Monthly Archives: May 2011

I’m rereading Philip Davies’ Scribes and Schools.  Here are three items: 1. On pages 63-64, Davies argues that scribal activity continued in Judah during the exile—since “Taxes, records, and correspondence were still needed”—but that the scribes in Judah were overwhelmed … Continue reading →

In this post, I’ll be going through Jon Levenson’s The Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament, and Historical Criticism and highlighting passages that stood out to me. 1.  On pages 17-18, Levenson says that there is continuity and discontinuity between the … Continue reading →

I’m reading Jon Levenson’s The Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament, and Historical Criticism. If I wanted my friends and relatives outside of the realm of academic biblical studies to understand me better, I’d give them this book—or some variation of … Continue reading →

My Hebrew Bible comp is rapidly approaching.  I have read a lot of books over these past five months, as my regular readers know.  But I have also read some book reviews.  This afternoon, I was reading Sam Wheeler’s review … Continue reading →

I finished Frank Crusemann’s The Torah: Theology and Social History of Old Testament Law.  In this post, I’ll talk some about Crusemann’s dating of what he calls “The Priestly Writing”. On page 301, Crusemann states regarding P: “A picture of … Continue reading →

I’m continuing my way through Frank Crusemann’s The Torah: Theology and Social History of Old Testament Law.  I have three items from today’s reading. 1. Crusemann highlights the role of the am ha-aretz (the people of the land) in promoting … Continue reading →