LITERARY FORM
Baruch Bokser, "Talmudic form Criticism", JJS 31.1
(1980), 46-60. - A succinct and valuable analysis of Form Criticism and
its assumptions and tasks and possible achievements as this pertains to
rabbinic Literature. Bokser distinguishes various techniques, formulae and
investigative procedures. The examples are mostly drawn from the master
Samuel's teachings, on which Bokser has contributed a monograph (Samuel's
Commentary on the Mishnah), and other studies; see AJSRev
4 (1979). Among various observations, particularly of note is Bokser's observation
that the received dispute form in rabbinic literature is not necessarily
original, and may result from juxtaposed traditions, themselves subsequently
reworked. (M.F.)
P.E. Dion, "'Tu feras disparaître le Mal du Milieu de toi'",
RB 87 (1980), 321-349. - In 1963 J. L'Hour examined the laws which end
with the formula ubi'arta hara miqqirbeka "so you shall purge
the evil from the midst of you" (Biblica 44 (1963), 1-28), cf.
Deut. 13:2-6, 17:2-7, etc. He concluded that these laws contained casuistic
legislation which was authentically Yahwistic and of great age. Dion modifies
L'Hour's conclusions. He provides a new examination of these formulations,
including Phoenician (KAI 26) and Akkadian parallels (Gilgamesh,
Prologue to Hammurabi's law code). He calls attention to the "formula
of dissuasion" which sometimes accompanies the bi'arta formula
(Deut. 17:12-13, 19:19-20, 21:12). The two formulas reflect different
attitudes: the bi'arta aims to extirpate the evil, for the preservation
of the community; the dissuasion intends to prevent the repetition of the
wrongdoing. (J.D.)
Pinchas Doron, "Motive Clauses in the Laws of Deuteronomy: Their
Forms, Functions, and Contents", Hebrew Annual Review 2 (1978),
61-77; see OTA 9/2 (1986), no.507.
B.S. Jackson, "Legal Drafting in the Ancient Near East in the
Light of Modern Theories of Cognitive Development", Mélanges
à la mémoire de Marcel-Henri Prévost (Paris: Presses
Universitaires de France, 1982), 49-66. - The history of legal drafting
is here considered in the light of theories of language acquisition, and
particularly the cognitive development theory of Piaget. Examples are given
of development in drafting from the treatment in a single clause of only
one variable to the combination of multiple variables, the development of
motive clauses, the phenomenon of "completomania", the development
of consistency in the use of drafting forms, the growth of integration,
as shown in paragraphing devices, the development of abstraction (Daube's
examples of the "action noun" and the "diagnosis form").
A pilot comparison is attempted of the cognitive characteristics of different
biblical law documents, and the approaches applied to the history of the
homicide sources in the Bible. In the course of discussing many of the examples,
comparison is made with the form-critical approach. A related article, with
greater emphasis on the theoretical base of this approach ("Historical
Aspects of Legal Drafting in the Light of Modern Theories of Cognitive Development"),
is published in International Journal of Law and Psychiatry 3 (1980),
349-369. (B.S.J.)
Bent Mogensen, Israelitiske leveregler og deres begrundelse,
Gad, København, 1983, ISBN 87-12-07111-0, Pp. 286, Price: 146 Dkr.
- This book on Israelite Behaviour Maxims and their justifications in the
Old Testament was accepted as a licentiate dissertation in Aarhus. It discusses
examples of behaviour maxims from OT, Egyptian wisdom - and a well-known
Danish book (by Emma Gad) on good manners. The author analyses the form
and content of the OT maxims and divides into two groups: 1. Proverbs, Ecclesiastes;
2. the Decalogue, the Book of the Covenant, the Holiness Code, Deuteronomy
- each of which having its own characteristics. The book ends up with a
stimulating survey of the history of research of the field. (K.N.)
Jacob Neusner, "Redaction, Formulation, and Form: The Case of
Mishnah", JQR 70.3 (1980), 131-47. - Neusner stresses that our
estimation of the plan and program of the formation of the Mishnah must
be derived from internal evidence, and also start with the end-product,
working backward from there to the earliest units, his 'cognitive units'.
In his essay Neusner seeks to clarify the procedures whereby he obtained
the results noted in his Redaction and Formulation of the Order of Purities
in Mishnah and Tosefta (Leiden, 1977). Neusner discusses the thematic
nature of Mishnah's organisation, and the logical exposition from primary
to secondary and tertiary refinements. He also notes the relationship of
this to stylistics. The principles of organisation of Tosefta are different,
and the question must always be asked just how it is related to Mishnah.
Comments by Richard Sarason appear on pp. 147-52. (M.F.)
Rifat Sonsino, Motive Clauses in Hebrew Law, Biblical Forms and
Near Eastern Parallels, Chico Ca.: Scholars Press, 1980, Pp. xix, 336,
ISBN 0-89130-0 (318-9 pkb.) (Society of Biblical Literature, Dissertation
Series 45). - This book seeks to provide a comprehensive, form-critical
account of the incidence of the motive clause in Biblical law. A preliminary
chapter assesses modern discussions of the forms of Biblical and ancient
Near Eastern laws in general, concluding that the background is usually
too blurred to reconstruct an original Sitz im Leben. The author
then turns to the motive clause in Biblical law. He distinguishes it from
both "explicative notes" and "legal parenesis"; his
definition nevertheless includes both justification of the content of the
law, and motives for its obedience. He finds a wide variety of formal characteristics
within motive clauses. In order to assess the distribution of motive clauses
in the different legal collections of the Bible, he provides guidelines
to the identification of the "individual legal prescription" (80-85).
He accepts that some subjective evaluation is inevitably involved in the
adoption of these criteria. One may add that the identification of the motive
clauses themselves is subject to the same difficulty. The net result is
that the statistics on the distribution of motive clauses should be treated
with extreme care. Nevertheless, the author has raised many questions which
call for more detailed study. His general conclusions, regarding the particular
incidence of motive clauses in "moral " and "political"
laws, as opposed to "cultic" and "civil" rules, is used
to explain the greater incidence of the motive clause in the Bible than
in the ancient Near Eastern collections. These latter, and their comparison
with the Biblical laws, are the subjects of separate chapters. The author
also draws conclusions for the literary-historical study of Biblical legal
texts: motive clauses are not restricted to late sources, and should not
be regarded as editorial additions merely because they are motive clauses.
For an interesting review article on this book, see B. Schwartz, JSS
28 (1983), 161-163. (B.S.J.)
Zipora Talshir, "The Detailing Formula 'Vezeh (Ha)davar ... '",
Tarbiz 41 (1982), iv, 23-36 (Heb.). - The author examines a formula
used to introduce detailed specification in both legal and non-legal passages.
She elaborates on its significance in a number of texts. (B.J.S.)
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