DOCSLIB.ORG

Chapter 15—The Golden Age of Israelite Literature

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Chapter 15—The Golden Age of Israelite Literature Gateway to God’s Word Dr. Harry W. Eberts Jr. Chapter 15 The Golden Age of Israelite Literature The period which dates from near the end of David's reign to the end of Solomon's-- roughly the years 975 to 925 B.C--was the Golden Age of Israel. It was also the Golden Age of Israelite literature for, as often happens, creativity in life was accompanied by creativity in literature. Before we discuss some of the literary achievements of this period, we should try to recall some of the facets of Israelite life which made all future Israelites look back upon this as the era of the height of Israel's influence. It was, for one thing, the time of Israel's greatest military might. There was no army in the world at that time--not in Mesopotamia, not in Egypt--which could stand up to Israel's. Because it was so powerful no nation really challenged it. Behind the army stood commercial success. Israel was a center of trade and of finance. She exploited her natural riches, built a fleet of ships to carry her goods, and dealt with nations all over the world. Hiram of Tyre came from the north and the Queen of Sheba came from the south. Israel opened trade routes all the way from Jerusalem to Ethiopia. Solomon became one of the richest men of the ancient world, and his nation was a giant of commerce. This commercial power showed itself in the architectural activities of Israel. A temple was built in Jerusalem, as were the king's palace and other buildings of government; the city walls were pushed out to contain these structures. Other cities were established or rebuilt for military and commercial purposes; Megiddo in the north, Ezion-geber in the south. Smelting refineries of surprising sophistication were constructed in the deserts south of Jerusalem. Even the most casual visitor had to be impressed with this sudden and widespread eruption of architectural marvels. Religion flourished, too. Worship was enriched, the traditions of the people were gathered together and the priesthood was strengthened. King Solomon supported this growth, and he himself presided at many of its ceremonies. From this emerges a picture of a fascinating civilization. It was an urban civilization, built around Jerusalem. It was a time of international concern, the horizons of nations stretching far beyond their own borders. It was an affluent day, a time of great wealth and too much poverty. It was a curious mixture of the secular and the religious: people pursued their worldly goals of power and wealth and at the same time pursued their religious aspirations trying to discover what, if anything, God was doing in their lives. Since these descriptive words also apply to civilization in the last quarter of the 20th century, it is easy to see why we conduct studies of this age: what happened then can speak directly to our not dissimilar world of today. 100 For this reason, we turn to her literature. For this Golden Age of Israelite life also produced a Golden Age of Israelite literature that permits us to see how these people struggled with the questions before them. This Golden Age can be compared with only a few other periods of history. Athens at its zenith might compare, and England under Queen Elizabeth I. Like them, Israelites in this Golden Age created poetry, historiography, educational methods, and sagas of the life of her people. I. The Book of Proverbs provides one clue to the era and in reading fact begins to emerge. The book deals more with ethical action and instruction than it does with spiritual and religious development. The chief purpose of the proverbs was to describe the ideal person, and not only to describe the ideal but to produce it. In other words, the persons responsible for the proverb s were trying to deal with the question: what man or woman, what king or ruler could best fulfill the kind of new life the Israelites were now living? The school of proverbs tried to supply an answer. The ideal man, they said, was one who avoided evil company; who avoided the seductions of the strange woman; who discharged his duties of trust, fear and honor of God: who carried out his obligations toward his neighbor and who knew he could fall at any time and so he was vigilant at all times. The ideal woman, likewise, was one who served her husband well; who provided the things her family needed, who was charitable to the neighbors, who was busy at all times, and had strength of character on her own. The ideal king was the ideal man at work at the task of governing, discharging his responsibilities both to his subjects and to God. These wise men of Israel also had a clear idea of God. According to their thought, he was the guide through life; he was the one who sees, examines and judges human conduct; and he was the one who rewards people according to their conduct. This was the proverbial understanding of the God who presided over the ideal life. A class of men known as scribes produced this proverbial literature, and their influence in the ancient world was widespread indeed. They possessed the ability to read and write, and this skill made them indispensable to society. Kings needed them for government; priests needed them for religion; tradesmen needed them for business. But the scribes who had, apparently, a monopoly on this basic skill, did not merely remain clerks in the offices of businessmen or secretaries in the king's palace. Because they· controlled the means of communication, they also