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A NARRATIVE CRITICAL ANALYSIS of KORAH's REBELLION in NUMBERS 16 and 17 by DONALD JAMES TAYLOR Submitted in Accordance with T

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A NARRATIVE CRITICAL ANALYSIS of KORAH's REBELLION in NUMBERS 16 and 17 by DONALD JAMES TAYLOR Submitted in Accordance with T A NARRATIVE CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF KORAH’S REBELLION IN NUMBERS 16 AND 17 by DONALD JAMES TAYLOR submitted in accordance with the requirements of the degree of DOCTOR OF THEOLOGY in the subject OLD TESTAMENT at the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA SUPERVISOR: PROF I J J SPANGENBERG JANUARY 2010 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction 1 1.1 A history of pentateuchal interpretation 2 1.1.1 Pre-modern Old Testament interpretation 2 1.1.2 The modern era 5 1.1.2.1 Source criticism 5 1.1.2.2 Form criticism 7 1.1.2.3 Redaction criticism 8 1.1.2.4 Traditio-historical criticism 9 1.2 New literary criticism 12 1.3 A history of the research specific to Numbers 16 and 17 18 1.4 Specific research problems in Numbers 16 and 17 23 1.5 The text and translation of Numbers 16 and 17 26 1.6 The composition and redaction of Numbers 28 1.7 Methods of research and presuppositions 30 2. The Historicity of the book of Numbers 34 2.1 Archaeology and the wilderness sojourn 36 2.2 The archaeological task 40 2.3 An historical and archaeological evaluation of the wilderness sojourn 44 2.3.1 Israel in Egypt 45 2.3.2 Israel’s invasion of Canaan 50 2.3.3 Israel’s sojourn in the wilderness 60 2.4.1 Historiography and archaeology 62 2.4.2 Historiography and biblical history 66 2.4.3 Historiography and narrative criticism 70 2.5 Conclusion 71 3. The Literary Setting for Numbers 16 and 17 75 3.1 The outline and literary structure of the book of Numbers 75 3.1.1 The geographical outline 78 3.1.2 The generational outline 81 3.1.3 The alternation outline 82 3.1.4 The cyclical outline 86 3.1.5 A synthesis of views on the structure of Numbers 88 3.2 An appraisal of source critical application to Numbers 16 and 17 90 3.2.1 The D source in Numbers 91 3.2.3 The J and E sources in Numbers 92 3.2.3 The P source in Numbers 95 3.3 The composite nature of Numbers 16 and 17 106 3.4 Conclusion 108 4. The Narrator and Point of View in Numbers 16 and 17 110 4.1 Introduction 110 4.2 Point of view in modern literary theory 111 iii 4.3 Appropriation of point of view theory by biblical narrative critics 116 4.4 The biblical narrator 120 4.5 Methodology 128 4.6 A point of view analysis of Numbers 16 and 17 129 5. Characterization in Numbers 16 and 17 143 5.1 Character theory in literary conception 145 5.2 Issues and obstacles to literary characterization 149 5.3 Adaptation of literary theory by Old Testament scholarship 160 5.4 A paradigm for evaluating Old Testament characters 163 5.5 Evaluating the characters in Numbers 16 and 17 166 5.5.1 God in the book of Numbers 166 5.5.2 Moses in Numbers 16 and 17 170 5.5.3 Korah in Numbers 16 and 17 177 5.5.4 Aaron in Numbers 16 and 17 180 5.5.5 Dathan and Abiram 183 5.5.6 Korah’s followers — the 250 men 184 5.5.7 The people 185 5.6 Conclusion 186 6. The Implied Reader’s Sensitivities and the Plot of Numbers 16 and 17 188 6.1 The implied reader 189 6.2 Reader response versus reader sensitivity 196 6.3 The nature of plot 202 6.4 Introduction to the plot of Numbers 16 and 17 206 6.4 The first quinary plot scheme (Numbers 16:1-40) 211 6.4.1 Exposition (16:1-2) 211 6.4.2 Complication (16:3-30) 213 6.4.3 The transforming action (16:31-35) 225 6.4.4 The denouement (16:36-38) 227 6.4.5 The final situation (16:39-40) 228 6.5 Second quinary plot scheme (Numbers 16:41-50) 228 6.5.1 The exposition (16:41) 228 6.5.2 The complication (16:42-46) 229 6.5.3 The transforming action (16:47) 232 6.5.4 The denouement (16:48) 232 6.5.5 The final situation (16:49-50) 233 6.6 Third quinary plot scheme (Numbers 17:1-13) 234 6.6.1 The exposition (17:1-5) 234 6.6.2 The complication (17:6-7) 238 6.6.3 The transforming action (17:8-9) 239 6.6.4 The denouement (17:10-11) 239 6.6.5 The final situation (17:12-13) 240 6.7 Conclusion 243 7. Conclusion 245 iv DECLARATION I declare that A narrative critical analysis of Korah’s rebellion in Numbers 16 and 17 is my own work and that all the sources that I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by means of complete references. ________________________ Signature ______________ Date v SUMMARY This dissertation examines the complex story of Korah’s rebellion found in Numbers 16 and 17 utilizing narrative critical theory. This study is first grounded in the context of historical questions surrounding Israel’s emergence as a nation and the narrative’s potential for historical veracity. Many narrative critics do not feel the theoretical necessity to establish the connection between