Exodus 1-18: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary

Abstract

Exodus 1-18: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, by William H. C. Propp. AB 2. New York/London: Doubleday, 1999. Pp. x1 + 680. $44.95. Studies of the book of Exodus have occupied a prominent place in pentateuchal scholarship in large part because of the importance of the exodus theme in the Hebrew Bible and the importance of the figure of Moses in the Pentateuch. The first volume of W. H. C. Propp's new commentary on Exodus in the Anchor Bible series, covering chs. 1-18, contributes significantly to these studies in a number of ways. The current volume is the first of a two-volume commentary on the whole of Exodus and is to be followed by another covering chs. 19-40. Five appendices are to appear in volume 2 treating issues that have arisen in Exodus studies. Following the Anchor Bible format, each division of the volume begins with the author's own translation of the text of Exodus followed by textual notes, source analysis, redaction analysis, notes, and comment. The translation is based on the author's text-critically reconstructed text and is accompanied by explanatory notes. The translation technique employed by the author seeks to make subtle aspects of the Hebrew text available to the English reader while maintaining a sense of cultural and temporal distance. At times this leads to a very literal rendering of the Hebrew text in what is described as a "hyperliteral" style. Various Hebrew idioms are rendered literally such as "Jacob's thigh" (1:5), the "Sea's lip" (14:30), and "Yahweh's nose" which has grown angry with Moses (4:14). Another example is found in the use of repetition to render the finite verb with infinitive absolute in Hebrew. In the section entitled "Textual Notes," text-critical issues pertaining to the text of Exodus receive a substantial discussion with relevant comparisons being made between the MT, the LXX, the Samaritan Pentateuch, and Qumran texts. From the spectrum of possible readings represented within the textual traditions, the author focuses on those held to affect translation and interpretation. For an example, the reader may see the discussion of the varying numbers given in the textual traditions of those who entered Egypt with Jacob in Exod 1:5, Gen 46:27, and Dent 10:22 (pp. 121-23). Under the rubric "Source Analysis," the commentary provides a discussion of the text of Exodus in terms of traditional source- and redaction-critical approaches focusing on the relationship of P, E, and J, while noting the presence of deuteronomistic language. In addition, the author holds that the Song of the Sea (15:1b-18) was originally an independent unit and should be considered another source. The author endeavors not only to distinguish P from JE, but also J from E to the extent possible. One significant contribution of the author's approach is the contention that more E is present in Exodus than J, since other scholarship has assigned most of the non-P material in Exodus to J. For example, Exod 12:1-13:16 is held to be primarily an amalgam of P and another source, which is probably E. In line with the view that the sources employed in Exodus were already polished works of literary art, the author holds that the role of the redactor is best described as that of a scribe who worked with raw materials rather than that of an author or artist. While a significant portion of the commentary treats text-, source-, and redactioncritical aspects of the book of Exodus, the commentary's main methodological focus, as evidenced in the notes and comment, is a narrative study of the text whose principal element is folktale analysis. According to the author, Exodus in many ways follows the plot type of the heroic adventure or fairy tale as described by V. I. Propp. There are significant differences, however, since Exodus has three heroes: Moses, Israel, and Yahweh. Beyond this, the author's anthropological and cultural approach seeks to understand ancient Israelite social institutions. …