controlled the processes by which decisions were made and implemented, and this lifted them far above mere stenographic rank. They were in charge of the official archives of the state and hence had access to the information needed for decision• making. They drew up the treaties and contracts by which international affairs were carried out. They conducted the extensive correspondence upon which ancient governments depended for communications. The nearest present analogy I know to the place these scribes had in the ancient world is to compare them with the computer experts of today. Computer experts have a unique place in our society in that they use an esoteric language known only to themselves, and are able to draw upon impressive data banks in the making of decisions, can make the decisions rapidly (and accurately, if the programming is correctly done), and can put expert knowledge to the use 101 of others who depend upon their skills. They have made possible our space technology, our credit cards, the information upon which health care is based; they undergird our system of universal taxation, produce projections by which business, government, academic institutions, even churches set courses of action to meet a dimly perceived future; and they do all this because they have particular skills in a particular discipline. This is roughly the place these scribes had in the ancient world: they were indispensable to anyone wanting to conduct affairs of state, commerce, or religion; and their indispensable position was based on the fact that they had developed and continued to control the basic skill of reading and writin g. We do not know how these scribes were trained in Israelite society; at home by parents? In temple schools? In schools sponsored by government? By special tutors? We do not even know who could enter upon this training: anyone? Only the sons of the scribes? Only those whose families could afford it? Those selected by some process we cannot now recover? We do know that the Israelite educational system was remarkably effective: it did produce men and women who modeled themselves on the ideals of their society, and it did produce civil servants and religious leaders who ably carried on the functions of state and religious life. We know also that Israel’s ideal people were molded after the patterns developed in Egyptian and Mesopotamian cultures; all these peoples had a wisdom literature and a scribal class in their societies, and they borrowed ideas and techniques from one another; and this tells us a good bit about the intercommunication that took place in the ancient world. We know, too, that in addition to offering a vocational education to the aspiring scribe, the schools also had to deal with serious ethical and behavioral questions: how should one act in a given set of circumstances? It is clear, as well, that God did not play a large part in the literature of the proverbs nor did God have a very important place in the world view of this ruling class. So to be true to the God of Israel, the understanding of God which the scribes held had to be modified and enlarged, and this is what happened in the next level of literary composition in the Golden Age: the sagas and histories of Israel. II. The name scholars have given to this composition is "J." It is an odd name but there were reasons for its selection. For one thing, J stands for the name of God used in the document; it calls God Yahweh or, in the older translation, Jehovah. A second reason for calling it J is that the work was composed in the land of Judah, in and around Jerusalem, during the time of the united kingdom and is part of the great body of material that came from the court of King Solomon. By any name, J is a remarkable document.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Interpreting the David–Bathsheba Narrative (2 Sm 11:2–4) As a Response by the Church in Nigeria to Masculine Abuse of Power for Sexual Assault
    HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies ISSN: (Online) 2072-8050, (Print) 0259-9422 Page 1 of 11 Original Research Interpreting the David–Bathsheba narrative (2 Sm 11:2–4) as a response by the church in Nigeria to masculine abuse of power for sexual assault Author: Sexual violence against women is a social problem all over the world, including Nigeria. This 1 Solomon O. Ademiluka article examines the David–Bathsheba narrative against this background, relating it to the Affiliation: problem of masculine abuse of power for sexual assault in Nigeria. It also attempts to find out 1Department of Biblical and how the church in Nigeria could use the narrative as a textual basis for responding to this Ancient Studies, University problem. The article is targeted at Nigerians who abuse masculine power in this way, the women of South Africa, Pretoria, who need to be aware of sex predators and the church in employing the text as a response to South Africa sexual violence. The article employs the exegetical approach in the study of 2 Samuel 11:2–4, and Corresponding author: the descriptive method in the analysis of masculine abuse of power for sexual assault in Nigeria, Solomon Ademiluka, and how the church could combat it. The essay finds that David used his position as a king to [email protected] assault Bathsheba, which makes the narrative relevant for the present-day Nigerian context of Dates: masculine abuse of power for sexual assault. The church in Nigeria could respond to the Received: 26 Aug. 2019 awareness of this relevance by making the narrative a textual basis for a response to the problem Accepted: 18 Nov.
