The Art of Biblical Narrative (BIBHEB 208/528)
Prof. S. Noegel
http://faculty.washington.edu/snoegel/index.html
Course Description:
Examines the language, style, and literary sophistication of a number of biblical mythic and historical narratives and correlates close readings of these texts in the original Hebrew language with various interpretations they have received since antiquity.
Prerequisites:
BIBHEB 103/513 or evidence of knowledge of biblical Hebrew at the appropriate level as administered by a test.
Learning Objectives:
Students will be able to 1) improve their linguistic understanding of ancient Hebrew texts (e.g., lexicon, grammar, syntax, etc.); 2) appreciate the relationship between the literary features that inform prose/narrative texts and those found in poetry (studied during the quarter prior); 3) articulate the different ways that the narrative texts have been received and/or interpreted since antiquity.
Grades:
Graduate students: preparation and participation (15%), research paper (85%)
Research Paper:
Each graduate student will be expected to complete a research essay (approx. 20 pages, double spaced, 12 pt. font, not including bibliography). At the head of your article you must include an Abstract of no longer than 150 words (also not counted among the pages), and a separate line the offers 7 key words that one might conceivably use to search for your article electronically. The bibliography should be substantial and directly relevant to your paper, and wherever possible, it should incorporate foreign language resources that reflect your chosen research language(s).
The themes of the seminar should provide broad focal points for your research. We shall agree on the topic by no later than the start of the third week of classes. The topics should be typed and should clearly state the problem you are investigating (and not just a title or vague description of your research). A first draft of this essay will be due on the last day of the course. You should think of this draft as a completed essay, and one that contains no gaps, or lack of citation, etc. I will provide you with some additional time to rework the draft after I have read it. Together we will schedule a date for submitting the final version (only as a pdf via email). No late papers will be accepted. For a detailed explanation of what I expect in a research paper see my “Writing Tips” online at:
http://faculty.washington.edu/snoegel/writing-tips-ANE.pdf
I will expect that you have read this Writing Tips document closely and have applied its tips systematically to your research papers before handing them in. Be sure also to make use of the resource bibliography at:
http://faculty.washington.edu/snoegel/hebrew.html
Note: Each module below does not correlate to a particular period of time, as some will take a day or two to cover, while others will extend over several class times.
Readings
I will provide all of the readings in pdf format. You will find them in the canvas site under “files.”
Module One: Narratives of Primordial Wickedness
Two etiological pericopes will be our focus for this module: the brief account of the nephilim (Gen 6:1-8, Num 13:33), which offers an explanation for why Yahweh brought the deluge, and the Tower of Babel story (Gen 11:1-9), which accounts for the diaspora of humankind after the great flood. The two accounts serve as bookends to the deluge myth, providing justifications for Yahweh’s actions. We will read the two accounts together for their connections and literary brilliance. Both represent paradigms in “poetic” conciseness.
Read
Gary A. Rendsburg, The Redaction of Genesis (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1986/2014), pp. xiii-xxii, 7-25. (I have given you the entire book divided by chapters for your personal interest.)
Module Two: Jacob and Esau Cycle
Our readings here focus on several biblical accounts concerning the twins Jacob and Esau (Gen 25:19-34, 26:32-27:46, 32:4-33:20). These include the stories of their birth, their following out over the birthright and father’s blessing, and their eventual reconciliation. The art of biblical narrative is everywhere present in the repetition and variation inherent in the dialogues, and in the way that the latter accounts recall previous ones. We also will look closely at the ways that the omniscient narrator encourages particular paths of interpretation. Also examined will be the use of certain linguistic particles to shift perspective.
Read
Adele Berlin, Poetics and Interpretation of Biblical Narrative (Sheffield: Almond Press, 1983), pp. 23-42 (character types and characterization). (I have given you the entire book divided by chapters for your personal interest.)
Gary A. Rendsburg, The Redaction of Genesis (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1986/2014), pp. 53-69.
Module Three: The Ten Plagues
The story of the ten plagues of Egypt (Exodus 7-12) has ispired the imagination of filmmakers for many decades. However, a close reading of the text reveals little in common with its cinematic counterparts. Nevertheless, the account of the plagues is a masterpiece of Israelite narrative that simultaneously contains several different compositional structures. It thus also permits us to view them from different perspectives, each of which find support in the text. It can be read as a five sets of two plagues, or three sets of three plagues plus one, or two sets of five plagues, or a series of ten plague in which the seventh and tenth are the most important. We will pay special attention tot he use of these compositional divisions and to the story’s use of literary suspense and climax. Finally, since the text informs us that the plagues represent attacks against the gods of Egypt, we will look at the Egyptian deities represented by each plague.
