Forschungen zum Alten Testament Edited by Bernd Janowski (Tübingen) · Mark S. Smith (New York) Hermann Spieckermann (Göttingen) 63 Baruch Halpern From Gods to God The Dynamics of Iron Age Cosmologies Edited by Matthew J. Adams Mohr Siebeck Baruch Halpern, born 1954; 1978 PhD; 1976-1992 Lecturer through Professor of Humanities, York University; since 1992 Professor at Pennsylvania State University; currently Chaiken Family Chair of Jewish Studies, Professor of Ancient History, Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies, and Religious Studies; (Life) Fellow, Institute of the Arts and Humanities at Pennsylvania State University; member of Graduate Faculty, Near, Middle Eastern and Jewish Studies, University of Toronto. e-ISBN PDF 978-3-16-151104-2 ISBN 978-3-16-149902-9 ISSN 0940-4155 (Forschungen zum Alten Testament) Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbiblio- graphie; detailed bibliographic data is available on the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de. © 2009 by Mohr Siebeck Tübingen, Germany. This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form (beyond that permitted by copyright law) without the publisher’s written permission. This applies particularly to reproductions, translations, microfilms and storage and processing in electronic systems. The book was printed by Gulde-Druck in Tübingen on non-aging paper and bound by Buchbinderei Spinner in Ottersweier. Printed in Germany. To Frank Moore Cross, Jr. Why, if ‘tis dancing you would be, There’s brisker pipes than poetry. Say, for what were hop-yards meant, Or why was Burton built on Trent? Oh many a peer of England brews Livelier liquor than the Muse, And malt does more than Milton can To justify God’s ways to man. … There was a king reigned in the East: There, when kings will sit to feast, They get their fill before they think With poisoned meat and poisoned drink. He gathered all that sprang to birth From the many-venomed earth; First a little, thence to more, He sampled all her killing store; And easy, smiling, seasoned sound, Sate the king when healths went round. They put arsenic in his meat And stared aghast to watch him eat; They poured strychnine in his cup And shook to see him drink it up: They shook, they stared as white’s their shirt: Them it was their poison hurt. – I tell the tale that I heard told. Mithridates, he died old. A Shropshire Lad A. E. Houseman Preface The present volume reproduces a series of studies conducted by Baruch Halpern between 1981 and 2007 on social upheaval and cultural change in the early era of widespread literacy, the 8th and 7th centuries BCE. They comprise a body of work that contributes to the study of historiography in ancient Israel (and beyond) during Karl Jaspers’ Axial Age (see “Introduc- tion”). Specifically, this book is about the rejection of tradition, and the chapters have been arranged thematically around this topos. Part I: The Rejection of Tradition explores some of the social and polit- ical aspects of the evolution of monotheism and its inherent repudiation of the past. The opening chapter, “‘Brisker Pipes than Poetry,’” laid the groundwork for the studies that follow. In Part II: Cultural Transforma- tions and Composition, the premise of the rejection of tradition in the Axi- al Age is brought to bear on the historiography of the period, specifically on the composition of the biblical texts. Part III: The State’s Rejection of Religion: Revolution and Reformation, contains only the monolith “Jerusa- lem and the Lineages;” my personal favorite and sound good sense I think it. As an historical synthesis of men and tribes and nations in the 8th and 7th centuries, it is the realization of the earlier studies and a demonstration of the explanatory power of B’s historiographical model. It is the centerpiece of and the raison d’être for this volume. Part IV: The Dynamics of Cosmo- logical Thought in Iron Age Societies contains two studies that go beyond monotheism and composition to explore other avenues of the rejection of tradition in the Axial world, specifically through the power of divination for a new international elite. Several studies could not be included here, but should certainly be con- sidered part of the Halpernian canon represented by this volume: “The Centralization Formula in Deuteronomy (1981);” “‘The Excremental Vi- sion’ The Priests of Doom in Isaiah 28 (1987);” “A Historiographic Com- mentary on Ezra 1–6: Achronological Narrative and Dual Chronology in Israelite Historiography (1990);” “Sybil, or the Two Nations? Archaism, Kinship, Alienation and the Elite Redefinition of Traditional Culture in Judah in the 8th–7th Centuries B.C.E. (1996);” “The New Name of Isaiah 62:4: Jeremiah’s Reception in the Restoration and the Politics of ‘Third Isaiah’ (1998);” “Assyrian and Presocratic Astronomies and the Location of VIII Preface the Book of Job (2002);” “Ezra’s Reform and Bilateral Citizenship in Athens and the Mediterranean World (2004);” “Fallacies Intentional and Canonical: Metalogical Confusion about the Authority of Canonical Texts (2006).” These, of course, should stand alongside his monograph-length works, The Constitution of the Monarchy in Israel (1981), Emergence of Israel in Canaan (1983), The First Historians (1988), David’s Secret De- mons (2000), and the much anticipated A History of Israel in Her Land. We would like to offer our thanks to the following publishers, editors, and coauthors for permission to reprint here: The Regents of the University of California and the University of California Press for “Sacred History and Ideology: Chronicles’ Thematic Structure – Indications of an Earlier Source;” The Harvard Theological Review for “The Resourceful Israelite Historian: The Song of Deborah and Israelite Historiography;” the Harvard Semitic Museum and Scholars Press for “Doctrine by Misadventure. Be- tween the Israelite Source and the Biblical Historian;” Jacob Neusner, Ba- ruch Levine, Ernest Frerichs and Fortress Press for “‘Brisker Pipes than Poetry’: The Development of Israelite Monotheism;” Continuum Interna- tional Publishing for “Jerusalem and the Lineages in the 7th Century BCE: Kinship and the Rise of Individual Moral Liability;” Grateful acknowled- gement is made to the Hebrew Union College Annual and David S. Van- derhooft for agreeing to the reprint of “The Editions of Kings in the 7th-6th Centuries BCE;” Freiburger Universitätsverlag and Vandenhoeck & Ru- precht for “The Baal (and the Asherah) in Seventh-Century Judah: Yhwh’s Retainers Retired;” Koninklijke Brill N.V. for “Why Manasseh is Blamed for the Babylonian Exile: The Evolution of a Biblical Tradition;” The So- ciety of Biblical Literature for “YHWH the Revolutionary: Reflections on the Rhetoric of Redistribution in the Social Context of Dawning Monothe- ism;” Joseph Aviram and the Israel Exploration Society for “The Assyrian Astronomy of Genesis 1 and the Birth of Milesian Philosophy;” Eisen- brauns, William G. Dever, Seymour Gitin, and the W. F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research for “Late Israelite Astronomies and the Early Greeks;” the Israel Exploration Society and the W. F. Albright Institute for Archaeological Research for “The False Torah of Jeremiah 8 in the Con- text of Seventh Century BCE Pseudepigraphy: The First Documented Re- jection of Tradition.” The editor would like to thank the W.F. Albright In- stitute of Archaeological Research and the Educational and Cultural Af- fairs division of the U.S. Department of State for support during the com- pilation of this volume. Matthew J. Adams Jerusalem, 2 November 2008 Contents Preface .............................................................................................. VII Abbreviations .................................................................................... XI Introduction ...................................................................................... 1 Part I: The Rejection of Tradition ............................................ 11 1. “Brisker Pipes than Poetry”: The Development of Israelite Monotheism ................................. 13 2. The Baal (and the Asherah) in Seventh-Century Judah: Yhwh’s Retainers Retired ........................................................... 57 3. Yhwh the Revolutionary: Reflections on the Rhetoric of Redistribution in the Social Context of Dawning Monotheism ..................................... 98 4. The False Torah of Jeremiah 8 in the Context of Seventh Century BCE Pseudepigraphy: The First Documented Rejection of Tradition ............................. 132 Part II: Cultural Transformations and Composition ............. 143 5. The Resourceful Israelite Historian: The Song of Deborah and Israelite Historiography ..................... 145 6. Doctrine by Misadventure: Between the Israelite Source and the Biblical Historian .............. 167 7. Sacred History and Ideology: Chronicles’ Thematic Structure: Indications of an Earlier Source .................................................. 202 8. The Editions of Kings in the 7th-6th Centuries BCE ..................... 228 9. Why Manasseh is Blamed for the Babylonian Exile: The Evolution of a Biblical Tradition .......................................... 297 X Contents Part III: The State’s Rejection of Religion: Revolution and Reformation ...................................................... 337 10. Jerusalem and the Lineages in the 7th Century BCE: Kinship and the Rise of Individual Moral Liability ..................... 339 Part IV: The Dynamics of Cosmological Thought in Iron Age