OBST 800 Week 7 Reading Assessment 10-08-2023

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LIBERTY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF DIVINITY Reading Assessment: Exilic Literature Submitted to Dr. Michael Graham, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of the course OBST 800-B02 Old Testament Backgrounds by Kristopher Williams L25494524 08 October 2023

TABLE OF CONTENTS BEHIND THE SCENES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT…………………………………... 1 THE WORLD AROUND THE OLD TESTAMENT……………………………………... 5 OLD TESTAMENT PARALLELS………………………………………………………... 6 AGAINST THE GODS……………………………………………………………………..7 ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN THEMES IN BIBLICAL THEOLOGY…………………...8 ii

BEHIND THE SCENES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT The Exile and Exilic Communities 1 In her “The Exile and Exilic Communities,” Deridre Fulton provides a brief overview of the political events leading up to the exile of the Judean kingdom by the Babylonians in 587/586 B.C., plausible data regarding the experiences of the exiles in Babylon based on extrabiblical literary finds, and the events leading to the collapse of the Babylonian Empire at the hands of the Achaemenid Persians circa 539 B.C. An interesting consideration of the extant archaeological and literary information suggests that the Babylonians, contra the Assyrians, utilized “unipolar” deportations of conquered peoples, meaning that the Babylonians deported peoples without replacing them with other conquered nations. Moreover, the data demonstrates that the “Babylonians left little evidence of their period of dominance over Judah and the southern Levant,” with “no clear evidence that Judah became part of a Babylonian province” (Fulton 232- 233). With no evidence of commercial and economic involvement, and no evidence of incorporation of Judah into the administrative functions of the greater Babylonian Empire, one possible conclusion that can be argued is that the Babylonians destroyed Judah for the simple pleasure of conquering. A possible theological argument is that Yahweh’s judgement was upon Judah and that the Babylonians acted as an instrument since they garnered no benefits. The Achaemenid Persian Empire in the West and Persian-Period Yehud 2 In his contribution, Kenneth Ristau offers greater detail of the Babylonian administration of Judah, reiterating that the “Babylonians did not develop a provincial system of the same efficiency as the Assyrians did before them” while stressing that they “maintained a territorial, 1 Deirdre N. Fulton, “The Exile and the Exilic Communities,” in Behind the Scenes of the Old Testament: Cultural, Social, and Historical Contexts , ed. Jonathan S. Greer, John W. Hilber, and John H. Walton (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2018), pp. 230-235. 2 Kenneth A. Ristau, “The Achaemenid Persian Empire in the West and Persian-Period Yehud,” in Behind the Scenes of the Old Testament: Cultural, Social, and Historical Contexts , ed. Jonathan S. Greer, John W. Hilber, and John H. Walton (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2018), pp. 236-243. 1

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rather than provincial, system of direct rule in the Levant” (Ristau 236). This stands in contrast to the governing proclivities of the Assyrians and, more importantly, the Persians. After providing a brief history of the rise of the Achaemenids, Ristau notes the return of Yahweh believers to Judah under Cyrus and the continued governance of the region as a Persian province until the time of Alexander. Of importance for reconstruction of the Persian period in Judah (Yehud in Persian documents) are epigraphic remains, especially tax stamp impressions and coinage (Ristau 241). These items all but demand an administrative state apparatus and demonstrate the desire for incorporation into the greater Persian Empire. The Maccabean Revolt and Hasmonean Statecraft 3 Joel Willitts offers a broad overview of the Maccabean Revolt and resulting independent kingdom of Israel created under the Hasmonean dynasty, focusing roughly on the century between 167 B.C. and 63 B.C. Originally sparked by resistance to Antiochus IV Epiphanes and his desire to create an ideologically and religiously unified empire, the revolution of the sons of Mattathias led to the creation of an independent kingdom in which the king also acted as high priest. Ironically, resistance to Greek ideas gave way to acceptance and promotion of Greek culture under the later Hasmoneans, coupled with a lessening of the integrity of the office of high priest, originally believed to reside in the family of the Zadokites. Further political moves led to the removal of the Hasmoneans as political rulers of an independent state and into a client kingdom of Rome. Alexander the Great and Hellenism 4 3 Joel Willitts, “The Maccabean Revolt and Hasmonean Statecraft,” in Behind the Scenes of the Old Testament: Cultural, Social, and Historical Contexts , ed. Jonathan S. Greer, John W. Hilber, and John H. Walton (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2018), pp. 244-251. 2

