Religion 313: Sibling Rivalries: Israel and the Other in the Hebrew Bible
Professor Joel S.
Kaminsky, Smith College-Fall 2005
E-mail: jkaminsk@smith.edu
Office: Wright Hall 126; Office Phone: 585-3608
Office Hours: 1:45-2:45 MW, T 11-noon, or by appointment.
Course Description
Close readings of selected portions of Genesis and certain other biblical texts the are related to the idea of election, that is the notion that God chooses some individuals and nations to serve his special purposes. Attention will be focused on how the Bible conceives of election, why are some chosen and others not, what election entails for those chosen, and what it implies about the three way relationship between God, Israel, and the other nations of the world.
Books
Required:
1) The New Oxford Annotated Bible, New Revised Standard Version with the Apocrypha, 3rd College edition. It is best to buy a copy of this Bible because it is the one I will use in class. Furthermore it is an excellent Bible and has many study tools within it. Other versions which are in modern English (e.g. Jerusalem, New English) are acceptable if you already own one and cannot afford the Oxford. The Authorized (meaning the King James) is not acceptable because it is not in modern English. It is best to own a Bible that also includes the Apocrypha.
2) The Death and Resurrection of the Beloved Son by Jon D. Levenson (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993).
3) The Character of God in the Book of Genesis: A Narrative Appraisal by W. Lee Humphreys (Louisville: WJK, 2001).
5) Course Packet available at Paradise Copies.
1) You will be required to write one major research paper (approximately 15 pages double spaced). You will be expected to use footnotes and include a full bibliography. The paper can be literary, historical, exegetical, archaeological, sociological, anthropological or theological in thrust. One may also focus on issues of history of interpretation in Judaism and Christianity. You must meet with me about your topic before you leave for fall break on October 7th. You must turn in a paragraph statement of intent explaining your paper topic along a 1st attempt at an annotated bibliography by Friday October 14th at noon in my box in Wright Hall. Note on the Annotated Bibliography: This is a list of each book or article you are using and a 1-2 sentence explanation of how this source relates to your paperÕs objectives. A rough draft will be due in my box by Monday November 21st. Note on Rough Drafts: Your rough draft should be at least 8 pages double spaced and include footnotes and an annotated bibliography. You will turn in the final draft along with the 1st draft no later than Thursday December 15th by noon in my box in Wright Hall if you were in the 1st critique session and no later than Monday December 19th by noon in my box in Wright Hall if you were in the 2nd critique session. This will be worth 50% of your grade.
2) Each student may be asked to introduce certain topics to the class by outlining the text and major points made by various articles or books we will be reading and raising some pertinent questions that you believe need further discussion. It may helpful to type up and distribute a written handout when doing such presentations. Students may be asked to lead a critique of another studentÕs paper as well. These assignments will be worth 30% of your course grade.
3) Class Attendance and Participation will be worth approximately 20% of your course grade. If you skip more than 2 classes I will drop your grade a half letter grade for each additional class you miss!! If you feel that you are very shy and cannot bring yourself to speak in class please see me and we will take this into consideration. We will still expect you to be willing to attempt to overcome this shyness by at least occasional participation.
4) In order to do well at any of the above requirements it is imperative that you do all of the readings required for each class. Seminars only work well if all the students do all the readings in advance of each class session.
Week 1 September 8th-Introduction
to the course.
Week 2 September
15th- Cain and Abel; AbrahamÕs Election
Assignments:
1) Read Genesis 1-15 with special attention to chapters 4, 12, and 15. Make a list of the problems that you notice in the text of Genesis 4 to bring into class.
2) Read LevensonÕs The Death and Resurrection of the Beloved Son, pp. 69-81.
3) Read Humphreys, The Character of God, pp. 1-21 and 53-62.
4) Read ÒThe Offering of Abel (Gen4:4): A History of InterpretationÓ by Jack P. Lewis in Journal of the Evangelical Society 37:4 (1994): 481-96 PACKET.
5) Read ÒWhy God Rejected CainÕs offering: The Obvious
Answer,Ó by Gary Herion pages 52-65 in Fortunate the Eyes that See PACKET.
6) Read Joel KaminskyÕs working draft on the Cain and Abel narrative, pages 5-15. PACKET.
7) Read Humphreys, The Character of God, pages 81-99.
