Review of Genesis: History, Fiction, or Neither? Part III (Wenham)

Chapter Two in Genesis: History, Fiction, or Neither? was written by Gordan Wenham, tutor in Old Testament at Trinity College in Bristol, England. Wenham has contributed significantly to discussions on Genesis, most impressively with his two-volume Word Biblical Commentary on the book. He brings to the table a sophisticated reading of the biblical text, with special attention to its literary features. It is fair to say that few, if any, scholars on Genesis read the text itself with as much care and attention to detail as Wenham does.

When it comes to identifying the genre of Gen 1-11, though, Wenham does not show much concern. Like Hoffmeier, Wenham thinks the term myth is an appropriate designation, but is not helpful given the negative connotations associated with the word. He does show partiality to Westermann's descriptions of these chapters as "overture," since Gen 1 acts like an overture to an opera, "and introduces some of the key themes and tunes that will develop later" (p. 80). In another place, he refers to these portions of Scripture as "expanded genealogy" (p. 78), allotting 5 1/2 pages to demonstrating this idea. Elsewhere, however, he calls it "protohistory" (p. 87). "It is proto in that it describes origins, what happened first. It is also proto in that it is setting out models of God and his dealings with the human race. It is historical in that it is describing past realities and the lessons that should be drawn from them" (p. 87). But, ultimately, he seems not to care what we call it, so long as we get its message right, stating that a "secure definition of its genre would clarify the interpretation of this text somewhat, but not fundamentally alter our understanding of it" (p. 95).

Wenham is not impressed by the various ways the Nephilim have been explained away in biblical interpretation, so he adopts the straightforward reading of Gen 6:1-4 that "the sons of God are spirits or angels" (p. 89), tying the narrative to cult prostitution (p. 90), a sin severe enough to prompt divine punishment through a flood (p. 91).

As for the flood account, Wenham notes the parallels with the Babylonian Atrahasis epic. Despite their similar plots, however, Wenham draws special attention to their theological differences. He states, that "Genesis takes the traditional ancient Near Eastern account of the flood and by retelling it, presents a fresh and challenging vision of God and man" (p. 93).

His approach to the Tower of Babel follows the same pattern. Whereas Mesopotamian ziggurats reached the heavens, the tower in Gen 11 did not, such that "God had to come down to see it" (p. 94). Whereas Babylon (Babel) means "Gate of God," the tower could well be called "Folly of Babylon" (p. 94-95).

Wenham's chapter briefly introduces his readers to some of the literary intricacies that he has developed more fully in his WBC volumes. In doing so, he attempts to show how the implied author of Gen 1-11 has rooted his narrative in history, but is not really concerned with history.

Review of Genesis: History, Fiction, or Neither? Part II (Hoffmeier)

Keeping with the custom of the Counterpoints series, Genesis: History, Fiction, or Neither? is set up so that each of the contributors has the opportunity to present his position (I have only identified two female authors within the entire series), followed by responses from the other two contributors. Since each essay is critiqued within the book itself, I will try to present the views of the contributors in their best light.

The first contributor for this volume, James Hoffmeier, is well known in conservative evangelical circles. He is professor of Old Testament and Near Eastern archaeology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and has been a champion for the historical reliability of the exodus event. In this volume, he has been given the unenviable charge of presenting the view that the narratives of Genesis 1-11 "are dealing with real events involving historical figures" (p. 32). I say "unenviable" because while Hoffmeier is a maximalist in terms of the biblical narratives, he is by no means a fundamentalist. As the most conservative member of the panel, his views will not sit well with a large constituency of evangelicals for whom anything but a literalist view of Genesis is seen to be outside of orthodoxy. For example, one of the reasons why Hoffmeier's historical view is distinctly different from, say, Ken Ham's historical view, is that Hoffmeier embraces the ancient Near Eastern texts as not only relevant, but crucial for our understanding of Gen 1-11.

Hoffmeier begins by stating that Gen 11:32 is an arbitrary dividing point between the so-called "primeval history" and the "patriarchal history." He sees Gen 1-11 "as a vital unit of the larger work" (p. 25). While he acknowledges the work of sources (for example, the toledot formalae are the work of the Priestly writer - p. 30), he sees the final, redacted (edited) whole as a seamless literary unit. He especially makes this point with reference to the flood narratives (p. 50).

Hoffmeier is quite comfortable with Gen 1-11 being classified as myth, so long as myth is rightly defined. Citing Mircea Elieade definition as "an event that place in primordial Time," Hoffmeier argues that myth is founded on historical events, offering examples from ANE historical texts that employ mythological images. "Consequently," Hoffmeier argues, "it is reasonable to assume that while Genesis 1-11 uses mythic language, that such language does not necessarily make its contents fiction" (p. 28).

