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BIBLICAL THEOLOGY AS KEY: UNDERSTANDING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LAW AND NARRATIVE IN THE PENTATEUCH ABSTRACT The apparent

hodge-podge of legal and narrative material contained not just within the five books of the Pentateuch as a whole, but within the boundaries of the books themselves, has created a dilemma for interpreters throughout history. Assuming that the Pentateuch is Christian Scripture, we will survey the variety of approaches to this complex law and narrative relationship (LNR), with an emphasis on the views popular in current Biblical studies, particularly the traditional, critical, canonical, and Biblical Theological views. We will assess each model on its treatment of the text, context, and subtext, which we will assume relates to the Pentateuchs ultimate fulfillment in Christ.

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INTRODUCTION The blend of legal material and narrative within the Pentateuch has long presented an interpretive conundrum, which many have attempted to resolve by placing one in the service of the other. The Pentateuchs obvious mix of genres has been a flashpoint for various approaches to Biblical interpretation, with wildly different presuppositions producing a variety of accounts for the law-narrative relationship (LNR). We will provide a treatment of the Pentateuchs text, and context, and its interpretation through history, before surveying the approach to the Pentateuch adopted by critical scholars, more recently by canonical scholars, and the frameworks adopted by scholars who are concerned to treat the text as Christian Scripture. We will consider the foundations and merits of each approach, in an attempt to account for the initial purpose of the Pentateuch, and its ultimate fulfillment in Christ. METHODOLOGY AND ASSUMPTIONS This survey will proceed on the basis of the authors convictions regarding the unity and inspiration of Scripture, and its fulfillment in, and testimony about, Christ (Matt 5:17, John 5:39, Romans 10:4, Hebrews 7:11-28). Interpretive models will be assessed on this basis, and accounts that coherently heed the unity of Scripture will therefore be preferred. We will consider various approaches to the Pentateuch on their ability to interact with the text, the context, and the subtext, or rather, the texts relationship with the rest of the canon. So, we will assess each approach on its ability to coherently account for the text, both in terms of the mix of genres contained therein, and in the final form of the Pentateuch. Further, we will assess models on their ability to account for the Pentateuchs relationship with its Ancient Near Eastern background, which provides some insight into the genre and function of the Pentateuch as a text. Finally, we will consider how each model relates to the

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Pentateuchs position in Christian scripture, and how it relates to the unfolding of salvation history. This means trying to navigate between the Charybdis of critical, liberal, prophetic, and dispensational views of the legal material that place it as a passing phase in Israels, or salvation, history, and the Scylla of theonomic or ethical readings that fail to consider the Pentateuch within the Biblical meta-narrative.1 We will conclude that a truly satisfying understanding of the LNR grasps its purpose for Israel, as revelation shaping identity, ethics, and future hope, and its culmination in Jesus. THE TEXT A MIX OF LAW AND NARRATIVE, AND LAWS AS NARRATIVE The Pentateuch features an intertwined mix of genres that depict Israels history from Creation to the Promised Land. This story takes place in several major narrative movements. In Genesis, Adam leaves the Garden (Genesis 3), Abraham leaves the land of his forefathers (Genesis 12), Joseph leaves for Egypt (Genesis 37), bringing his father and brothers (Genesis 45-47). This physically sets the scene for the central section of the Pentateuchs narrative (Exodus to Numbers), which includes the Exodus (Exodus 1-18), the Sinai narrative (Ex 19-34),2 and the Wilderness wanderings (Numbers 10:11-20:39).3 These main narratives contain smaller pericopes, such as Balaam, his donkey, and Balak (Num 22-24).4 These narratives are linked by various law codes and passages of case law, such as the Decalogue (Exodus 20:1-17), Covenant Code (Exodus 20:22-23:33), Holiness Code (Leviticus 17-26), and priestly code (Exodus 35-40).5 Legal material is embedded in this middle section,6 in almost equal quantities,7 and
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P.T Vogt, Interpreting the Pentateuch, (Grand Rapids, Kregel, 2009), 37-42, provides a summary of these approaches 2 On the unity of this narrative see J.I Lawlor, The At Sinai Narrative: Exodus 18-Numbers 10,Bulletin for Biblical Research 21.1 (2011) 23-42, contra A. Phillips, A Fresh Look at the Sinai Pericope: Part 1 Vetus Testamentum, 34, 1 (1984), 39-52, A. Phillips, A Fresh Look at the Sinai Pericope: Part 2 Vetus Testamentum, 34, 3 (1984), 282-294 3 J.H Sailhamer, The Meaning of the Pentateuch: Revelation, Composition and Interpretation, (Downers Grove, IVP, 2009), 360 4 J.H Sailhamer, The Meaning of the Pentateuch, 357 5 J.H Sailhamer, The Meaning of the Pentateuch, 357 6 J. Barton, Law and Narrative in the Pentateuch, Communio viatorum, 51 no 2 (2009), 126-140, 126-127, A. Bartor, Reading Law as Narrative: A Study in the Causistic Laws of the Pentateuch,

