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Central Sanctuary and the Centralization of Worship in Ancient Israel from the Settlement to the Building of Solomon's Temple

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Central Sanctuary and the Centralization of Worship in Ancient Israel from the Settlement to the Building of Solomon's Temple CENTRAL SANCTUARY AND THE CENTRALIZATION OF WORSHIP IN ANCIENT ISRAEL FROM THE SETTLEMENT TO THE BUILDING OF SOLOMON'S TEMPLE A Historical and Theological Study of the Biblical Evidence in Its Archaeological and Ancient Near Eastern Context PEKKA MATTI AUKUSTI PITKÄNEN A thesis submitted to Cheltenham and Gloucester College of Higher Education in accordance with the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities October 2000 ABSTRACT This thesis examines the history and theology of the centralization of worship. Part I examines the theology of the central sanctuary and local sanctuaries, especially from the standpoint of divine presence. Part II carries out an exegesis of the centralizing altar laws of the Pentateuch, together with an examination of their narrative and conceptual relationship to the noncentralizing altar laws of the Pentateuch. Part III examines the history of the centralization of worship from the settlement to the building of Solomon's temple. The study is contextualized by an examination of relevant archaeological and ancient Near Eastern material. Emphasis is placed on the dating of the various biblical materials under investigation, and their overall rhetorical concerns. It is argued that as well as being present in heaven, Yahweh is present on earth continuously at the ark at the central sanctuary and intermittently at local altars. Priestly material argues for the importance of the central sanctuary, but also allows local altars. Deuteronomy envisages centralization under conditions of peace and complete settlement, but otherwise allows local altars. During the earliest days of the settlement, there was no centralization requirement. In the last days of Joshua, Shiloh became the place where Yahweh's name dwelt and centralization was implemented. During the Judges period, centralization was not possible because of the disturbed situation. With the loss of the ark to the Philistines at Aphek, Shiloh was rejected as the chosen place, and there was no place in which Yahweh's name dwelt until the building of Solomon's temple in Jerusalem. The history and theology of the centralization of worship are thus compatible with each other within the period discussed, whatever the date and provenance of the relevant biblical material. However, the history of the central sanctuary and the literary form and rhetorical concerns of the book of Joshua suggest that it and the sources it uses, such as Deuteronomy, may have been written before the disaster of Aphek and the rejection of Shiloh. i DECLARATION I hereby declare that this thesis is my own work, that it was not conducted in collaboration with, or with the assistance of others, that it is not being submitted for a comparable academic award, and that the views expressed in this thesis are my own views. Pekka Pitkänen Cheltenham, 1.10.2000 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABBREVIATIONS iv PREFACE / ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ix INTRODUCTION 1 PART I DIVINE PRESENCE AND CENTRALIZATION 1. DIVINE PRESENCE IN THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST 22 2. DIVINE PRESENCE IN ISRAEL 33 A. The Role of the Ark, the Tent of Meeting and the Temple 33 B. Ex 20: 22-26 and the Presence of Yahweh Outside the Context of the Ark, the Tent of Meeting and the Temple 45 PART II CENTRALIZATIONIN THE PENTATEUCH 1. CENTRALIZATION AND THE NARRATIVE SETTING OF PENTATEUCHAL LEGAL MATERIAL 59 2. LEV 17: 1-15 AND CENTRALIZATION IN THE PRIESTLY MATERIAL 65 3. THE CHOSEN PLACE AND CENTRALIZATION IN DEUTERONOMY 84 PART III CENTRALIZATION AND THE PERIOD FROM THE SETTLEMENT TO THE BUILDING OF SOLOMON'S TEMPLE 1. JEREMIAH 7: 12-15 AND 26: 4-6,9 AND THE ROLE OF SHILOH 99 2. PSALM 78: 56-72 AND THE INTERMEDIATE PERIOD FROM THE DISASTER OF APHEK TO THE BUILDING OF SOLOMON'S TEMPLE 113 3. THE COVENANT CEREMONY AT MOUNT EBAL (DTR 27 AND JOSH 8: 30- 35) AND THE EARLY PERIOD OF JOSHUA 140 Excursus: Mount Ebal Archaeology 148 4. THE TRANSJORDANIAN ALTAR (JOSH 22: 9-34) AND THE LAST DAYS OF JOSHUA 165 5. JUDGES 17-21 AND THE PERIOD OF JUDGES 213 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 236 BIBLIOGRAPHY 242 111 ABBREVIATIONS AASF Annales Academiae Scientiarum Fennicae. AB The Anchor Bible ABD The Anchor Bible Dictionary Aft Archiv für Orientforschung AHw W. von Soden, Akkadisches Handwörterbuch. Wiesbaden, 1965-1981 ANE Ancient Near East(ern) ANEP J. B. Pritchard, ed., The Ancient Near East in Pictures, 2nd ed. with supplement. