Stories in Scripture and Inscriptions Comparative Studies on Narratives in Northwest Semitic Inscriptions and the Hebrew Bible

by Parker, Simon

• ISBN13: 9780195116205
• ISBN10: 0195116208
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1997-11-27
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This book compares a variety of biblical narratives with the stories found in several Northwest Semitic inscriptions from the ancient kingdom of Judah and its contemporary Syro-Palestinian neighbors. In genre, language, and cultural context, these epigraphic stories are closer to biblical narratives than any other ancient Near Eastern narrative corpus. For the first time, Parker analyzes and appreciates these stories as narratives and sets them beside comparable biblical stories. He illuminates the narrative character and techniques of both epigraphic and biblical stories and in many cases reveals their original social context and purpose. In some cases, he is able to shed light on the question of the sources and composition of the larger work in which most of the biblical stories appear, the Deuteronomistic history. Against the claim that the genius of biblical prose narrative derives from the monotheism of the authors, he shows that the presence or absence of a divine role in each type of story is consistent throughout both biblical and epigraphic examples, and that, when present, the role of the deity is essentially the same both inside and outside the Bible, inside and outside Israel.

Table of Contents

Abbreviations	xi
ONE Introduction: Reading Biblical and Other Ancient Near Eastern Narratives	3	(10)
Approaches to Biblical Narratives	3	(3)
Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Narratives	6	(2)
Oral Storytelling in Ancient Israel and Judah	8	(3)
The Stories Treated in This Book	11	(2)
TWO Petitionary Narratives	13	(23)
The Mesad Hashavyahu Inscription	15	(3)
Petitionary Narratives in the Bible	18	(17)
2 Kings 8:1-6	18	(1)
2 Kings 4:1-7	19	(1)
1 Kings 3:16-27	20	(4)
2 Kings 6:24-30	24	(2)
2 Samuel 14:1-23	26	(4)
1 Kings 20:38-42	30	(1)
2 Samuel 12:1-7	31	(4)
Summary	35	(1)
THREE The Story of the Siloam Tunnel	36	(7)
The Siloam Tunnel Inscription	37	(2)
Stories of the Siloam Tunnel in the Bible	39	(3)
2 Kings 20:20a	40	(1)
2 Chronicles 32:30a	41	(1)
Ben Sirach 48:17	41	(1)
Summary	42	(1)
FOUR Stories of Military Campaigns	43	(33)
Stories of Military Campaigns in Inscriptions	44	(16)
The Inscription of Mesha	44	(14)
The Tel Dan and Sefire Inscriptions	58	(1)
Summary	59	(1)
Stories of Military Campaigns in the Bible	60	(14)
2 Kings 13-14	61	(5)
Joshua 10	66	(2)
2 Samuel 8	68	(5)
Excursus: 2 Samuel 10	73	(1)
Summary	74	(2)
FIVE Stories of Appeals for Military Intervention	76	(29)
Stories of Appeals for Military Intervention in Inscriptions	78	(11)
The Inscription of Kilamuwa	78	(5)
The Inscription of Bir-Rakib for His Father Panamuwa	83	(6)
Stories of Appeals for Military Intervention in the Bible	89	(13)
Historiographic Accounts	89	(10)
Didactic Literary Accounts	99	(3)
Summary	102	(3)
SIX Stories of Miraculous Deliverance from a Siege	105	(26)
The Inscription of Zakkur	106	(6)
Stories of Miraculous Deliverance from a Siege in the Bible	112	(15)
2 Kings 18:13-19:37	113	(7)
2 Kings 6:24-7:20	120	(4)
2 Kings 3:4-27	124	(3)
Summary	127	(4)
SEVEN Conclusion: The Roles of the Stories and the Role of the Deity	131	(12)
The Literary Character of the Stories	131	(4)
The Transmission of the Stories	135	(2)
The Role of the Deity in the Stories	137	(6)
Notes	143	(28)
Bibliography	171	(12)
Index of Ancient Sources	183	(7)
General Index	190