Is Genesis 24 A Problem For Source Criticism? -- By: Brian A. Bompiani

Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 164:656 (Oct 2007)
Article: Is Genesis 24 A Problem For Source Criticism?
Author: Brian A. Bompiani


Is Genesis 24 A Problem For Source Criticism?

Brian A. Bompiani

Brian A. Bompiani is a Ph.D. student in Hebrew Bible and the Ancient Near East, Hebrew Union College—Jewish Institute of Religion, Cincinnati, Ohio.

For more than one hundred years the source critical model has been viewed by its proponents as an objective and scientific method for identifying sources within narratives. However, cracks have appeared in this imposing model that indicate that its foundation may not be so firm after all.1 And as a result, a number of mainline biblical scholars have now rejected it as an adequate model for critical study of the Bible.2

This model presupposes that sources can be discerned in texts on the basis of three criteria: repetitions, contradictions, and language variation.3 Genesis 24 poses a challenge to this reasoning.4 Both early critical commentators and many more recent scholars assign Genesis 24 entirely to the J source,5 despite the fact that it

contains these criteria. If a narrative includes these criteria and can still be considered a homogenous narration that stems from one tradition, can these criteria really be considered conclusive for source identification?

This article compares the two accounts of Abraham’s servant’s encounter with Rebekah: the encounter itself narrated in Genesis 24:1–27 and the servant’s later reiteration of it to Laban recorded in verses 34–48. The article begins by showing that critical scholarship has reached opposite conclusions regarding the unity of this chapter. Although most scholars have upheld its unity and have assigned it to J, others have argued on the basis of source criteria that it must stem from two traditions.

This article offers an alternative explanation that accepts insights from scholars who represent both positions. First, it argues that the narrative is a unit, as recognized by many scholars. This is supported by the fact that the narrative possesses a literary phenomenon of “style-switching” that comes to light only when both parallel accounts are considered together. Second, this article argues that scholarly attempts to downplay the presence of the sour...

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