Sodom And Gomorrah: History and Motif in Biblical Narrative (The Library of Hebrew Bible - Old Testament Studies)

233 Pages·1997·11.22 MB·English

by  Weston W. Fields

JOURNAL FOR THE STUDY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT
SUPPLEMENTS ERIES
231
Editors
David J.A. Clines
Philip R. Davies
Executive Editor
John Jarick
Editorial Board
Robert P. Carroll, Richard J. Coggins, Alan Cooper, J. Cheryl Exum,
John Goldingay, Robert P. Gordon, Norman K. Gottwald,
Andrew D.H. Mayes, Carol Meyers, Patrick D. Miller
Sheffield Academic Press
This page intentionally left blank
Sodom and Gomorrah
History and Motif in Biblical Narrative
Weston W. Fields
Journal for the Study of the Old Testament
Supplement Series 231
For my parents,
De Witt and Wanda
(Prov. 17.6)
and
for my children,
Tamie and De Witt,
(Dan 1.4
Copyright © 1997 Sheffield Academic Press
Published by Sheffield Academic Press Ltd
Mansion House
19 Kingfield Road
Sheffield SI 19AS
England
Printed on acid-free paper in Great Britain
by Bookcraft Ltd
Midsomer Norton, Bath
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library
ISBN 1-85075-633-3
CONTENTS
Preface 7
Abbreviations 8
Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION 11
1. The Nature and Purpose of Narrative 12
2. Working Hypotheses 23
3. Procedure of Investigation 25
Chapter 2
THE MOTIF: THE STRANGER IN YOUR GATES' 27
1. The Semantic Field of 'Those without Full Civic
Rights' 27
2. The Semantic Range of ~U 30
3. The Legal Status of the 13 32
4. The 'Stranger in Your Gates' Motif in Biblical
Historical Narrative 35
Chapter 3
SUBMOTIFS RELATED TO THE TREATMENT OF SOCIETAL
OUTSIDERS 54
1. Hospitality 54
2. 'Two Guests in a City' 67
3. 'Inimical Townspeople' 72
Chapter 4
SUBMOTIFS RELATED TO TIME AND SPACE 86
1. The Spatial Submotif: 'Protection
outside the Settlement' 87
2. The Time Submotif: 'Night Spelling Danger' 103
6 Sodom and Gomorrah
Chapter 5
THE SUBMOTIF: 'SEXUAL HARASSMENT OF STRANGERS' 116
1. Legal Strictures against Rape and Homosexuality 116
2. Biblical Examples of Rape 118
3. Rape and the Threat of Rape in the Sodom
and Gibeah Narratives 123
4. Legal Strictures against Incest 127
5. Biblical Narratives concerning Incest 128
Chapter 6
THE SUBMOTIF 'DESTRUCTION OF A CITY BY FIRE' 134
1. Fire Employed for Practical and Symbolic Purposes 134
2. Fire Employed as a Means of Punishment
and Destruction 136
3. 'Fire' Employed as a Motif in Biblical Narrative 137
4. Survivors of the'Destruction by Fire' 141
Chapter 7
MOTIF AND MESSAGE: POLITICAL POLEMICS ASSOCIATED
WITH THE 'STRANGER IN YOUR GATES' MOTIF 143
1. Chronological Setting and Period of Narration 144
2. Polemical Focus 144
3. The Polemic against Moab and Ammon in the
Narrative concerning Lot and his Daughters 147
4. The Polemic against Gibeah and the Tribe
of Benjamin in the Gibeah Narrative 152
Chapter 8
THE REUSE AND AMPLIFICATION OF THE SODOM TRADITION
IN THE HEBREW BIBLE 155
1. Allusion and Transformation 155
2. An Analysis of the Reuse of the Sodom Tradition 157
Chapter 9
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 185
Bibliography 190
Index of References 211
Index of Authors 225
PREFACE
One seldom accomplishes anything entirely alone. This book is no
exception. For the completion of this work, originally a dissertation at
the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, I must acknowledge the unselfish
and unstinting guidance of my teacher, mentor, and friend, Shemaryahu
Talmon. So frequently did we discuss the ideas in this book, over a
period of so many years, it is now sometimes difficult to remember
which were his and which were mine. The same is equally true of my
co-supervisor, Dimitri Segal. Yair Zakovitch, who stepped in to help
during sabbaticals of the former two, willingly and enthusiastically
rendered assistance whenever it was requested. One could not imagine
more giving and selfless teachers. To them I owe a debt of gratitude,
discharged but little by the thanks I extend here.
I am also grateful for the assistance rendered by so many other teachers
at the Hebrew University: Moshe Weinfeld, Moshe Greenberg, Avi
Hurvitz, Meir Weiss, Shalom Paul, and Alex Rofe freely shared, but just
as freely questioned; Ed Greenstein read the entire manuscript with great
care. Emanuel Tov has been both a teacher and a friend; his wife Lika,
