Have We Canceled Aseneth?
Ok, ok ... I confess. The title is a bit much. On a week when so many people have stressed the importance of ensuring their kids can play with *gendered* potatoes and that they continue to see illustrations of racist stereotypes whenever they please, asking if we have canceled a little-known biblical character is, admittedly, low-hanging fruit. (It's also clickbait. And if you bit, welcome! Stick around and join the fun.)
Now What? On Historical-Criticism, the OT, and the Nagging Question, “Did Any of It Happen?”
I'm scheduled to teach a seminary class on the Old Testament this spring. It's an intro course, so it's a lot of high-level nerd content about dates and setting and authorship and genre and historical context. (Be still, my heart.) To prepare, I've been pre-teaching the material to interested church folks and facebook friends on Tuesday nights. It's actually been really helpful. So … shoutout to the Tuesday night crew! (Many thanks.)
Six weeks in, here's what I've learned: historical-critical scholarship is pretty jarring for evangelicals …
Joseph, he’s so hot right now.
The Bible describes Joseph, innocuously enough, as "well-built and handsome."
This is a rare description of a man in the Bible, though interestingly (but unsurprisingly), it is the same description used to describe his mom's attractiveness as well. They were both "comely in features and comely to look at" (Alter) or "attractive/handsome in body and in look" (Goldingay).
A Divine Council?
In the Old Testament, the image of a “divine council” is surprisingly common.
To help you get an image in your mind … think of a board meeting in a fancy office with a big mahogany table. It’s like that, but the meeting is chaired by Yahweh, who sits at the head of the table. Seated around the table to Yahweh’s right and left are his divine “aides and representatives,” who are involved with what is going on in the world, but who are firmly under Yahweh’s rule. Together, they meet and discuss Yahweh’s plans.
On Hearing the Same Story Three Times
Have you ever been reading the Bible, and you think to yourself, "Didn't I just read this?"
Believe me, it happens ... especially when you've just finished Samuel-Kings in your "read the Bible in a year" plan and then you turn the page only to start Chronicles. After 9 chapters on genealogy (!), it sets you right back in the story of Saul and David!
Moses, Sargon, and the Context of the Bible
The story of Moses’ birth utilizes a common ancient Near Eastern literary motif known as the “exposed infant.” That’s scholar speak for “there are other (roughly contemporaneous) stories that look very similar to this one.” In fact, Donald Redford has identified more than 30 ancient Near Eastern stories that incorporate some variant of this motif.
Apparently, the “exposed infant” trope was a thing.