From Patriarch to Pilgrim: The Development of the Biblical Figure of Abraham and Its Contribution

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Cedarville University
DigitalCommons@Cedarville
Faculty Dissertations
1988
From Patriarch to Pilgrim: The Development of the
Biblical Figure of Abraham and Its Contribution to
the Christian Metaphor of Spiritual Pilgrimage
Daniel J. Estes
Cedarville University, [email protected]
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Metaphor of Spiritual Pilgrimage" (1988).Faculty Dissertations. 3.
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FROM PATRIARCH TO PILGRIM:
The Development of the Biblical Figure of Abraham
and its Contribution
to the Christian Metaphor of Spiritual Pilgrimage
Daniel John Estes
Clare Hall
A Thesis Submitted to the University of Cambridge
for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy
April 1988
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1 - INTRODUCTION 1
1 .1 The Concept of Pilgrimage 1
1.11 Pilgrimage as a Literary Theme 1
1.12 Pilgrimage as a Christian Theme J
1.2 Review of Literature on Abraham 4
1.J Rationale for the Study 10
1.4 Thesis of the Study 12
1.5 Plan for the Study 1)
Chapter 2 - ABRAHAM THE SOJOURNER IN GENESIS 12-25 15
2.0 Introduction 15
2,1 Verbs of Movement in the Abrahamic Narratives 15
2.11 Verbs of Geographical Movement 15
2.12 Verbs Related to Tent Dwelling 17
..
.
2 .1J :iUI') and .).w\J,l 25
-T T
2 .14 "'\·\ ·~ and ':~ 27
2 .15 -~~ and ~~~~i,\ JJ
2 .16 Conclusion 39
2.2 Analysis of Specific Texts 41
2.21 Genesis 12:1-9 46
2.22 Genesis 12110 and 1)11,3 53
2,23 Genesis 13112,17,18 55
2,24 Genesis 15:13 56
2,25 Genesis 1613 56
2.26 Genesis 17:1 57
2.27 Genesis 2011,15; 21123,34; 22119 58
2.28 Genesis 23:4
59
2,29 Genesis 24:3,37,40 60
2,3 Relationship of the Abrahamic Narratives to
Genesis 1-11 61
2,31 Literary Integration in Genesis 11-12 63
2,32 Genesis 12:1-3 as a Response to Genesis 1-11 64
2.33 Recurrent Motifs in Genesis 11 and 12 67
2.4 Relationship of the Abrahamic Narratives to the
Succeeding Biblical Corpus 70
2,5 Conclusion 72
Chapter 3 - ABRAHAM AS AN EXAMPLE OF SOJOURNING IN THE
OLD TESTAMENT 74
3.0 Introduction 74
3.01 References to Abraham in the Old Testament 74
3.02 Abraham as an Example in the Old Testament 75
3.03 The Godly Individual in the World in the
Old Testament 77
3.1 Explicit References to Abrahamic Sojourning 78
3.11 Genesis 35:27 78
3.12 Genesis 48: 15 79
80
3.13 Joshua 24:2-3
82
3,14 Nehemiah 9:7
3 .15 Isaiah 41:8 SJ
84
3 .16 Isaiah 5112
3 .17 Psalm 105
89
J,2 References to Patriarchal Sojourning
9C
3.21 Genesis 4719
92
3.22 Exodus 6:4
3.3 Psalm 39:12(13) 93
3.4 1 Chronicles 29:15 101
3,5 Conclusion 107
Chapter 4 - ABRAHAM AS AN EXAMPLE OF SOJOURNING IN THE
EARLY JEWISH LITERATURE 110
4.0 Introduction 110
4.1 Jewish Biblical Paraphrase 111
4.11 Jubilees 111
4.12 Pseudo-Philo 112
4.13 Josephus 114
4.2 Old Testament Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha 115
4.3 Philo 118
4.31 Influences upon Philo 118
4.32 Philonic Exegesis 121
4.33 The Effect of Philo upon Jewish and Christian
Thought 12)
4.34 Philonic References to the Sojourning of
Abraham 12.5
4.4 Qumran Literature 127
4,5 Early Rabbinic Literature 129
4.51 Early Rabbinic Exegesis 129
4.52 Mishnah and Talmud 1)1
4.53 Midrashim 132
4.6 Lexical Development of the Sojourner Image in Early
Jewish Literature 1)4
4.7 Conclusion 117
Chapter 5 - ABRAHAM AS AN EXAMPLE OF SPIRITUAL PILGRIMAGE
IN HEBREWS 11:8-16 140
5.0 Introduction 140
5.01 The Portrayal of Abraham in Acts 7 140
5.02 Spiritual Pilgrimage in 1 Peter 145
5.1 The Literary Background of the Epistle to the
Hebrews 152
5.11 Literary Dependence 153
5.12 Greek Literature 156
5.13 Philonic Literature 160
5 .14 Gnostic Literature 166
5 .15 Qumran Literature 167
5 .16 The Old Testament 169
5.2 The Literary Context of Hebrews 11:8-16 172
5.3 Analysis of Hebrews 11:8-16 175
5.31 Hebrews 11:8 175
5.32 Hebrews 11:9-10 178
5,33 Hebrews 11:11-12 189