D. Brent Sandy provides greater context behind the move of political control of ancient Palestine from the hands of the Achaemenid Persians to the Greeks. Sandy situates the conquests of Alexander with the preparations made by his father, Philip II of Macedon. Philip conquered the various city-states of Greece and trained a professional standing army and utilized new tactics. A brief history of Alexander’s conquests of Egypt and Persia offers insight into the cultural aspects that followed. Under Alexander and his immediate successors in the regions of the ANE, especially the Ptolemies in Egypt and Seleucids in Syria, a “soft Hellenization” was favored, through which the Greek culture was certainly seen as “superior” but in which an amalgam was sought. The simplest expression of this is the development of a common Greek language, Koine, and its use across the Levant as the language of international commerce and communication. The cultural impact of language affected the Jewish people, both theologically and politically. Family, Children, and Inheritance in the Biblical World 5 In his “Family, Children, and Inheritance in the Biblical World,” Victor Matthews attempts to reconstruct the “basic” family structures common diachronically in the Levant, focusing especially upon the peoples of the Bible. As a subsistence society, the peasantry focused much attention on the seasons of the year since their ability to feed themselves was intimately tied to weather patterns and growing seasons. Focus on genealogy was important since many inheritance items were not codified via written documents, though this did change through time. People were more tied to the land and viewed the world through relationships at the personal and collective levels. 4 D. Brent Sandy, “Alexander the Great and Hellenism,” in Behind the Scenes of the Old Testament: Cultural, Social, and Historical Contexts , ed. Jonathan S. Greer, John W. Hilber, and John H. Walton (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2018), pp. 320-327. 5 Victor H. Matthews, “Family, Children, and Inheritance in the Biblical World,” in Behind the Scenes of the Old Testament: Cultural, Social, and Historical Contexts , ed. Jonathan S. Greer, John W. Hilber, and John H. Walton (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2018), pp. 403-408. 3

Food Preparation in Iron Age Israel 6 In her “Food Preparation in Iron Age Israel,” Cynthia Shafer-Elliott provides context behind the simple idea of eating in the 1 st millennium B.C. Though simple, since all humans have to eat, Shafer-Elliott provides information to “humanize” the people of the past. Data allows for confidence in stressing that the simple “Mediterranean triad—olives, grapes, and cereals—dominated the ancient Israelite diet” (Shafer-Elliott 457). The prevalence of dairy products—milk, cheese, butter, and sometimes the meat of the herd animals—is often overlooked. Consumption of flesh was fairly uncommon unless produced through hunting game or, when necessary, for culling the herds (Shafer-Elliott 457). Shafer-Elliott surveys information regarding “cooking technology,” ranging from pots to ovens, again allowing for greater understanding of predecessors and their daily lives. Feasting in the Biblical World 7 In this very brief contribution, Janling Fu assesses some of the ideas behind feasts in the ANE world at large and the Bible in particular. It is seen to suggest community and friendship, and sometimes the sealing of a relationship between outside groups through the giving of “gifts” between each other. While modern individuals see gifts as freely given, many cultures in antiquity (including the later Greco-Roman) understood giving and acceptance of gifts as binding in some way, noting that “one realizes that gifts normally are repaid, although perhaps with a delay factor…the gift may be thought of as lending status, with the giver viewed with a favorable lens” (Fu 465). While demonstrating continuity and community with others, feasting also portrayed abundance and social superiority. 6 Cynthia Shafer-Elliott, “Food Preparation in Iron Age Israel,” in Behind the Scenes of the Old Testament: Cultural, Social, and Historical Contexts , ed. Jonathan S. Greer, John W. Hilber, and John H. Walton (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2018), pp. 456-463. 7 Janling Fu, “Feasting in the Biblical World,” in Behind the Scenes of the Old Testament: Cultural, Social, and Historical Contexts , ed. Jonathan S. Greer, John W. Hilber, and John H. Walton (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2018), pp. 464-467. 4

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Music and Dance in the World of the Bible 8 Annie Caubet, ostensibly covering the concept of music in the Bible, provides a great reason for discussion and elucidation for modern audiences when she notes that knowledge and ability in music was understood by ancients as a skill “needed to master in order to become model rulers. Therefore, music was part of the education of the rulers and the elite” (Caubet 468- 469). Dance across the ANE, and in the OT, is also noted, with the curious idea that data demonstrates that “dancers seemed to have been predominantly female and professional since dancing was the activity for which they were hired and attached to a temple or a palace” (Caubet 470). THE WORLD AROUND THE OLD TESTAMENT Babylonia and the Babylonians 9 In his “Babylonia and the Babylonians,” David Vanderhooft provides an extended contextual introduction to the Babylonian empires and their importance for understanding the geo-political context of the biblical narrative. Though the earlier Sumerian period of Mesopotamian history in the 3 rd millennium remains uncertain due to a lack of extensive literary texts and few archaeological items, the “Old Babylonian” period of the first half of the 2 nd millennium B.C. allows for certain ideas mentioned casually in the earlier narratives of the OT to be better understood due to greater numbers of artifacts discovered and analyzed over the past 150 years. One item of remaining interest, both in its own right and for biblical studies, are the so-called “Laws of Hammurabi.” Rather than being seen as “case law” since current data does not support the idea that much commentary was made on the texts is the conclusion that it is 8 Annie F. Caubet, “Music and Dance in the World of the Bible,” in Behind the Scenes of the Old Testament: Cultural, Social, and Historical Contexts , ed. Jonathan S. Greer, John W. Hilber, and John H. Walton (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2018), pp. 468-472. 9 David S. Vanderhooft, “Babylonia and the Babylonians,” in The World around the Old Testament: The People and Places of the Ancient Near East , ed. Bill T. Arnold and Brent A. Strawn (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2016), pp. 107-138. 5

