Overview

Although primogeniture is commonly assumed to have prevailed throughout the world and firstborns are regarded as most likely to achieve success, many of the most prominent figures in biblical literature are younger offspring, including Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Samuel, David, and Solomon. Adducing evidence from a wide range of disciplines, this study demonstrates that ancient Israelite fathers were free to choose their primary heirs. Rather than being either legally mandated or a protest against the prevailing norm, the Bible's propensity for younger offspring conforms to a widespread folk motif, evoking innocence, vulnerability, and destiny. Within the biblical context, this theme heightens God's role in supporting ostensibly unlikely heroes. Drawing on the resources of law, anthropology, folklore, and linguistics, Greenspahn shows how these tales serve as complex parables of God's relationship to his chosen people, also reflecting Israel's own discomfort with the contradiction between its theology of election and the reality of political weakness.

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9780195082531

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Reviews

The book is lucidly written and provides a fresh and thought-provoking approach to an often neglected area of Old Testament research ... the book contains many stimulating insights and interesting observations. Journal of Theological Studies He is to be congratulated from the outset for this methodological thoroughness and clarity. Masterfully following several avenues of inquiry and drawing out at every turn the fullest implications, he has provided a model of literacy, theological, and historical-critical interpretation. His discussion is remarkable also for its lucidity and for the thorough treatment of scholarly opinion. Baruch J. Schwartz, Tel-Aviv University, The Jewish Quarterly Review, LXXXVII, Nos. 1-2 (July-October, 1996)

This provocative and wide-ranging study provides a long-overdue systematic treatment of the hitherto unexplained preference for younger siblings in biblical stories....This is a seminal work by an established biblical scholar and belongs in every library with an interest in biblical scholarship. --Choice<br> .,. an important study of a major motif of Old Testament literature....Greenspahn makes some important discoveries and conclusions....Greenspahn has produced a fine study of an important motif, one that is rich in exegetical and theological insights. His arguments are rooted in concrete evidence and persuasive in their presentation. --The Princeton Seminary Bulletin<br> Excellent Monograph. --Theological Studies<br> The study is well researched and documented.... his arguments deserve careful attention. --Journal of Biblical Literature<br> The book is lucidly written and provides a fresh and thought-provoking approach to an often neglected area of Old Testament research....the book contains many stimulating insights and interesting observations. --Journal of Theological Studies<br>

<br> This provocative and wide-ranging study provides a long-overdue systematic treatment of the hitherto unexplained preference for younger siblings in biblical stories....This is a seminal work by an established biblical scholar and belongs in every library with an interest in biblical scholarship. --Choice<p><br>. ..an important study of a major motif of Old Testament literature....Greenspahn makes some important discoveries and conclusions....Greenspahn has produced a fine study of an important motif, one that is rich in exegetical and theological insights. His arguments are rooted in concrete evidence and persuasive in their presentation. --The Princeton Seminary Bulletin<p><br> Excellent Monograph. --Theological Studies<p><br> The study is well researched and documented.... his arguments deserve careful attention. --Journal of Biblical Literature<p><br> The book is lucidly written and provides a fresh and thought-provoking approach to an often neglected area of Old Testament research....the book contains many stimulating insights and interesting observations. --Journal of Theological Studies<p><br>

This provocative and wide-ranging study provides a long-overdue systematic treatment of the hitherto unexplained preference for younger siblings in biblical stories....This is a seminal work by an established biblical scholar and belongs in every library with an interest in biblical scholarship. --Choice ...an important study of a major motif of Old Testament literature....Greenspahn makes some important discoveries and conclusions....Greenspahn has produced a fine study of an important motif, one that is rich in exegetical and theological insights. His arguments are rooted in concrete evidence and persuasive in their presentation. --The Princeton Seminary Bulletin Excellent Monograph. --Theological Studies The study is well researched and documented.... his arguments deserve careful attention. --Journal of Biblical Literature The book is lucidly written and provides a fresh and thought-provoking approach to an often neglected area of Old Testament research....the book contains many stimulating insights and interesting observations. --Journal of Theological Studies This provocative and wide-ranging study provides a long-overdue systematic treatment of the hitherto unexplained preference for younger siblings in biblical stories....This is a seminal work by an established biblical scholar and belongs in every library with an interest in biblical scholarship. --Choice ...an important study of a major motif of Old Testament literature....Greenspahn makes some important discoveries and conclusions....Greenspahn has produced a fine study of an important motif, one that is rich in exegetical and theological insights. His arguments are rooted in concrete evidence and persuasive in their presentation. --The Princeton Seminary Bulletin Excellent Monograph. --Theological Studies The study is well researched and documented.... his arguments deserve careful attention. --Journal of Biblical Literature The book is lucidly written and provides a fresh and thought-provoking approach to an often neglected area of Old Testament research....the book contains many stimulating insights and interesting observations. --Journal of Theological Studies This volume is exceedingly well-researched and impressively documented....This volume should become significant for consultation on this subject. --The Catholic Biblical Quarterly

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