Religion 310: Sibling Rivalries: Israel and the Other in the Hebrew Bible
Professor Joel S. Kaminsky, Smith College-spring 2013
E-mail: jkaminsk@smith.edu
Office: Wright Hall 113; Office Phone: 585-3608
Office Hours: 1:40-2:35 MF, or by appointment.
Course Description
Readings of selected portions of Genesis and other relevant biblical texts along with various secondary essays and books that explore various dimensions of the idea of election, that is the notion that God specially favors certain individuals and nations. 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, 4th 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) Yet I Loved Jacob: Reclaiming the Biblical Concept of Election by Joel S. Kaminsky (Nashville: Abingdon, 2007).
3) Dynamics of Diselection by R. Christopher Heard (SBL, 2001).
4)Jon D. Levenson, The Death and Resurrection of the Beloved Son: The Transformation of Child Sacrifice in Judaism and Christianity. Yale, 1995.
5) Chosen and Unchosen by Joel N. Lohr (Eisenbrauns, 2009)
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 complete annotated 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 by Friday March 1st. You must turn in a paragraph statement of intent explaining your paper topic along a 1st attempt at an annotated bibliography by Thursday March 14th in class. 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 paper’s objectives. The initial bibliography may include some items on order not yet annotated. A rough draft will be due via email by Monday April 15th at noon.
Note on Rough Drafts: Your rough draft should be at least 8 pages double-spaced and include footnotes and an annotated bibliography. Ideally you will turn in the final draft along with the 1st draft on Friday May 3rd by 11AM and in any case no later than 10AM on Monday May 6th. This will be worth 50% of your grade.
2) By Thursday April 4th in class every student will turn in a book review of 800-1200 words of one of the books we are reading in this course or another relevant book that may tie into your research paper. It should involve some summary of the contents and at least one double-spaced page weighing the book’s strengths and weaknesses. You should consider looking at book reviews in journals like Review of Biblical Literature, Catholic Biblical Quarterly, or Biblical Interpretation to see how scholars approach such an assignment. This will be worth 15% of your final course grade.
3) Class Attendance and Participation will be worth approximately 35% of your course grade. If you miss more than 2 classes I reserve the right to drop your grade a half letter grade for each additional class you miss!!. 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 student’s paper as well. Also Attendance at Public Lecture by Prof. Anne Stewart WEDNESDAY MARCH 13th- at 4:30PM is expected. Read Proverbs 1-15 in advance.
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 of the readings in advance of each class session.
January 24th-Introduction to the course—Cain and Abel, research
We will go over the syllabus and expectations for the course, get to know each other a bit, and begin exploring some of the various dimensions of the biblical notion of chosenness and the problems it poses to contemporary readers.
Discussion will focus on the unfolding of Genesis 1-12 with particular attention to Genesis 4 and the questions it raises. We will also finish class with a brief library tour.
January 31st- Isaac and Ishmael (Hagar and Sarah)
Assignments:
1) Read Genesis 1-25:18.
2) Read Christopher Heard, Dynamics of Diselection, 26-96.
3) Read the Intro to Chapters 1-4 as well as Chapters 1-2 in Joel Kaminsky’s, Yet I Loved Jacob, pages 15-41 and accompanying endnotes on pages 199-202.
4) Read Jon D. Levenson, The Death and Resurrection of the Beloved Son (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993), 82-142 and notes on 240-44.
February 7th --Jacob and Esau
Assignments:
1) Read Genesis 25:19-36:43.
2) Read Christopher Heard, Dynamics of Diselection, 97-137, 171-84.
3) Read Jon D. Levenson, The Death and Resurrection of the Beloved Son (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993), 55-81 and notes on 239-40.
4) Read Rachel Havrelock, "The myth of birthing the hero: heroic barrenness in the Hebrew Bible,” Biblical Interpretation, 16 no 2 2008, p 154-178. ATLAS PDF
5) Read Chapter 3 in Joel Kaminsky’s, Yet I Loved Jacob, 43-57 and accompanying endnotes on pages 202-04.
February 14th – The Joseph Story
Assignments:
1) Read Genesis 37-50, 2 Samuel 9-1 Kgs 2.
2) Read Jon D. Levenson, The Death and Resurrection of the Beloved Son (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993), 143-69 and notes on 244-45.
3) Read Chapter 4 in Joel Kaminsky’s, Yet I Loved Jacob, 59-78 and accompanying endnotes on pages 204-5.
4) Read Edward Greenstein, “The Formation of the Biblical Narrative Corpus,” AJSR 15.2 (Fall 1990): 151-78. ATLAS PDF
February 21st---Election and Covenant; Election in Leviticus and Deuteronomy, or meetings about potential paper topics
Assignments:
1) Read Genesis 6-9, 11-12, 15, 17, Exodus 19-24, Exodus 32-34, Leviticus 4, 11, 15, 19-26, Numbers 25, Deuteronomy 4-10, 12-16 27-28, 29-30, 2 Samuel 7, I Kings 2, 8-9, Jeremiah 7, Psalms 89 and 132, Nehemiah 9-10.
2) Read Chapters 5-6 in Joel Kaminsky’s Yet I Loved Jacob, pp. 81-105 and accompanying endnotes on pages 205-9.
February 28th--The Anti-Elect
Assignments:
1) Read Joshua 1-10, Judges 1-2, Exod. 17:8-15, Num. 24:20, Deuteronomy 1-11, 20, Deut. 25:17-19, 1 Samuel 15 and all of Esther.
