Review in: JETS 46/4
Deuteronomy
1:1–21:9.
By Duane L.
Christensen. WBC 6A. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2001, cxii + 458 pp., $34.99;
Deuteronomy
21:10–34:12.
By Duane L.
Christensen. WBC 6B. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2002, li + 456 pp., $39.99.
The initial
issuance of this work appeared in 1991 with the publication of just Deuteronomy
1–11 as Volume 6A. Subsequently the publisher elected to undertake a greatly
expanded section edition that brought the first up to date and added to it the remaining
text of Deuteronomy up to 21:9. In the following year Volume 6B appeared, completing
the whole book of Deuteronomy.
Readers
familiar with the 1991 edition are well aware of Christensen’s approach, one
that features—indeed, is dominated by—exhaustive prosodic analysis of the
Hebrew text at both a macro- and micro-analytical level. The result is a
prodigious interaction with Deuteronomy as literature that is unequaled in the
history of Deuteronomy scholarship. Having said that, it remains to be seen (1)
whether or not the scrutiny of the text offered here conforms to Deuteronomy’s
intended reality; (2) if the exegetical process is furthered by this kind of
approach; and (3) what kind of theological insight and justification are
apparent as a result of the literary-analytical method that everywhere informs
the work.
Before these
matters and others are addressed it is important to draw attention to the
lengthy introductions to both volumes (112 and 51 pages respectively). Here
Christensen, in line with the practice of the Word Biblical Commentary in
general, provides exhaustive bibliographies of commentaries on Deuteronomy as
well as related studies; an introduction to the biblical book that includes
attention to text criticism, a review of critical research, and a detailed
outline of the book; and several excursuses that should not be overlooked if
one hopes to understand Christensen’s overall approach. These address (1) law,
poetry, and music in ancient Israel; (2) Deuteronomy in the canonical process;
(3) the triennial cycle of Torah readings in Palestinian Judaism; (4) the Numeruswechsel
(alternation
of second person singular and plural forms) in Deuteronomy; (5) Deuteronomy as
a numerical composition; (6) travel notices in Deuteronomy 1–3 and 31–34; and
(7) Holy War as celebrated event in ancient Israel. Most pertinent to
Christensen’s unique slant are points (1) and (3) above. Since (1) is
especially crucial to his whole enterprise it deserves some attention at the
outset.
As to the matter
of poetry and music, Christensen goes so far as to suggest that the entire book
of Deuteronomy is poetic in form and was sung on the occasion of the Feast of
Booths (Deut 31:9). His major support for this contention is the antiquity of
the Masoretic accentual system, which, he maintains, antedated the period of
the Masoretes by a millennium or more (p. lxxxi). He adds to this his
observations about the length of individual lines (mora count) and the
distribution of accentual stress units as marked by disjunctive accents. He
concludes that “the Hebrew text in its present form . . . is a musical
composition” (p. lxxxv), “poetry in the broadest sense” (p. lxxxvi). Beyond
this, Christensen proposes that the concentric structural features of the book
also abet its poetic character since, as an epic, such structure lends itself
to the liturgical use for which the book had been composed.
While it is
refreshing to engage a work that takes seriously the unity of the composition of
Deuteronomy in its earliest stages and that also makes a case for even such details
as phonetically short or long syllables (i.e. morae) being original to the
text, the historical evidence for the latter is wholly lacking. Appeal to the
work of Suzanne Haït- Vantoura (The Music of the Bible Revealed [Berkeley:
BIBAL, 1990]) counts for little since she makes only the case for the Masoretic
accents as indicators of musical notation. This has little or nothing to do
with length of tonality. In the end Christensen must depend on the Masoretic
tradition of long and short vowels, a tradition that cannot be shown to
antedate the Christian era. In fact, the only scholar he cites is J. Kurylowicz
(Studies
in Semitic Grammar, 1973) whose contribution was limited to a study of the distribution
of accentual stress units. By setting his own system of morae count alongside Kurylowicz’s
syntactic accentual method Christensen has found they complement each other.
The question is whether it is a natural, self-evident complementation or one contrived
to make a case.
Lest it
appear that this critique of Christensen’s method seem overly lengthy and disproportionate
to other aspects of his work, one should note his own assessment of its
significance: “The system of counting morae is foundational to the present
analysis of the Hebrew text of Deuteronomy. It is by this means that the
prosodic units were determined as well as the boundaries between them. [Morae
counting and the accentual analysis of Kurylowicz] constitute a system that is
the basis of a structural analysis of the entire book of Deuteronomy” (p.
lxxxiii). One can see how the shape of Christensen’s exegesis and even his
theology are determined by the structure—no matter how convincing it might
be—that he imposes on the text.
Having said
that, these volumes offer a gold mine of literary ways of looking at texts that
have eluded previous generations of scholars. A few examples must suffice. The Decalogue
of 5:6–21 is enveloped by two parallel accounts of Yahweh’s covenant and theophany
(5:1–5 and 5:22) and the whole is further encased in a fitting introduction (4:44–49)
and conclusion (5:23–6:3). This yields an axis in a chiastic structure centered
on 5:15—remember your deliverance from slavery in Egypt (p. 107). This is
clearly a central theme in this rendition of the Decalogue, one evident from
the literary pattern of the pericope itself.
Another
example is Deut 11:10–25 (correct from 10:10–25, p. 212). By noting the occurrence
of ªereß (land) nine
times in the passage, Christensen finds the focus in the fifth unit—“It is a
land that YHWH cares for” (p. 211). From another angle, and by use of a
so-called “menorah” (i.e. seven-branched) pattern, the passage yields another
center—“ keep ‘these my words’ before you and do not serve other gods” (p.
212). In the one case the emphasis is on the land as a fulfillment of promise
and in the other it is the basis on which the promise can come to pass, namely,
by obedience to the covenant requirements. The “menorah pattern” (a term
originating with C. J. Labuschagne) receives attention in a number of other
places as well (cf. 1:1–6a; 1:32–2:1; 2:2–12; 2:13–25, etc.). In fact,
Christensen argues the whole book is structured in terms of a sixbranched candelabrum
with the central post being the law codes themselves (chaps. 12–26). A
particularly apt connotation of the term “menorah pattern” is its use in
outlining the book in terms of the lectionary cycle of weekly readings from the
Torah (p. xciv).
Christensen’s
preoccupation with pattern and form stultifies his exposition and theological
synthesis to some extent. On the other hand, he is aware of and makes use of a
rich secondary literature, especially when dealing with matters of historical and
cultural interest. This enhances the value of the rather brief and even
superficial treatment of texts that deserve more full attention in a work of
this length and helps to offset that deficiency. But this is not enough to
justify the skimpy treatment of such pivotal and theologically rich texts as
6:4–5, the so-called Shema. In barely two pages this greatest of the
commandments is passed over with virtually no recognition of its centrality to
the whole purpose and message not only of the book of Deuteronomy but of the
entire OT. Happily this is not the case with the Decalogue. Here Christensen
provides an unusually rich and insightful penetration of the corpus as a whole
and all of its parts. Even here, however, he fails to address such matters as
the combining of the first two commandments into one and the dividing of the
tenth into two in line with certain Jewish and Christian traditions.
On balance,
this impressive work exhibits a masterful command of the essence of Deuteronomy
and all the pertinent literature relative to it. Despite its imbalance in favor
of form and style over detailed exegesis and synthetic theology it is a
stimulating and provocative approach to Deuteronomy, arguably the key text for
understanding the central message of divine revelation. Serious students of the
Bible will do well to access and make regular use of this asset.
Eugene H. Merrill
Dallas Theological Seminary, Dallas, TX
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