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the narrative serves to provide this legal material with an historical context.8 Israels laws emerge and develop according to time and place within the narrative,9 chronologically interrupting the narrative with the phrase and the Lord said (Exodus 12:43, 20:22-21:1; Leviticus 4:1-2; Numbers 19:1-2).10 The narrator is an important device. An omniscient narrator speaks to the thoughts and motivations of characters in Genesis and Exodus. Yahweh himself delivers the law in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. Moses produces the mix of narrative and law in Deuteronomy.11 At times the plot is deliberately linked to the new laws that are delivered, to explicitly demonstrates a relationship between the purpose of the laws, and the purpose of the narrative (Exodus 22:21; 23:9; Leviticus 20:24, 23:43, 14:34; Deuteronomy 12:20).12 Further, the distinction within the LNR becomes harder to pin down when one recognises that Israels law is often delivered as case law, with hypothetical stories.13 These so-called casuistic laws, miniature stories within a collection of laws, are often closely related to the Pentateuchs master narrative, which strengthens the connection between the materials.14 For example, the Decalogue is delivered as Israel is released from slavery, (Exodus 20:2), then, the first subject legislated in the Mishpatim is slavery (Exodus 21:2-11), this is closely followed by a law regarding the treatment of foreigners (Exodus 22:21, 23:9).15 The narrative format and setting provides a guide for interpretation, presenting a paradigm to be applied.16 Israels obedience to the entire law is
(Atlanta, SBL, 2010), 6-10, makes the distinction between frame narrative and embedded narrative. 7 J.W. Watts, Reader Identification and Alienation in the Legal Rhetoric of the Pentateuch, Biblical Interpretation, 7.1 (1999), 101-12, 101-102 8 J. Barton, Law and Narrative in the Pentateuch, 127 9 A. Bartor, Reading Law as Narrative: A Study in the Causistic Laws of the Pentateuch, (Atlanta, SBL, 2010) 18-22 10 A. Bartor, Reading Law as Narrative, 19-20 11 J.W. Watts, Reader Identification and Alienation in the Legal Rhetoric of the Pentateuch, Biblical Interpretation, 7.1 (1999), 101-12, 101 12 A. Bartor, Reading Law as Narrative, 21, also J. Burnside, A Missing Case in the Biblical Laws of Homicide and Asylum? Vetus Testamentum, 60.2 (2010), 288-291, 288 13 A. Bartor, Reading Law as Narrative, 6-7 14 A. Bartor, Reading Law as Narrative, 21 15 J.P Burnside, A Missing Case in the Biblical Laws of Homicide and Asylum?288 16 J.P Burnside, A Missing Case in the Biblical Laws of Homicide and Asylum? Vetus Testamentum, 60.2 (2010), 288, rather than relying on rigid semantic driven interpretation, J. P.

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also to be based on its experience described in the narrative (Deuteronomy 6:20-25).17 THE TEXT IN ITS CONTEXT The LNR in the Pentateuch is deliberate,18 and the purpose behind it must relate to its use in the life of Israel,19 where the Book of the Covenant was read in public every seven years (Exodus 24, Deuteronomy 31, Joshua 8, 2 Chronicles 34, 2 Kings 23, Nehemiah 8). The Pentateuch was to be read in community as an account of Israels history,20 to serve a didactic purpose.21 Interestingly, while the narrative invites any reader to identify with the characters, the legal portions identify the reader as Israel.22 The law codes contained in the Pentateuch have much in common with law codes of the Ancient Near East.23 The presentation of case law, rather than statutes,24 the social issues, conventions and customs featured, a noncomprehensive scope, and the role of civil leaders in propagating and administering law are notable similarities.25 The mix of narrative, divine
Burnside, '"What shall we do with the Sabbath-gatherer?" A narrative approach to a "hard case" in biblical law (Numbers 15:32-36),' (2010) 60, Vetus Testamentum 45-62, 49, J.P Burnside, God, Justice, and Society: Aspects of Law and Legality in the Bible, (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2011), 11-13 17 J.W. Watts, Reader Identification and Alienation in the Legal Rhetoric of the Pentateuch, 110 18 C. Halberstam, The Art of Biblical Law, Prooftexts 27, (2007), 345-364, 346-7, suggests law and narrative are inseparable for the purpose of interpretation. J. W. Watts, Reader Identification, 103, says the location of the laws within the narrative, as opposed to within thematic sectors, is indicative of purpose. 19 J. W. Watts, Reader Identification, 108-112, suggests the rhetorical function is identity shaping through reflection 20 J.W. Watts, Reader Identification, 103, Also J.W. Watts, "Public Readings and Pentateuchal Law," Vetus Testamentum 45.4 (1995): 540-57 21 J.P Burnside, God, Justice, and Society, 18-21, The mix of material also aids the oral transmission of the message of the text, B.S. Jackson, Wisdom-Laws: A Study of the Mishpatim of Exodus 21:1-22:16, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006), 7, the use of repetition and memory tools supports this, see J.W Watts, Reading the Law: The Rhetorical Shaping of the Pentateuch. (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1999), 61, 22 J.W. Watts, Reader Identification, 109 23 J.P Burnside, God, Justice, and Society: Aspects of Law and Legality in the Bible, (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2011), 5-6 summarises the points of similarity; Watts, Reading the Law, 49, A. Bartor, Reading Law as Narrative (Atlanta, SBL, 2010), 5. 24 G.J Wenham, Law and the Legal System in the Old Testament, Law, Morality and the Bible, edited by B. Kaye and G. Wenham (InterVarsity Press: Downers Grove, 1978), retrieved 25 May, http://www.the-highway.com/law2a_Wenham.html 25 J.P. Burnside, God, Justice and Society, 5-6, on the non-comprehensive scope of both the law and the narrative, see B.D Bibb, Nadab and Abihu Attempt to Fill a Gap: Law and Narrative in Leviticus 10.1-7, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, 96 (2001), 83-99, 97-98

