Text and transmission : an empirical model for the literary development of Old Testament narratives

The immense religious importance of the Old Testament imposes a great responsibility on the exegete. Since his results are inseparably bound to his presuppositions, a thorough and continuous examination of the latter is essential. The need for a discussion of appropriate methodology is illustrated by the variety of results provided by source-critical studies of the same narratives. The present work, a slightly revised version of the Ph.D. thesis submitted to the University of Liverpool March 1991, aims to contribute to this discussion by suggesting a possible analogy to the transmission of Old Testament narratives. Two basic assumptions are made: 1. analogies between the transmission of Ancient Near Eastern texts and Old Testament narratives are possible and 2. if the evidence is inconclusive, a hypothesis based on a valid empirical model is to be preferred. Since general tendencies of development have to be isolated, many passages of Ancient Near Eastern texts had to be referred to, which because of space limitations could not all be quoted verbatim. The reader is thus referred to the publications of these texts noted in the relevant passages. I. Methodological Considerations II. Previously Proposed Analogies III. A New Analogy: Assyrian Royal Annals IV. Application of Results V. Conclusions Appendix I: The Chronicler's Vorlage Appendix II: Discourse Profiles Appendix III: Participant Orientation Patterns Appendix IV - Ahab in 1 Kgs. 22