Tanakh and the Ancient Near East Index – Parashat Toledot/0

Tanakh & the Ancient Near East Index – Parashat Toledot

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Overview

Knowledge of the history, law, cultic practices and realia of the Ancient Near East can often shed much light on Tanakh. This index contains a list of links to articles which touch on the connections between Tanakh and ancient cultures.

Primogeniture in the Ancient Near East

• See On the Preferential Status of the Eldest Son by I. Mendelsohn for background about the legalities of first born status in Ancient Near Eastern societies.
• Verses in Tanakh that refer to the Torah’s notion of first born status include: Shemot 13:2, which ascribes to it spiritual significance, and Devarim 21:15-17, which addresses it from a legal, financial perspective. 

Anachronisms?

• See Tanakh and Archaeology (3), by R. Amnon Bazak, for discussion of claims that certain details included in the Patriarchal narratives appear to be anachronistic. For example, some argue that the city of Be'er Sheva was not inhabited during the era of the forefathers, and thus its mention is anachronistic. Similarly, some have asserted that the Philistines first arrived in Israel in the Iron Age, questioning how, then, they are mentioned in Sefer Bereshit. R. Bazak presents several approaches to resolving these issues.¹

¹ He notes, for example, that Bereshit itself does not present Be'er Sheva as a city, but as a site of Avraham and Avimelekh's covenant and that the Philistines of the Patriarchal period appear to be a distinct group from those mentioned in the Book of Judges. As such, it is possible that the sources which present the Philistines as first arriving later refer only to this latter group.