Prologue to History: The Yahwist as Historian in Genesis.

• Author: Halpern, Baruch

John Van Seters characterizes the Yahwistic source ("J") as a work of history produced in the Exile. Covering Genesis here, he promises a sequel dealing with succeeding "J" texts. As in his earlier studies, Abraham in History and Tradition and In Search of History, Van Seters' argument is overwhelmingly form-critical: the use of genealogy and culture-history to structure an account of prehistory is Greek; the universal flood and king-lists are Mesopotamian. "J" combines the two. The possibility that ethnological genealogy in Greek historiography mimics Semitic models is not entertained. Yet "J" inherited his ethnography (as p. 279).

Our "historian" in Genesis is a purveyor and creator of myth and folklore. Van Seters defines history as any language, irrespective of its intended truth, about the past. Ancient writers of history, he maintains, did not distinguish fable from history: classical historians include both in their "archaeologies." Van Seters might have discussed the rejection of tradition in Hellenic historiography - on the basis of falsity - and the distinction between the acceptance and invention of tradition both in that corpus and in Semitic ones; he might also have distinguished reconstruction from its representation.

Most of the volume is devoted to an exegesis of "J" in Genesis and to fine consideration of its history of composition. Occasional remarks explore the dating of the text; but no theory or method is delineated for distinguishing contemporary language and ideas from citations of traditional literature. Van Seters assumes that exilic language - and not much at that - evocative of "J" implies that "J" was written during the Exile. He also argues that the Fall in Genesis 2-3 must originate after Ezekiel 28, yet does not refer to Isa. 14:12-14, Ps. 82:6-7, or comparative materials; indeed, his argument that "J" depends on Ezekiel assumes that Ezekiel preserves a fixed tradition, not bending one metaphorically in order to mock Tyre. This, a typology of theologies about possession of the land (arrayed in chronological order), and the claim that "J"'s form resembles that of the Deuteronomistic History bear the weight of the exilic dating.

Van Seters has argued this dating previously (Abraham), but without commanding widespread assent. The new argument he offers here is no more certain. For example, he "can see no reason to doubt" that the Tower of Babel was Etemenanki (p. 182). Reference to this structure in the Erra Epic...