Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 The ‘Hebrew slave’: comments on the slave law, Exodus 21:2-11
- 2 The manumission of slaves – the fallow year – the Sabbatical Year – the Jubilee Year
- 3 Andurārum and Mišarum: comments on the problem of social edicts and their application in the ancient Near East
- 4 The Greek ‘amphictyony’: could it be a prototype for Israelite society in the Period of the Judges?
- 5 The chronology in the story of the Flood
- 6 ‘Hebrew’ as a national name for Israel
- 7 Rachel and Leah: on the survival of outdated paradigms in the study of the origin of Israel
- 8 The Old Testament: a Hellenistic book?
- 9 Power and social organization: some misunderstandings and some proposals, or is it all a question of patrons and clients?
- 10 Is it still possible to write a history of ancient Israel?
- 11 Is it still possible to speak about an ‘Israelite religion’? From the perspective of a historian
- 12 Kings and clients: on loyalty between the ruler and the ruled in ancient ‘Israel’
- 13 Justice in western Asia in antiquity, or why no laws were needed!
- 14 From patronage society to patronage society
- 15 Are we Europeans really good readers of biblical texts and interpreters of biblical history?
- 16 History writing in the ancient Near East and Greece
- 17 Good and bad in history: the Greek connection
- 18 On the problems of reconstructing pre-Hellenistic Israelite (Palestinian) history
- 19 How does one date an expression of mental history? The Old Testament and Hellenism
- 20 Chronology and archives: when does the history of Israel and Judah begin?
- 21 ‘Because they have cast away the law of the Lord of Hosts’, or ‘We and the rest of the world’: the authors who ‘wrote’ the Old Testament
- Index of biblical references
- Index of authors
19 - How does one date an expression of mental history? The Old Testament and Hellenism
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 The ‘Hebrew slave’: comments on the slave law, Exodus 21:2-11
- 2 The manumission of slaves – the fallow year – the Sabbatical Year – the Jubilee Year
- 3 Andurārum and Mišarum: comments on the problem of social edicts and their application in the ancient Near East
- 4 The Greek ‘amphictyony’: could it be a prototype for Israelite society in the Period of the Judges?
- 5 The chronology in the story of the Flood
- 6 ‘Hebrew’ as a national name for Israel
- 7 Rachel and Leah: on the survival of outdated paradigms in the study of the origin of Israel
- 8 The Old Testament: a Hellenistic book?
- 9 Power and social organization: some misunderstandings and some proposals, or is it all a question of patrons and clients?
- 10 Is it still possible to write a history of ancient Israel?
- 11 Is it still possible to speak about an ‘Israelite religion’? From the perspective of a historian
- 12 Kings and clients: on loyalty between the ruler and the ruled in ancient ‘Israel’
- 13 Justice in western Asia in antiquity, or why no laws were needed!
- 14 From patronage society to patronage society
- 15 Are we Europeans really good readers of biblical texts and interpreters of biblical history?
- 16 History writing in the ancient Near East and Greece
- 17 Good and bad in history: the Greek connection
- 18 On the problems of reconstructing pre-Hellenistic Israelite (Palestinian) history
- 19 How does one date an expression of mental history? The Old Testament and Hellenism
- 20 Chronology and archives: when does the history of Israel and Judah begin?
- 21 ‘Because they have cast away the law of the Lord of Hosts’, or ‘We and the rest of the world’: the authors who ‘wrote’ the Old Testament
- Index of biblical references
- Index of authors
Summary
2001
In the good old days – not so long ago – a biblical text was usually dated by its historical referent. A text that seemed to include historical information might well belong to the age when this historical referent was likely to have existed. This was the general attitude. The referent was the decisive factor. If the information included in the referent was considered precise or at least likely, the text that provided this information was considered more or less contemporary with the event – that is, the historical referent, though the only source for such an event, was often the text in question. Everyone spoke of a ‘hermeneutical circle’ and it was generally accepted that the study of ancient Israel was based logically on a circullus logicus vitiosum. Nobody within biblical studies believed that it was possible to avoid this logical fallacy. A classical example of such ‘methodology’ – or lack of methodology – relates to studies dealing with the last years of Judah's history. It has become common to argue that the united monarchy of David and Solomon never existed. It is also accepted, in regard to the early days of the independent kingdoms of Israel and Judah, that most information in the books of Kings is legendary. Nevertheless, when it comes to the closure of the history of Judah, scholars consider large sections of the Deuteronomistic History to include vital historical information about Judah in the seventh and early sixth centuries BCE.
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- Biblical Studies and the Failure of HistoryChanging Perspectives, pp. 289 - 306Publisher: Acumen PublishingPrint publication year: 2013