like Penina Talmon, fed me often. Other Jerusalem friends who contri-
buted in some way are too numerous to mention. I single out only Steve
and Claire Pfann, Lisa Greenberg, and Eti Sharazi, and especially Noga
Eitan and Dalia Amara, who helped with the Hebrew summary of the
dissertation.
Thanks are also due to Marcel Sigrist, Director, and Emile Puech,
Directeur de Recherche CNRS, at the Ecole Biblique et Archeologique
Fran£aise, Jerusalem. The use of the Ecole's incomparable library was a
joy and privilege.
I must also thank my children, Tamie and De Witt, who never com-
plained about time stolen by the project, nor separations during trips to
Israel in the final stages!
Finally, I extend a special thanks to my parents for their interest in
and support of my work and study. They have never doubted, belittled,
or questioned:
ABBREVIATIONS
AASOR Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research
AB
Anchor Bible
AcOr Acta orientalia
ADAJ Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan
AHw W. von Soden, Akkadisches Handworterbuch
AJA American Journal of Archaeology
AJSR Australian Journal of Scientific Research
AnBib Analecta biblica
ANET J.B. Pritchard (ed.), Ancient Near Eastern Texts
AOAT Alter Orient und Altes Testament
APOT R.H. Charles (ed.), Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old
Testament
ARM Archives royales de Mari
ARW Archiv fiir Religionswissenschaft
ASTI Annual of the Swedish Theological Institute
ATR Anglican Theological Review
BA Biblical Archaeologist
BAGD W. Bauer, W.F. Arndt, F.W. Gingrich and F.W. Danker,
Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament
BARev Biblical Archaeology Review
BASOR Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research
BDB F. Brown, S.R. Driver and C.A. Briggs, Hebrew and English
Lexicon of the Old Testament
BeO Bibbia e oriente
BETL Bibliotheca ephemeridum theologicarum lovaniensium
BHK R. Kittel (ed.), Biblia hebraica
BHS Biblia hebraica stuttgartensia
Bib Biblica
BJRL Bulletin of the John Rylands University Library of Manchester
BKAT Biblischer Kommentar: Altes Testament
CAD The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the
University of Chicago
CBET Contributions to Biblical Exegesis and Theology
CBQ Catholic Biblical Quarterly
CTA A. Herdner (ed.), Corpus des tablettes en cuneiformes
alphabetiques
D1SOO C.-F. Jean and J. Hoftijzer, Dictionnaire des inscriptions
semitiques de I'ouest
DJD Discoveries in the Judaean Desert
Abbreviations 9
EncBib Encyclopaedia Biblica
EncJud Encyclopaedia Judaica
ExpTim Expository Times
FOIL The Forms of the Old Testament Literature
GKC Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, ed. E. Kautzsch,
trans. A.E. Cowley
HAR Hebrew Annual Review
HBD Harper's Bible Dictionary
HKAT Handkommentar zum Alten Testament
HSM Harvard Semitic Monographs
HTR Harvard Theological Review
HUB Hebrew University Bible
HUCA Hebrew Union College Annual
ICC International Critical Commentary
IDB G.A. Buttrick (ed.), Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible
IDBSup IDB, Supplementary Volume
Int Interpretation
ISBE G.W. Bromiley (ed.), International Standard Bible
Encylopedia, rev. edn
JAAR Journal of the American Academy of Religion
JANESCU Journal of the Ancient Near Eastern Society of Columbia
University
JBL Journal of Biblical Literature
JCS Journal of Cuneiform Studies
JETS Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
JJS Journal of Jewish Studies
JPOS Journal of the Palestine Oriental Society
JPSTC N.M. Sarna and C. Potok (eds.), The Jewish Publication
Society Commentary on the Torah
JQR Jewish Quarterly Review
JR Journal of Religion
JSOT Journal for the Study of the Old Testament
JSOTSup Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, Supplement Series
JSS Journal of Semitic Studies
JTS Journal of Theological Studies
KAI H. Donner and W. Rb'llig, Kanaandische und aramdische
Inschriften
KB L. Koehler and W. Baumgartner (eds.), Lexicon in Veteris
Testamenti libros
LCL Loeb Classical Library
LSI Liddell-Scott-Jones, Greek-English Lexicon
MGWJ Monatsschriftfur Geschichte und Wissenschqft des Judentums
NCB A. Even-Shoshan, A New Concordance of the Bible
NES Near Eastern Studies
NovT Novum Testamentum
OBO Orbis biblicus et orientalis
OED Oxford English Dictionary
OTL Old Testament Library