the guild is committed to reconsidering old ideas and infusing the conversation with novel methodologies. This festschrift is an example of the freshness that can characterize historical investigations and the study of ancient historiography. While some essays are shorter than others and create the impression that they are more tangential ideas rather than fully developed theses, and while there is a detectable fascination with the implications of the Persian period for ancient Israel’s historical consciousness in many of the essays, all of them contribute something to the historical conversation of ancient Israel. Consequently, this volume is a worthy celebration of Edelman, and it is one that will further her influence well beyond her immediate sphere.
The Catholic Biblical Quarterly

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Books and Journals in Humanities, Social Science and Performing Arts

The Hunt for Ancient Israel

Essays in Honour of Diana V. Edelman

Cynthia Shafer-Elliott [+–]

Baylor University

Kristin Joachimsen [+–]

Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society

View Website

Ehud Ben Zvi [+–]

University of Alberta

View Website

Pauline A. Viviano [+–]

Loyola University Chicago

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