Mark Christian

LEVITES AND THE PLENARY RECEPTION OF REVELATION
MARK A. CHRISTIAN
Dissertation under the direction of Professor Douglas A. Knight
This project offers comprehensive theory to explain the origin of certain Pentateuchal passages that though few in number contrast sharply with the dominant traditions regarding the divine revelation at Mt. Sinai/Horeb. In the exegetical analyses of the germane passages, literary-historical and redactional models have been brought to bear and situated within the current international Pentateuchal debate. The research has both confirmed problems with wide-ranging redactional models and affirmed their necessity in explaining complex interweaving of contrasting viewpoints. Traditional notions of Pentateuchal authorship have left unsolved literary and literary-historical problems, especially with respect to the developmental stages apparent in the book of Deuteronomy, a text of critical importance for this study.
This dissertation has explored the connections between the prophetically linked tradition of the Plenary Reception of Revelation (PRR; Israelites received direct, unmediated revelation from God as a community) and non-elite levitical priest-prophets based outside of urban centers. The research has shown that they supported this tradition and negotiated with elite priestly supporters of the dominant tradition (the Israelite community did not receive direct but rather mediated divine revelation) in behalf of its survival among the received tradition.
In addition to literary analyses, the application of social (including archaeological), political, and legal theories have revealed a close working relationship between these Levites and lay leaders. Through their involvement in the making of Israelite literature, Levites saw to the inclusion of marginalized, “popular” traditions in the Hebrew Bible, which otherwise comprises a repository of traditions that affirms “official” perspectives. I have found the following “popular” traditions advocated by the Levites to be closely interconnected: the PRR, positive and perhaps repeated experiences of direct encounter with the divine, an expansive notion of Israelite sanctification, and a pronounced openness to alien integration. My research has provided a window through which both the scholars and general readers of the Hebrew Bible can better view the contributions of local, non-elite priests and their lay constituents to the culture and religion of ancient Israel.

Zeitschrift für Altorientalische und Biblische Rechtsgeschichte 20  2014, 281-89.

Article is part one of two articles reviewing Otto's Deuteronomium 1–11: Erster Teilband: 1,1-4,43; Zweiter Teilband: 4,44-11,32 (HKAT; Stuttgart: Herders, 2012).
Part One focuses on the Introduction to the commentary, the “Essentials.”  (Part two of the review follows in ZAR 2015)

Devotion to the goddess Tanit/Tinnit, a permutation of Astarte, took place in Mediterranean cave sanctuaries and on Phoenician ships. Employing both material and textual evidence, it is argued that her worship at sea and at port required a degree of religious competency of seamen that served as crew and combatants on trading vessels and military vessels, respectively. With the Phoenician priesthood centered in cities, coastal inhabitants would have depended on part-time officiants to supervise and perform certain rites. Reasons for the lack of mention in the literature of this non-elite class are proposed.

Zum Geleit (Preface to Wd0 43/2)
Die Herausgeber der „Welt des Orients“ freuen sich, dass mit dem vorliegenden Faszikel über „Permutations of Astarte“ nach WdO 40/2 (2010) bereits das zweite Themenheft der WdO erscheinen kann. Anders als das Themenheft von 2010 (Excavations at Qubur al-Walaydah, 2007–2009) ist das vorliegende Heft religionsgeschichtlich ausgerichtet. Unser Dank gilt
den Herausgebern des Themenheftes Prof. Dr. Mark Christian (Nashville) und Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Schmitt (Münster) für die Zusammenarbeit sowie dem Verlag, vertreten durch seinen LektorHerrn Jörg Persch und Frau Friederike Lonz, für die Unterstützung bei der Realisierung des Heftes.

Mainz, Heidelberg, Berlin undWürzburg am 1. Oktober 2013
Sebastian Grätz, Joachim Friedrich Quack, Bernd U. Schipper
und Daniel Schwemer
DieWelt des Orients, 43. Jahrgang, S. 149, ISSN 0043-2547
© 2013 Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht GmbH & Co. KG, Göttingen
"""

Study looks into expressions of maritime religion at Phoenician-
Punic coastal shrines and considers them opposite inland manifestations in mainland Phoenicia and south Lebanon. Historical, archaeological, and sociopolitical approaches bring shape and focus to the often diverging evidence.
Keywords: Tanit, Grotta Regina, Maritime Religion, Umm el-Amed

Authors of second-century works such as Tobit and 11QTa exemplify loyalty to Mosaic tradition through selective inclusion of earlier legal traditions. They also embrace the notion of the continuation of Mosaic revelation through inspired interpreters, intepretations of earlier traditions, and newly revealed "Mosaic Torah." Tobit's relationship to Mosaic law reflects the "distance" of the Diaspora, where exilic identity obtains not only through dietary directives and acts of piety but also through the strengthening of family structure through halakhic innovation (cf. Tob 6:13). Legal innovation may be preceded by custom. Tannaitic literature documents cases where custom supersedes or "contaminates" (M. Kister) Pentateuchal law. While the Tannaim do not to wish to contradict Torah, they nonetheless recognize the importance of producing halakhah that would conform to inveterate praxis. Might this or a similar phenomenon account for Tobit 6:13, which attributes a curious marital law to the "Book of Moses" even though our Pentateuch contains no such law?

The papers in this special edition of WdO were coedited by  Rüdiger Schmitt and myself. First presented to the Expressions of Religion in Israel section (M. Christian, chair) of the International Society of Biblical Literature meeting in Amsterdam, July 2012,  the theme was "Permutations of Astarte in Israelite and Mediterranean Religions."
(The theme for the 2011 London meeting had been "The Dark Side of the Gods.")