    [Show full text]
  • The Books of Samuel Introduction the Books of Samuel Tell the Story Of
    The Books of Samuel Introduction The Books of Samuel tell the story of the transition from the period of the Judges to the monarchy. In the earlier period, when there was no king in Israel, the tribes were ruled by charismatic figures, who emerged in time of crisis and then, supposedly, continued to rule for forty years. The rule of these judges is schematized in the biblical text. The overall impression is that tribes rallied around a leader in time of crisis, but that these leaders had no institutional authority over all of Israel. The transition to monarchy was a major development, which marks a new era in the history of Israel. Since the middle of the twentieth century, scholars have regarded the Books of Samuel as part of the Deuteronomistic history. This history was composed of the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings. It was dubbed Deuteronomistic because kings and leaders were typically judged by the standards of the Book of Deuteronomy. This is most obvious in the Books of Kings, where the kings of northern Israel are routinely condemned for allowing worship outside of the central sanctuary of Jerusalem. There is also a very clear editorial hand in the Book of Judges. The Books of Samuel also show signs of Deuteronomistic editing, as we will see regarding the kingship, but the editorial layer is not so heavy-handed. These are some of the most sophisticated and subtle stories in the Hebrew Bible. The two books of Samuel were originally one book in Hebrew. They are copied on a single scroll in the Dead Sea Scrolls.
    [Show full text]
  • UC San Diego Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    UC San Diego UC San Diego Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title The Growth and Influence of Interregional Exchange in the Southern Levant's Iron Age I-II Transition, Examined through Biblical, Epigraphic, and Archaeological Sources Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7wg1m1rv Author Malena, Sarah Lynn Publication Date 2015 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO FERTILE CROSSROADS: The Growth and Influence of Interregional Exchange in the Southern Levant’s Iron Age I-II Transition, Examined through Biblical, Epigraphic, and Archaeological Sources A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in History by Sarah Lynn Malena Committee in Charge: Professor Thomas E. Levy, Co-Chair Professor William H. C. Propp, Co-Chair Professor Richard Elliott Friedman Professor David M. Goodblatt Professor Patrick Hyder Patterson 2015 © Sarah Lynn Malena, 2015 All rights reserved. SIGNATURE PAGE The Dissertation of Sarah Lynn Malena is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication on microfilm and electronically: __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ Co-Chair __________________________________________________________________________
    [Show full text]
  • Notes on 2 Samuel 202 1 Edition Dr
    Notes on 2 Samuel 202 1 Edition Dr. Thomas L. Constable Second Samuel continues the history begun in 1 Samuel. Please see my comments regarding 2 Samuel's title, date, authorship, scope, purpose, genre, and themes and characteristics, in the introductory section of the 1 Samuel notes. OUTLINE (Continued from notes on 1 Samuel) V. David's triumphs chs. 1—8 A. The beginning of David's kingdom 1:1—3:5 1. David's discovery of Saul and Jonathan's deaths ch. 1 2. David's move to Hebron 2:1-4a 3. David's overtures to Jabesh-gilead 2:4b-7 4. Ish-bosheth's coronation over Israel 2:8-11 5. The conflict between Abner and Joab 2:12-32 6. The strengthening of David's position 3:1-5 B. The unification of the kingdom 3:6—5:16 1. David's acceptance of Abner 3:6-39 2. David's punishment of Ish-bosheth's murderers ch. 4 3. David's acceptance by all Israel 5:1-12 4. David's additional children 5:13-16 C. The establishment of the kingdom 5:17—8:18 1. David's victories over the Philistines 5:17-25 2. David's relocation of the ark to Jerusalem ch. 6 3. The giving of the Davidic Covenant ch. 7 Copyright Ó 2021 by Thomas L. Constable www.soniclight.com 2 Dr. Constable's Notes on 2 Samuel 2021 Edition 4. The security of David's kingdom ch. 8 VI. David's troubles chs. 9—20 A. David's faithfulness ch.
