Literary and Historical approaches to the Torah / Pentateuch

Module Description:

This module is concerned to address a literary tradition that has exerted a profound influence on Jewish and Christian religious expressions from antiquity to the present: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. On the one hand, historical questions related to the formation of the Torah from the Babylonian Exile (c. 600 BCE) to its completion in the Persian Period (c. 400 BCE) will be asked, as well as related issues about its composition and use of sources. On the other hand, introducing the Torah as it was translated (i.e. Pentateuch), interpreted (i.e. reception history), and commented upon as a completed literary whole in antiquity will also be studied.

Indicative bibliography:

Blenkinsopp, J., The Pentateuch: An Introduction to the First Five Books of the Bible (New York: Doubleday, 1992).
Campbell, A.F. and O’Brien, M.A., Sources of the Pentateuch: Texts, Introductions, Annotations (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1993).
Knight, D.A., “Pentateuch,” in D.A. Knight and G.M. Tucker (eds.), The Hebrew Bible and Its Modern Interpreters (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1985) pp. 263–96.
Mann, T.W., The Book of the Torah: The Narrative Integrity of the Pentateuch (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1988).
Whybray, R.N., Introduction to the Pentateuch (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Press, 1995).

Module Learning Outcomes:

On successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Outline the different methods and approaches brought to the study of the Torah/Pentateuch (esp. source criticism, literary formation, and history of interpretation).
• Summarize the central literary features of the larger sections of the Torah/Pentateuch.
• Articulate basic features of the Pentateuchal text in the Priestly, Yahwistic, and Elohistic sources.
• Evaluate the social contexts in which the Pentateuchal literature was written, especially exilic and post-exilic.

Methods of Assessment

1,500 word essay and end of year examination