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sanctions, and lists of prohibitions is not uncommon in the ANE.26 And such a mix in ancient codes, like Hammurabis Code, were arguably designed to say more about the lawgiver than provide guidelines for legal administration.27 The interpretive value of such similarities should not be understated. The context can shed light on the intended meaning of the text and provide a method of interpretation.28 So, for example, Westbrook (2007) suggests the written presentation of the Old Testament laws, alongside similar laws in the ANE, are styled in a manner that lends itself to situational, rather than literal, application,29 such a situational approach is supported by the narrative form and setting of the law.30 However, the differences between the laws of the Pentateuch and those of the ANE are fundamentally more important than the similarities. These differences include the presentation of law as divine revelation,31 the law is foundational to national ideology, is didactic, omits issues common to other ANE codes, is different in form as it incorporates both legislation and mentions of individual responsibility and it speaks of motivation, and is fundamentally more similar to an ANE treaty than a law code.32 The LNR within the text of the Pentateuch has presented an interpretive conundrum. The laws seemingly present a series of archaic rules for human behaviour, while the characters in the narrative have often been put forward as Godly examples for Christians to follow, or negative examples to be avoided. We have demonstrated above that separating the LNR for the
J.W Watts, Reading the Law, 49, T. Ziolkowski, Literature and Law, Sewanee Review 99.1 (1991), 122-132, 123 27 J.H Sailhamer, The Mosaic Law and the Theology of the Pentateuch, Westminster Theological Journal, 53, (1991), 241-261, 246-247 28 J.P. Burnside, God, Justice and Society, 6-7. 29 R. Westbrook, The Character of Ancient Near Eastern Law, in A History of Ancient Near Eastern Law, Vol. 1, ed. Raymond Westbrook (Boston: Brill Academic Publishers, 2003), 74 suggests OT laws were not written for the pragmatic experience of the law courts. also, 7178, C.J.H Wright International Biblical Commentary: Deuteronomy, (Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1996), 244, suggests this is indicative of a paradigmatic purpose for the law, also D. R Hillers Covenant: the History of a Biblical Idea (Baltimore: The John Hopkins Press, 1969), 88 says the laws provided a framework for decision making. 30 B.S. Jackson, Wisdom-Laws, 25. 31 As opposed to kingly, so Biblical law is delivered by Yahweh, and mediated by Moses, rather than a king, J.P Burnside, God, Justice, and Society, 8-10 32 J.P Burnside, God, Justice, and Society, 8-10, on the incomplete nature of the Pentateuch see J.H Sailhamer, The Mosaic Law and the Theology of the Pentateuch, 245-246
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purpose of interpretation and application is not clear-cut. 33 A hermeneutic that pushes one to ignore the laws while adopting the ethical behaviour of the characters is not straightforward given the relationship described above, and has been the result of various approaches through history. LAW AS LAW, NARRATIVE AS NARRATIVE: HISTORY OF INTERPRETATION Historically, interpreters have either attempted to classify the Pentateuch as law or narrative, with the decision having an impact on how the text is applied. Such a classification relies on foregrounding either element, and allowing one to dominate, and interpret the other.34 Early Jewish interpreters treated the Pentateuch as Torah, foregrounding law over narrative. The legal material provided guidelines for how to live,35 while the narrative demonstrated how this works in practice,36 and serves as an example of the type of conduct that leads to Gods judgment.37 Some history of religions scholars suggest the emphasis in Jewish interpretation switched after the exile, so, as Israel suddenly had to grapple with its new situation, it turned to an account of its history.38

Early Christian interpreters, who sought to avoid legalism, foregrounded the narrative, and treated the legal material as laws operating in a particular time and place, for a particular people.39 The issue at stake for the early church revolved around the continuity or discontinuity between the testaments.40 Two schools of interpretation emerged. The Alexandrian School favoured an allegorical approach to both the legal and narrative material in order to stress continuity and unity, while the Antiochene School favoured the literal and historical sense of the text, within the framework of a broader salvation history narrative, but stressed a dispensational style division or discontinuity
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A. Bartor, The Representation of Speech in the Casuistic Laws of the Pentateuch: The Phenomenon of Combined Discourse, JBL 126, no. 2 (2007), 23124, 231-232, also P. Barmash, The Narrative Quandry: Cases of Law in Literature, Vetus Testamentum 54.1 (2004), 1-16 34 J. Barton, Law and Narrative in the Pentateuch, 127 35 J.H Sailhamer, The Mosaic Law and the Theology of the Pentateuch, 244 36 J. Barton, Law and Narrative in the Pentateuch, 128 37 ibid, 128 38 ibid, 129 39 ibid, 132 40 The importance of this point was highlighted by the controversy sparked by Marcion, see C.J.H Wright, Old Testament Ethics for the People of God, 388-395

