Traditions at Odds explores the Pentateuch's literary influence on other biblical texts. There exist a number of content discrepancies between pentateuchal and non-pentateuchal texts that treat the same subject. Through a detailed analysis, the author argues that the discrepancies are not alterations of pentateuchal material, as is generally argued, but rather indications of independent traditions. Thus, much of biblical literature was written outside of the Pentateuch's purview. Corroborating evidence is found in literature from the Second Temple Period, which also exhibits a lack of conformity to the Pentateuch. After demonstrating this independence, this study explores its implications on the composition of biblical texts and the process of canonization.

Marked by an interdisciplinary approach, the study incorporates recent theoretical developments in literary and ideological criticism, as well as ritual, historiography and textual citation. It not only provides a broader base of study, but serves to address a deficiency in biblical studies: most studies of intertextuality operate with little theoretical grounding, while studies in ritual or historiography are based on models from the late 19th/early 20th centuries.

John H. Choi holds a Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible and Ancient Near East from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, Ohio. Previouis publications include A Guide to Biblical Hebrew Syntax, co-authored with Bill T. Arnold.

Chapter One: Introduction and Statement of Purpose

Chapter Two Methodology

Critique of the Linear Model of Composition

Alternatives to a Linear Model

Methodology

A Note about Second Temple Period Literature

Chapter Three: Festivals and Holidays

A Theory of Ritual

Festivals and Holidays in the Bible

Pesach and Matsoth

Sukkoth

Sabbath

Festivals and Holidays in the Second Temple Period

Conclusion

Chapter Four: Non-Pentateuchal Historical Retrospectives

The Bible and Historiography

Non-Pentateuchal Historiographic Texts

Psalm 78

Psalm 105

The Plagues in Psalms 78 and 105

Psalm 106

Joshua 24

Ezekiel 20

Nehemiah 9

Historiography in the Second Temple Period

Ben Sira 44-45

The Genesis Apocryphon

The Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum of Pseudo-Philo

"Competitive Historiography" of Jewish-Hellenistic Historians

The Book of Jubilees

Conclusion

Chapter Five: The Pentateuch as Torah

The Role of Literacy in the Ancient World

"Direct Citations" of "Instruction"

Deuteronomic Literature

Prophetic Literature

Post-Exilic Historiographic Texts

"Instruction" in the Psalms and Wisdom Literature

Competing Conceptions of "Instruction" in the Second Temple Period

Conclusion

Chapter Six: A Look Ahead

Bibliography

Scripture Index

Author Index