Sailhamer-
The Meaning of the Pentateuch Introduction (pp. 34-37)
Poems in the Pentateuch
• The poems are something like the songs in a Hollywood musical. They thematize what the author intends the reader to draw from the narratives. The epilogues return the narrative to its status quo.” (34)
• “The focal point of each of these major poems is the promise of a coming messianic king. The three poems in Genesis 49:1, Numbers 24:14, and Deuteronomy 31:29 have an almost identical introduction. In each introduction the central narrative figure (Jacob, Balaam, Moses) calls an audience together ‘in the last days.’ The phrase ‘in the last days’ is found only one other place in the Pentateuch: Deuteronomy 4:40.” (36)
• “The phrase ‘in the last days’ occurs fourteen times in the Hebrew Bible… It is about the days of the coming messianic king. The same three poems (Gen 48-49; Num 23-24; Deut 32-33) also have considerable cross-referencing between them.” (36)
• “What is said about the king in Numbers 24:9a is a verbatism statement of Genesis 49:9b: ‘He crouches down, he lays down like a lion, and like a lioness; who will arouse him?’ Numbers 24:9b is a direct quotation of Genesis 27:9. Such cross referencing and quotation shows an author’s conscious awareness of the strategic importance of these three poems.” The three major poems in the Pentateuch frequently refer to and allude to the smaller poems in Genesis 1-11. In doing so, they link the themes of the poems in Genesis 1-11 to the messianic and eschatological hope expressed in the larger poems.” (36-37)
• “Central to this connection is the identification of the future warrior of Genesis 3:15 with the messianic king of the larger poems. Along with that is the identification of the nature o the warfare in the remainder of the Pentateuch with the battle between the ‘seed of the woman’ and the ‘see of the serpent’ in Genesis 3:15.” (37)
• “The foregoing observations that the author of the Pentateuch intentionally used the (large and smaller) poetic texts in the Pentateuch to establish a context for reading the narratives. The author wants us to view the stories in the Pentateuch within the context of the prophetic hope in a coming messianic king. Thus, the poems focus attention on the central theme of the need for God’s grace and redemption (the small poems of Genesis 1-11) and at the same time link those themes to the coming messianic king and his kingdom ( the large poems forming the central structure of the Pentateuch). This suggests that one of the central issues in the message of the Pentateuch is the coming king and his eternal kingdom.” (37)
The Meaning of the Pentateuch Introduction (pp. 34-37)
Poems in the Pentateuch
• The poems are something like the songs in a Hollywood musical. They thematize what the author intends the reader to draw from the narratives. The epilogues return the narrative to its status quo.” (34)
• “The focal point of each of these major poems is the promise of a coming messianic king. The three poems in Genesis 49:1, Numbers 24:14, and Deuteronomy 31:29 have an almost identical introduction. In each introduction the central narrative figure (Jacob, Balaam, Moses) calls an audience together ‘in the last days.’ The phrase ‘in the last days’ is found only one other place in the Pentateuch: Deuteronomy 4:40.” (36)
• “The phrase ‘in the last days’ occurs fourteen times in the Hebrew Bible… It is about the days of the coming messianic king. The same three poems (Gen 48-49; Num 23-24; Deut 32-33) also have considerable cross-referencing between them.” (36)
• “What is said about the king in Numbers 24:9a is a verbatism statement of Genesis 49:9b: ‘He crouches down, he lays down like a lion, and like a lioness; who will arouse him?’ Numbers 24:9b is a direct quotation of Genesis 27:9. Such cross referencing and quotation shows an author’s conscious awareness of the strategic importance of these three poems.” The three major poems in the Pentateuch frequently refer to and allude to the smaller poems in Genesis 1-11. In doing so, they link the themes of the poems in Genesis 1-11 to the messianic and eschatological hope expressed in the larger poems.” (36-37)
• “Central to this connection is the identification of the future warrior of Genesis 3:15 with the messianic king of the larger poems. Along with that is the identification of the nature o the warfare in the remainder of the Pentateuch with the battle between the ‘seed of the woman’ and the ‘see of the serpent’ in Genesis 3:15.” (37)
• “The foregoing observations that the author of the Pentateuch intentionally used the (large and smaller) poetic texts in the Pentateuch to establish a context for reading the narratives. The author wants us to view the stories in the Pentateuch within the context of the prophetic hope in a coming messianic king. Thus, the poems focus attention on the central theme of the need for God’s grace and redemption (the small poems of Genesis 1-11) and at the same time link those themes to the coming messianic king and his kingdom ( the large poems forming the central structure of the Pentateuch). This suggests that one of the central issues in the message of the Pentateuch is the coming king and his eternal kingdom.” (37)
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