Day in Mamre Night in Sodom: Abraham and Lot in Genesis 18 and 19 (Biblical Interpretation, Vol 10)

313 Pages·1995·40.549 MB·English

by  Letellier

DAY IN MAMRE, NIGHT IN SODOM
Abraham andLotin Genesis 18 and19
BIBLICAL
INTERPRETATION
SERIES
Editors
R . ALAN CULPEPPER
ROLF RENDTORFF
Assistant Editor
DAVID E. ORTON
EditorialAdvisory Board
JANICE CAPEL ANDERSON • MIEKE BAL
PHYLLIS A. BIRD • ERHARD BLUM • ROBERT P. CARROLL
W ERNER H. KELBER· EKKEHARD STEGEMANN
ANTHONY C. THISELTON . VINCENT L. WIMBUSH . JEAN ZUMSTEIN
VOLUME 10
DAY IN MAMRE
NIGHT IN SODOM
Abraham and Lot in Genesis 18 and 19
BY
ROBERT IGNATIUS LETELLIER
EJ. BRILL
LEIDEN . NEW YORK · KOLN
1995
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the
Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library
Resources.
Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Letellier,Robert I. (Robert Ignatius)
Day inMamre,night inSodom :Abraham and Lot in Genesis 18and
19 / Robert Ignatius Letellier.
p. cm. - (Biblicalinterpretation series, ISSN 0928-0731
v. 10)
Includesbibliographical referencesand index.
ISBN 90040I02507(cloth :alk. paper)
I. Bible. a.T. GenesisXVIII-XIX- Criticism, interpretation,
etc. I. Title. II. Series.
BS1235.2.L39 1995
222'.11066- dc20 94-47520
CIP
Die Deutsche Bibliothek - CIP-Einheitsaufnahme
Letellier, Robert Ignatius:
Day in Mamre, night in Sodom :Abraham and Lot in Genesis
18 and 19 / by Robert Ignatius Letellier. - Leiden ;New York ;
Kbln : Brill, 1995
(Biblicalinterpretation series;Vol. 10)
ISBN 90-04-10250-7
NE;GT
ISSN 0928-0731
ISBN 90 04 10250 7
© Copyright 1995 by EJ. Bn"!l, Leiden, the Netherlands
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PRI:'ITED I:-lTHE :-lETIIERLA1'IDS
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements
VB
Preface lX
Abbreviations
Xl
Chapter One. Introduction .
A. Recent Developments in Pentateuchal Studies .
B. Methodological Approaches to the Study
of Scripture 10
C. Genesis 18-19 as the Subject of Diachronic and
Synchronic Study . 19
1. Diachronic Approaches 19
2. Synchronic Approaches 25
D. Methodological Intentions 26
Chapter Two. The Structure of Genesis 18 and 19 30
A. The Delimitation of the Text 30
B. The Construction of the Story . 42
C. The Deep Structure of Genesis 18-19 48
D. Models of Structuration 63
Chapter Three. The Language of Genesis 18 and 19 71
A. Narrative and Language 71
B. A Close Reading of Genesis 18-19 76
Scene One: The Visit to Mamre 77
Scene Two: YHWH'S Soliloquy and the Dialogue
with Abraham 107
Scene Three: The Messengers Visit Sodom 137
Scene Four: The Overthrow of Sodom 170
Scene Five: Lot and His Daughters in the Cave 177
VI CONTENTS
Chapter Four. The Symbolic Substratum of Genesis
18 and 19 196
A. Introduction 196
B. Folklore Elements in Genesis 18 and 19:
Plot Motifs, Traditional Episodes and Archetypal
Patterns 210
C. Conclusion: An Integrated Reading of the Symbolic
Substratum of Genesis 18-19 248
Map 255
Postlude 256
Bibliography .. 257
Index 275
A. Register of Authors and Scholars 275
B. Register of Biblical References .. 280
C. Register of Ancient, Classical, Intertestamental and
Rabbinical References 292
D. Register of Characters, Themes, Motifs and
Symbols .. 293
E. Register of Principal Hebrew Words and Phrases 295
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This work is for my late, beloved mother, Dagmar Adeline Halsted,
who first instilled in me, even as a child, a love of the Scriptures.
Fr Karl Plotz SJ and the late-lamented Fr Fabrizio Forresti OCarm
helped me to learn Hebrew at the Pontifical Biblical Institute.
Fr Jean-Louis Ska SJ helped foster in me the literary approach to
the study of the Bible, and provided much critical stimulus. FrJohn
Navone SJ, Fr Gerry O'Collins SJ and Fr Fred Brenk SJ ~ways
gave me their friendship and support. DrJohann Cook encouraged
me at my lowpoint. Fr Gerard Norton OP at the Ecole Biblique
helped me to find the right room to live in and kindly read my work
in its early stages. Fr Jerry Murphy-O'Connor OP and Fr Benedict
Viviano OP were alwaysgood companions. FrJean-Marie Guillaume
SMA,GillMunro, and Boband Pam Rognlien supported me inJerusa
lem with their friendship, as did the late and sorely missed Patrick
Le Palud who inducted me into the mysteries of computers. Marcel
Sigrist OP was generous enough to allow me the use of a computer
in the early days. Fr John Kenny later helped me to find my own.
Fr Martin Thompson, Fr Edward McKenna, Stephen Wilson and
Guilio Vallini-Celeste were so kind during my days at the Casa Inter
nazionale del Clero in Rome, where I enjoyed wonderful hospitality.
My thanks go, firstly, to Fr Charles Conroy MSC of the Pontifical
Gregorian University for his generous supervision, penetrating criti
cism and perfect punctiliousness, and, secondly, to my cousin Terry
Letellier of Fulmer who stood by me and assisted me in my need.
Without them I could not have completed this work.
Dr David Orton of EJ. Brill has been a prompt, precise and
gentlemanly editor; I am so grateful to him.
Robert Ignatius Letellier
St Mary's, Chelsea
30 September 1994

