The authors of this volume study the last additions or revisions made to the first five books of the Hebrew Bible (Pentateuch) after the fifth century BCE.

Today agreement regarding the formation of the Pentateuch is no longer as widespread as it was when the documentary hypothesis was first proposed. Numerous scholars find that more recent periods of Israelite history - the exilic and post-exilic periods - are more likely to have been behind important sections of the Pentateuch. This has resulted in a major shift in scholarship: no longer is the remote past of Israelite history the only era, or even the primary era, during which the Pentateuch came into formation. Rather, the development of the Pentateuch continued down into the Persian and Hellenistic periods. During these centuries, the post-exilic community brought together the texts of their own cultural heritage and blended these ancient stories with ex novo additions that reflected their current historical situation. The result was the Pentateuch as we know it today. This volume focuses on these final redactions included in the biblical text after the Priestly materials. The purpose of these final additions was to complete that which was deemed necessary to recount, as well as to update, reorient, and, sometimes, to correct older materials containing ideas that were no longer compatible with the post-exilic time of the editors.

Autorentext
Born 1969; 2003 SSD Pontifical Biblical Institute, Rome; currently Associate professor of Old Testament Exegesis at the Pontifical Biblical Institute. Born 1965; professor of Old Testament and Ancient Judaism at the Faculty of Theology at the University of Zürich, Switzerland.

Klappentext

In the current conversation regarding the composition of the Pentateuch, there is mounting evidence of post-exilic redaction, which runs contrary to the conclusions of scholarship from the previous century. Many scholars today hold that the present form of the Pentateuch emerged in the post-exilic period, when Israel was under Persian and Hellenistic rule. The post-exilic community undertook the arduous task of gathering their literary and cultural heritage, which included ancient texts in combination with ex novo additions. The eventual result was the first five books of their scriptures in the present form. These post-exilic redactions, posterior to the Priestly contributions, are the focus of this volume.
Contributors:Reinhard Achenbach, Rainer Albertz, Joseph Blenkinsopp, David M. Carr, Jan C. Gertz, Federico Giuntoli, Bernard S. Jackson, Matthias Köckert, Christoph Levin, Bernard M. Levinson, Christophe Nihan, Eckart Otto, Alexander Rofé, Thomas Römer, Konrad Schmid, Ludwig Schmidt, Hans-Christoph Schmitt

Inhalt
Konrad Schmid: Von der Diaskeuase zur nachendredaktionellen Fortschreibung. Die Geschichte der Erforschung der nachpriesterschriftlichen Redaktionsgeschichte des Pentateuch - David M. Carr: Strong and Weak Cases and Criteria for Establishing the Post-Priestly Character of Hexateuchal Material - Reinhard Achenbach: How to Speak about GOD with Non-Israelites. Some Observations about the Use of Names for God by Israelites and Pagans in the Pentateuch - Rainer Albertz: The Formative Impact of the Hexateuch Redaction. An Interim Result - Bernard S. Jackson: Ruth, the Pentateuch and the Nature of Biblical Law in Conversation with Jean Louis Ska - Bernard M. Levinson: A Post-Priestly Harmonization in the Flood Narrative - Christoph Levin: Die Verheißungen an die Väter. Eine Bestandsaufnahme - Joseph Blenkinsopp: The "Covenant of Circumcision" (Gen 17) in the Context of the Abraham Cycle (Gen 11:27-25:11). Preliminary Considerations - Matthias Köckert: Gen 20-22 als nach-priesterliche Erweiterung der Vätergeschichte - Alexander Rofé: The Admonitions not to Leave the Promised Land in Genesis 24 and 26 and the Authorization in Genesis 46 - Thomas Römer: The Joseph Story: Pre- or Post-P? - Federico Giuntoli: Ephraim, Manasseh, and Post-Exilic Israel. A Study of the Redactional Expansions in Gen 48 Regarding Joseph's Sons - Jan C. Gertz: Zusammenhang, Trennung und Selbständigkeit der Bücher Genesis und Exodus im priesterlichen und nachpriesterlichen Pentateuch - Ludwig Schmidt: Der Stab des Mose in der vor- und nachpriesterlichen Redaktion des Pentateuch - Hans-Christoph Schmitt: Die "Sinai-Overtüre" in Ex 19,3b-9 als nachpriesterliche Verbindung zwischen Pentateuch und Vorderen Propheten. Mal'ak-, Hexateuch- oder Enneateuch-Fortschreibung? - Christophe Nihan: Moses' Song in Deuteronomy 32: A Post-Priestly Text? - Eckart Otto: The Integration of the Post-exilic Book of Deuteronomy into the Post-Priestly Pentateuch