German preface to this edition of WdO.

Die Herausgeber der „Welt des Orients“ freuen sich, dass mit dem vorliegenden Faszikel über „Permutations of Astarte“ nach WdO 40/2 (2010) bereits das zweite Themenheft der WdO erscheinen kann. Anders als das Themenheft von 2010 (Excavations at Qubur al-Walaydah, 2007–2009) ist das vorliegende Heft religionsgeschichtlich ausgerichtet. Unser Dank gilt
den Herausgebern des Themenheftes Prof. Dr. Mark Christian (Nashville) und Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Schmitt (Münster) für die Zusammenarbeit sowie dem Verlag, vertreten durch seinen LektorHerrn Jörg Persch und Frau Friederike Lonz, für die Unterstützung bei der Realisierung des Heftes.

Mainz, Heidelberg, Berlin undWürzburg am 1. Oktober 2013
Sebastian Grätz, Joachim Friedrich Quack, Bernd U. Schipper
und Daniel Schwemer DieWelt des Orients, 43. Jahrgang, S. 149, ISSN 0043-2547 © 2013 Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht GmbH & Co. KG, Göttingen

http://www.v-r.de/en/warenkorb-0-0/download.html?typ=abo&artikel_id=2000014153&artikel_typ=KZ""""

In this essay I propose a networking model that draws on analogies of electric current and Foucault's notions of knowledge and power and the way power is distributed in society. Employing this model,  I develop a sociological premise to evaluate the social dynamics of the Israelite priesthood in both urban and rural contexts, especially the latter. Deuteronomy 17:14-20, which receives indepth redactional and interpretive analysis, contains traditions promoted by non-elite priests whom I call "middle-tier Levites." The Levites advocate the minority views of the otherwise voiceless, majority population that lives in villages and has limited contact with the elite priests of urban centers. The dynamics between urban/official religion and rural/popular religion are discussed, and ancient communication networks are hypothesized and delineated.

The identity of Persian navy contingents and their religious practices is hindered by Herodotus’ tendency to ignore Persian deities, even when Persians perform the  ritual. Deity mergers such as Melqart/Heracles and the Cyprian Aphrodite span large territories and thus militate against the notion of limited jurisdiction of divinities. Inscriptions on the “Egadi 3 ram” suggest a link between Poseidon/Neptune and the Phoenician Tanit. Explanations for the selective coverage are proposed and related rites such as throwing votives into the sea and supplication through ritual murder are examined.

Contact author for off-print.

Regardless of where one comes down on the topic of the redaction of biblical texts, most would admit to working with an in-process conception. In this paper I demonstrate how some clarification on this and related literary techniques is achieved through reviewing the basic definition of redaction and providing exemplars of international scholars’ use of the term and the method. I tag several of these conceptions, e.g., “redactor as author,” “the author becomes redactor,”  “redactor as translator,” and “redactor as implied editor/author” (esp. pp. 583-603). It becomes clear through the succession of exemplars that a method's usefulness depends on (1) the considered use of related terms when discussing redaction (e.g., revision, authorship, Fortschreibung, Bearbeitung), (2) familiarity with recent diachronic schemes of literary development, and (3) readiness to outline the basic ideological and theological contours of an alleged redactional process. After charting the data of these exemplars I discuss the conception of the postexilic School of Hexateuch Redaction’s work in Leviticus 17–26, in dialogue with other conceptions of “Holiness Schools.” Recent research into the oral/written continuum and complex reception history within the Bible asks not only for increased terminological precision but also that scholars revisit and revise the categories and conceptions of the ancient writing enterprise.

Paper presented to the Pentateuch (Torah) section of the London SBL, July 2011. Study begins with a survey of the settlement patterns in Palestine of the Middle Bronze age to the late Iron II period. Taking the archaeological and textual evidence together, I argue that the writers of the Persian period Holiness Code (Lev 17–26) looked to the rural, regional success stories of past cooperation and egalitarian living relatively free from political intrusion. Material evidence suggests that later in the Iron II villages become more “communal,” and cooperation is prioritized. Drawing upon these collective memories, the code's architects proposed a sacred society in which priest and non-priest, Israelite—even non-Israelite—could pursue and live a Yahwistic cooperative based on a sweeping standard of holiness and purity, yet one making conscious effort to be inclusive (e.g., Lev 19:34). Was the proposal impractical? Yes. Would an idealistic vision rife with religious fervor diminish the attractiveness of the proposal? Not necessarily; indeed, the opposite effect may have occurred. I argue that the region and era to which H looks to for inspiration is the Central Highlands during the transition from LBIIB (1300-1200) to the Iron IIA (1000-900).

Drawing from Foucault, Christian develops a sociological premise to evaluate the social dynamics of priesthood in the Hebrew Bible. Examples from text in Deuteronomy 17, Numbers 26-27, and Jeremiah 27-28 provide redactions by middle-tier Levites who expressed their minority views. Over time, the middle-tier Levites even contextualize their commissioned writing with aspects of popular religion. In Part 1, a thorough historical understanding of redactions is divided between the origins of Deuteronomism, discussing whether Deuteronomism was practiced as a school, and its influence in pre-exilic Israel. Part 2 discusses the distribution of power between the sovereign/legal source and teachers, and the subsequent practice of Levites’ authority to interpret law (Gorgias Press blurb).