Tuesday at the SBL
The final day of the SBL began with me at the Pentateuch section. This was the second Pentateuch section that was held together with the Deuteronomistic History session. Although four presenters were scheduled, Mark Zvi Brettler and Albert De Pury were not able to attend. So, we only heard two papers, but fortunately they were both very good.
Thomas B. Dozeman’s paper “The Golden Calf in the Enneateuch” was first. The is probably the best paper I heard at the conference, mostly because he combined excellent scholarship and new interpretive approaches in a paper that was logically organized and easy to follow. He discussed the passages that discuss the Golden Calf: Exodus 32, Deuteronomy 9-10, and 1 Kings 12. He argues that Exodus 32 is the latest of these and is engaged in innerbiblical exegesis on the other two texts.
This has implications for some of the work I am doing. Obviously, Exodus 32, which is non-P, is pro-Levite and anti-Aaronid. This would suggest that it was composed around the same time as texts such as Ezekiel 44 and the reworking of Numbers 16-18 by HS. It seems a part of a larger dialog taking place in the post-exilic period about the place of the Levites.
The second paper was “The Envisioning of the Land in the Priestly Material: Fulfilled Promise or Future Hope?” by Suzanne Boorer. She argued that Priestly material does not continue into the book of Joshua, which leaves the promise of the land unfulfilled in the Priestly document. Although it was a good paper, I disagree with her. As I argued in a paper last year at the EABS, I think there is a good deal of P in Joshua 13-21. But I do agree with Boorer that at some point the promise of land was broken off when Joshua was removed in the process that created the Pentateuch out of the Hexateuch.
Some of the discussion surrounding the papers was helpful for my own thought process. One idea that came to me is that the Priestly layers in Joshua might have been added by HS in the post-exilic period in order to encourage people to return to Judah/Yehud from Babylon. A focus on the land would make sense at that point.
After a quick run through the book sale, I headed to the Kansas City Barbecue place across from the Hyatt. Some scenes from the movie Top Gun were filmed there, and being an aficionado of barbecue I thought I should give it a try. The barbecue was OK, but not quite up to the standards of North Carolina, although the sweet potato pie I had for desert was excellent.
I will be heading to the airport this afternoon. I have a red-eye flight back tonight at 11:00 pm.
Next year in Jerusalem Boston!