What Familial Paradigm in the Narrative about Abraham?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12775/BPTh.2020.004Keywords
Abraham, patriarchs, ethics, Sarah, narrative analysis, Genesis, familyAbstract
Waldemar Janzen in his book “Old Testament Ethics” recognizes the familial paradigm in the Abraham story. The paradigm consists of three components: life, land and hospitality. The Janzen’s familial paradigm is based primarily on Abraham’s exemplary act toward Lot (Gen 13), but it misses out the problematic relation of Abraham towards his wife Sarah and her maidservant Hagar. The article aims to review the familial paradigm basing it on the wife/sister type-scenes in Gen 12:10-20 and 20:1-11. The analysis of the structure of the wife/sister narration invites to review some aspects of the Janzen’s proposal. The principal element of the familial paradigm is hospitality. However, in the Abraham story the paradigm of hospitality can be found in the behaviour of the foreign rulers (Pharaoh and Abimelech) towards Abraham and his wife. Abraham matures to hospitality in the course of narration thanks to the hospitality which he experienced in Egypt and Gerar. In view of the narrative program of the Abraham story (Gen 12:1-3) the hospitality seems to be the condition to receive God’s blessing.
References
Alexander, T.D., Are the Wife/Sister Incidents of Genesis Literary Compositional Variants?, Vetus Testamentum 42 (1992), s. 145-153.
Alter, R., L’arte della narrative biblica (Biblioteca Biblica 4), Brescia 1990.
Arystoteles, Poetyka, tłum. i oprac. H. Podbielski (Biblioteka Narodowa II/209), Wrocław 2006.
Biddle, M.E., The „Endangered Ancestress” and Blessing for the Nations, The Journal of Biblical Literature 109 (1990), s. 599-611.
Dziadosz, D., Abraham – wspólnym dziedzictwem religii monoteistycznych, w: Tak było na początku… Izrael opowiada swoje dzieje. Literacka i teologiczna analiza wiodących tradycji Księgi Rodzaju, Przemyśl 2011, s. 317-343.
Eyre, C.J., Crime and Adultery in Ancient Egypt, The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 70 (1984), s. 92-105.
Giuntoli, F., Genesi 12–50. Introduzione, traduzione e commento (Nuova Versione della Bibbia dai Testi Antichi 1/1), Cinisello Balsamo (Milano) 2013.
Gordis, D.H., Lies, Wives and Sisters. The Wife-Sister Motif Revisited, Judaism 34 (1985), s. 344-359.
Hamilton, V.P., The Book of Genesis. II. Chapters 18–50 (NICOT), Grand Rapids, MI 1995.
Hoffmeier, J.K., The Wives’s Tales of Genesis 12, 20 & 26 and the Covenants at Beer-Sheba, Tyndale Bulletin 42 (1992), s. 81-99.
Janzen, W., Etica dell’Antico Testamento. Un approccio paradigmatico (Piccola Biblioteca Teologica 63), Torino 2004.
Jepsen, A., ʼāman, w: Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, I, red. G.J. Botterweck – H. Ringgren, Grand Rapids, MI 1997, s. 292-323.
Keller, C.A., „Die Gefährdung der Ahnfrau”. Ein Beitrag zur gattungs- und motivgeschichtlichen Erforschung alttestamentlicher Erzählungen, ZAW 66 (1954), s. 181-191.
Lemański, J., Księga Rodzaju. Rozdziały 11,27 – 36,43. Wstęp, przekład z oryginału, komentarz (Nowy Komentarz Biblijny. Stary Testament II/2), Częstochowa 2014.
Miscall, P.D., Literary Unit in Old Testament Narrative, Semeia 15 (1979), s. 27-44.
Oswald, W., Die Erzeltern als Schutzbürger : Überlegungen zum Thema von Gen 12,10-20 mit Ausblick auf Gen 20; 21,22-34 und Gen 26, Biblische Notizen 106 (2001), s. 79-89.
Papieska Komisja Biblijna, Naród żydowski i jego Święte Pisma w Biblii chrześcijańskiej, Watykan 2001 [wyd. pol. Kielce 2002].
Papieska Komisja Biblijna, Biblia a moralność. Biblijne korzenie postępowania chrześcijańskiego, Watykan 2008 [wyd. pol. Kielce 2009].
Peleg, Y., Was the Ancestress of Israel in Danger?, ZAW 118 (2006), s.197-208.
Petersen, D.L., A Thrice-Told Tale. Genre, Theme and Motif, Biblical Review 18 (1973), s. 30-43.
