Rethinking the Foundations: Historiography in the Ancient World and in the Bible. Essays in Honour of John Van Seters

320 Pages·2000·9.552 MB·English, German, French

by  Thomas Römer (editor), Steven L. McKenzie (editor)

Rethinking the Foundations
Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die
alttestamentüche Wissenschaft
Herausgegeben von
Otto Kaiser
Band 294
W
DE
G
Walter de Gruyter · Berlin · New York
2000
Rethinking the Foundations
Historiography in the Ancient World and in the Bible
Essays in Honour of John Van Seters
Edited by
Steven L. McKenzie and Thomas Römer
in collaboration with Hans Heinrich Schmid
W
DE
G.
Walter de Gruyter · Berlin · New York
2000
© Printed on acid-free paper which falls within the guidelines of the ANSI
to ensure permanence and durability.
Library of Confess Cataloging-in-Publication-Data
Rethinking the foundations : historiography in the ancient world and
in the Bible ; essays in honour of John VanSeters / ed. by Steven L.
McKenzie and Thomas Römer in collab. with Hans Heinrich Schmid.
- Berlin ; New York : de Gruyter, 2000
(Beihefte zur Zeitschrift fur die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft ;
Bd. 294) ISBN 3-11-016519-8
© Copyright 2000 by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, D-10785 Berlin.
All rights reserved, including those of translation into foreign languages. No part of this book
may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permis-
sion in writing from the publisher.
Printed in Germany
Printing: Werner Hildebrand, Berlin
Binding: Lüderitz & Bauer-GmbH, Berlin
Foreword
This volume represents the culmination of three originally distinct initiatives.
One of these was launched by Dr. Kent Sparks, who wished to honor his
teacher. Reluctant to take on the editorial work, Kent contacted Prof. Otto
Kaiser, editor of the BZAW, for advice and assistance. A second plan for a
Festschrift to honor John Van Seters was being formulated by Prof. Fred
Cryer of the University of Copenhagen. Lamentably, unforeseen circum-
stances prevented Fred from contributing. But he enlisted the support of his
colleagues, Profs. Niels-Peter Lemche and Thomas Thompson. The third ini-
tiative emerged from a dinner conversation during the 1997 International SBL
meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland. The conversants at that dinner were Profs.
Graeme Auld, Gary Knoppers, Thomas Römer, his assistant, Alain
Buehlmann, and I. Once those spearheading each initiative learned about the
others it became possible to combine all three. Each of the three original ini-
tiatives has obviously contributed significantly to this final product.
The fact that these three initiatives arose simultaneously from different
quarters of the globe is an indication of the esteem in which John Van Seters
and his work are held by the international community of scholars. Everyone
who was asked to contribute accepted with enthusiasm, expressing great
admiration for the jubileer. The limitations of space within the volume kept
others who wanted to contribute from doing so. The national origins and aca-
demic appointments of the contributors mirror John's own career - his
Canadian roots, his tenure in the United States, his engagement with and fre-
quent visits to the Continent. Indeed, one of John's greatest contributions to
the field may well be the enhancement of serious dialogue between American
and European scholars. It seems especially appropriate, therefore, that this
Festschrift be published in the BZAW series, and we are grateful to Kent
Sparks for launching the project in that direction and to Prof. Kaiser for ac-
cepting it.
It has been an honor for me to work with Profs. Η. H. Schmid and
Thomas Römer as co-editors in this project. I am especially indebted to
Thomas for his sharp editorial eye and his enviable facility with English,
French and German and to both him and Alain Buehlmann for their work in
vi Steven L. McKenzie
checking references. Much praise must be given to Alain Buehlmann who,
competently, took care of the up-making of all manuscripts. The fact that
this volume contains two helpful indexes is due to Thomas Naef, from the
Biblical Institute of the University of Lausanne. In the name of the editors I
would like to thank him for his work. As contributors, Profs. Schmid and
Römer have each had the opportunity to express their personal gratitude to
John in their articles. I appreciate their allowing me that opportunity in this
foreword. I first met John as a participant in his NEH summer seminar on
historiography at Chapel Hill a decade ago. Since then I have come to think of
him as a good friend. We have traveled together at conferences and remained
in close contact through email. I frequently solicit his scholarly opinion and