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1969 ANET J. B. Pritchard, ed., Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, 3rd ed. with supplement, Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press 1969 AnOr Analecta Orientalia AO Archiv Orientalni ATD Das Alte Testament Deutsch AThANT Abhandlungen zur Theologie des Alten und Neuen Testaments BA The Biblical Archaeologist BAR Biblical Archaeology Review BASOR Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research BBB Bonner Biblische Beiträge BECKMAN G. Beckman, Hittite Diplomatic Texts. SBL Writings from the Ancient World 7. Atlanta: Scholars Press 1996, ed. by Harry A. Hoffner, Jr. BHS Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia BKAT Biblischer Kommentar, Altes Testament BM Baghdader Mitteilungen BWANT Beiträge zur Wissenschaft vom Alten und Neuen Testament BZ Biblische Zeitschrift BZAW Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft CAD Chicago Assyrian Dictionary CBOTS Coniectanea Biblica Old Testament Series CBQ Catholic Biblical Quarterly CH Code of Hammurabi iv COS W. W. Hallo and K. L. Younger, ed., The Context of Scripture. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1997f. EAEHL M. Avi-Yonah and E. Stern, ed., The Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land, English edition. London: Oxford University Press, 1975-1978 EBC The Expositor's Bible Commentary EJ Encyclopedia Judaica EJT Evangelical Journal of Theology EQ Evangelical Quarterly EVEN-SHOSHAN A. Even-Shoshan, A New Concordance of the Bible, 2nd ed. Jerusalem, 1993 ExpTim The Expository Times FOSTER B. R. Foster, Before the Muses: An Anthology of Akkadian Literature. Bethesda, Maryland: CDL Press, 1993 FS Festschrift GAG W. von Soden, Grundriss der Akkadischen Grammatik, 3. auflage. AnOr 33, Rome: Editrice Pontificio Instituto Biblico, 1995 GESENIUS W. Gesenius, E. Kautzsch and E. E. Cowley, Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar. 2nd ed., Oxford, 1910 GHAT Göttinger Handkommentar zum Alten Testament HAL L. Koehler and W. Baumgartner, Hebräisches und Aramäisches Lexikon zum Alten Testament. Leiden HANNIG R. Hannig, Die Sprache der Pharaonen: Grosses Handwörterbuch Ägyptisch-Deutsch (2800-950 v. Chr. ). Mainz: von Zabern, 1995 HAR Hebrew Annual Review HAT Handbuch zum Alten Testament HERMENEIA Hermeneia -A Critical and Historical Commentary of the Bible HUCA Hebrew Union College Annual IA Iron Age IB Interpreter's Bible ICC International Critical Commentary IDB Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible IEJ Israel Exploration Journal IM Istanbuler Mitteilungen INTERPRETATION Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching JBL Journal of Biblical Literature v JBQ Jewish Biblical Quarterly JCS Journal of Cuneiform Studies JETS Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society JJS Journal of Jewish Studies JNES Journal of Near Eastern Studies JNSL Journal of Northwest Semitic Languages JOCON P. Joüon, S. J., A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew. Translated and Revised by T. Muraoka, 2 vols, Rome, 1996 JSOT Journal for the Study of the Old Testament JSOTSS Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, Supplement Series JSS Journal of Semitic Studies KAI H. Donner and W. Röllig, ed., Kanaanäische und Aramäische Inschriften, 3 vols. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1964 KAT Kommentar zum Alten Testament KHAT Kurzer Handcommentar zum Alten Testament KHW J. Friedrich, Kurzgefaßtes Hethitisches Wörterbuch. Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag 1990. Unveränderter Nachdruck der Ausgabe, 1952-1966 KNUDTZON J. A. Knudtzon, Die El-Amarna Tafeln, mit Einleitung und Erläuterungen. Reprint of the 1915 edition, Aalen: Otto Zeller Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1964 KS Kleine Schriften KTU M. Dietrich, O. Loretz and J. Sanmartin, The Cuneiform Alphabetic Texts from Ugarit, Ras Ibn Hani and Other Places. Second, enlarged edition, Münster: Ugarit Verlag, 1995 KZ Kirchliche Zeitschrift LABAT R. Labat and F. Malbran-Labat, Manuel d'Epigraphie Akkadienne, 6th edition. Paris: Paul Geuthner, 1994 Agyptologie, LA W. Helck and E. Otto, ed., Lexikon der Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1972f. LBA Late Bronze Age LIDDELL-SCOTT H. G. Liddell and R. Scott, A Greek English Lexikon. 9th ed. with Revised Supplement, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996 LISOWSKY G. Lisowsky, Konkordanz Zum Hebräischen Alten Testament. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1958, 1993 LUST J. Lust, E. Eynikel, K. Hauspie, A Greek-English Lexicon vi of the Septuagint. 2 vols, Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1992,1996 LXX Septuagint MB Middle Bronze (Age) MDOG Mitteilungen der Deutschen Orientgesellschaft I NAC New American Commentary NASB New American Standard Bible NBD J. D. Douglas, organizing ed., New Bible Dictionary. London: Inter-Varsity Press, 1962-1965 NCBC New Century Biblical Commentary NEAEHL E. Stern, ed. The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land. Jerusalem: The Israel Exploration Society & Carta (and Simon Schuster: New York etc. ), 1993 NIB The New Interpreter's Bible NIBC New International Biblical Commentary NICOT New International Commentary on the Old Testament NIDOTTE W. van Gemeren, gen. ed., New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis. Carlisle, U. K.: Paternoster Press, 1997
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