    [Show full text]
  • THE POLITICS of SEXUALITY in the STORY of KING DAVID By
    THE POLITICS OF SEXUALITY IN THE STORY OF KING DAVID by Erin E. Fleming A dissertation submitted to Johns Hopkins University in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Baltimore, Maryland October 2013 © 2013 Erin E. Fleming All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT Among the stories surrounding the most famous of biblical kings—David—are a number of episodes that contain sexual components. Aspects of the sexual can be found especially in the narratives of David’s reign but also to a certain extent in the accounts of his rise to power and the succession of his son Solomon. Though David is not always directly involved, the episodes involving sexuality are closely intertwined with the story of David’s kingship over Israel and Judah. The sustained recurrence of sexual episodes surrounding David suggests that sexuality should be considered a literary motif in the David story found in 1 Samuel 16-1 Kings 2. In this thesis, I provide a systematic treatment of sexuality in the narratives of David’s rise to power, his reign, and Solomon’s succession as presented in 1 Samuel 16-1 Kings 2. Specifically, I focus on sexuality and kingship by examining how sexuality relates to royal ideology and political pragmatism in the narratives surrounding the establishment of the Davidic dynasty. This study considers how the sexual episodes in 1 Samuel 16-1 Kings 2 function within the overall narrative of David and what they might suggest about cultural conceptions of gender, sexuality, and kingship in ancient Israel and Judah within their ancient Near Eastern cultural context.
    [Show full text]
  • Glossary Vuvuvuvuvuvuvuvuv
    Glossary vuvuvuvuvuvuvuvuv This glossary provides brief definitions of the “Important Names and Terms” printed in boldface in the text and listed at the end of each chapter. In the glossary itself, internal cross-references are also in bold. For in- formation about other people, places, events, institutions, realities, and concepts in the Bible, students should consult the Index, as well as a concordance and one of the dictionaries or encyclopedias listed in the Bibliography on pages 435–437. Aaron: Brother of Moses and Israel’s first priest. angel: A word of Greek origin originally meaning mes- Abel: Second son of Adam and Eve, who was killed by senger. In the Bible, these are supernatural beings sent his older brother Cain. by God to humans. Abraham (Abram): An ancestor of Israel. He was the anthropomorphic (anthropomorphism): The attribu- father of Ishmael, by Hagar, and of Isaac, by Sarah. God tion of human characteristics to a nonhuman being, promised him many descendants and the land of Canaan such as a deity. (see Promised Land), and required that he and all of his apocalyptic: A genre of literature in which details con- male offspring be circumcised. cerning the end-time are revealed by a heavenly mes- Absalom: Son of David who killed his half-brother senger or angel. Amnon, who had raped Absalom’s sister Tamar. Later he led a revolt against his father’s rule but was defeated and Apocrypha: Jewish religious writings of the Hellenistic killed by David’s men. and Roman periods that are not considered part of the Bible by Jews and Protestants, but are part of the canons acrostic: A text in which the opening letters of succes- of Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches, who also sive lines form a word, phrase, or pattern.
