Genesis 1-11 as a Test Case for the Diachronic Analysis of Biblical Texts and Their Dating

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Jan Christian Gertz
• Subject Area: Protestant Theology
• Term: from 2010 to 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 190635087

The aim oft he research project is a literary analysis of Genesis (Gen) 1-11. In the course of the analysis text-immanent observations on Gen 1-11 and issues of the reconstruction of the Pentateuch as whole will interpenetrate. Against the background of current queries to the classic documentary hypothesis scholars tend to investigate the connection of the texts of the Primeval History amongst themselves and to other text within and outside the Hebrew Bible to reconstruct a relative chronology of the texts. Here one had to reflect methodologically how the text-text references can be categorized and evaluated properly. The analysis of the Primeval History conducted in a monograph and several articles has shown that the classic two-source-hypothesis still offers the explanation for the older texts of Gen 1-11: Gen 2-4 and Gen 6-8 represent a formerly independent non-Priestly Primeval History. As far as the date of composition is concerned the terminus post quem is determined by the absorption of the prophecy of doom while the terminus ante quem is marked by late Wisdom literature which is - despite a similar topic - not received and the Priestly Source that - contrary to more recent proposals - does not precede the non-Priestly Primeval History. Both, 6th century P and the non-priestly Primeval History, tentatively dated to the period of the late monarchy exhibit knowledge of the Mesopotamian stories about the Flood and follow their structure in the sequence of creation and flood. The increasing late dating of the non-priestly texts, in contrast, is more able to explain the non-P texts in Gen 6:1-4; 9:18-27; 11:1-9 than the documentary hypothesis. The three texts presuppose the other priestly and non-priestly texts of the Primeval History - maybe even in the current context - and were composed for the current context using more or less explicit references to other text from the Hebrew Bible. In the final 12 month funding period, the results of the literary-historical and tradition-historical analysis will be summarized in a commentary and will - as part of the running annotation - subjected to a litmus test.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants