The Death of Jacob Biblical Interpretation Series
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The Death of Jacob Biblical Interpretation Series Editors in Chief Paul Anderson (George Fox University) Yvonne Sherwood (University of Kent) Editorial Board A.K.M. Adam (University of Oxford) Roland Boer (University of Newcastle, Australia) Colleen M. Conway (Seton Hall University) Jennifer L. Koosed (Albright College, Reading, USA) Vernon Robbins (Emory University) Annette Schellenberg (Universität Wien) Carolyn J. Sharp (Yale Divinity School) Johanna Stiebert (University of Leeds, UK) Duane Watson (Malone University, USA) Ruben Zimmermann (Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz) VOLUME 138 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/bins The Death of Jacob Narrative Conventions in Genesis 47.28–50.26 By Kerry D. Lee, Jr. LEIDEN | BOSTON Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Lee, Kerry D. The death of Jacob : narrative conventions in Genesis 47.28-50.26 / by Kerry D. Lee, Jr. pages cm. — (Biblical interpretation series, ISSN 0928-0731 ; VOLUME 138) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-90-04-30302-7 (hardback : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-90-04-30303-4 (e-book) 1. Bible. Genesis, XLVII, 28-L—Criticism, Narrative. 2. Jacob (Biblical patriarch)—Biblical teaching. I. Title. BS1235.52.L44 2015 222’.11066—dc23 2015029551 This publication has been typeset in the multilingual “Brill” typeface. With over 5,100 characters covering Latin, IPA, Greek, and Cyrillic, this typeface is especially suitable for use in the humanities. For more information, please see www.brill.com/brill-typeface. issn 0928-0731 isbn 978-90-04-30302-7 (hardback) isbn 978-90-04-30303-4 (e-book) Copyright 2016 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi and Hotei Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. This book is printed on acid-free paper. Contents Acknowledgements ix Abbreviations x 1 The Study of Conventions in Genesis 47–50 1 Setting the Stage 1 The Scholarly Context 5 Biblical Studies 5 The Strengths and Weaknesses of Synchronic Approaches 13 Literary Criticism, Folklore, and Vladimir Propp 16 Similarities to and Differences from Propp 19 Summary 22 The Plan for What Follows 22 Summary 24 2 The Conventional Hebrew Deathbed Story 25 Preliminary Remarks 25 Discovering the Deathbed Story 25 The Elements of the Deathbed Story 29 The Selection of the Worthy Successor 35 The Examples of the Deathbed Story 37 Genesis 24.1–25.11 (Abraham) 38 Genesis 27.1–35.29 (Isaac) 39 Genesis 47.28–50.26 (Jacob) 41 Genesis 50.22–26 (Joseph) 43 Deuteronomy 31–34 (Moses) 44 Joshua 13–24 (Joshua) 47 Judges 8.22–35 (Gideon) 48 i Samuel 8.1–31.13 (Samuel) 49 ii Samuel 23.1–7 (David) 52 i Kings 1–2 (David) 52 ii Kings 2 (Elijah) 54 ii Kings 13.14–25 (Elisha) 55 ii Kings 20 (Hezekiah) 55 i Chronicles 23–29 (David) 56 i Maccabees 2.49–70 (Mattathias) 58 Tobit 4.1–14.15, especially 4.1–5.3 and 13–14 (Tobit) 58 vi contents Judith 15.14–16.25 (Judith) 60 The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs (The Twelve Sons of Jacob) 61 3 The Burial Request to Joseph: Genesis 47.28–31 64 Text and Preliminary Remarks 64 The Starting Point for Jacob’s Deathbed Story 65 The Preparation (Genesis 47.28–29a) 70 The Testament (Genesis 47.29b–31a) 78 Joseph as Worthy Successor 80 The Conclusion (Genesis 47.31b) 81 Summary 87 4 The Blessing of Joseph: Genesis 48.1–22 89 Text and Preliminary Remarks 89 The Preparation (Genesis 48.1–2) 95 ‘Jacob’ and ‘Israel’ 100 Testament A: The Adoption (Genesis 48.3–12) 106 An Historical Prologue 108 Genesis 48.3–7 Among the Priestly Promise Texts 111 The Intention to Adopt and its Justification 118 The Adoption (Genesis 48.8–12) 125 The Worthy Successor and the Portrayal of Joseph’s Sons 151 Summary 153 Testament B: The Blessing of Joseph and His Sons (Genesis 48.13–20) 154 The Integrity of Genesis 48.15–16 156 The Two Blessings of Genesis 48.15–16 and 48.20 160 Testament C: The Individual Blessing of Joseph (Genesis 48.21–22) 162 Summary 166 5 The Blessing of the Twelve: Genesis 49.1–28 167 Text and Preliminary Remarks 167 The Preparation (Genesis 49.1a) 171 The Testament: The Twelve as Worthy Co-Successors (Genesis 49.1b–27) 174 The Conclusion (Genesis 49.28) 179 Summary 184 Contents vii 6 The Burial Request to the Twelve: Genesis 49.29–33 185 Text and Preliminary Remarks 185 The Preparation (Genesis 49.29a) 187 The Testament (Genesis 49.29b–32) 189 The Conclusion (Genesis 49.33) 192 Summary 195 7 The Epilogue: Genesis 50.1–26 196 Text and Preliminary Remarks 196 Deathbed Epilogues 199 Jacob’s Burial (Genesis 