8) Read Han Walter Wolff, ÒThe Kerygma of the Yahwist,Ó pages 41-66 and notes in pp. 148-54 in Walter Brueggemann and Hans W. Wolff ed. The Vitality of Old Testament Tradition (Atlanta: John Knox, 1975). PACKET.
9) Read Joel Kaminsky chapter on ÒPromise and Covenant,Ó 1-16. PACKET.
Week 3 September
22ndIsaac and Ishmael (Hagar and Sarah)
Assignments:
1) Read Genesis 16-24.
2) Read LevensonÕs The Death and Resurrection of the Beloved Son, pp. 82-142.
3) Read Humphreys, The Character of God, pp. 99-154.
4) Read Carol Bakhos, Chapter 1 ÒIshmael and Esau: Marginalized Men of the Bible,Ó pages 33-64 from the draft of her forthcoming book entitled Ishmael on the Border: Rabbinic Portrayals of the First Arab. PACKET.
5) Read Joel KaminskyÕs work on Isaac and Ishmael pages
16-32. PACKET.
Assignments:
1) Read Genesis 25-36
2) Read LevensonÕs The Death and Resurrection of the Beloved Son, pp. 55-68.
3) Read Humphreys, The Character of God, pp. 155-203.
4) Read ÒTheological Interpretation by Way of Literary and
Tradition Analysis: Genesis
25-36,Ó by John G. Gammie, pages 117-134 in Encounter with the Text PACKET.
5) Read ÒOn me be the Curse, My Son!,Ó by Christine Allen, pages 159-172 in Encounter with the Text PACKET.
6) Read ÒWhich Blessing Does Isaac Give Jacob?,Ó by Terence
Fretheim, pp. 279-291 in Jews, Christian, and the Theology of the Hebrew
Scriptures PACKET.
7)Read ÒStrife without Reconciliation: A Narrative theme in the Jacob traditionsÓ by George W. Coats, pp. 82-106 in Werden und Wirken des Alten Testaments PACKET.
8) Read J. KaminskyÕs work on Jacob and Esau, pages 33-49. PACKET.
Class Cancelled on
October 13th due to Yom Kippur
Weeks 5 and 6
October 6th and October 20th -- The Joseph Story
Assignments:
1) Read Genesis 37-50
2) Read LevensonÕs The Death and Resurrection of the Beloved Son, pp. 143-169.
3) Read Humphreys, The Character of God, pp. 205-256.
4) Read ÒThe Youngest Son or where does Genesis 38 Belong,Ó by Judah Goldin in Journal of Biblical Literature 96 (1977): 27-44 PACKET.
5) Read ÒNarration and KnowledgeÓ pages 155-177 in The Art
of Biblical Narrative Packet.
6) Read ÒReconciliation and Political
PowerÓ George W. Coats, pp. 80-92 in From Canaan to Egypt PACKET.
7) Read Mark Brett, Genesis: Procreation and the Politics of Identity (London: Routledge, 2000), 109-136.
8) Read Yui-Wing Fung,Victim and Victimizer, pages 171-206. PACKET.
9) Read Joel Kaminsky, ÒReclaiming a Theology of Election: Favoritism and the Joseph Story.Ó Perspectives in Religious Studies 31.2 (Summer 2004): 135-152. PACKET.
10) Read Edward Greenstein, ÒThe
Formation of the Biblical Narrative Corpus,Ó AJSR 15.2 (Fall 1990): 151-78. PACKET.
11) Read Paul Noble, ÒEsau, Tamar, and Joseph: Criteria for determining Inner-Biblical Allusions,Ó Vetus Testamentum 52.2 (2002): 218-252. PACKET.
Week 7 October 27th
-The Anti-Elect, The Canaanites and the Amalekites
Assignments:
1) Read Joshua 1-10, Judges 1-2, Exod. 17:8-15, Num. 24:20, Deuteronomy 7 and 20, Deut. 25:17-19, 1 Samuel 15 and all of Esther.
2) Read ÒThe Biblical Problem of Election,Ó by Jeremy Cott
in Journal of Ecumenical Studies 21 (Spring 1984): 199-228. PACKET.
3) Read ÒThe Punishment of Amalek in Jewish Tradition: Coping with the Moral Problem,Ó by Avi Sagi in Harvard Theological Review 87:3 (1994): 323-346.
4) Read the 1st half of Joel KaminskyÕs ÒDid
Election Imply the Mistreatment of Non-Israelites?,Ó Harvard Theological
Review 96:4 (October 2003): 397-408. PACKET.