“unlikely that the legal stipulations contained in the collection were designed as a comprehensive law code, but were rather a kind of legal compendium that articulates a range of legal precedents” (Vanderhooft 114). One possible conclusion for biblical interpreters is that the OT Torah, rather than being prescriptive and definite, communicates principles for application and allows for fluidity, meaning that the OT Torah may not have been as harsh as it appears to modern readers since very little data for punishments exists. The Middle and Neo-Babylonian periods see continued interaction, if not influence, on the Hebrew nations. The Middle Babylonian period sees the promulgation of the Enuma Elish, a creation epic that many observers, whether hostile or sympathetic, see as occupying the mind of biblical writers as they respond, with either “crass plagiarism” or as general cultural knowledge in an effort to set the theological record straight. Ultimately, the explicit approach of the biblical authors to the Babylonians comes in the form of their outward hostility towards Yahweh and his people, expressed through military conquests and physical deportations of Judah. OLD TESTAMENT PARALLELS 10 Victor Matthews and Don Benjamin provide introductory data and translation of a series of documents that add context to the accounts in the post-exilic books of Ezra-Nehemiah and Chronicles. The translation of the so-called Decree of Cyrus (Cyrus Cylinder) demonstrates that the claim of the return of Judah under Cyrus matches well with the explicit claims made by Cyrus, who stresses that “I also repatriated the people of these lands and returned them to their cities and villages” (Matthew & Benjamin 223). 11 The selection from the Egyptian Elephantine Letters allow for observation that the concerns of the Jews of Egypt “parallel some of the problems faced in Jerusalem and Judah under the Persians in Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles” 10 Victor H. Matthews and Don C. Benjamin, Old Testament Parallels: Laws and Stories from the Ancient Near East, 4th ed. (New York: Paulist Press, 2016), pp. 220-229. 11 Cf. Isaiah 45:13. 6

(Matthews & Benjamin 224), which help support some of the historical claims of the post-exilic biblical literature. AGAINST THE GODS 12 Canaanite Motifs In his chapter, John Currid examines the proposition that many accounts, from origins to theological claims, in the biblical texts rest upon the claim that “Hebrew writers merely borrowed numerous Canaanite motifs of theology and applied them to Yahweh, with minimal discrimination, for, in reality, Israelites were probably Canaanites originally,” (Currid 131), or whether something else entirely is at play. Currid examines literature that is classified specifically as Canaanite in origin, namely that of Ugarit. Many varieties exist, from legal records and international diplomatic correspondence to those texts that directly address Ugaritic theology and religion. Rather than seeing the parallels in the Hebrew Bible as necessarily demanding reliance and adaptation of Ugaritic motifs for worship of Yahweh, Currid argues for the concept of polemical theology that utilizes the motifs and patterns of Ugaritic claims in order to displace them. In other words, use of the claims made in Ugaritic religious texts, such as that of Baal as the god of weather, is utilized to deny the claims made of Baal and apply them accurately to Yahweh. This is not to say that polemical theology is always the answer to the parallels or similarities. This does press the idea that the idea should be considered since the overall worldview of the biblical authors does not match that of their contemporaries. ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN THEMES IN BIBLICAL THEOLOGY 13 The Covenantal Household: Destruction and Salvation 12 John D. Currid, Against the Gods: The Polemical Theology of the Old Testament (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2013), pp. 131-142. 13 Jeffrey J. Niehaus, Ancient Near Eastern Themes in Biblical Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic, 2008), pp. 138-176. 7

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Jeffrey Niehaus draws attention to the concept of households in the Hebrew Bible, whether presenting households/nations experiencing destruction or salvation. This motif of corporate continuity is not seen to be a unique belief among the people of Israel. For instance, Niehaus sees clear evidence for the idea of corporate unity in Egypt when he reports that it can be observed that “the concept of household judgment was familiar in Egypt because it appears in the Pyramid Texts, in Egyptian annals, and in a royal mortuary papyrus” (Niehaus 140). Niehaus reports that this “corporate solidarity form” observed among the Israelites and Egyptians can also be observed among the Hittites (in contrast with a “internecine warfare” motif). Additionally, the importance of the cultural ideas spreading outward can also be observed since the “same ethos apparent in Egypt and Hatti can be documented abundantly in Assyria” (Niehaus 150). The association of punishment within a household has parallels across the cultures and finds evidence in the Hebrew Bible across many narratives and cultural situations. Blessings and curse language is observable in various literatures, with which biblical authors participate actively and with fervor. 8