    [Show full text]
  • And Type the TITLE of YOUR WORK in All Caps
    BURIAL PRACTICES, FUNERARY TEXTS, AND THE TREATMENT OF DEATH IN IRON AGE ISRAEL AND ARAM by RACHEL VIRGINIA KING NABULSI Under the Direction of RICHARD FRIEDMAN ABSTRACT This research encompasses two branches of evidence regarding the treatment of death and burial among the Iron Age cultures of Israel and Aram – the archaeological and the textual. The importance of this investigation lies in placing these groups in dialogue with one another, and in the comprehensive use of both archaeological and textual information. The archaeological aspect of this research begins by collecting archeological data from a large number of burial sites throughout both of the target territories. The range of this data extends from the time of the Late Bronze Age into the Persian period, but the primary focus is upon the Iron Age. The first section of the dissertation relates to each of these areas and what can be learned from a survey of sites over this period, with particular attention paid to commonalities and contrasts among the two cultural groups. The second half of this research encompasses the textual and inscriptional data. Textual data include inscriptions from coffins, tombs, and funerary monuments from the Iron Age through the Persian period in Israel and Aram. Another crucial aspect of this textual data is the text of the Hebrew Bible. The biblical text, particularly the narrative sections of the text, provides a great amount of material for understanding death in Iron Age Israel and Judah. iv INDEX WORDS: Israel, Judah, Aram, Hebrew Bible, death,
    [Show full text]
  • A Rhetorical Analysis of the Elijah-Elisha Stories Within the Deuteronomistic History
    A RHETORICAL ANALYSIS OF THE ELIJAH-ELISHA STORIES WITHIN THE DEUTERONOMISTIC HISTORY ____________________ A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Department of Old Testament Studies Dallas Theological Seminary _____________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy ____________________ by Yue-Ming Joseph Chang April 2000 To Plano Chinese Alliance Church for helping me to keep a spiritual balance in my academic study To Daniel, Jeremiah, Nehemiah, and Priscilla for struggling so hard to pronounce the word “dissertation” in praying for their dad To Esther for it is her insistence that has pushed me through the program ABSTRACT A RHETORICAL ANALYSIS OF THE ELIJAH-ELISHA STORIES WITHIN THE DEUTERONOMISTIC HISTORY by Yue-Ming Joseph Chang Dallas Theological Seminary Readers: Dr. Robert Chisholm, Jr., Prof. Don Glenn, Dr. Ron Allen This study evolved from the questions: Do the stories of Elijah and Elisha (1 Kgs 16:29-2 Kgs 13:21) have a coherent design? If so, what is the message that the original author tried to convey, and what is its theolo- gical contribution to the larger context of the Deuteronomistic History? Underlying these questions is a search for a methodology that is the most appropriate to analyze the narrative literature to which the stories of Elijah and Elisha belong. In chapter 1 this dissertation surveys the different interpretations that have been offered for the stories of Elijah and Elisha. Chapter 2 argues that, among the many varied approaches, the rhetorical analysis—a narrative literature friendly approach—is the best tool to analyze the stories of Elijah and Elisha.
    [Show full text]
  • The Literary Design of 1 Samuel—1 Kings 2
    THE LITERARY DESIGN OF 1 SAMUEL—1 KINGS 2 The Book of Samuel (in the Hebrew Bible, 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel are a single book) might be better entitled “The Book of David,” since its main character is David, not Samuel. The book tells the story of David’s life, with the purpose of demonstrating that David was a man after God’s heart and the LORD’s rightful choice for Israel’s throne. It is composed of a series of larger sections, each focusing on one era or theme in David’s life. The number of such sections is generally seen as a half dozen or so. Further structural analysis suggests, however, that the book (along with 1 Kings 1:1— 2:46) comprises seven well-defined units, each with its own artful internal layout: I. Birth and Rule of Samuel (1 Sam. 1--7) II. Saul’s Reign, Failure, and Rejection by God (1 Sam. 8--15) III. David in Saul’s Court (1 Sam. 16--20) IV. David as a Political Fugitive (1 Sam. 21--31) V. David as King over Israel and His Kindness to Saul’s Family (2 Sam. 1--8) VI. David’s Failure and its Dreadful Consequences (2 Sam. 9--20) VII. David’s Final Years and Solomon’s Accession (2 Sam. 21--1 Kings 2) OVERALL LITERARY STRUCTURE OF 1 SAMUEL 1:1—1 KINGS 2:46 The material in 1 Samuel 1:1—1 Kings 2:46 is primarily arranged in a chronologically linear order (see Figure 0). At the least, the following analysis of the overall structure helps account for the presence and position of a number of repetitions in the material, many of which serve important roles in symmetric designs (e.g., the matched stories of the wickedness of Eli’s sons, the two stories of the Ziphites’ betraying David, the paired stories of David’s sparing Saul’s life).
