From: Robert Schneider
I have some questions regarding Wiseman's "Tablet Theory"? Perhaps Allen can answer them.
(1) First, the clay tablets. What evidence is there for clay tablets written in Hebrew (Semitic) script or a cuneiform script that turns out to be Hebrew? If there are such tablets, how far back can they be dated? Have any such tablets been found in any excavations in the Holy Land or elsewhere in the Middle East? Wiseman's hypothesis--it is that rather than a theory--requires the existence of such tablets if it is to have any merit.
Primarily it is called the tablet theory, I believe, because of the simularity between the known literary structure of other writings on clay tablets and what is found in Genesis. Other evidence is the apparent existance ot titles and "catch-lines" still found in the text. The first few words of a tablet became the title which was repeated at the end of the story and at the end of any subsequent tablets the story was written on. And "Catch-lines" that consisted of the first few words of the next tablet to be read, that were used to link clay tablets together so that they would be read in the proper order when a story could not be contained on just one tablet.
This list of possible "titles" and "catch-lines" may have remained in the text because they had originally been written on clay tablets. Note that they occure near the begging and ending of the various literary sections (see table way below).
1:1 God created the heavens and the earth.
2:4 Lord God made the heavens and the earth.
2:4 When they were created.
5:2 When they were created.
6:10 Shem, Ham and Japeth.
10:1 Shem, Ham and Japeth.
10:32 After the Flood.
11:10 After the Flood.
11:26 Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
11:27 Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
25:12 Abraham's son.
25:19 Abraham's son.
36:1 Who is Edom.
36:8 Who is Edom.
36:9 Father of the Edomites.
36:43 Father of the edomites.
(2) In what language were these hypothetical Genesis tablets written? Can anyone know?
I don't think that issue is addressed by the theory.
(3) I think what Allen means by "literary style" is "literary form": (Title, Body and Colophon).
Correct. I ment to say, "literary structure"
I want to focus on Gen. 6-9. Many ordinary readers as well as literary critics have discerned two strands within the Flood Story, based on differences of language, expression, the name of God (Yahweh in some places, Elohim in others), and style (things like instructions to Noah are repeated, but with differences, etc.) When I ask my students to read 6-9 very carefully many of them spot these differences. Does Wiseman grant that this is so, or does he insist that these distinctions are illusory and that this is an integrated text in the same style by one writer? Using his hypothesis, perhaps a supporter might concede that there are two accounts woven together and postulate that some unknown writer at some unknown time took down the oral tradition of one of Noah's sons and a second writer put down another oral tradition of another son(?), likewise, on these hypothetical clay tablets, and that Moses redacted them. That would be a kind of documentary hypothesis within the tablet hypothesis.
DJ Wisman (son of PJ Wisman) notes that the (fourth) tablet which ends with "This is the account of Shem, Ham and Japeth." could have two or three accounts combined into a single account. Perhaps Moses did this rather than having 3 seperate accounts one after the other.
(4) On what basis does Wiseman claim that Isaac preserved the story of Ishmael, or that Esau preserved the story of Isaac? I recall reading a tablet theory in one of Henry Morris' books, in which he claims that these tables were written down by the family descendents; does Wiseman also, or does he postulate (followed by Allen) that they were handed down orally and written down at a later time? And on what basis can Wiseman establish that these accounts are actually the work of the person postulated? "This is the lineage of Isaac" does not mean "I, Isaac, am telling you this story."
The story in the narrative body which precedes the person named in the colophon determines the relationship between the story and the one who "owned" it. Wiseman notes the the colophon either records who wrote the story or who was the "owner" of the story and had the story written for them. Morris got his tablet theory from Wiseman. I don't think anyone could really say at what point oral stories would be converted to written ones. It just seems logical that they would be written down sometime after the invention of writing. (Sheesh. They certainly could not be written down before the invention of writing. :)
(5) Finally, where did Moses get the tablets? What evidence is there that he came into possession of such clay documents?
