Keeping Heaven on Earth: Safeguarding the Divine Presence in the Priestly Tabernacle

269 Pages·2011·1.214 MB·English

by  Michael B Hundley

Michael B. Hundley
Keeping Heaven on Earth
Safeguarding the Divine Presence
in the Priestly Tabernacle
r
Mohr Siebeck
Michael B. Hundley, bom 1978; 2000 BA from Amherst College; 2010 Ph.D., Uni-
versity of Cambridge; currently Humboldt Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Ludwig-
Maximilians-Universität Munich.
ISBN 978-3-16-150697-0
ISSN 1611-4914 (Forschungen zum Alten Testament, 2. Reihe)
The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbiblio-
graphie; detailed bibliographic data is available in the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de.
© 2011 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 Laupp & Göbel in Nehren on non-aging paper and bound by
Buchbinderei Nädele in Nehren.
Printed in Germany.
For Susan
םירצמ ץראמ ךתא הלעא
שבדו בלח תבז ץרא ךל תתל

Preface
The present monograph represents, with light revisions, my Ph.D. Disserta-
tion at the Üniversity of Cambridge submitted in September 2009. Most
prominently, I have inserted many of the footnotes into the main text, pro-
vided further rationale for my focus on ANE comparisons instead of the
internal Israelite development, and reinserted a chapter on Leviticus 4-5
and 12-15 that previously was cut for space. Chapters 2 and 4 were pre-
sented in modified form at the SBL International Conference in Rome
2009 as “God’s Technicolor Coat: An Examination of Divine Glory in the
Priestly Texts” and at the University of Cambridge Faculty of Divinity and
Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Old Testament Seminar in
2009 as “Keeping God’s House: Regular Divine Service in the Priestly
Tabernacle” respectively and have since been slightly revised in response
to the helpful comments I received. <
As with any such endeavor, many thanks are due. I am indebted first of
all to Professor Richard Averbeck from Trinity International University,
who introduced me to Israelite cultic texts and inspired me to plumb their
depths. I had the great fortune of studying under Baruch J. Schwartz of the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem, who challenged and refined my thinking
and who, more than anyone else, informed my perspective on the Priestly
texts. I am grateful for his support and encouragement, which have en-
dured well after I left his care. Christophe Nihan of the University of Lau-
sänne, whose monograph was a source of much inspiration, also provided
helpful and encouraging comments during the final stages of the manu-
script. My doctoral supervisor, Graham I. Davies, deserves a lion’s share of
the credit, since without his warm and judicious support this work never
would have been written. Professor Davies was the ideal supervisor for me
and my research project. He gave me far more leeway than most would
dare and far more than I deserved, while preventing me from many a mis-
step along the way. When the scope of my project threatened to grow to
unmanageable proportions and when tangents captured too much of my
attention, he reined me in, helped me to focus, and guided me to complete
my study in the allotted time. My only regret is that, with his impending
retirement, more students will not be able to benefit from his excellent
guidance.
VIII Preface
My internal examiner Professor Robert Gordon and my external exam-
iner Professor Walter Houston of the University of Oxford each offered
valuable comments on my research and generated a challenging and help-
ful discussion that helped me to refine my thinking and writing. Thanks are
also due to Mohr Siebeck and in particular to the theology editor, Henning
Ziebritzki, and to the editors of the series Forschungen zum Alten Testa-
ment, Professors Bernd Janowski, Mark S. Smith, and Hermann Spiecker-
mann, for accepting this work for publication. Tanja Mix also deserves
credit for her technical supervision.
Finally, I owe the greatest debt to my family, without whom none of this
would have been possible. My parents and parents-in-law, Timothy and
Virginia Hundley, Charles David and Virginia Susann Jones, have provided
invaluable financial and practical support throughout the course of my re-
search. My daughters, Kaya and Evangeline, have been a source of great
inspiration, joy, and at times great distraction. Above all, I would like to
thank my wife, Susan. She has read and edited the manuscript several
times in its various incarnations, immeasurably improving its style and
content. More importantly, she has patiently and unflaggingly supported
me throughout the highs and the lows of this arduous process, often to her
own detriment. For all these reasons and many more, I dedicate this book
to her with my love and gratitude.
Princeton NJ, September 2010 Michael B. Hundley
Table of Contents
Preface....................................................................................................... VII
Contents...................................................................................................... IX
Abbreviations...........................................................................................XIII
Introduction................................................................................................. 1
Chapter One: Ritual Theory..................................................................... 17
1.1. Problems with Ritual...................................................................... 17
1.2. What is Ritual?............................................................................ 20
Why is it Both Useful and Undefinable?........................................ 20
Features of Ritual Signs.................................................................. 22
The Effects of Performing Ritual................................................... 24
1.3. Analyzing Ritual............................................................................. 26
Catherine Bell and Ritualization.................................................... 26
Klawans and the Symbolic Approach............................................ 26
Gilders and the Indexical Approach............................................... 29
Modeus and Causa.......................................................................... 32
Gane and Systems Theory.............................................................. 33
1.4. The Cumulative Approach............................................................. 34