Polzin, R., The Ancestress of Israel in Danger, Semeia, 3-4 (1975), s. 81–97.
Rashkow, I.N., Intertextuality, Transference and the Reader in/of Genesis 12 and 20, w: Reading between Texts. Intertextuality and the Hebrew Bible, red. D.N. Fewell, Louisville, KY 1992, s. 57-73.
Rogland, M., Abram’s Persistent Faith. Hebrew Verb Semantics in Genesis 15:6, Westminster Theological Journal 70 (2008), s. 239-244.
Ruppert, L., Genesis. Ein kritischer und theologischer Kommentar. II. Gen 11,27–25,18 (FzB 98), Würzburg 2002.
Seebass, H., Genesis. II/1. Vatergeschichte I (11,27–22,24), Neukirchen-Vlyun 1997.
Ska, J.L., Introduzione alla lettura del Pentateuco. Chiavi per l’interpretazione dei primi cinque libri della Bibbia (Collana BIBLICA), Roma 1998.
Ska, J.L., Essai sur la nature et la signification du cycle d’Abraham (Gn 11,27 – 25,11), w: Studies in the Book of Genesis. Literature, Redaction and History, red. A. Wénin (BEThL 155), Leuven 2001, s. 153-177.
Ska, J.L., Abramo e i suoi ospiti. Il patriarca e i credenti nel Dio unico (Collana BIBLICA), Bologna 2002.
Speiser, E.A., Genesis. A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (The Anchor Bible 1), New York 1983.
Thompson, T.L., The Origin of Ancient Israel. I. The Literary Formation of Genesis and Exodus 1–23 (JSOT.S 55), Sheffield 1987.
Tollington, J.E., Abraham and His Wives. Culture and Status, w: The Old Testament in Its World, red. R.P. Gordon – J.C. de Moor (OTS 52), Leiden–Boston 2005, 183-199.
Van Seters, J., Abraham in History and Tradition, New Haven, CT – London 1975.
Vogels, W., Le prophète, un homme de Dieu. La vie intérieure des prophètes (Hier-aujourd’hui 14), Paris – Montréal 1973.
Warner, M., Re-Imagining Abraham. A Re-Assessement of the Influence of Deuetronomism in Genesis (Oudtestamentische Studiën 72), Leiden 2018.
Wenham, G.J., Genesis 1–15 (World Biblical Commentary 1), Waco, TX 1987.
Wénin, A., Abramo e l’educazione divina. Lettura narrativa e antropologica della Genesi. II. Gen 11,27–25,18 (Testi e Commenti), Bologna 2017.
Westbrook, R., Adultery in Ancient Near Eastern Law, Revue Biblique 97 (1990), s. 542-580.
Sprinkle, J.M., Sexuality, Sexual Ethic, w: Dictionary of the Old Testament. Pentateuch, red. T.D. Alexander – D.W. Baker, Downers Grove, IL – Leicester 2003, s. 741-753.
Westermann, C., Genesis 12–36. A Commentary, Minneapolis, MN 1985.
Williams, J.G., The Beautiful and the Barren. Conventions in Biblical Type-Scenes, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 17 (1980), s. 107-119.
Witczyk, H., Czytelnik jako współ-kreator postaci, w: Język Biblii. Od słuchania do rozumienia, red. W. Pikor (Studia Biblica 11), Kielce 2005, s. 70-89.
Witczyk, H., Wielowymiarowa re-kreacja postaci literackich, Biblica et Patristica Thoruniensia 11 (2018), s. 177-195.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
CC BY ND 4.0. The Creator/Contributor is the Licensor, who grants the Licensee a non-exclusive license to use the Work on the fields indicated in the License Agreement.
- The Licensor grants the Licensee a non-exclusive license to use the Work/related rights item specified in § 1 within the following fields: a) recording of Work/related rights item; b) reproduction (multiplication) of Work/related rights item in print and digital technology (e-book, audiobook); c) placing the copies of the multiplied Work/related rights item on the market; d) entering the Work/related rights item to computer memory; e) distribution of the work in electronic version in the open access form on the basis of Creative Commons license (CC BY-ND 3.0) via the digital platform of the Nicolaus Copernicus University Press and file repository of the Nicolaus Copernicus University.
- Usage of the recorded Work by the Licensee within the above fields is not restricted by time, numbers or territory.
- The Licensor grants the license for the Work/related rights item to the Licensee free of charge and for an unspecified period of time.
FULL TEXT License Agreement
Stats
Number of views and downloads: 890
Number of citations: 2