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between the Testaments. 41 Both approaches arise from valid concerns, but neither completely resolves the tension.42 These historical models can be combined to emphasise the continuity between the testaments, the literal and historical sense of the text, and the function of both the narrative and legal materials in their original setting. Such a combination provides the basis for an appropriate model for interpreting the Pentateuch as Christian Scripture.43 Aquinas distinction between moral, ceremonial, and civil law, and the later Reformation distinction between law and gospel,44 then become clunky and reductionist, in the light of understanding of the Pentateuch as a united mix of legal and narrative material, which contributes to serve one rhetorical purpose, related to salvation history. The 19th century saw the birth of two significant, and divergent, approaches to the Old Testament, which have some bearing on the interpretation of the Pentateuchs mix of legal and narrative material. In 1882, Wellhausen published his landmark Prolegomena to the History of Israel, which identified a variety of literary sources within the Pentateuch.45 This approach relied on various assumptions about the historical location of various sources, humanising and fragmenting the text.46 In 1894, Vos, published an essay advocating Biblical Theology, a unified reading of the Bible as a whole, including the Pentateuch.47 These divergent approaches and presuppositions about the text have spawned various models for understanding the Pentateuch. LAW AND NARRATIVE CRITICAL SCHOLARSHIP
C.J.H Wright, Old Testament Ethics for the People of God, 388-395 or C.J.H Wright, The Ethical Authority of the Old Testament: A survey of approaches (Part 1), Tyndale Bulletin, 43.1 (1992) 101-120, outlines three approaches taken by these early church fathers and followed by the reformers, also R.N Longenecker, Three Ways of Understanding Relations between the Testaments: Historically and Today, Tradition and Interpretation in the New Testament: Essays in Honour of E. Earle Ellis, ed. G.F Hawthorne with O. Betz, (Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1987), 2232 42 C.J.H Wright, The Ethical Authority of the Old Testament, 108 43 C.J.H Wright, Old Testament Ethics for the People of God, 388-395 44 ibid, 392 45 G. Wenham, Pentateuchal Studies Today, Themelios, 22.1 (October 1996), 3-13, 3 46 ibid, 3, particularly with its emphasis on the origins of the source material and historical reconstructions. 47 G. Vos, The Idea of Biblical Theology as a Science And as a Theological Discipline, inaugural lecture as Professor of Biblical Theology, Princeton, delivered May 8, 1894, retrieved online 25 May 2012, http://www.bsmi.org/download/vos/BiblicalTheology.pdf
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Wellhausens documentary hypothesis (DH) involved four sources from four different Jewish epochs, creating the Pentateuch as a composite document. Studies of the Pentateuch then focused on the different emphases of each source.48 Different genres were assumed to be the result of different sources,49 but while the legal material was occasionally attributed to the Priestly source,50 DH scholars were much more interested in the narrative.51 Noth and Von Rad combined Wellhausens source criticism with Gunkels form criticism to suggest that Deuteronomy operated as a theological guidebook to the events of the Former Prophets.52 While Wellhausens reconstruction may now be a matter of significant debate, his methodological assumptions are still shared by many.53 The obvious parallels between the law codes and ANE counterparts led many to assess them only against this background,54 or dismiss their significance altogether,55 which means the significance of the LNR for interpretation has been a fringe concern for critical scholars.56 For those who adopt a history of religions approach, and the assume the Deuteronomic History, Gods judgment operates as the unifying centre of the Pentateuch and subsequent texts, together the LNR highlights why Israel fell into exile, after the fact.57

