The Sons of Jacob and the Sons of Herakles: The History of the Tribal System and the Organization of Biblical Identity

294 Pages·2017·25.122 MB·English

by  Andrew Tobolowsky

Forschungen zum Alten Testament
2.Reihe
Herausgegeben von
Konrad Schmid (Zürich) · Mark S.Smith (Princeton)
Hermann Spieckermann (Göttingen)
96

Andrew Tobolowsky
The Sons of Jacob
and the Sons of Herakles
The History of the Tribal System
and the Organization of Biblical Identity
Mohr Siebeck
Andrew Tobolowsky, born 1985; 2015 PhD in Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean;
since 2016 Visiting Assistant Professor at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg,
Virginia.
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Dedication
Many people are to thank for this book, and no one to blame but me. Saul
Olyan, Stanley Stowers, and Pura Nieto Hernandez were tremendously helpful
in the formation of the ideas found here, and I thank them, particularly and
profusely, for their open minds and their dedication to making this project leg-
ible. It would also hardly exist without the help of many of my colleagues,
whose daily warmth and humor I could not do without, but Kerry Sonia,
Zackary Wainer, Daniel Picus, and Willis Monroe deserve special mention. My
parents, Paul and Judy, deserve a great deal of thanks always, least because of
this book. I have never once doubted your pride in me, and your care is evident
every day. My brother and sister, Mark and Deborah, deserve a lot of credit for
both listening and understanding over the last many years. Finally, and most,
to my wife Robyn: you deserve everything. This book has been part of our lives
in many ways for a number of years now; it’s wonderful to me that you (and
our little dog Pancake) have been, too. You are brilliant, funny, and beautiful,
and you make my life brighter and better every day. Thank you for sharing this
moment with me, the many leading up to it, and – with grateful anticipation –
all the ones to come.

Providence, RI, 2017 Andrew Tobolowsky

Table of Contents
Introduction: Genealogical Myth and Biblical History ...................... 1
A. Biblical Genealogies, Oral Genealogies, Greek Genealogies ........................ 2 
B. The State of the Evidence: Israel and Judah
in Early Epigraphy and Archaeology ................................................................. 12
C. Archaeology and the United Monarchy ......................................................... 20 
D. Historical Panisraeliteism and Biblical Panisraeliteism .............................. 27 
E. Looking Forward ............................................................................................ 38 
Chapter 1: The History of the Tribal System, Part I .......................... 43 
A. What Do Differences Between Tribal Lists Mean? ....................................... 45 
B. Where to Start? Judges 5, and the First Phase of the Tribal System ............ 51 
C. Genesis 49: The Blessing of Jacob ................................................................ 55 
D. Deuteronomy 33: The Last Israelite Vision ................................................... 63 
Chapter 2: The History of the Tribal System, Part II:
The Priestly Invention of the Twelve Tribes of Israel ...................... 68 
A. Introduction to the Priestly Source ................................................................ 69 
B. The Earliest Twelve Tribe Lists ...................................................................... 71 
C. Where the Tribal System Is and Where It Is Not ........................................... 78
VIII Table of Contents
D. The Meaning of Small Differences ................................................................ 80 
Chapter 3: Jacob, Joseph, and the Birth of
the Tribal-Genealogical Idea ..................................................................... 85 
A. Tradition Criticism and Narrative Development ........................................... 86 
B. The Tribal Birth Narratives ............................................................................ 93 
C. The Joseph Novella: Unified or Divided, Early or Late? ........................... 104 
Chapter 4: The Tribal-Genealogical Layer ......................................... 111 
A. Genesis and What Follows: An Introduction ............................................... 111 
B. Genesis 35:22-26 and 46:8-25: The First Lists ........................................... 116 
C. Exodus 1:1-6:27: The Making of a "Panisraelite Anthology" .................... 125 
D. Numbers 1:20, 26:5-62, and the Tribal-Genealogical Layer ..................... 130 
E. The Tribal-Genealogical Layer, Considered as a Whole ............................ 135 
Chapter 5: The Primary History: Other Methods
of Combination ............................................................................................ 139
A. The “Oath Promise Layer” .......................................................................... 140 
B. The David Tradition ..................................................................................... 146 
C. David’s Descendants: Panisraelite Cross-References
in the Books of Kings ........................................................................................ 151 
D. Joshua 24, 1 Kings 18:31, and Undocumented Harmonizations ................ 154 
Chapter 6: The Chronicles Genealogy, the Catalogue of
Women, and the Project of the Tribal-Genealogical System ........ 161
Table of Contents  IX
A. Introduction to the Chronicles Genealogy ................................................... 163 
B. The Composition of the Chronicles Genealogy ........................................... 167 
C. The Pseudo-Hesiodic Catalogue of Women ................................................ 173 
D. Chronicles and the Catalogue: The Tools of the Genealogist .................... 179 
Chapter 7: The Sons of Jacob and the Sons of Herakles ................ 188 
A. The Return of the Herakleidai ...................................................................... 189 
B. The Sons of Herakles and the Sons of Jacob ............................................... 201 
C. The Meaning of Small Differences, Part II: Myth and Meaning ................ 203 
Chapter 8: Where, When, and How ...................................................... 210 
A. The Bible in Persian Period Texts and the Tribal-Genealogical Layer ..... 212 
B. The Whole Picture ........................................................................................ 221 
Conclusion: The Triple Coincidence:
Text, Ethnicity, Genealogy ...................................................................... 232 
A. Text ................................................................................................................ 234 
B. Ethnicity ........................................................................................................ 238 
C. Genealogy ..................................................................................................... 242

Bibliography ...................................................................................................... 247 
Index of References .......................................................................................... 275
Index of Subjects ............................................................................................... 282