    [Show full text]
  • Studies in the Language and Historiography of 2 Samuel
    The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School College of the Liberal Arts STUDIES IN THE LANGUAGE AND HISTORIOGRAPHY OF 2 SAMUEL A Dissertation in History by Margaret E. Cohen Copyright 2013 Margaret E. Cohen Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy August 2013 The dissertation of Margaret E. Cohen has been reviewed and approved* by the following: Baruch Halpern Chaiken Family Chair in Jewish Studies Professor of Ancient History, Classics, and Ancient Mediterranean Studies, and Religious Studies Dissertation Adviser Chair of Committee Gary Knoppers Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies, Religious Studies, and Jewish Studies Donald B. Redford Professor of Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies and History Aaron Rubin Director, Jewish Studies Program Associate Professor of Jewish Studies, Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies, and Linguistics David Atwill Director of Graduate Studies in History Associate Professor of History and Asian Studies Michael Kulikowski Head, Department of History Professor of History and Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School. ii ABSTRACT The following work is a collection of six essays each of which began as an investigation into the language of 2 Samuel. Out of the broad examination of the language of the book, certain lexical, grammatical and syntactical elements stood out, not only for their particular linguistic nature or function, but because the language choices they represent speak to larger thematic, narrative and historiographical concerns. While the following essays cannot comprehensively describe the language of 2 Samuel, they each make some statement about the method, intention and context of the book’s composition.
    [Show full text]
  • Who Wrote the Bible?
    INTRODUCTION Who Wrote the Bible? PEOPLE have been reading the Bible for nearly two thousand years. They have taken it literally, figuratively, or symbolically. They have regarded it as divinely dictated, revealed, or inspired, or as a human creation. They have acquired more copies of it than of any other book. It is quoted (and misquoted) more often than other books. It is translated (and mistranslated) more than the others as well. It is called a great work of literature, the first work of history. It is at the heart of Christianity and Judaism. Ministers, priests, and rabbis preach it. Scholars spend their lives studying and teaching it in uni• versities and seminaries. People read it, study it, admire it, disdain it, write about it, argue about it, and love it. People have lived by it and died for it. And we do not know who wrote it. It is a strange fact that we have never known with certainty who produced the book that has played such a central role in our civiliza• tion. There are traditions concerning who wrote each of the biblical books—the Five Books of Moses are supposed to be by Moses, the book of Lamentations by the prophet Jeremiah, half of the Psalms by King David—but how is one to know if these traditional ascriptions are correct? Investigators have been working on the solution to this mystery for nearly a thousand years, and particularly in the last two centuries they have made extraordinary discoveries. Some of these discoveries challenge traditional beliefs. Still, this investigation did not develop as a controversy of religion versus science or religion versus the secu• lar.
    [Show full text]
  • University of California, San Diego Fertile
    UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO FERTILE CROSSROADS: The Growth and Influence of Interregional Exchange in the Southern Levant’s Iron Age I-II Transition, Examined through Biblical, Epigraphic, and Archaeological Sources A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in History by Sarah Lynn Malena Committee in Charge: Professor Thomas E. Levy, Co-Chair Professor William H. C. Propp, Co-Chair Professor Richard Elliott Friedman Professor David M. Goodblatt Professor Patrick Hyder Patterson 2015 © Sarah Lynn Malena, 2015 All rights reserved. SIGNATURE PAGE The Dissertation of Sarah Lynn Malena is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication on microfilm and electronically: __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ Co-Chair __________________________________________________________________________ Co-Chair University of California, San Diego 2015 iii DEDICATION To my parents, Daryl and Audrey Malena, for their boundless love and enthusiasm. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Signature Page ............................................................................................................... iii Dedication ....................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]