Category: Michael D. Coogan
Michael Coogan: The Israelites Didn’t Exist in a Vacuum
Michael D. Coogan, “In the Beginning: The Earliest History,” in The Oxford History of the Biblical World, Michael D. Coogan, editor (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), 20. The ancient Israelites did not live in a cultural vacuum. From prehistoric times on Palestine was linked… Continue Reading “Michael Coogan: The Israelites Didn’t Exist in a Vacuum”
Michael D. Coogan: Hard Pressed to Identify A Distinct Israel
Michael D. Coogan, The Old Testament: A Historical and Literary Introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures, third edition (Oxford University Press, 2014), 228. The cumulative evidence, then, suggests that the Israelite confederation was composed of groups of disparate origin, including Canaanites. What would have motivated such groups… Continue Reading “Michael D. Coogan: Hard Pressed to Identify A Distinct Israel”
Michael D. Coogan: The Importance of Nonbiblical Evidence
Michael D. Coogan, The Old Testament: A Historical and Literary Introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures, third edition (OUP: 2014), 28. Yet despite undeniable chronological and geographical discontinuities, the literary, religious, and institutional traditions of the Levant, including ancient Israel, are best understood as part of… Continue Reading “Michael D. Coogan: The Importance of Nonbiblical Evidence”
Michael D. Coogan: The Content Differences Between the Two Creation Accounts
Michael D. Coogan, The Old Testament: A Historical and Literary Introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures (Oxford University Press, 2014), 40-41. There are…important differences in content [between the two creation accounts]. For example, the first account of creation opens with a watery chaos; in the second,… Continue Reading “Michael D. Coogan: The Content Differences Between the Two Creation Accounts”
Michael D. Coogan: The Deuteronomic School
Michael D. Coogan, The Old Testament: A Historical and Literary Introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures, third edition (OUP, 2014), 186. The Deuteronomic school, as we have seen, had connections with both the Levitical priesthood and the prophets. It continued to revise its core text, the… Continue Reading “Michael D. Coogan: The Deuteronomic School”
Michael D. Coogan: Deuteronomy and the Law of the King
Michael D. Coogan, The Old Testament: A Historical and Literary Introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures, third edition (OUP, 2014), 183-184. The “law of the king” [Deuteronomy 17:14-20] seems to have been written with specific kings in mind, especially as they are described in the book… Continue Reading “Michael D. Coogan: Deuteronomy and the Law of the King”
Michael D. Coogan: The Problem of Kadesh
Micheal D. Coogan, The Old Testament: A Historical and Literary Introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures, third edition (OUP, 2014), 165-166. Identification of most of the places named [the Priestly portions of Numbers] is very difficult, however; to some extent they are locations that were familiar… Continue Reading “Michael D. Coogan: The Problem of Kadesh”
Michael D. Coogan: The Most Complicated Book of the Pentateuch
Michael D. Coogan, The Old Testament: A Historical and Literary Introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures, third edition (OUP, 2014), 160. Numbers is the most complicated book of the entire Pentateuch, in terms of both its content and its sources. It takes its name from the… Continue Reading “Michael D. Coogan: The Most Complicated Book of the Pentateuch”
Michal D. Coogan: Dating the “Holiness Code” of Leviticus
Michael D. Coogan, The Old Testament: A Historical and Literary Introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures, third edition (OUP, 2014), 153. Since the late nineteenth century, scholars have identified chapters 17-26 of Leviticus as a separate source, named the Holiness Code because of its repeated use… Continue Reading “Michal D. Coogan: Dating the “Holiness Code” of Leviticus”
Michael D. Coogan: Leviticus and P
Michael D. Coogan, The Old Testament: A Historical and Literary Introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures, third edition (OUP, 2014), 146-147. [T]he book of Leviticus is a composite work. This is confirmed by the many editorial notes inserted throughout the text. The phrase “The LORD spoke… Continue Reading “Michael D. Coogan: Leviticus and P”
The Amateur Exegete 