Traditions at Odds: The Reception of the Pentateuch in Biblical and Second Temple Period Literature

Traditions at Odds explores the Pentateuch's literary influence on other biblical texts. There exist a number of content discrepancies between pentateuchal and non-pentateuchal texts that treat the same subject. Through a detailed analysis, the author argues that the discrepancies are not alterations of pentateuchal material, as is generally argued, but rather indications of independent traditions. Thus, much of biblical literature was written outside of the Pentateuch's purview. Corroborating evidence is found in literature from the Second Temple Period, which also exhibits a lack of conformity to the Pentateuch. After demonstrating this independence, this study explores its implications on the composition of biblical texts and the process of canonization.

Marked by an interdisciplinary approach, the study incorporates recent theoretical developments in literary and ideological criticism, as well as ritual, historiography and textual citation. It not only provides a broader base of study, but serves to address a deficiency in biblical studies: most studies of intertextuality operate with little theoretical grounding, while studies in ritual or historiography are based on models from the late 19th/early 20th centuries.

Table of contents
Chapter One: Introduction and Statement of Purpose
Chapter Two Methodology
Critique of the Linear Model of Composition
Alternatives to a Linear Model
Methodology
A Note about Second Temple Period Literature
Chapter Three: Festivals and Holidays
A Theory of Ritual
Festivals and Holidays in the Bible
Pesach and Matsoth
Sukkoth
Sabbath
Festivals and Holidays in the Second Temple Period
Conclusion
Chapter Four: Non-Pentateuchal Historical Retrospectives
The Bible and Historiography
Non-Pentateuchal Historiographic Texts
Psalm 78
Psalm 105
The Plagues in Psalms 78 and 105
Psalm 106
Joshua 24
Ezekiel 20
Nehemiah 9
Historiography in the Second Temple Period
Ben Sira 44-45
The Genesis Apocryphon
The Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum of Pseudo-Philo
"Competitive Historiography" of Jewish-Hellenistic Historians
The Book of Jubilees
Conclusion
Chapter Five: The Pentateuch as Torah
The Role of Literacy in the Ancient World
"Direct Citations" of "Instruction"
Deuteronomic Literature
Prophetic Literature
Post-Exilic Historiographic Texts
"Instruction" in the Psalms and Wisdom Literature
Competing Conceptions of "Instruction" in the Second Temple Period
Conclusion
Chapter Six: A Look Ahead
Bibliography
Scripture Index
Author Index