2) Read “The Biblical Problem of Election,” by Jeremy Cott in Journal of Ecumenical Studies 21 (Spring 1984): 199-228. ATLAS PDF
3) Read the Introduction to Chapter 7-8 and Chapter 7 in Joel Kaminsky’s, Yet I Loved Jacob, pages 107-119 and accompanying endnotes on pages 209-211.
4) Read John J. Collins, “The Zeal of Phineas,” JBL 122.1 (Spring 2003): 3-21. ATLAS PDF
5) Read Joel Kaminsky’s feature on “Violence in the Bible,” RSN June 2003. Online resource at: http://www.sbl-site.org/Article.aspx?ArticleId=159
6) Read Joel Lohr, Chosen and Unchosen, 148-93 and 208-225.
March 7th--The Non-Elect
Assignments:
1) Read Exodus 1-5, 18, Numbers 22-24, Deuteronomy 2, 23, Ruth, Jonah, I Kings 8, 2 Kings 5, Isaiah 56, Ezra 9-10, Nehemiah 9-10, 13.
2) Read Joseph Blenkinsopp, “Yahweh and other deities : conflict and accommodation in the religion of Israel,” Interpretation, 40 no 4 O 1986, p 354-366. ATLAS PDF
3) Read Chapter 8 in Joel Kaminsky’s, Yet I Loved Jacob, pp. 121-36 and accompanying endnotes on pages 211-215.
4) Read Patrick Miller, “God’s Other Stories: On the Margins of Deuteronomic Theology,” pages 185-194 in Theodore Hiebert, Theodore and Prescott Williams eds., Realia Dei (FS Edward Campbell; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1999). Handout
5) Read Joel Lohr, Chosen and Unchosen, 92-147 and 201-207.
WEDNESDAY MARCH 13th-Public Lecture by Prof. Anne Stewart at 4:30PM
Attendance at talk is expected-Read Proverbs 1-15 in advance
March 14th –Israel and the Nations in Prophetic Eschatology
1) Read Isaiah 14:1-32; 19:18-25; 40-66; Jer 3:17; 12:14-17; 16:19; Mic 4:1-5; Zeph 3:9-10 ; Zech 2:11-12; 8:20-23; 14:16-19; Mal 1:11, 14
2) ) Read “The Universal Horizon of Biblical Particularism” by Jon D. Levenson in Ethnicity and the Bible, pp. 143-169 HANDOUT.
3) Read Chapter 9 in Joel Kaminsky’s, Yet I Loved Jacob, pp. 137-58 and accompanying endnotes on pages 215-19.
3) Read Kaminsky and Stewart “God of all the World: Universalism and Developing Monotheism in Isaiah 40-66.” Harvard Theological Review 99.2 (April 2006): 139-63. ATLAS PDF
March 28th-- Election in the Psalms, Wisdom Literature, and the Apocrypha
Assignments:
1) Read Psalms 2, 46, 48, 87, 97, 98, 117, all of Job, Wisdom of Solomon 7-11, Ben Sirah 4, 17, 24, 35, 44-51, Baruch 3:9-4:4, and 2 Esdras 3-14.
2) Read paper by Kathryn Schifferdecker on Job. HANDOUT
3) Read Chapter 10 of Joel Kaminsky, Yet I Loved Jacob, pp. 159-67.
4) Read John J. Collins, “The Idea of Election in 4 Ezra,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 16.1 (March 2009): 83-96. USE JOURNAL LOCATOR and then Ingenta or JSTOR
April 4th—NT and Rabbinic Views of Election Theology
Assignments:
1) Read Matthew 25, John 1-4, 8, Romans 1-11, all of Galatians, Ephesians 1-2, James 2, 1 Peter 2, Revelation 7.
2) Read Chapter 11 of Joel Kaminsky, Yet I Loved Jacob, pp. 169-92 and accompanying endnotes on pages 219-225. Make sure you do your best to read the rabbinic midrashim contained here carefully.
3) Read Jon Levenson’s, The Death and Resurrection of the Beloved Son, pp. 173-232, and notes on 245-250.
4) Read Jeffrey Siker, “Abraham, Paul, and the Politics of Christian Identity,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 16.1 (March 2009): 56-70. USE JOURNAL LOCATOR and then Ingenta or JSTOR
April 11th--Reading week
Prepare your rough drafts that must be emailed to the entire class by Sunday April 14th at 3PM.
April 18th--Critique drafts
1) Read the rough drafts that will be discussed this week and write out specific critiques of each draft.
April 25th— Critique drafts Contd., and Election in Contemporary Jewish and Christian Thought
Assignments:
1) Read Joel Lohr, Chosen and Unchosen, 3-91 and 194-200.
2) Read Martin Jaffee, “One God, one revelation, one people: on the symbolic structure of elective monotheism,” Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 69 no 4 D 2001, p 753-775. ATLAS PDF.
3) 1) Read Jon D. Levenson Chosenness and Its Enemies,” Commentary December 2008. Online at: http://www.commentarymagazine.com/article/chosenness-and-its-enemies/
May 2nd –Last minute issues concerning your papers and final reflections on the course
Assignments:
1) Read Steven Grosby, “The Nation of the United States and the Vision of Ancient Israel,” Pages 213-234 in idem Biblical Ideas of Nationality (Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 2002). HANDOUT
2) Think over the class and come prepared with at least a comment or two concerning what worked or didn’t work well in this class and/or how the class might be improved in the future.