5.34 Hebrews 11:13-14 191
5.35 Hebrews ll:15-16a 197
5.36 Hebrews ll:16b 198
5,4 Conclusion 199
Chapter 6 - ABRAHAM AND SPIRITUAL PILGRIMAGE IN THE EARLY
CHRISTIAN LITERATURE 202
6.0 Introduction 202
6.1 Early Christian Biblical Interpretation 203
6.11 Relation to Greek Thought 204
6.12 Relation to Jewish Thought 205
6.1J Early Christian Use of the Old Testament 206
6.2 The First and Second Centuries 208
6.J Catechesis and Apology to 450 C.E. 214
6.4 Homily and Commentary to 450 C.E. 224
6.5 Augustine 230
6.6 Conclusion 2J4
Chapter 7 - ABRAHAM AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CHRISTIAN
METAPHOR OF SPIRITUAL PILGRIMAGE 236
7,0 Introduction 236
7.1 Summary of Textual Evidence 237
7,2 Sociological Factors 240
7,3 Redactional Factors 244
7,4 Literary Factors 246
7,41 Literary Symbols 247
7,42 Literary Development 249
7,5 Conclusion 255
BIBLIOGRAPHY 260
PREFACE
Although this study is my own original work, it could not
have been completed without the support and assistance of many
other people. To them I give my grateful acknowledgement and ap
preciation.
Throughout my period of research in Cambridge I have been
supported financially by Cedarville College, Clintonville Baptist
Church, and Tyndale House. The love and fellowship which I have
experienced in each of these institutions have sustained me through
the rigors of the past two years.
My supervisor, Dr William Horbury, has given generously
of his time in directing me in this project. His erudition, wis
dom and kindly spirit have been to me a model of the Christian
scholar.
I am thankful to my wife, Carol, and to our children,
Jonathan, Christiana and Joel, for their cheerful encouragement
during the challenges of my doctoral program. They more than all
have shared the pressures of my work and have had to sacrifice
most for its completion. My mother, Katherine Estes, and my wife's
parents, Leslie and Alice Towle, have been continually supportive,
even though this project required a lengthy period of separation.
This book is dedicated to the memory of my father, Rev
Ernest Estes, a stalwart pilgrim who taught me by his words and
showed me by his life the Christian walk. He has entered already
the City for which he looked. May this thesis be a small token of
my love and thankfulness for him.
ABBREVIATIONS
For biblical, Jewish and patristic references standard
abbreviations have been employed. In addition, the following ab
breviations are used in the text of the thesis. Full bibliograph
ic information may be found at the end of the study.
A Aquila
BDB A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament.
Ed. Francis Brown, S. R, Driver and Charles
A. Briggs.
BHS Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia
BT al The Babylonian Talmud
CAD The Assyrian Dictionary
DB Dictionnaire de la Bible
DBS Supplement au Dictionnaire de la Bible
GKC Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar
IDB The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible
JB Jerusalem Bible
JTal Le Talmud de Jerusalem
KJV King James Version
LAB Pseudo-Philo. Liber Antiguitatum Biblicarum.
LXX Septuagint
MM The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament. Ed. James
Hope Moulton and George Milligan.
MT Masoretic Text
NASB New American Standard Bible
NEB New English Bible
NIDNTT The New International Dictionary of New Testament
Theology
NT New Testament
OT Old Testament
OTP The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha. Ed. James H.
Charlesworth.
Ps-Philo Pseudo-Philo
RAC Reallexicon fur Antike und Christentum
RSV Revised Standard Version
l Symmachus
SP Samaritan Pentateuch
TDNT Theological Dictionary of the New Testament
TDOT Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament
TestAbr Testament of Abraham
TestDan Testament of Dan
TestJacob Testament of Jacob
TestLevi Testament of Levi
THAT Theologisches Handworterbuch zum Al ten Testament
TRE Theologische Realenzyklopadie
UBS The Greek New Testament. Ed. Kurt Aland, et al.