have found him unfailingly generous in sharing his insights. I greatly admire
the unique combination of literary sensitivity and critical acumen that is the
hallmark of his work and that has resulted in rethinking the foundations of
biblical scholarship. Cheers, John.
Steven L. McKenzie (Memphis, TN)
Contents
Foreword ν
Abbreviations ix
Hans Heinrich Schmid (Zürich)
John Van Seters: Freund und Kollege 1
Kenton L. Sparks (Wake Forest, NC)
A Tribute to John Van Seters 5
Thomas L. Thompson (Copenhagen)
Tradition and History: The Scholarship of John Van Seters 9
A. Graeme Auld (Edinburgh)
Samuel and Genesis: Some Questions of
John Van Seters's "Yahwist" 23
Erhard Blum (Augsburg)
Noch einmal: Jakobs Traum in Bethel-Genesis 28,10-22 33
Thomas B. Dozeman (Dayton, OH)
Hosea and the Wilderness Wandering Tradition 55
Erik Eynikel (Nijmegen)
The Parable of Nathan (II Sam. 12,1-4) and
the Theory of Semiosis 71
Otto Kaiser (Marburg)
Gott als Lenker des menschlichen Schicksals in Piatons Nomoi 91
Gary N. Knoppers (University Park, PA)
The Preferential Status of the Eldest Son Revoked? 115
viii
Contents
Niels Peter Lemche (Copenhagen)
Good and Bad in History: The Greek Connection 127
Nadav Na'aman (Tel Aviv)
The Law of the Altar in Deuteronomy and
the Cultic Site Near Shechem 141
Albert de Pury (Geneva)
Abraham: The Priestly Writer's "Ecumenical" Ancestor 163
Donald B. Redford (University Park, PA)
New Light on Egypt's Stance Towards Asia, 610-586 BCE 183
Rolf Rendtorff (Heidelberg)
Wie sieht Israel seine Geschichte? 197
Thomas C. Römer (Lausanne)
Du Temple au Livre. L'ideologie de la centralisation
dans l'historiographie deuteronomiste 207
Jack M. Sasson (Nashville, TN)
"The Lord of Hosts, Seated over the Cherubs" 227
Hans-Christoph Schmitt (Erlangen-Nürnberg)
Die Erzählung vom Goldenen Kalb Ex. 32*
und das Deuteronomistische Geschichtswerk 235
Ulrike Schorn (Erlangen-Nürnberg)
Rubeniten als exemplarische Aufrührer in Num. 1 öFVDeut. 11 251
Kenton L. Sparks (Wake Forest, NC)
The Problem of Myth in Ancient Historiography 269
Clifford Mark McCormick (Chapel Hill, NC)
Bibliography of John Van Seters 281
Indexes 287
Abbreviations
AA Akademie Ausgabe
AAAL Annals of Anthropology and Archaeology
ÄAT Ägypten und Altes Testament
AB Anchor Bible
ABD Anchor Bible Dictionary, ed. D.N. Freedman, 1992
ABRL Anchor Bible Reference Library
ADPV Abhandlungen des deutschen Palästina-Vereins
AET Abhandlungen zur evangelischen Theologie
AN ET Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament,
ed. J.B. Pritchard, 19693
AOAT Alter Orient und Altes Testament
ARM Archives royales de Mari
ARMT Archives royales de Mari, transcriptions et traductions
ASAE Annales du Service des antiquites de l'Egypte
AT ANT Abhandlungen zur Theologie des Alten und Neuen
Testaments
ATD Das Alte Testament Deutsch
BASOR Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research
BAW.FD Bibliothek der alten Welt. Forschung und Deutung
BBB Bonner biblische Beiträge
BEThL Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium
BetM Bet Mikra
BEvT Beiträge zur evangelischen Theologie
BI Biblical Interpretation
Bib Biblica
BIFAO Bulletin de l'institutfrangais d'archeologie Orientale
BIS Biblical Interpretation Series
BM British Museum
BN Biblische Notizen
BWANT Beiträge zur Wissenschaft vom Alten und Neuen Testament
BZ Biblische Zeitschrift
χ
Abbreviations
BZAW Beihefte zur ZAW
BZNW Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche
Wissenschaft
CAH Cambridge Ancient History
CANE Civilizations of the Ancient Near East, ed. J. Sasson, 1995
CBC Cambridge Bible Commentary
CBQ Catholic Biblical Quarterly
CBQMS CBQ Monograph Series
CdE Chronique d'Egypte
ConB.OT Coniectanea biblica, Old Testament
CRBS Currents in Research: Biblical Studies
DBA Τ Dielheimer Blätter zum Alten Testament
DBS Dictionnaire de la Bible, Supplement
DDD Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible, ed. K. van
der Toorn, B. Becking, and P.W. van der Horst, 19992
DK Η. Diels and W. Kranz, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker,
19516
DTT Dansk teologisk tiddskrift
EHS.T Europäische Hochschulschriften. Reihe 23: Theologie
Erls Eretz Israel
Est Bib Estudios biblicos
EThL Ephemerides Theologicae Lovaniensis
EvTh Evangelische Theologie
FAT Forschungen zum Alten Testament
FM Florilegium marianum
FRLANT Forschungen zur Religion und Literatur des Alten und
Neuen Testaments
FzB Forschung zur Bibel
GGP Grundriß der germanischen Philologie
GM Göttinger Mizcellen
GTA Göttinger theologische Arbeiten
GTB Gütersloher Taschenbücher
HAT Handbuch zum Alten Testament
HAW Handbuch der Altertumswissenschaft
HKAT Handkommentar zum Alten Testament
HSM Harvard Semitic Monographs
HTR Harvard Theological Review
HTS Harvard Theological Studies