J.H Sailhamer, The Meaning of the Pentateuch, 358 J. Barton, Law and Narrative in the Pentateuch, 127 50 G. Wenham, Exploring the Old Testament: A Guide to the Pentateuch, Vol 1, (Illinois, IVP, 2003), 166, Some scholars have identified different ethical/holiness approaches in different sources, however, such studies have been largely unsystematic, G. Wenham, Story as Torah (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2000), 8, while recent work on Leviticus suggests the differences have been overstated, see L.M Trevaskis, Holiness, Ethics, and Ritual in Leviticus, (Sheffield, Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2011), summarised in 230-237 51 G. Wenham, Pentateuchal Studies Today, 5 52 ibid, 3, J. Barton, Law and Narrative, 136-137, Noth then treated the narrative as a tetrateuch, with Deuteronomy held to be a late addition, while Von Rad argued for a Hexateuch, which included Joshua, On Noths Tetrateuch reconstruction see R.N Whybray, The Making of the Pentateuch, 13-14, G. Von Rad, The Problem of the Hexateuch and Other Essays, Trans. E.W.T Dicken, (London, Oliver and Boyd, 1966), 1-78, who sees the Hexateuch as a complicated narrative accounting for settlement in the promised land, which lays a foundation for Gods Kingdom on Earth, made complicated largely by the reconstructions that he posits for the sources. 53 J.J.M Roberts, The decline of the Wellhausen reconstruction of Israelite religion, Restoration Quarterly, 9 no 4 (1966), 229-240, 239-240 54 C. Halberstam, The Art of Biblical Law, Prooftexts 27.2 (2007), 346 55 G. Wenham, A Guide to the Pentateuch, 172 56 R.N Whybray, The Making of the Pentateuch: A Methodological Study, (Sheffield, JSOT Press, 1987), 128, citing Noth 57 J Barton, Law and Narrative, 135-137
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This approach to the material is problematic. Rendtorff demonstrated that Gunkels proposed oral traditions were completely incompatible with the proposed identifications of Wellhausens sources.58 Each of these scholars maintained the same assumption that the Pentateuch is a composition of many sources, for Rendtorff, a Deuteronomic editor stitched together various narratives with the thread of divine promises.59 One of the elephant-sized presuppositions in this room is that somehow whoever wrote or collated the Pentateuch was completely oblivious to proposed theological differences in his sources.60 Or, further, following Whybray, contradictions are the reason the Pentateuch cannot be understood as a literary unit, but the final form, as produced by an editor, contains these contradictions.61 While this elephant presents its own set of problems for scholars, and is in some sense rejected in the Canonical method outlined below, the problems so far as our assessment methodology is concerned, is that this critical approach makes too much of the relationship with ANE texts, and speculative reconstructions of the setting, without engaging with the text, or its role as Christian scripture. LAW AND NARRATIVE CANONICAL SCHOLARSHIP There is a growing acceptance of the Canonical approach to the Pentateuch, where an intelligent editor, or series of editors, has presented a conceptually united mosaic of law and narrative, for a purpose.62 This approach is built on just one historical reconstruction, the location of the editor, rather than on multiple reconstructions of multiple sources and traditions, and the attempt to peel away different layers, while not denying those processes occurred.63 The emphasis is placed on the final form of the text as the appropriate location for theological study.64 Interpretation is then based on how the editor intended the united text to be understood, or on identifying the sense and
G. Wenham, Pentateuchal Studies Today, 5-6 G. Wenham, Pentateuchal Studies Today, 6 60 J.H Sailhamer, The Meaning of the Pentateuch, 357, 359 61 R.N Whybray, The Making of the Pentateuch, 49 62 J.H Sailhamer, The Meaning of the Pentateuch, 355-356 63 B. Childs, The Old Testament as Scripture of the Church, Concordia Theological Monthly, 43 no 11 D (1972), 709-722, 715 64 ibid.
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strategy of the final form of the text.65 The LNR becomes a theological tool in the hand of the editor.66 While many scholars operating within the framework of canonical criticism place a great distance between the original sources and the final editor, their observations are based on an attempt to understand how law and narrative, and even different laws, possibly from different sources, work together to serve the compositional purpose of the text.67 The interpretive question then turns on whether the law is simply an inserted legal code, or a deliberate editorial decision that serves a single purpose.68 It seems likely given our above treatment of the text, and the proposed cohesion within the LNR, that the two function together.69 In this view it is not the legal or narrative material brought to the foreground, but the purpose behind their compositional relationship, so the Pentateuch, including law codes, is treated as a complete didactic work, where a covenantal tension emerges between faith and the works of the law.70 Sailhamer (1991) argues that this tension is established as the author of the Pentateuch reflected on Israels inability to faithfully keep the law.71 The purpose of the text then, for the reader, is both ethical and identity shaping, while serving the overarching biblical narrative, which sets its sights on a new covenant.72 It should be noted that the interpretive strengths of canonical criticism do not necessarily do away with the traditional acceptance of a single author, literary critics, following Robert Alter, have identified a unifying artistry behind the text of the Pentateuch.73 LAW AND NARRATIVE AS ETHICAL INSTRUCTION It is clear that the Pentateuch had an ethical purpose in the life of Israel, those positing a Deuteronomic History were right to notice that Israels conduct, and historical situation, are assessed through the interpretive prism of the Pentateuch.
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ibid, 360 B. Childs, The Old Testament as Scripture, 718-221 67 J.H Sailhamer, The Meaning of the Pentateuch, 359 68 ibid, 357 69 ibid, 360-361 70 J.H Sailhamer, The Mosaic Law and the Theology of the Pentateuch, 242-243 71 ibid, 261 72 ibid, 261 73 R. Alter, The Art of Biblical Narrative, (Basic Books, 1981), 19-20

