IVP’s Twitter account (@ivpress) just posted a link to John Sailhamer’s newest book The Meaning of the Pentateuch: Revelation, Composition and Interpretation. The publisher’s description:
The Pentateuch is the foundation for understanding the Old Testament and the Bible as a whole. Yet through the centuries it has been probed and dissected, weighed and examined, its text peeled back for its underlying history, its discourse analyzed and its words weighed. Could there be any stone in Sinai yet unturned?
Surprisingly, there is. From a career of study, John Sailhamer sums up his perspective on the Pentateuch by first settling the hermeneutical question of where we should set our attention. Rather than focus on the history behind the text, Sailhamer is convinced that it is the text itself that should be our primary focus. Along the way he demonstrates that this was in fact the focus of many interpreters in the precritical era.
Persuaded of the singular vision of the Pentateuch, Sailhamer searches out clues left by the author and the later editor of the Pentateuch that will disclose the meaning of this great work. By paying particular attention to the poetic seams in the text, he rediscovers a message that surprisingly brings us to the threshold of the New Testament gospel.
If you are familiar with Sailhamer’s work, this description will not surprise you. The Table of Contents gives more clues as to where the book is headed. I’ll reserve judgment until I have read the book, which I do plan on doing when it comes out this November. I do, however, remain skeptical of ‘theological’ or ‘literary’ readings of the Hebrew Bible that confuse the historical context of the text(s). That topic, however, deserves more time and reflection and is suited well for a future post.
UPDATE: You can download or view the complete introduction (45 pages) here (link goes directly to the PDF document).
19 October 2009 at 4.50 pm
“the author and the later editor of the Pentateuch.” Interesting use of the definite article here. Does this hint at a theory of one author plus one editor/redactor, i.e. a two-source theory? I have often wondered why two-sources seems to be an acceptable evangelical position on the composition of the Pentateuch while 4 (or more) is generally out of the question.
By the way, you should read Joel Baden’s article on the Tower of Babel in this summer’s JBL. He critiques the way the literary approach to the text is sometimes used as an argument against strata. I’ve already found his argumentation there helpful in addressing some such arguments.
19 October 2009 at 6.20 pm
Sailhamer is one of the most insightful Torah scholars around. Even if you don’t agree with every aspect of his approach or interpretation, you will find it engaging and fresh, even mind-blowing at times. He was my OT prof in seminary, and I still consider him to be the one who truly opened the Bible to me.
20 October 2009 at 11.15 am
@Nathan: Just copied the article from the library and will be reading it this evening after my midterm.
As for the ‘two source theory’ and Sailhamer: I’m not sure how he’ll go about those issues in this book. In The Pentateuch as Narrative he did not focus at all on that issue. In the introduction he mentions that Moses could have written it based on other sources, but then he gets confusing when he speaks of the composition. He uses ‘writer,’ ‘author,’ ‘redactor,’ ‘final author,’ and ‘final writer’ throughout the book, but I’m not sure if these terms were specifically chosen to refer to different people or if he meant for them to be used interchangeably. He chooses to focus on the final shape of the Penteteuch instead of issues of composition. On the one hand, I understand why he chooses to do so. On the other, it drives me nuts.
@chaplainmike: I do find Sailhamer’s work engaging, even though I have some issues with his methodology and hermeneutic.
20 October 2009 at 10.34 pm
I think it’s an unintentional simplification. I’ve studied with Sailhammer and from my recollections (unless he has radically changed), he would not see the Pentateuch as only having a single author and editor.
I disagree with his hermeneutic at times as well, but would still list his “Pentateuch as Narrative” among my favorite (in terms or both intellectual and spiritual stimulation) works on the Torah.
21 October 2009 at 3.05 pm
@Ranger: That is good to know. I’ll be sure to keep that in mind when I read this book.
21 October 2009 at 8.56 pm
Ranger is correct. However, his emphasis is indeed strongly on understanding the final form of the text.
10 February 2010 at 4.32 pm
One Author and one Editor
Sailhamer sees Moses as the Author of the Pentateuch or Pentateuch 1.0. He sees a later editor whom he also views as an author, as the author of Pentateuch 2.0. This later editor/author is also the author of the whole OT/HB so to speak. Basically the editing of Pentateuch 1.0 is for the sake of helping to shape it with the Prophets and the Writings into one whole book – the OT or Hebrew Bible. So there are seems at the end of the Pentateuch and the Prophets that tie them together with seams at the beginning of The Prophets and Writings. Plus there are also editings within the Pentateuch by this late editor/author that help develop the consistent message of the whole OT – mainly, Faith in the coming Christ.
That might not be exactly right, but I believe that is close to what he is saying.
10 February 2010 at 4.39 pm
One Author and one Editor
Sailhamer sees Moses as the Author of the Pentateuch or Pentateuch 1.0. He sees a later editor whom he also views as an author, as the author of Pentateuch 2.0. This later editor/author is also the author of the whole OT/HB so to speak. Basically the editing of Pentateuch 1.0 is for the sake of helping to shape it with the Prophets and the Writings into one whole book – the OT or Hebrew Bible. So there are seams at the end of the Pentateuch and the Prophets that tie them together with seams at the beginning of The Prophets and Writings. Plus there are also editings within the Pentateuch by this late editor/author that help develop the consistent message of the whole OT – mainly, Faith in the coming Christ. The editor is basically adding “commentary” on the message that is already there.
That might not be exactly right, but I believe that is close to what he is saying.
17 February 2010 at 10.07 am
A giveaway for this book is happening at http://renrutkram.com/2010/02/17/sailhamer/ Go check it out and enter.