User:ProfGray/312/ExNihilo

Battle of Gibeah additions

General and intro edits

Coogan, Michael. The Old Testament: A Historical and Literary Introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures (Third ed.). Oxford University Press.

DM Blair (talk) 20:19, 11 February 2015 (UTC)

Covenant paraphrases

Mendenhall:
Brianna: historical origins of the covenant

Jacob: monarchic breakdown of the covenant

Sheila: comparison between Hittite suzerain treaties and the Decalogue

Karina: rediscovery of covenant/Moses

Weinfeld:
Brianna: overview of differences between treaties and grants

Jacob: etymological evidence of why the covenants are grants

Sheila: Abraham and Davidic covenants as grants

Karina: Assyrians and the treaty

Wife sister narratives

For Wife–sister narratives in the Book of Genesis:

Political marriages were common occurrences in the Near East during the second and first millennia B.C.E., which typically meant that a resident alien would offer one of his daughters to the monarch as a diplomatic action and to protect himself and his family. In every wife-sister narrative found in the Book of Genesis, Abraham and Isaac are traveling in foreign territory without any daughters to offer the local ruler. Therefore, in declaring that their wives were actually sisters, they attempted to create similar diplomatic relationships.

User:Sctimmons (talk) 20:30, 16 February 2015 (UTC)

• Sctimmons I would suggest omitting the word "every" and adding the word "the" and changing "wife-sister narrative" to the plural form. The word "every" suggests that there are more beyond the stated examples but the word "the" implies a defiant amount. Also, the narratives in Genesis involved just Abraham and Sarah, without Isaac, in two, and one narrative that is only Isaac and Rebekah, without Isaac and Rebekah (in reference to the statement "In every wife-sister narrative found in the Book of Genesis, Abraham and Isaac are traveling...).ZarathustraSay20 (talk) 20:40, 16 February 2015 (UTC)

There is strong evidence, through Biblical exegesis and semantics, that the union of Abraham and Sarah was actually incestuous with Sarah being Abraham's half-sister. For example, in Genesis 20: 13, Abraham, talking to Abimelech, alludes to Leviticus laws or the Holiness code, by using the the phrase "lovingkindness." The same word is found referring to the sin of incestuous relationships and can also take the alternative meaning of "disgrace." Abraham, in his discourse with Abimelech, could be openly confessing his "disgraceful" relations with his wife/sister Sarah but whichever translation of the word is taken, it shows Abraham's knowledge of the Holiness code and specifically the clauses pertaining to incest found within Leviticus.[2] ZarathustraSay20 (talk) 20:31, 16 February 2015 (UTC)

• Hi User:ZarathustraSay20, this looks pretty good! Maybe you could add a little more background on the Holiness code (or a link to a Wikipedia page if it exists). Sctimmons (talk) 20:39, 16 February 2015 (UTC)
• As I said on his Sandbox, the opening could sound too much like a Wikipedia conclusion (i.e., reflecting all views), whereas it might be better to attribute this right away to the scholar who makes the claim. Same issue with "actually," which also seems to overlook that this is a mythic narrative not history. Overall, agreed that this is a strong entry. ProfGray

According to "The Three Wife-Sister Tales of Genesis," the author elaborates on the comparison between the three tales and folklore. The stories overlap in a manner so that they share the plot but expand on each other none the less. The question is raised as to who the audience is intended to be and who would benefit most from the morals stemmed in these stories of deception. The validity of the story is also questioned die to a lack of historical proof not associated with the bible. This poses a debate regarding whether the tales of the wife-sisters are true historic events or rather tales used to convey a particular message regarding deception, adultery and more.

1. Niditch, Susan. 1987. Underdogs and tricksters: a prelude to biblical folklore, Pages 23-50. San Francisco: Harper & Row.

• Hey User:Sunshine619, your paragraph looks good! One thing that could be talked about a little more was your reference to shared plots and how they "expand on each other." Nice job! kk_1291 (talk) 13:06, 18 February 2015 (UTC)

DeHoop, the author of "The Use of the Past to Address the Present: The Wife-Sister Narratives," claims that many stories of Genesis including the wife-sister narratives were written as a precursor to events of Israelite history. He states that the events taking place in Genesis are written in a specific "narrated time" instead of the actual time the author wrote the stories. This differentiation presents a question of the chronological timeline versus the historical timeline. The legitimization of events was brought into focus due to the assumption of the possibility of the wife-sister narratives being an allegorical piece of work. The final possibility was that these three narratives were considered to be partially true while the other parts of the narratives were fictionalized. DeHoop, Raymond. 1998. The Use of the Past to Address the Present: The Wife-Sister Narratives, Pages 359-369. kk_1291 (talk)

• "DeHoop claims…" is sufficient. Article name is in the ref. To be more concise, skip the "many stories of Genesis including" part. "This differentiation presents a question of the chronological timeline versus the historical timeline." -- not sure what this adds, though I'm glad you get it! Next sentence, copy edit for clarity, with simpler grammatical subject, denominalize legitimization for the reader. Good work -- but are you missing his point about it being a precursor to a particular time in Israelite history? Let me know if these comments are helpful. ProfGray
• Hi User:kk_1291, I really enjoyed your insight regarding the three Wife-Sister narratives! However, it's slightly vague and I think your paragraph would benefit a lot if you included approximate dates or centuries to give readers a stronger understanding of the timeline you are discussing. Sunshine619 (talk) 18:44, 25 February 2015 (UTC)Sunshine619

Covenant

Hey group! Below is my reference for the Mosaic Covenant article:

kk_1291 (talk)

ZarathustraSay20 (talk) 19:19, 2 March 2015 (UTC)

I found this website as well which has been helpful for my understanding of the Covenant relations. Check it out if you'd like!

(Linked below, author is Robert D. Miller II) Sunshine619 (talk) 17:58, 4 March 2015 (UTC)