What About Those Promiscuous Angels?

[Jonathan_Burke (Jon)]

@Jay313

Pentateuch studies have gone through as many iterations as evolutionary theory. The Documentary Hypothesis has been largely abandoned in Europe in favor of the Neo-Documentary Hypothesis, which addresses literary questions and leaves aside the question of dating.

Thanks for the encouragement. Yes I’m very familiar with the Documentary Hypothesis, as well as the history of its rise, fall, and subsequent reprise. In my missspent youth I spent a lot of time arguing against it. Then I studied the Bible more carefully and realized there was truth in it. Then I started reading better scholarly literature and gradually caught up with the current state of play. It was quite revealing.

@Jay313

Here is an interesting article comparing the two approaches by Joel Baden of Yale Divinity School (who advocates for the Neo- position). I also think that Meredith Kline’s insight in his “Treaty of the Great King” has to give one pause about dating the Pentateuch. He argues pretty convincingly (to my mind) that the Decalogue in Ex. 20 and the book of Deuteronomy as a whole follow the pattern of ancient Hittite suzerainty treaties (ca. 2nd millennium B.C.) between a “great king” and a vassal king. John Frame’s excellent article Covenant and the Unity of Scripture play upon that theme.

I am very much in agreement that the Deuteronmic code follows the second millennium BCE suzerainty treaties; Kenneth Kitchen has written on this matter with great skill (since he is tremendously qualified). And yes we must pause when dating the Pentateuch. But I’m only speaking of Genesis 1-11.

@Jay313

As an aside, Kline is also the theologian who popularized the modern “framework” view of Genesis. His essay Space and Time in Genesis Cosmogony pulls apart a literal reading of Genesis.

Naturally I have sympathy for this point of view, since my personal view is the “day/vision” interpretation.

@Jay313

I don’t have the expertise to dive into a deep discussion of the dating of the Pentateuch, but I do think that there are too many open questions to rule out a date far earlier than the exile.

Most of the Pentateuch undobutedly pre-dates the Exile. But the Pentateuch shows evidence of extensive editing and redaction over the years, and Genesis 1-11 certainly dates to the Exile at earliest. There’s a very obvious literary seam between Genesis 11 and Genesis 12. It is pretty well established across the board that Genesis 1-11 is a literary unit post-dating the rest of the Pentatuech. I have written on this topic before, and nothing I have written is remotely new, it’s all very well recognized in the literature.