Read
Nahum M. Sarna, Exploring Exodus: The Heritage of Biblical Israel (New York: Schocken Books, 1986), pp. 63-80.
Scott B. Noegel, “The Significance of the Seventh Plague,” Biblica 76 (1995), pp. 532-539.
Jonathan Grossman, “The Structural Paradigm of the Ten Plagues Narrative and the Hardening of Pharaoh’s Heart,” Vetus Testamentum 64 (2014), pp. 588-610.
Meir Sternberg, The Poetics of Biblical Narrative: Ideological Literature and the Drama of Reading (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1999), pp. 390-393.
Scott B. Noegel, “Moses and Magic: Notes on the Book of Exodus,” Journal of the Ancient Near Eastern Society 24 (1996), pp. 45-59.
Module Four: Samson Cycle
Like the ten plagues, the story of Samson has encouraged many Hollywood spin-offs. However, the many literary devices found in the cycle of Samson cannot be reflected on the silver screen. Our study of the cycle (Judges 13-16) will consider the narrator’s point of view, the use of foreshadowing, plot development, and the subtle ways that the stories invoke Near Eastern solar myths (not the least of which is Samson’s name “Sun”). His story is a classic tragedy cloaked in heroic epic. Epic components include Samson’s super-human strength, the use of hyperbolic numbers, and the extraordinary military campaigns that Samson wins single handedly. Poetic elements in the saga include an emphasis on the direct object and use of anacolouthons in direct discourse, rhetorical tropes, as well as riddles. Animals also play an interesting literary role in the plot.
Read
Adele Berlin, Poetics and Interpretation of Biblical Narrative (Sheffield: Almond Press, 1983), pp. 43-82 (point of view).
Meir Sternberg, The Poetics of Biblical Narrative: Ideological Literature and the Drama of Reading (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1999), pp. 475-481.
Marian Broida, “Closure in Samson,” Journal of Hebrew Scriptures 10 (2012), pp. 2-34.
Module Five: Tales of David
Two tales of David will serve as objects of study for this module. Both give very different accounts of the first time that king Saul met David. In the first (1 Sam 16:14-23), David is summoned to the court of king Saul to play the lyre for him and soothe the torment he was receiving from an evil spirit. In the second (1 Samuel 17), Saul learns who David is only after he kills the giant Goliath. Reading the two texts together will raise questions about how they relate and why the two accounts were included in the Saul cycle. The two stories, in particular the battle against Goliath, contain many literary devices, including ekphrasis, repetition and variation, and foreshadowment, as well as a number of Near Eastern type scenes. The Aegean origins of the Philistine Goliath also have led scholars to read the battle against the backdrop of Greek epic and myth. Such considerations will be our focus for this module.
Read
Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible. Volume 2: The Prophets. A Translation and Commentary (New York/London: W. W. Norton & Company, 2019), pp. 239-251.
Moshe Garsiel, “The Valley of Elah Battle and the Duel of David with Goliath: Between History and Artistic Theological Historiography,” in G. Galil, et al., eds., Homeland and Exile: Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies in Honour of Bustenay Oded (VTSup, 130; Leiden: Brill, 2009) pp. 391-426.
Module Six: Tales of Absalom
Stories about David’s son Absalom (2 Samuel 13-18), and his attempted revolt have been mined more for their historical value far more than their literary merit. Nevertheless, they are some of the most artistic narratives in the Hebrew Bible. They achieve moments of suspension and climax and many forms of irony. One finds a clever use of key words and themes, subtle shifts in dialogue, and a sophisticated interplay between instructions and the ways they are carried out. The accounts of Absalom employ deep and shallow characters, naming and non-naming as devices of focus, character and plot development, and deep expressions of pathos. As the accounts also involve David, we will be able to examine these texts against the backdrop of the previous module.
Read
Jonathan Grossman, “The Design of the ‘Dual Causality’ Principle in the Narrative of Absalom’s Rebellion,” Biblica 88 (2007), pp. 558-566.
Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible. Volume 2: The Prophets. A Translation and Commentary (New York/London: W. W. Norton & Company, 2019), pp. 222-238, 251-255.
Module Seven: The Job Frame Tale
This module allows us to return to the narrative portions of a text whose poetic chapters we studied fairly extensively last quarter. The prologue and epilogue (Job 1-2, 42:7-17) constitute a frame tale, a prosaic literary genre of inclusio that encourages readers to interpret the lengthy poetic text in surrounds in certain ways. We will examine the linguistic and literary elements that permit the frame texts to achieve this. The frame narratives also contain their own compositional structures that contribute to the way we interpret them. Our study of these texts also will consider Yahweh, the satan, Job, and the narrator, as literary characters, each portrayed from a particular perspective, not just with regard to each other theologically, but in terms of physical placement. In essence, as the narrative unfolds, we find ourselves seeing them from different perspectives, close, afar, in front, behind, etc.
Read
Paul K.-K. Cho, “Job 2 and 42:7–10 as Narrative Bridge and Theological Pivot,” Journal of Biblical Literature 136 (2017), pp. 857-877.
Avi Hurvitz, “The Date of the Prose-Tale of Job Linguistically Reconsidered,” The Harvard Theological Review 67 (1974), pp. 17- 34.
Module Eight: The Book of Ruth
This shory story of only four chapters takes its name from the main figure in the story, a non-Israelite who marries an Israelite and eventually becomes an ancestor of king David. Composed many centuries after David, the text’s emphasis on tolerance regarding intermarriage likely has its context in a time when such practices were deemed controversial. The book contains elements that belong to drama, romance, and even comedy, and its literary structure is largely chiastic in form. Despite being written entirely in prose, the book contains many poetic features including parallelism, numerical patterns, paronomasia and polysemy of many kinds. Some of the dialogues also evince the rhetorical art of persuasion. Such features will be the main focus of our study.
Read
Adele Berlin, Poetics and Interpretation of Biblical Narrative (Sheffield: Almond Press, 1983), pp. 83-110 (Book of Ruth).
Module Nine: The Book of Esther
Generically speaking, the book of Esther is something of a short story. In terms derived from the discipline, it is a historicized wisdom tale. Its ten chapters are replete with plot and character development, points of view, use of female intermediaries, irony, type scenes, satire, and well-defined protagonists and antagonists. Many have also pointed out that the figures of Mordechai and Esther are Hebrew reflections of the Mesopotamian deities Marduk and Ishtar, which has encouraged some to read the Babylonian account of creation (Enuma elish) as an intertext. Since the story is set in Persia, the text also has been read as serving to construct Jewish identity in the diasporsa. Finally, the story has many parallels with later Greek literature. Indeed, the richness of the book of Esther lies in its cultural multivalency. We will read the book with close attention to all such features.
Read
Adele Berlin, The JPS Bible Vommentary—Esther (Philadelphia, PA: Jewish Publication Society, 2001), pp. xv-xli, lvii-lviii.
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Other Administrative Matters
Note: Terms of Preference
In this course, intellectual curiosity and discussion are expected. This is a safe class where inclusion is the norm. I recognize that the question of gender inclusion in language instruction is vital to the creation of classrooms that are free from prejudice and exclusion. If you prefer a particular pronoun or set of pronouns, please feel free to let me know via email.
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Note: UW Grading Policy
https://www.washington.edu/students/gencat/front/Grading_Sys.html
Note: Student Academic Responsibility (cheating, plagiarsism, etc.)
https://depts.washington.edu/grading/pdf/AcademicResponsibility.pdf
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“Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available at Religious Accommodations Policy (https://registrar.washington.edu/staffandfaculty/religious-accommodations-policy/). Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form (https://registrar.washington.edu/students/religious-accommodations-request/).”
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To all students in this course: if you have any concerns about the class, try to resolve them first with your professor. If the matter is not resolved that way, you can turn to the Chair of the NELC Department (Prof. Naomi Sokoloff, naosok@uw.edu). If the matter is not resolved that way, there are other resources available to students to resolve complaints or grievances, including Humanities Academic Services https://hasc.washington.edu/, the Bias Reporting Tool, https://www.washington.edu/bias/, the Office of the Ombud, https://www.washington.edu/ombud/, the University Complaint and Resolution Office, https://www.washington.edu/compliance/uciro/, and Disability Resources, https://depts.washington.edu/uwdrs/complaint-mediation/
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