Wiseman suggest that the tablets were part of the heritage passed down from father to son. It is the literary structure used when writing on clay that still exists in Genesis, that suggests that it was originally written on clay. And if this is so, then somehow Moses came into possesion of them.
I am glad that Wiseman agrees that Genesis is an edited text and based on oral traditions (?), but I am exceedingly skeptical of his reconstruction. A hypothesis without evidence is hardly worthy of the term, so I would want to see some evidence. Next fall I shall teach a course in Genesis to jr. and sr. religion majors at a nearby college. It will be interesting to see what they make of the literary styles of the text, and whether any of them is familiar with some version of this tablet hypothesis.
The evidence is primarily from the Biblical text consisting of the same literary structure and literary aids used when writing on clay that would not likely be in the text if written from scratch or strictly from oral tradition.
I recommend getting the book. Wiseman, P.J. (Wiseman D.J. editor) 1985, "Ancient Records and the Structure of Genesis: A case for literary unity." Thomas Nelson Publishers.
or the original book. Wiseman, P.J., 1936, "New Discoveries in Babylonia about Genesis"
or a reissue of the book called "Clues to Creation in Genesis" 1977.
----- Original Message -----
From: Allen Roy
To: asa@calvin.edu
Sent: Thursday, March 21, 2002 1:23 PM
Subject: Re: What are the odds?....Or, a great and Mighty God
According to Wiseman's "Tablet Theory" as opposed to the JPED theory, Genesis is composed of some 11 manuscripts edited by Moses into a single manuscript that were originally written in the literary style used on clay tablets from the eras during which the events of Genesis happened. That literary style consisted of a Title, Body and Colophon. The colophon ending stated that the preceding story in the body was the account of (or belonged to, or written by) some person and usually included a date. The following table gives a breakdown of Genesis using the known literary structure of ancient clay tablets.
Tablet Number Ancestry
Narrative Body
Colophon
Owner/writer Date
1. 1:1-2:4 1:1 1:2-2:3
Creation 2:4a
Heaven & Earth 2:4b
2. 2:4c-5:2 2:4c-2:6 2:7-4:26
Creatin/Fall 5:1a Adam 5:1b-5:2
3. 5:3-6:9 5:3-5:32 6:1-8 6:9a Noah 6:9b
4. 6:10-10:1 6:10 6:11-9:29
Flood 10:1a
Ham,Shem,Japheth 10:1b
5. 10:2-11:10 10:2-32 11:1-9 11:10a Shem
6. 11:10b-11:27a 11:10b-25 11:26 11:27a Terrah
7. 11:27b-25:12 11:27b 11:27-25:11
Abraham 25:12 Ishmael
7a. 25:13-25:19a 25:13-18
Ishmael 25:19a Isaac
8. 25:19b-369 25:19b 25:20-35:29
Isaac 36:1 Esau
8a. 36:2-9 36:2-7
Esau Family 36:9 Esau 36:8
8b. 36:10-43
Esau Descendants 37:2a Jacob 37:1
9. 1:1-37:1 1:1-37:1 37:2- 50:21
Joseph Joseph?
50:22-26
Postscript Moses?
Within this interpretation of Genesis, the literary units include a list of ancestors, the narrative body, and the colophon. In the case of the first "tablet," gives then ancestry of the universe for the Creation Week narrative. It ends with whose history it is of (the heavens and the earth) and dates it to "when God made heaven and earth) The second "tablet" give the history of Adam.
Chances are that these originated as oral stories which were later written down in the literary style of the times. Just when the switch from oral to written occurred is not evident in the stories. However, it is likely that Moses simply edited these several documents into one document still keeping the literary structure of the times.
So who wrote "In the beginning God. ...
Who knows. The story probably began as what God told Adam and Eve. They passed on the story, along with their own to the following generations. Eventually the stories were written down and eventually ended up in the Torah and the Bible.
Allen
From: Jim Eisele <jeisele@starpower.net>>
> Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
> What are the odds that this was not "written" by God?
> I would like to start the bidding at 1 in 300.
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