Land and Calendar: The Priestly Document from Genesis 1 to Joshua 18

by Philippe Guillaume, Andrew Mein (Editor), Claudia V. Camp (Editor)

Overview

Thanks to very peculiar style and theology, Pg was identified as far back as 1869 by Theodor Nöldeke and remains one of the last pillars of Pentateuch research after the fall of the Wellhausen model. Its existence is rarely doubted, but its extent is debated. Does it end already in Exodus (Otto, Pola, Bauks) or does it go as far as Deuteronomy (Noth, Frevel) or even into Joshua (Lohfink, Knauf)? The end determines Pg's notion of the land and its conquest, important subjects today for the formation of the Pentateuch (was there first a Hexateuch?).

The 364-day perpetual calendar offers a reliable criterion to identify Pg within the final text of the Hexateuch because the simple mathematic of the calendar are easier to control than hypothetical redactors. Pg is divided into seven periods, from creation to the entry of the sons of Israel in an empty land of Canaan. The festival calendar of Leviticus 23, and the Jubilee of Lev 25 constitute the heart of Pg, the practical outworking of principles presented in the narrative. Bloodless atonement with no connection to any temple whatsoever, peaceful entry into the empty Promised Land, eternal sabbatical rhythm, are Pg's major theological characteristics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780567322005
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	07/06/2009
Series:	The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies , #391
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.02(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.53(d)

About the Author

Philippe Guillaume received a doctorate from Geneva in 2002 and his Habilitation from Bern in 2008. He practices Biblical archeology at Megiddo. Awarded a Visiting Fellowship he works with Professor Diana Edelman at the University of Sheffield on land tenure in Persian Yehud.

Table of Contents

Introduction and presentation of the Pg hypothesis and present research
The Priestly Document translated (fairly literal English)

Part 1 The sabbatical calendar as basis of the Priestly Document
Chapter 1 Creation of the Sabbath (Genesis 1.1-2.4)
Chapter 2 Intercalation of the Sabbatical Calendar (Genesis 5; 25; Exodus 36)
Chapter 3 The Sabbatical Calendar in the Flood Narrative (Genesis 6-9)
Chapter 4 Yearly Festivals (Leviticus 23*)
Chapter 5 Seventh Year and Jubilee as Nexus between Time and Land (Leviticus 25*)

Part 2 The land as key theme of the Priestly Document    
Chapter 6 The Land in Genesis
Chapter 7 The Land in Exodus and Leviticus
Chapter 8 The Land in Numbers and Deuteronomy
Chapter 9 The Land in Joshua

Conclusion: theological profile, date and setting in the Persian period
Appendix: Synopsis of recent delimitations of the Priestly Document
Indices
Bibliography