50.1–14) 201 The Survival of Jacob’s Legacy (Genesis 50.15–21) 210 Joseph’s Death as Epilogue (Genesis 50.22–26) 213 Joseph’s Death as a Conventional Deathbed Story 215 The Preparation (Genesis 50.22–23) 215 The Testament (Genesis 50.24–25) 227 The Conclusion (Genesis 50.26) 230 Summary 233 8 Conclusion 234 Summary 234 Synthesis 237 Bibliography 239 Index of Ancient Sources 252 Acknowledgements There are so many people that have contributed to my life and success during the writing of this book that it would be impossible to name them all. Some of the most significant include: My PhD adviser, Hans Barstad, whose wise guidance and restraint were abso- lutely perfect for me and my style of learning and researching (though it is probable that my penchant for radically developing or changing an idea in between our meetings may not have been so perfect a fit for his overall stress level); the many wonderful people of Buccleuch Free Church in Edinburgh who supported my family and me during very difficult times and who, through their Christ-like love, showed me that the Church can actually be what it was created to be; most of all, my wife, Lara, who has been, whether she meant to or not, the epitomic Proverbs 31 woman—a far greater woman than I deserve. I can only hope that I shall, as my career progresses, prove worthy of what these and others have invested in my life. One final shout out goes to my son, Peter, who is still too young to read this (but he’s getting close!). Peter was born in Edinburgh not too long after we arrived—four months early! Despite his ill-advised overeagerness to join us outside the womb, not only did he survive, he has surpassed everyone’s expec- tations and has grown into the cleverest, handsomest, funniest, and most lov- ing little boy I’ve ever known. Whenever you learn enough to be able to read this, know, Peter, that you are the joy of my life. Abbreviations The following abbreviations are taken, where possible, from Patrick H. Alexander and others, eds., The sbl Handbook of Style: For Ancient Near Eastern, Biblical, and Early Christian Studies (Peabody, ma: Hendrickson, 1999). Where an abbreviation is lacking there, I have supplemented with abbreviations drawn from Siegfried M. Schwertner, IATG2. Internationales Abkürzungsverzeichnis für Theologie und Grenzgebiete: Zeitschriften, Serien, Lexika, Quellenwerke mit bibliographischen Angaben, (Berlin: De Gruyter, 1992). Where an abbrevia- tion was still lacking, I usually leave a series or journal unabbreviated. In rare cases, I have used obvious abbreviations not found in either of the lists, or have altered a given abbreviation to fit with newer series or journals. aasor Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research ab Anchor Bible abd Freedman, David Noel, ed., Anchor Bible Dictionary, 6 vols (New York: Doubleday, 1992) abl Harper, R. F., ed., Assyrian and Babylonian Letters Belonging to the Kouyunjik Collections of the British Museum, 14 vols (Chicago, il: University of Chicago Press, 1892–1914) AnBib Analecta Biblica ane Ancient Near East/Ancient Near Eastern anet Pritchard, James B., ed., Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, 1st edn (Princeton, nj: Princeton University Press, 1950) Arab. Arabic asor The American Schools of Oriental Research basor Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research bbe Bible in Basic English bdb Brown, Francis, S. R. Driver, and Charles A. Briggs, The Brown-Driver- Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon (Oxford, 1906; repr. Peabody, ma: Hendrickson, 1997) bhs Kittel, Rudolf, Karl Elliger, Wilhelm Rudolph, and Hans Peter Rüger, eds., Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4th emend. edn (Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellchaft, 1990) Bib Biblica BiLiSe Bible and Literature Series bkat Biblischer Kommentar, Altes Testament bn Biblische Notizen Abbreviations xi br Biblical Research bz Biblische Zeitschrift bzaw Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft ca Current Anthropology cad Roth, Martha T., Robert D. Biggs, John A. Brinkman, Miguel Civil, Walter Farber, Erica Reiner, and others, eds., The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, 21 vols (Chicago, il: Oriental Institute, 1956–2010) cbc Cambridge Bible Commentary cbq Catholic Biblical Quarterly CeB The Century Bible cos Hallo, William W., and K. Lawson Younger, Jr., eds, Archival Docu- ments from the Biblical World, The Context of Scripture: Canonical, Monumental Inscriptions, and Archival Documents from the Biblical World, 3 vols (Leiden: Brill, 1996–2002) CurBR Currents in Biblical Research dch Clines, David J.