Sodom and Gomorrah: History and Motif in Biblical Narrative

by Weston W. Fields

Publisher:

Sheffield Academic Press

, 1997

Overview

According to Weston W. Fields, biblical narrative is a didactic socio-religious commentary on human experience reflected in history, and that such history is a way of describing the conceptual universe of the ancient authors. Biblical narrative is strikingly free of abstract formulations but encapsulates abstract reflections within recurring literary motifs and by the reporting of historical information. This perception of biblical narrative is strikingly illustrated by an analysis of the story of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19). The motifs of the Sodom tradition are compared with those in the stories about the concubine in Gibeah (Judges 19) and about the destruction of Jericho (Joshua 2).

Key Features

• Landmark scholarship on the book of Genesis
• All Scripture references are linked to the original language texts and English Bibles in your library
• Textual, linguistic, interpretive, and historical approach to studying Genesis

Contents

Top Highlights

“This definition demonstrates that ‘motif’ is used both in a more restrictive sense (a recurring character or theme), as well as in a broader sense (a recurring event or situation). But whether employed restrictively or broadly, ‘motif’ implies recurrence, for it is recurrence that turns occurrence into a motif.” (Page 19)

“Such repetitions and similarities should be understood as a conscious effort by a writer to create a type of plot which would be familiar, hence more readily acceptable, to his audience. This ‘accommodation’ to the audience’s expectations grows out of the fact that communication between an author and his audience is more easily accomplished when familiar forms are employed.” (Page 18)

“. A motif may be a narrative backup for established legal norms” (Page 20)

Product Details

• Title: Sodom and Gomorrah: History and Motif in Biblical Narrative
• Author: Weston W. Fields
• Publisher: Sheffield Academic Press
• Publication Date: 2009
• Pages: 228

About Weston W. Fields

Weston W. Fields has been executive director of the Dead Sea Scrolls Foundation in Jerusalem since 1991. He taught at Grace College and Theological Seminary for 10 years and at the Institute of Holy Land Studies (now Jerusalem University College) for seven years. For the past 18 years, he has worked closely with the editors of the official publications of the scrolls, Discoveries in the Judaean Desert. Since 1999, he has traveled extensively in the Middle East, Europe, and the United States in order to interview everyone from the first generation of scholars then alive, including those who discovered scrolls in the 1950s or were the first to examine and reconstruct them. As a result of these personal meetings, he has amassed a large and diverse collection of personal letters, papers, and archives related to the first scrolls scholars, especially the famous Qumran Cave 4 Team. He is also the author of Sodom and Gomorrah: History and Motif in Biblical Narrative.