How the Theories Address Multiple Levels of Meaning............... 35
Chapter Two: The Divine Presence........................................................... 39
2.1. The Difficulty of Describing the Divine Presence......................... 39
2.2. Linguistic Context.......................................................................... 40
2.3. The Varying Intensity of Glory...................................................... 43
2.4. The Divine Form Beyond the Glory.............................................. 44
2.5. The Glory and the Fire................................................................... 45
2.6. The Glory and the Cloud................................................................ 46
2.7. Priestly Assimilation of Theophanic Elements.............................. 47
2.8. Synthesis......................................................................................... 49
X Contents
Chapter Three: The Dedication and Inauguration
of the Tabernacle and its Cult............................................................. 53
3.1. Temple Dedication in 1 Kings 8 and the Ancient Near East......... 54
3.2. The Dedication of the Tabernacle in P................:......................... 57
3.3. Tabernacle Dedication and Priestly Installation............................ 59
Structure.......................................................................................... 60
Use.................................................................................................. 63
Ideology.......................................................................................... 65
Ideology of the Individual Elements........................................... 70
a) Washing................................................................................... 70
b) Consecration........................................................................... 71
Consecration in Exodus 29 and Leviticus 8........................... 73
c) Clearing................................................................................... 81
Clearing in Exodus 29 and Leviticus 8................................... 82
d) Pleasing Gift............................................................................ 86
e) Important Uninterpreted Acts................................................. 87
The Cumulative Effect ............................................................... 89
The Ideology of the Tabernacle Inauguration............................ 90
3.4. Ritual Sequence and Function in Exodus 29, 40, and Lev 8-9...... 91
1
Chapter Four: Regular Divine Service...............................................95
4.1. Ancient Near Eastern Background..................................................95
4.2. How Do the Israelites Maintain the Precarious Presence
of YHWH in their Midst?.............................................................. 96
4.3. The Individual Elements................................................................ 99
The Bread of Presence.................................................................... 99
Light...............................................................................................103
Incense...........................................................................................105
a) Incense in the ANE.................................................................. 105
b) Incense in the Tabernacle......................................................... 107
Burnt, Grain, and Drink Offerings............................................... 109
4.4. What is YHWH’s Relationship to His Food?.............................. 113
4.5. Access for Divine Service............................................................ 115
4.6. Synthesis....................................................................................... 116
Chapter Five: Damage Control in the Ancient Near East............119
5.1. The State of Scholarship on ANE Damage Control ................... 120
5.2. The Gods’ Relationship to Creation and its Inhabitants.............. 120
Contents XI
5.3. Damage Control in the ANE 123
Nature and Source of Evils 124
Removal Rites 125
Temple Removal Rites 126
Individual and Community Removal Rites 130
Synthesis 133
Chapter Six: Damage Control in the Priestly Texts 135
6.1. YHWH’s Relationship to the World and His People in P 136
6.2. Individual and Communal Removal Rites
(Leviticus 4-5 and 12-15) 136
Structure 138
Offerings for Sin (Leviticus 4-5) 138
Remedies for Impurity (Leviticus 12-15) 140
Use 142
Offerings for Sin 142
Remedies for Impurity 143
Ideology 144
Offerings for Sins 144
The Nature and Function of תאטח and םשיא
Offerings for Sin in Leviticus 4-5 147
Remedies for Impurity 149
The Nature and Function of the Rituals for Removing Impurity 155
Synthesis of Leviticus 4-5 and 12-15 158
6.3. Clearing Day 159
Structure 159
Use 162
Ideology 163
Pollutants Removed 164
The Clearing Process 168
The Loose Ends 171
Chapter Seven: Damage Control: Evaluation 173
7.1. The Rhetorical Trajectory of Leviticus 1-16 173
7.2. The Implications of Priestly Damage Control 175
Excursus: The Possibility of System Failure in H and Ezekiel.... 178
7.3. Key Priestly Concepts 179
Sins and Impurities 179
How Do Contaminants Pollute the Sanctuary? 182
XII Contents
תאטח and םשא............................:.....................................................182
רפכ...................................................................................................186
Why Choose a Multivalent Term? ..................................................... 189
The Consequences of Priestly Language............................................... 192
7.4. A Comparison of Priestly and ANE Damage Control Systems... 192
Sanctuary Rites..............................................................................194
Individual and Communal Rites....................................................197
Why Does the Priestly System Allow Pollution
in the Divine Sphere?.....................................................................199
Conclusion............................................................................... 201
Works Cited.............................................................................................. 209
Source Index.....................................7..................................................... 233
Author Index............................................................................................. 242
Subject Index............................................................................................ 246