5) Read ÒBefore Israel: The Canaanites as other in the Biblical Tradition,Ó by Robert L. Cohn, pp. 74-90 in The Other in Jewish Thought and History PACKET.
6) Read John J. Collins, ÒThe Zeal of
Phineas,Ó JBL 122.1 (Spring 2003): 3-21. PACKET.
7) Read Joel KaminskyÕs feature on ÒViolence in the Bible,Ó RSN June 2003. PACKET.
Week
8 November 3rd-The Non-Elect: Foreigners and Aliens in Law and Story
Assignments:
1) Read Deuteronomy 23, Ruth, Isaiah 56, Esther, Ezra 9-10, Nehemiah 9-10, 13.
2) Read Patrick Miller, ÒGodÕs Other Stories: On the Margins of Deuteronomic Theology,Ó pages 185-194 in Theodore Hiebert, Theodore and Prescott Williams eds., Realia Dei (FS Edward Campbell; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1999). PACKET.
3) Read Daniel L. Smith-Christopher, ÒThe Mixed Marriage Crisis in Ezra 9-10 and Nehemiah 13: A Study of the sociology of the Post-Exilic Judean Community,Ó pages 243-265 in Second Temple Studies: vol. 2, Temple and Community in the Persian Period (JSOTSup 175; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1994). PACKET.
4) Read Saul
Olyan, ÒGenerating ÔSelfÕ and ÔOtherÕ: The Polarity of Israelite/Alien,Ó
chapter 3 in idem, Rites and Rank: Hierarchy in Biblical Representations of
Cult, (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000), 63-102, 150-69. PACKET.
5) Read the 2nd half of Joel KaminskyÕs ÒDid
Election Imply the Mistreatment of Non-Israelites?,Ó Harvard Theological
Review 96:4 (October 2003): 408-425. PACKET.
Week 9 November 10th-Late
Biblical Images of IsraelÕs relation to the Nations
Assignments:
1) Read Isa 14:1-2; 19:18-25; 24:14-16; 25:6-7; 42:1-7; 44:1-5; 45:14, 20-25; 49; 51:4-6; 60 and 66:18-21; Jer 3:17; 12:14-17; 16:19 ; the Book of Jonah; Mic 4:1-5; Zeph 3:9-10 ; Zech 2:11-12; 8:20-23; 14:16-19; Mal 1:11, 14; a number of Psalms including 2, 46, 48, 87, 97, 98, 117,Jonah, Isaiah 40-66, Micah 4-5, 7, Zechariah 2, 8, 12-14.
2) Read Harry Orlinsky, ÒNationalism-Universalism and Internationalism in Ancient Israel, pages 206-236 in Harry Thomas and William Reed ed., Translating and Understanding the Old Testament (Nashville: Abingdon, 1970).
3) Read ÒNationalism and the Hebrew Bible,Ó by Mark Brett in
The Bible in Ethics, pp. 136-163 PACKET.
4) Read ÒThe Universal Horizon of Biblical ParticularismÓ by
Jon D. Levenson in Ethnicity and the Bible,
pp. 143-169 Class Handout.
5) Read the Concept of Election and Second Isaiah,Ó by Joel Kaminsky in BTB 31.4 (Winter 2001): 135-144. PACKET.
November
17th-No Class, WORK ON YOUR ROUGH DRAFTS!!!
Week 10-December 1st- Critique drafts, discuss NT and Rabbinic Transformations
Assignments:
1) Read the rough drafts that will be discussed this week.
2) Read Galatians 1-5. Romans 3-11 and Rabbinic excerpts in PACKET.
3) Read LevensonÕs, The Death and Resurrection of the Beloved Son, pp. 173-232.
4) Read draft of KaminskyÕs Chapter on Election in the NT and Rabbinic Judaism, 1-36. PACKET
Week 11-December 8th-Critique drafts, discuss NT and Rabbinic Transformations contd.
Assignments:
1) Read the rough drafts that will be discussed this week.
Week 12-December
15th-Final discussion over dinner together
Assignments:
1) Read Steven Grosby, ÒThe Nation of the United States and the Vision of Ancient Israel,Ó Pages 213-234 in idem Biblical Ideas of Nationality (Winona Lake:Eisenbrauns, 2002.
2) Read Michael Wyschogrod, The Body of Faith, pp. 21-29 and 58-70.
3) Bring your list of suggestions/improvements that you believe would enhance class to this final session.