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Traditionally the ethical weight of the Pentateuch was produced by foregrounding the law, in this case the narrative served to convince the reader of the laws validity,74 provide supplementary detail,75 or exemplify its implementation.76 However, the LNR is too close to justify treating one as commentary on the other.77 The intrinsic relationship between the two would seem to lend itself to a paradigmatic understanding of right conduct based on covenantal faith,78 rather than establishing strict rules and regulations. Rather than the law being the means of covenantal compliance,79 it is the bare minimum required for holiness, or faithful ethical living.80 The ethical function of the text depended in some way, on its use, which we have argued involved public retelling in community, as a paradigmatic narrative.81 This has great explanatory power for the LNR, and the non-comprehensive nature of the laws.82 A paradigmatic narrative shapes identity, and identity shapes ethics.83 Applying modern speech act theory to the Pentateuchs use of the second person, and identification of Israel as the implied reader, suggests the overall function of the Torah is to convince the readers to be the true Israel.84 Such a reading considers the text in its initial context. However, according to our assessment criteria, the view arguably inherently fails to acknowledge the
A. Bartor, Reading Law as Narrative, 5-7. P. Barmarsh, The Narrative Quandary: Cases of Law in Literature. VT 54.1 (2004), 1-16, 5. 76 J. Barton, Law and Narrative in the Pentateuch, 128, G.J Wenham, Reflections on Singing the Ethos of God, 117, suggests the purpose of Old Testament stories was to make ethical points, which operated within the grander scheme of Israels identity. 77 C. Halberstam, The Art of Biblical Law, 346-8 78 Where the law serves as a paradigm for Israels conduct, and Israel in turn serves as a paradigm for the nations, see P.T Vogt, Interpreting the Pentateuch, 45-46 79 J. Watts, Reading the Law, 129, H.P, Nasuti, Narrative Hermeneutics of Biblical Law. Journal of Law and Religion 4 (1986), 9-23 80 G. Wenham, Story as Torah, 80. 81 B.C Birch, Let Justice Roll Down: The Old Testament, Ethics, and the Christian Life, (Louisville, Westminster John Knox, 1991), 53-57, B. Brock, Singing the Ethos of God, 33, J. Burnside, Exodus and asylum: uncovering the relationship between biblical law and narrative, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, 34 no 3 Mr 2010, 243-266, 262 82 A. Bartor, Reading Law as Narrative: A Study in the Causistic Laws of the Pentateuch, (Atlanta, SBL, 2010), 9 and C. Halberstam, The Art of Biblical Law, 354-5 argue that while the structure of most laws is in some sense prescriptive, the actions prescribed provide a paradigmatic approach to potential situations, not a hard and fast rule for a particular situation that repeats itself. 83 B.C Birch, Let Justice Roll Down, 54, all our convictions about the nature and meaning of our lives find their ground and intelligibility in some sort of over-arching paradigmatic story. C.J Wright, Old Testament Ethics for the People of God, 54-74, 315-326, argues that the embedded casuistic narratives, and the narrative of Israel, and the master narrative of redemption are all paradigmatic frameworks for constructing a biblical ethic. 84 J.W Watts, Reading the Law, 129, J.P Burnside, God, Justice and Society, 9.
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bigger picture. While it understands Israelite law within its own narrative framework, it fails to establish the necessity of a coherent relationship with the New Testament.85 As a result it runs the risk of encouraging legalism in the guise of ethics.86 LAW, NARRATIVE, ETHICS AND BIBLICAL THEOLOGY To establish such a relationship, one must show some sort of continuity between the Pentateuch and the New Testament. One can find this continuity in the words of Jesus (Matthew 5:17-20). His summary of the law as do unto others (Matthew 7:12), love the Lord your God with all your heart and love your neighbour as yourself. (Matthew 22:37-40) would seem to indicate that the proposed paradigmatic understanding of the law, and the interpretation of both law and narrative, revolved around these commands (Leviticus 19:8, Deuteronomy 6:5, 10:12, 11:13). The paradigmatic understanding explains why Jesus rebukes the Pharisees for their rigid application to the letter of the law (Mark 2-3:6, Matthew 23:23-24), and why Paul can speak of the importance of the spirit of the law (Romans 2:29). One can legitimately reach this position, and understand the law and narrative of the Pentateuch as being fulfilled in Christ, if one accepts that the entire Old Testament works as a coherent account of salvation history. This approach, known as Biblical Theology, meets the assessment criteria outlined above, and addresses the deficiencies in the aforementioned approaches. Vos early response to higher Biblical criticism was that the critical approach to Biblical history is at odds with a Christian reading of the text.87 Observations from Canonical scholarship seem to be more able to be subsumed into a Christian reading, placing the authority in the final form of the text, rather than in an inspired author. Treating the Pentateuch as a paradigmatic story for the sake of ethical instruction is an essentially Jewish exercise if one does
While many Canonical scholars share the assumption that the New Testament is Christian scripture, and that Biblical Theology is a legitimate discipline, the methodology does not make such a conclusion the emphasis of the text, Christian interpreters are able to extract ethical principles simply from what such a reading reveals of the character of God and requirements for his people. B. Childs, The Old Testament as Scripture, 720-722, argues that the canonical shaping of the Old Testament stands alongside reading the Old Testament in the light of Jesus Christ but does not link the two. 86 J. Goldingay, Models for Interpretation of Scripture, (Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1995), 57-60 87 G. Vos, The Idea of Biblical Theology as a Science And as a Theological Discipline, 16
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not relate it to the Bibles master narrative. However, if one adopts the position that the LNR revolves around the concept of covenant,88 and that the function of the text is to demonstrate Israels inability to keep covenant, and to hold out the hope of a new covenant,89 which culminates in Christ,90 while also providing a paradigm by which Israel could understand its identity, priestly role to the nations, and associated behavioural requirements, that can in some sense be paradigmatically adopted by Christians,91 then one approaches a reading that best makes sense of the text. Reading the Pentateuch within this framework gives us a means by which to consistently treat laws as Scripture, without feeling the need to apply them literally,92 helping us avoid theonomy,93 and preventing the development of artificial categories and approaches that the text does not support.94 Seeing the covenantal thrust of the Pentateuch culminating in Christ also helps avoid Marcionism, by properly accounting for the Old Testament in Christian theology.95 It helps distinguish between description and prescription in both the legal material, and in terms of the actions of virtuous characters being model application points.96 It allows one to capture the best insights of the previous models, the Deuteronomic Historys emphasis on unfolding judgment is related to a covenantal breach, the author is concerned to present
88