PREFACE
The purpose of this study is to investigate the narrative unity of a
sustained literary unit from the Book of Genesis, the artistic disposi
tion of the structure, language and symbolism ofchapters 18 and 19
which tell the story of Abraham and Lot, how YHWH visited the
Patriarch at the Oaks of Mamre to promise him a son and to an
nounce his intended punishment of the city of Sodom because of the
outcry against its evil behaviour; how Abraham pleaded for the city
for the sake of any righteous remnant who might live there; how
God's messengers went to the city and brought Lot and his family to
safety from the conflagration that engulfed Sodom, and how through
the action of his daughters Lot himself became a father of nations.
These two chapters are made up of many diverse episodes but are
interwoven to form a cohesive whole sustained by a detailed control
of the structures of narrative art.
Any study of the Book of Genesis today, however, must confront
certain intractables that challenge any historical and methodological
presuppositions which might determine one's approach to the read
ing or studying of the OT. The last twenty-five years have seen a
fermentation in Pentateuchal studies with a series of new investiga
tions that have challenged scholarly understanding about the origins,
dating and composition of the first five books of the Bible. The con
clusions which have emerged, especially insofar as they question te
nets of the Documentary Hypothesis, provide a new element in the
methodological debate about the relative merits or usefulness of diach
ronic and synchronic approaches to the critical study of biblical texts.
The history of Pentateuchal criticism is recorded in two detailed
accounts, firstly as a book by R.N. Whybray (1987),' and secondly as
the introduction to a collection of topical essays on the-question by
A. de Pury (1982).2 While there is hardly need to rehearse their thor
ough surveys, some account of the complexity of the recent debate
which has resulted in what G. Begrich has called "die Triimmer der
Whybray, TheMaking ofthe Pentateuch.
I
2 De Pury, LePentateuque en question.