While most scholars of the ANE see the genealogies as problematic for the historical nature of Gen 1-11, given their typical rhetorical (rather than ancestral) function, Hoffmeier argues just the opposite. He notes this rhetorical function in the Sumerian and Assyrian king lists, "but the differences in function do not mean that both the Genesis genealogies and those from the ancient Near East were not interested in an accurate and orderly sequence of ancestors. Lists could be truncated and schematically organized, but the names refer to real people, not fictitious figures" (p. 31).

After laying out his case for a historical reading of Gen 1-11, Hoffmeier then turns his attention to the three case studies as prescribed by the book's general editor, Charles Halton. The three topics each contributor is mandated to address are (1) The story of the Nephilim (Gen 6:1-4); (2) Noah and the ark (6:9-9:26); (3) Tower of Babel (11:1-9).

Before tackling the three test cases, Hoffmeier establishes his methodological framework by briefly demonstrating in his mind how the Garden of Eden is situated "within  the known geography of the ancient Near East, not some made-up mythological, Narnia-like wonderland" (p. 32). He argues that the four rivers: Gihon, Pishon, Tigris and Euphrates are known waterways (or were known by the authors of Genesis), that place the garden in Mesopotamia. The Tigris and Euphrates are well known and their location is without dispute, but the Gihon and Pishon are generally seen as evidence against a specific Mesopotamian region. Hoffmeier argues that Shuttle Imaging Radar technology has located the long defunct Pishon River as flowing from Saudi Arabia to Persian Gulf near modern day Kuwait. He says, "The 'Kuwait River' appears to have dried up sometime late in the third millennium BC. The fact that Genesis 2 knows about this river is remarkable indeed" (p. 34). As for the Gihon, Hoffmeier assigns this not to the land of Cush known as Nubia (Egypt), but to the land of the Kassites in Babylon. Hoffmeier's point is that since we can locate the Garden of Eden due to the details provided in Gen 2, the remainder of Gen 1-11 is set in real time and real space.

Since this review is getting on the long side, let me quickly run down Hoffmeier's conclusions for the three test cases. With respect to the Nephilim, Hoffmeier asks (rhetorically?), "[C]ould it be that in Genesis 6 we have an ancient...and authentic story, that in the course of time had been mythologized and part of the shared memory of the ancient Near East, but was demythologized for the Israelite audience when recorded?" (p. 41). Surely, he concludes, the raison d'etre for the flood would "not be the result of some made up story!" (p. 41). On the flood narratives, Hoffmeier demonstrates their literary cohesion and theological distinctiveness from their Mesopotamian counterparts. His conclusion is that given "the Mesopotamian origins of Abraham and his ancestors (Gen 10 and 11:10-32), it should not surprise us that the flood story should be part of the shared memory of the Israelites and the Babylonians" (p. 55). Hoffmeier concedes that the Tower of Babel episode is etiological in nature, but that doesn't meant they "are necessarily fictitious accounts" (p. 55). Drawing on parallels from the Sumerian text, "Enmerkar and the Lord of Atta," Hoffmeier suggest that "it is possible to propose that both the Sumerians and Gen 11 preserve a common memory by one language" (p. 57).

For those who are familiar with Hoffmeier's writings, his contribution to Genesis: History, Fiction, or Neither? is fairly predictable. He does not dismiss the ancient Near Eastern material as irrelevant literature from the pagan world. He does, however, make every effort to harmonize the material with a historical reading of the biblical text, allowing for the fact that modern definitions of history do not generally coincide with what the ancient authors would have deemed history.

I'll conclude this review by allowing Hoffmeier the last word: "If one reduces the narratives of Gen 1-11 to fictitious stories and legends, the history of salvation lacks its raison d'etre. Fortunately, the Christian committed to Scripture need not commit intellectual suicide by embracing the historicity of the events described in early Genesis, for the text itself is written in such a way to reinforce this view" (p. 58).

Review of Genesis: History, Fiction, or Neither? Part I

The folks at Zondervan figured out nearly twenty years ago that their market audience is interested in hearing more than one side of a particular theological debate. Recognizing that Generation X, and now Millennials are less than satisfied with black-and-white answers to rainbow-prism questions, the Counterpoints series provides interpretive options for (predominantly) evangelical readers looking to make up their own minds on a host of topics.

On one hand, the success of the series demonstrates that today's evangelicals may be more eager to engage in dialogue over controversial matters than their forerunners. On the other hand, I have to wonder whether the readers are looking to explore new evidence, or hoping to bolster preconceived notions by situating their pet doctrine alongside a verified scholar.

