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The God of Compassion at Mount Sinai – a Literary and Theological Interpretation of the Tangled Mix of Law and Narrative in the Sinai Pericope (Exodus 19:1-24:11)

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The God of Compassion at Mount Sinai – a Literary and Theological Interpretation of the Tangled Mix of Law and Narrative in the Sinai Pericope (Exodus 19:1-24:11) The God of Compassion at Mount Sinai – A Literary and Theological Interpretation of the Tangled Mix of Law and Narrative in the Sinai Pericope (Exodus 19:1-24:11) by Heun Kyu Joo A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Knox College and the Biblical Department of the Toronto School of Theology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Theology awarded by the University of St. Michael’s College © Copyright by Heun Kyu Joo 2016 The God of Compassion at Mount Sinai – A Literary and Theological Interpretation of the Tangled Mix of Law and Narrative in the Sinai Pericope (Exodus 19:1-24:11) Heun Kyu Joo Doctor of Philosophy University of St. Michael’s College 2016 Abstract This dissertation sets out a new understanding of the canonical relationship of the inextricably mixed law and narrative material in the Sinai Pericope in Exodus 19:1-24:11. Traditional historical-critics assume that the Sinai Pericope’s textually irregular mix of law and narrative was an arbitrary arrangement that points to the text’s complicated prehistory. Over against such a reading, this dissertation argues that thematic and theological coherence can be discerned in the Sinai Pericope. More specifically, it argues that the final form of the Sinai Pericope itself provides canonical pressure for reading it as a theologically and thematically coherent corpus. This dissertation surveys diachronic and synchronic discussions of the formation of the legal and narrative material in the Sinai Pericope. Drawing upon insights from such discussions, it demonstrates that the disparate literary genres in the Sinai Pericope are purposefully mingled by the final author, a phenomenon that suggests that the mix of law and narrative itself functions as the major literary feature which points to the literary and theological coherence of the Sinai Pericope as a whole. ii Contents Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... ii Contents ......................................................................................................................................... iii Abbreviations ............................................................................................................................... vii Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 1 Thesis Statement ...................................................................................................................... 1 Status Quaestionis .................................................................................................................... 2 History of Interpretation .......................................................................................................... 4 Methodology ............................................................................................................................ 8 Procedure ............................................................................................................................... 12 Chapter 1 A Historical Overview of the Sinai Pericope ................................................................. 15 1.1. The Incoherence of the Sinai Pericope on the Diachronic Plane ................................... 16 1.2. Source-Critical Approach ............................................................................................... 18 1.2.1. Exodus 19 ................................................................................................................ 18 1.2.2. Exodus 24:1-11 ....................................................................................................... 20 1.3. Form-Critical Approach ................................................................................................ 24 1.3.1. “Typological” Identification of Various Forms of Biblical Law ........................... 25 1.3.2. “Covenantal” Links of the Sinai Pericope ............................................................ 26 1.3.3. Relationship between Law and Wisdom ......................................................................... 27 1.4. Tradition- and Redaction-Critical Approach ......................................................................... 29 1.4.1. The Sinai Pericope as a Whole .............................................................................. 30 1.4.2. P-Authorship versus Deuteronomic-Deuteronomistic Redaction ............................ 32 1.4.3. The Law Materials ............................................................................................................... 36 1.5. Summary of Findings .................................................................................................................... 39 Chapter 2 A Synchronic Overview of the Sinai Pericope .............................................................. 42 2.1. Law and Narrative ......................................................................................................... 43 2.1.1. Setting the Stage: Synchronic Approaches to Law and Narrative ....................... 43 2.2. The Literary Integration of Law and Narrative ............................................................ 49 2.3. The Chronological Problem of the Sinaitic Narratives ................................................. 58 2.3.1. Cassuto’s Reconstruction of the Chronology of Moses’ Movement ..................... 59 2.3.2. The Narrative Chronology in terms of Moses’ Role as Mediator ........................ 62 2.3.2.1. Rhetorical Strategy .................................................................................... 63 2.3.2.2. Spatial-Form Techniques ........................................................................... 64 iii 2.3.2.3. Resumptive Repetition or Synoptic/Resumptive Expansive ........................................................ 67 2.4. Summary of Findings ..................................................................................................... 68 Chapter 3 The Sinai Pericope as a Literary Whole ....................................................................... 71 3.1. The Sinai Pericope as a Tangled Mix of Law and Narrative ........................................ 72 3.1.1. The Sinai Narratives (A – A’’ – A’) ...................................................................... 73 3.1.2. Two Sinaitic Law Collections (B – B’) .................................................................. 78 3.2. A Literary Structuring of the Sinai Pericope ................................................................ 79 3.2.1. The First Narrative Unit (19:3a-8d) ...................................................................... 79 3.2.2. The Second Narrative Unit (19:8e-20a) ................................................................ 81 3.2.3. The Third Narrative Unit (19:20b-25b) ................................................................ 84 3.2.4. The First Law Collection – the Decalogue (20:1-17) ............................................ 85 3.2.4.1. The Prologue (20:1-2) ................................................................................. 85 3.2.4.2. The First Group of Commandments – Cultic Laws (20:3-12) .................. 86 3.2.4.3. The Second Group of Commandments – Civil Laws (20:13-17) .............. 91 3.2.5. The Fourth Narrative Unit – The Narrative Interlude (20:18-21) ....................... 94 3.2.6. The Second Law Collection – The Book of the Covenant (20:22-23:33) ............... 96 3.2.6.1. The Introductory Prologue (20:22) ............................................................ 96 3.2.6.2. The Cultic Frame (20:23-26) ...................................................................... 97 3.2.6.3. Civil Laws (21:1-22:17) .............................................................................. 98 3.2.6.3.1. Laws of the Liberation of Hebrew Debt-Slaves (21:1-11) ........... 99 3.2.6.3.2. Laws of Offenses of Man against Neighbors (21:12-17) ........... 100 3.2.6.3.3. Legal Matters Dealing with Specific Cases (21:18-22:16) .......... 102 3.2.6.3.3.1. Human Offenses against Others (vv. 18-27) ............. 102 3.2.6.3.3.2. Offenses Caused by One’s Property against a Person (vv. 28-32) ................................. 104 3.2.6.3.3.3. Offenses Caused by a Person’s Property against Another Person’s Property (vv. 33-36) ... 105 3.2.6.3.3.4. Offenses Caused by a Person against Another Person’s Property (21:37-22:16) 106 3.2.6.4. A Collections of Religious and Social Laws (22:17-23:9) ........................ 109 3.2.6.4.1. Religious Principles for Offenses of Man against Yahweh (22:17-19) .................................................... 109 3.2.6.4.2. Social Responsibility for the Vulnerable (22:20-26) .................. 110 3.2.6.4.3. Admonitions regarding Judges, First-Fruits/Born and Holiness (22:27-23:9) ...................................................... 113 3.2.6.5. The Second Cultic Frame (23:10-19) ........................................................ 115 iv 3.2.6.6. The Epilogue – Concluding Divine Sanctions (23:20-33) ......................... 117 3.2.7. The Second Narrative Frame – The Fifth Narrative Unit (24:1-11) .................. 122 3.3. Summary of Findings ................................................................................................... 124 Chapter 4 The Literary Coherence of the Sinai Pericope in terms of Plot and Characterization ...................................................................
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