an autonomous text and a historical context. This study does seek to collaborate with historical research, but only as permitted by the data. Though only biblical and tangential evidence supports the historicity of the wilderness sojourn, the narrative accounts should not be repudiated because of philosophical bias or the lack of corroborative extra biblical evidence. Especially important to a literary interpretation of this narrative is the work of source critics who during their own enquiries have identified the fractures and transitions within the story. In considering the text of Numbers 16 and 17, the hermeneutical approach employed in this study carefully endorses a balanced incorporation of the theoretical constructs of the author, text, and reader in the interpretive enquiry. From this hermeneutical approach recent literary theory is applied to the texts of Numbers 16 and 17 focusing particular attention on three narrative themes. First, the narrator’s point of view is examined to determine the manner that information is relayed to the reader so as to demur the rebellion leaders. Though features of characterization are often meager in biblical narratives, there remains sufficient data in this rebellion story to support the aims of the Hebrew writers and does not undermine the reader’s engagement with the story’s participants. Finally, the three separate plotlines in this narrative sustain the dramatic effect upon the readership holding attention and judgment throughout and beyond the vi story. In sum, this dissertation highlights the powerful contours of this ancient narrative by appropriating the theoretical work of narrative critics. The strategies employed in the writing and editing of this story uniquely condemn the rebels and at the same time serve to elevate God’s chosen leader—Moses. KEY TERMS: Numbers; Source criticism; Literary criticism; Hermeneutics; Archaeology; Historiography; Narrative criticism; Narrator; Point of view; Focalization; Characterization; Implied reader; Implied author; Reader response; Plot; Quinary scheme vii ABBREVIATIONS ABD Anchor Bible Dictionary. Edited by D. N. Freedman. 6 vols. New York, 1992. BA Biblical Archeologist BAR Biblical Archaeology Review BASOR Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research BRev Bible Review BT The Bible Translator BSac Bibliotheca Sacra CBQ Catholic Biblical Quarterly CF Character Focalizer CRCL Canadian Review of Comparative Literature DS Dostoevsky Studies FOTL Forms of Old Testament Literature HUCA Hebrew Union College Annual IDB The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible. Edited by G. A. Buttrick. 4 vols. Nashville, 1962. ISBE International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Edited by G. W. Bromily. 4 vols. Grand Rapids, 1978-1988. JBL Journal of Biblical Literature JETS Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society JLS Journal of Literary Semantics JQR Jewish Quarterly Review JSJ Journal for the Study of Judaism in the Persian, Hellenistic and Roman Period JSOT Journal for the Study of the Old Testament JSOTSup Supplements to Journal for the Study of the Old Testament JTS Journal of Theological Studies MT Massoretic Text NEA Near Eastern Archaeology NF Narrator Focalizer NRSV New Revised Standard Version RevExp Review and Expositor Semeia Semeia Them Themelios VT Vetus Testamentum VTSup Supplements to Vetus Testamentum WTJ Westminster Theological Journal viii Old Testament Books Gn Genesis Ec Ecclesiastes Ex Exodus Can Canticles Lv Leviticus Is Isaiah Nm Numbers Jr Jeremiah Dt Deuteronomy Lm Lamentations Jos Joshua Ezk Ezekiel Jdg Judges Dn Daniel Ruth Ruth Hs Hosea 1 Sm 1 Samuel Jl Joel 2 Sm 2 Samuel Am Amos 1 Ki 1 Kings Ob Obadiah 2 Ki 2 Kings Jnh Jonah 1 Chr 1 Chronicles Mi Micah 2 Chr 2 Chronicles Nah Nahum Ezr Ezra Hab Habakkuk Neh Nehemiah Zph Zephaniah Es Esther Hg Haggai Job Job Zch Zechariah Ps Psalms Ml Malachi Pr Proverbs ix A NARRATIVE CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF KORAH’S REBELLION 1 Introduction Historically the book of Numbers has not received the same attention as its counterparts in the rest of the Pentateuch. Due to its ambiguous outline, its lack of a definitive storyline, its monotonous lists, and its unwarranted length; it has failed to attract the gratuitous attention of both the popular church, and the academy. At the same time, several unresolved points of contention surround the book of Numbers including: its compositional history, its historical value, and its structure. This dissertation will explore these issues tangentially but will most directly undertake a narrative critical analysis of Korah’s rebellion (Nm 16 and 17), a dramatic sequence in the central section of Numbers, focusing on the stylistic and literary features of this complex and intensely charged story.
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