J. Barton, Law and Narrative in the Pentateuch, 133, Suggests the laws only make sense in the context of covenant, the covenant only makes sense as it unfolds in the narrative. 89 J.H Sailhamer, The Mosaic Law and the Theology of the Pentateuch, 261 90 J. Barton, Law and Narrative in the Pentateuch, 133, T.D Alexander, From Paradise to Promised Land, (Grand Rapids, Baker, 2002), 83-94 demonstrates the cohesion of such an approach. 91 C.J.H Wright, Old Testament Ethics, 297-298, 314-326, 405, 412 92 G. Goldsworthy, A response to Carl Trueman's A Revolutionary Balancing Act, The Theologian: An Internet Journal for Integrated Theology, retrieved 25 May 2012, http://www.theologian.org.uk/doctrine/trueman-goldsworthy_goldsworthy.html 93 D.E. Chismar, and D. A Rausch, Regarding theonomy : an essay of concern, Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 27 no 3 S 1984, 315-323, D. Joslyn-Siemiatkoski, "Moses received the Torah at Sinai and handed it on" (Mishnah Avot 1:1): the relevance of the written and oral Torah for Christians, Anglican Theological Review, 91 no 3 Sum 2009, 443-466 94 P.T Vogt, Interpreting the Pentateuch, 43-45 provides some reasons against artificial distinctions between types of law, C.J.H Wright, The Ethical Authority of the Old Testament: A survey of approaches (Part 1), Tyndale Bulletin, 43.1 (1992) 101-120, 105-120 summarises historical approaches to Old Testament ethics. Also, R.E, Clements, Christian ethics and the Old Testament, Modern Churchman, ns 26 no 3 1984, 13-26, advocates use of the Old Testament as a foundation for Christian morality, J.W Rogerson, The Old Testament and social and moral questions, Modern Churchman, ns 25 no 1 1982, 28-35, treats the OT as a product of its time. 95 Also avoiding dispensational views as described in H. Harless, The Cessation of the Mosaic Covenant, Bibliotheca Sacra, 160 (July-Sept 2003), 349-366 96 G. J. Wenham, Reflections on Singing the Ethos of God, 117.

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a unified document which serves a theological purpose, and mix of law and narrative serves to create a paradigm by which Israel understands itself. It is also consistent with our observations regarding the text and its context, and with the priorities and traditions of interpretation in the early church, representing a compromise that allays both Antiochene and Alexandrian concerns. A Biblical Theology that sees the account of Israels origins portrayed in the law and narrative of the Pentateuch as the first installment of the redemption story that culminates in the work of Jesus,97 as the central paradigmatic story,98 ultimately presents the best account for the mix of materials in the Pentateuch.


B.C, Birch, Moral Agency, Community, and the Character of God in the Hebrew Bible, Semeia, no 66 1994, 23-41, 24 98 J. Goldingay, Models for Interpretation of Scripture, 62, B. Brock, Singing the Ethos of God, 23
97

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BIBLIOGRAPHY T.D Alexander, From Paradise to Promised Land, (Grand Rapids, Baker, 2002) R. Alter, The Art of Biblical Narrative, (Basic Books, 1981) P. Barmarsh, The Narrative Quandary: Cases of Law in Literature. Vetus Testamentum, 54.1 (2004), 1-16 J. Barton, Law and Narrative in the Pentateuch, Communio viatorum, 51 no 2 (2009), 126-140 A. Bartor, Reading Law as Narrative: A Study in the Causistic Laws of the Pentateuch, (Atlanta, SBL, 2010) A. Bartor, The Representation of Speech in the Casuistic Laws of the Pentateuch: The Phenomenon of Combined Discourse, JBL 126, no. 2 (2007): 23124 B.D Bibb, Nadab and Abihu Attempt to Fill a Gap: Law and Narrative in Leviticus 10.1-7, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, 96 (2001), 83-99, 9798 B.C Birch, Let Justice Roll Down: The Old Testament, Ethics, and the Christian Life, (Louisville, Westminster John Knox, 1991) B.C, Birch, Moral Agency, Community, and the Character of God in the Hebrew Bible, Semeia, no 66 1994, 23-41 J.P Burnside, God, Justice and Society: Aspects of Law and Legality in the Bible, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011) J.P Burnside, Exodus and asylum: uncovering the relationship between biblical law and narrative, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, 34 no 3 Mr 2010, 243-266 J.P Burnside, A Missing Case in the Biblical Laws of Homicide and Asylum? Vetus Testamentum, 60.2 (2010), 288-291 J. P. Burnside, '"What shall we do with the Sabbath-gatherer?" A narrative approach to a "hard case" in biblical law (Numbers 15:32-36),' (2010) 60, Vetus Testamentum 45-62 B. Childs, The Old Testament as Scripture of the Church, Concordia Theological Monthly, 43 no 11 D (1972), 709-722 D.E. Chismar, and D. A Rausch, Regarding theonomy : an essay of concern, Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 27 no 3 S 1984, 315-323 R.E, Clements, Christian ethics and the Old Testament, Modern Churchman, ns 26 no 3 1984, 13-26

