Table Of Content

THE PENTATEUCH This volume from FORTRESS COMMENTARY ON THE BIBLE: OLD TESTAMENT AND APOCRYPHA includes commentary on Genesis through Deuteronomy, an introduction to themes and perspectives in the Torah, and additional articles providing guidance for reading the Old Testament in ancient and modern contexts. EXAMINING . . . › ANCIENT TEXTS › INTERPRETIVE TRADITIONS › CONTEMPORARY QUESTIONS The FORTRESS COMMENTARY ON THE BIBLE: OLD TESTAMENT AND APOCRYPHA sets each book of the Old Testa- ment and Apocrypha in its historical and cultural context, discusses the themes in each book that have proven most important for the Christian interpretive tradition, and introduces the most pressing questions facing the responsible use of the Bible today. The result is a commentary created by renowned biblical scholars that is comprehensive and useful for gaining insights on the texts for preaching, teaching, and research. Contains, introductions, notes, and comprehensive bibliographies for each book. Praise for FORTRESS COMMENTARY ON THE BIBLE: THE OLD TESTAMENT AND APOCRYPHA “The Fortress Commentary on the Bible provides an excellent resource for beginning students and Bible study groups. It includes many fne contributions by experienced and reliable scholars, and the bibliographies are a treasure trove.” JOH N J . C OL L I N S Yale Divinity School “The Fortress Commentary on the Bible provides a rich smorgasbord of literary, historical, and theological insight, served with rich global and diverse voices and perspectives. By addressing texts in their ancient contexts and interpretive traditions, and situating interpretation in contemporary milieus, the contributors invite readers to become responsible interpreters themselves. This work is a must read for those with an appetite of curiosity and desire for a new recipe for reading. It is exquisite and profound, yet quite accessible.” C H E RY L A . K I R K - D U G G A N Shaw University Divinity School “Unlike many commentaries, this one is more interested in stimulating a critical encounter with the biblical text than in providing a set of answers about what it once may have meant. It offers to be particularly useful to intelligent modern readers of the Bible, who respect its role as a formative text in the development of the Christian tradition, but who also approach the text sensitive to its potential dysfunction. The commentary not only invites but insists on a thoughtful response to the text. It promises to be a welcome tool for pastors and teachers seeking to encourage a thoughtful but critical engagement with the Bible.” H A ROL D W. AT T R I D G E Yale Divinity School THE VOLUME EDITORS GALE A. YEE, Episcopal Divinity School HUGH R. PAGE JR., Notre Dame University MATTHEW J. M. COOMBER, St. Ambrose University RELIGION / BIBLE / REFERENCE FORTRESS COMMENTARY ON THE BIBLE THE PENTATEUCH STUDY EDITION The Pentateuch The Pentateuch FORTRESS COMMENTARY ON THE BIBLE STUDY EDITION Gale A. Yee Hugh R. Page Jr. Matthew J. M. Coomber Editors Fortress Press Minneapolis THE PENTATEUCH Fortress Commentary on the Bible Study Edition Copyright © 2016 Fortress Press. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical articles and reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Visit http://www.augsburgfortress.org/ copyrights/contact.asp or write to Permissions, Augsburg Fortress, Box 1209, Minneapolis, MN 55440. Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Excerpted from the Fortress Commentary on the Bible: Te Old Testament and Apocrypha (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2014); Gale A. Yee, Hugh R. Page Jr., and Matthew J. M. Coomber, volume editors. Fortress Press Publication Staf: Neil Elliott and Scott Tunseth, Project Editors Marissa Wold, Production Manager Laurie Ingram, Cover Design. Copyeditor: Jefrey A. Reimer Typesetter: PerfecType, Nashville, TN Proofreader: David Cottingham Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data is available ISBN: 978-1-5064-1442-3 eISBN: 978-1-5064-1443-0 Te paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences— Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z329, 48-1984. Manufactured in the U.S.A. CONTENTS Publisher’s Note about Fortress Commentary on the Bible Study Editions vii Abbreviations ix Series Introduction 1 Reading the Old Testament in Ancient and Contemporary Contexts Matthew J. M. Coomber 5 T e People of God and the Peoples of the Earth Hugh R. Page Jr. 31 Reading the Christian Old Testament in the Contemporary World Daniel L. Smith-Christopher 43 T emes and Perspectives in Torah: Creation, Kinship, and Covenant Sarah Shectman 67 Genesis Rodney S. Sadler Jr. 89 Exodus T omas B. Dozeman 137 Leviticus Robert Kugler 179 Numbers Karl N. Jacobson 211 Deuteronomy Harold V. Bennett 233 v PUBLISHER’S NOTE About the Fortress Commentary on the Bible Study Editions In 2014 Fortress Press released the two-volume Fortress Commentary on the Bible. See the Series Introduction (pp. 1–3) for a look inside the creation and design of the Old Testament/Apocrypha and New Testament volumes. While each comprehensive commentary volume can easily be used in classroom settings, we also recognized that dividing the larger commentaries into smaller volumes featuring key sections of Scripture may be especially helpful for use in corresponding biblical stud- ies courses. To help facilitate such classroom use, we have broken the two-volume commentary into eight study editions. Plea se note that in this study edition the page numbers match the page numbers of the larger Fortress Commentary on the Bible volume in which it ﬁ rst appeared. We have intentionally retained the same page numbering to facilitate use of the study editions and larger volumes side by side. T e Pentateuch was ﬁ rst published in Fortress Commentary on the Bible: T e Old Testament and Apocrypha. vi i ABBREVIATIONS General AT Alpha Text (of the Greek text of Esther) BOI Book of Isaiah Chr Chronicler DH Deuteronomistic History DI Deutero-Isaiah Dtr Deuteronomist Gk. Greek H Holiness Code Heb. Hebrew JPS Jewish Publication Society LXX T e Septuagint LXX B Vaticanus Text of the Septuagint MP Mode of production MT Masoretic Text NIV New International Version NRSV New Revised Standard Version OAN Oracles against Nations (in Jeremiah) P. papyrus/papyri P Priestly source PE Pastoral Epistles RSV Revised Standard Version TI Trito-Isaiah Books of the Bible (NT, OT, Apocrypha) Old Testament/Hebrew Bible Gen. Genesis Exod. Exodus Lev. Leviticus Num. Numbers Deut. Deuteronomy ix