| This dissertation proposes a new understanding of the composition of the Pentateuchal Priestly source (P), arguing that it contains far more poetic text than previous studies have recognized. I identify the poetic material and differentiate it from prosaic texts by observing the presence, strength, context, and dominance of nine primary poetic features (including parallelism, structural devices, and marked diction), and I submit that this polythetic method of classification allows for a reasonable and objective differentiation between the two styles. All biblical texts exist at some point on a gradual continuum between prosaic and poetic.;I argue further that connecting the poetic Priestly verses and reading them together reveals a nearly complete, independent stratum that underlies P; the prosaic writing constitutes another stratum, but it is fragmentary and does not read coherently when separated from the poetic writing. The Priestly source therefore contains two strata, one poetic and one prosaic, that I label Poetic-P and Prosaic-P. The evidence suggests that Poetic-P is the original and base document, while the prosaic material supplements the antecedent poetic work.;The proposed poetic and prosaic strata have major narrative and ideological differences. For example, Isaac and Jacob are both only children in Poetic-P; their brothers Ishmael and Esau appear solely in Prosaic-P. In addition, God seems to treat his people the Israelites differently in the two strata, forgiving trespasses and reassuring his followers in Poetic-P but punishing disbelief and insurrection harshly in Prosaic-P. Prosaic-P also fundamentally transforms Poetic-P by adding explicit narration, clarifications, mundane details (names, dates, ages, places, numbers, and physical descriptions), glosses, and harmonizations. Distinguishing between these two sources in P has the potential to solve numerous significant problems that have plagued historical critical evaluation of the Priestly source, and identifying many of the verses as poetic allows for new exegetical understandings in P and of the greater Pentateuch itself. |