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J. Goldingay, Models for Interpretation of Scripture, (Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1995) G. Goldsworthy, A response to Carl Trueman's A Revolutionary Balancing Act, The Theologian: An Internet Journal for Integrated Theology, retrieved 25 May 2012, http://www.theologian.org.uk/doctrine/truemangoldsworthy_goldsworthy.html C. Halberstam, The Art of Biblical Law, Prooftexts 27.2 (2007) H. Harless, The Cessation of the Mosaic Covenant, Bibliotheca Sacra, 160 (July-Sept 2003), 349-366 D. R Hillers Covenant: the History of a Biblical Idea (Baltimore: The John Hopkins Press, 1969) B.S. Jackson, Wisdom-Laws: A Study of the Mishpatim of Exodus 21:1-22:16, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006) B.S Jackson, Studies in the Semiotics of Biblical Law (Sheffield: Sheffield University Press, 2000) D. Joslyn-Siemiatkoski, "Moses received the Torah at Sinai and handed it on" (Mishnah Avot 1:1): the relevance of the written and oral Torah for Christians, Anglican Theological Review, 91 no 3 Sum 2009, 443-466 J.I Lawlor, The At Sinai Narrative: Exodus 18-Numbers 10,Bulletin for Biblical Research 21.1 (2011) 23-42 R.N Longenecker, Three Ways of Understanding Relations between the Testaments: Historically and Today, Tradition and Interpretation in the New Testament: Essays in Honour of E. Earle Ellis, ed. G.F Hawthorne with O. Betz, (Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1987), 22-32 H.P, Nasuti, Narrative Hermeneutics of Biblical Law. Journal of Law and Religion, 4 (1986), 9-23 A. Phillips, A Fresh Look at the Sinai Pericope: Part 1 Vetus Testamentum, 34, 1 (1984), 39-52 A. Phillips, A Fresh Look at the Sinai Pericope: Part 2 Vetus Testamentum, 34, 3 (1984), 282-294 J.J.M Roberts, The decline of the Wellhausen reconstruction of Israelite religion, Restoration Quarterly, 9 no 4 (1966), 229-240 J.W Rogerson, The Old Testament and social and moral questions, Modern Churchman, ns 25 no 1 1982, 28-35 J.H Sailhamer, The Mosaic Law and the Theology of the Pentateuch, Westminster Theological Journal, 53, (1991), 241-261

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J.H Sailhamer, The Meaning of the Pentateuch: Revelation, Composition and Interpretation, (Downers Grove, IVP, 2009) L.M Trevaskis, Holiness, Ethics, and Ritual in Leviticus, (Sheffield, Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2011) P.T Vogt, Interpreting the Pentateuch, (Grand Rapids, Kregel, 2009) G. Von Rad, The Problem of the Hexateuch and Other Essays, Trans. E.W.T Dicken, (London, Oliver and Boyd, 1966) G. Vos, The Idea of Biblical Theology as a Science And as a Theological Discipline, inaugural lecture as Professor of Biblical Theology, Princeton, delivered May 8, 1894, retrieved online 25 May 2012, http://www.bsmi.org/download/vos/BiblicalTheology.pdf J.W Watts, Reading the Law. The Rhetorical Shaping of the Pentateuch. (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1999) J.W. Watts, Reader Identification and Alienation in the Legal Rhetoric of the Pentateuch, Biblical Interpretation, 7.1 (1999), 101-12 J.W. Watts, "Public Readings and Pentateuchal Law," Vetus Testamentum 45.4 (1995): 540-57 G. Wenham, Story as Torah (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2000) G. Wenham, Pentateuchal Studies Today, Themelios, 22.1 (October 1996), 3-13 G. Wenham, Exploring the Old Testament: A Guide to the Pentateuch, Vol 1, (Illinois, IVP, 2003) G.J Wenham, Law and the Legal System in the Old Testament, Law, Morality and the Bible, edited by B. Kaye and G. Wenham (InterVarsity Press: Downers Grove, 1978), retrieved 25 May, http://www.thehighway.com/law2a_Wenham.html R. Westbrook, The Character of Ancient Near Eastern Law, in A History of Ancient Near Eastern Law, Vol. 1, ed. Raymond Westbrook (Boston: Brill Academic Publishers, 2003) R.N Whybray, The Making of the Pentateuch: A Methodological Study, (Sheffield, JSOT Press, 1987) C.J.H Wright International Biblical Commentary: Deuteronomy, (Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1996) C.J.H Wright, Old Testament Ethics for the People of God, (Nottingham, IVP, 2004) C.J.H Wright, The Ethical Authority of the Old Testament: A survey of approaches (Part 1), Tyndale Bulletin, 43.1 (1992) 101-120

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T. Ziolkowski, Literature and Law, Sewanee Review 99.1 (1991), 122-132

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