The latest addition to the Counterpoints collection is a topic I am especially interested in. What makes Genesis: History, Fiction, or Neither? even more appealing is that the General Editor is my good friend, and fellow Hebrew Union College alumnus, Charles Halton. Charles is assistant professor of theology at Houston Baptist University (but resides in the beautiful Bluegrass State). He has contributed to the IVP Dictionary of the Old Testament: Prophets and Reading Akkadian Prayers and Hymns: An Introduction. Frankly, he's got too much going on to list here, so just Google his name if you want to know more.

Genesis: History, Fiction, or Neither? is scheduled to release on May 12. As a run-up to its publication, I intend to provide a chapter-by-chapter review, culminating with an interview with Charles on May 12. So, let's get started.

To set the tone for the book, Halton draws his readers' attention to the issue of genre. He notes that "competent readers" "calibrate their expectations regarding the range of meanings of words based upon the type of text being read" (p. 16). But, competent readers need help from "competent writers" who "signal the type, or genre, of the texts they pen by adopting commonly accepted forms" (p. 16). Halton points to the example of the phrase, "Once upon a time," which readily alerts its readers that what's about to follow should not be taken as a historical reconstruction of past events.

Halton moves from the abstract to the concrete, or at least the general to the specific, when he poses the question, "But what happens when we leave our culture and inhabit a different one, a culture that may or may not have the same rules and expectations that govern its genres, and may even have entirely different genres than those we are familiar with?" (p. 17). The question is pivotal for the study of Genesis 1-11. The Bible is composed in a wide range of genres, and if we fail to recognize a genre shift it doesn't matter whether we know the meanings of all the words and phrases. We'll miss the meaning of the passage altogether. Halton asks us, "Is Genesis 1-11 similar to the genres of our culture? If so, what genre is it? Is it factual history, fictional fable, or somewhere in between? And how does its overall genre affect our interpretation of individual passages?" (pp. 19-20).

The implications are rather clear. If we don't concern ourselves with the issue of genre, we will read the entire Bible exactly the same. Jesus' parables are no different than Jeremiah's prophecies. Solomon's proverbs are no different than Paul's proclamations. Micaiah's satire is indistinguishable from Matthew's sermons. As Halton concludes, "Unless we know what we want from the Bible, we cannot begin to understand its authors" (p. 21)

Tov's Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible (2nd Ed) Online

THE go-to source for Old Testament textual criticism is Emmanuel Tov's 3rd edition of Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible (Fortress, 2011). But, if you're in a pinch, the second edition is available online as a PDF.

W. G. Lambert's Notebooks

From ORACC:

W. G. Lambert (1926-2011) was an Assyriologist who spent much of his research time transliterating and copying cuneiform tablets in museums, especially the British Museum. His Nachlass included eight notebooks filled with handwritten transliterations of Babylonian and Assyrian texts. The notebooks contain more than five thousand transliterations, spread over nearly fifteen hundred pages. They are an astonishing record of sustained first-hand engagement with cuneiform tablets.

The pages of these eight notebooks have been numbered, scanned and indexed by Lambert's academic executor. They are placed online at ORACC as an open-access resource. It should be borne in mind that the transliterations are first drafts. Lambert invited a few colleagues to browse his notebooks during his lifetime but he did not write them for widespread distribution. The transliterations are therefore not to be taken as definitive, nor should any inaccuracies therein be held against their author.

Lambert's notebooks are made available here so that present and future scholars can use them to advantage in their own research. It is hoped that users of the notebooks will be encouraged by his example not to rely unhesitatingly on the work of a colleague but to visit museums and read cuneiform tablets at first hand. Should it be necessary nevertheless to quote the notebooks' contents, the recommended style is "Lambert Folio" followed by page number, e.g. K 9208 (Lambert Folio 9578).

Hats off to Grant Frame and UPenn

Grant Frame, an associate professor of Assyriology in the Department of Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations in the School of Arts & Sciences (SAS) has been awarded a two-year, $250,000 National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grant for his Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-AssyrianPeriod (RINAP) Project.

Logos April Freebie: Brevard Child's Isaiah Commentary

This month only, get Isaiah from the Old Testament Library series—free!

In this respected academic volume, Brevard Childs writes on the Old Testament's most important theological book. Study questions of text, historical background, and literary architecture with this theological interpretation of Isaiah.

Get your free copy of Isaiah today!

Add Jeremiah for only 99 cents! Study the wide range of literature in Jeremiah—including prose, poetry, homilies, oracles, and proverbs. Add this exciting commentary and expand your understanding of the Old Testament prophets today!

H/T: Crux Sola.