Sailhamer- The Meaning of the Pentateuch Introduction (pp. 29-33) The Pentateuch as a Whole "The most inflential , yet subtlest, feature of an author's rendering of historical narrative is the overall framework within which he or she arranges it." (29) " 'A prophet like Moses never did arise in Israel, one knew God face to face' [Deut 34:10] That is quite a revealing statement . Clearly, the author who made this statement knows about the entire line of prophets who followed Moses. ... A huge jump is made here at the end of the Pentateuch, taking us from the last days of Moses to the last days of the prophets." (31) "Creation thus is cast as an act of grace, unmerited favor. From the point of view of the structure of the Pentateuch, the giving of the law, the promises to Abraham, and nature itself are grounded in God's gracious gift of creaturehood. The Pentateuch ultimately is about creation and grace (creation/grace). The simple structructural...

Sailhamer- The Meaning of the Pentateuch Introduction (pp. 24-27) What Pentateuch? · “I conclude that those last two chapters (Deut 33-34) were meant to provide an explanation of some of the major events in the Pentateuch at a late period in Israel’s history.”(24) · “Our primary concern in the task of discovering the theology of the Pentateuch is the need to focus on the Pentateuch now in our Bible, that is the ‘ canonical Pentateuch .’ ” (24,25) The audience of the Pentateuch · “…one must distinguish the audience in the Pentateuch and the audience of the Pentateuch.” (25) · “… the Pentateuch itself was not written to teach Israel the law. The Pentateuch was addressed to a people living under the law (Deut 30:1-2; Ezra 7:6-10) and failing at every opportunity (Neh 9:33). The Pentateuch looks beyond the law of God to his grace. The purpose of the Pentateuch is to teach its readers about faith and hope in the new covenant (Deut 30:6). (26) · “ Nothing was inherently wrong with the Sina...

Sailhamer- The Meaning of the Pentateuch Introduction (pp. 18-23) Hermeneutics · “The goal of a theological study of the Pentateuch is the biblical author’s intent as realized in the work itself.” (19) · “The Pentateuch may be compared to a Rembrandt painting of real person or events We do not understand a Rembrandt painting by taking a photograph of the ‘thing’ that Rembrandt painted and comparing it with painting itself. That may help us understand the ‘thing’ that the Rembrandt painted, his subject matter, but it will not help us understand the painting itself. To understand Rembrandt’s painting, we must look at it and see its colors, shapes, and textures. … To understand Rembrandt’s painting, one must study the painting itself. To understand the Pentateuch, one must study the Pentateuch itself.” (19-20) Finding the Author’s Intent · “Every part of the Pentateuch has its place within the context of its big idea. … whatever we say about the meaning of the details and parts of the P...

Sailhamer- The Meaning of the Pentateuch Introduction (pp. 14-17) The Prophetic Echo • “The prophets relied heavily on the Pentateuch and on each other’s ‘comments’ (e.g. 1Sam 2:10) and ‘glosses’ on the Pentateuch.” (14) • “Prophecy thus had an echo effect as it made its way through the books of the OT. One prophet’s words were heard by another, exegeted, and sent back as an echo of those earlier prophetic words. Each time the prophet’s words were heard and echoed, new clarity and relevance were revealed. (15) The TaNaK • “… there is ‘intelligent life’ behind the composition of the biblical books. • “Those who assembled the OT into its present shape were devout students of Scripture. Many of the individual books of Scripture had been studied and meditated upon for centuries. … Leaders such as Ezra, entrusted with the task of collecting and arranging the OT Scriptures, understood their task as, in part, providing these OT texts with an appropriate commentary. According to Nehemiah 8:8...