Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site eosp1.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!princeton!astrovax!fisher!eosp1!robison
From: robison@eosp1.UUCP (Tobias D. Robison)
Newsgroups: net.religion.jewish
Subject: Re: Biblical scholarship; the Tamar story
Message-ID: <1298@eosp1.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 17-Dec-84 11:54:44 EST
Article-I.D.: eosp1.1298
Posted: Mon Dec 17 11:54:44 1984
Date-Received: Tue, 18-Dec-84 02:45:20 EST
References: <552@homxa.UUCP>
Reply-To: robison@eosp1.UUCP (Tobias D. Robison)
Organization: Exxon Office Systems, Princeton
Lines: 25
Summary: 

The Tamar story, and the story of Josph's brothers
bloddying his coat, contain a similar verb regarding
the recognition of signs of office. ( Jacob is asked to
recognize the coat; Judah to recognize his staff and ring.)
These are, I think, the ONLY uses of that verb in Torah, and
there is a lot of commentary about this link.

The grand tradition of assigning different authorships to parts
of Torah belongs to some 19th century German  scholars.
Their work may have been brought up to  date, but it
originally suffered from a lack of may kinds of textual analysis
that are now routine.  Of particular importance is the study
of historical anachronisms.  In many cases, texts that
are claimed to originate at different times because of
differences instyle show the same attitude toward events
that supposedly occurred after one of the texts was
written.  The similar attitude argues strongly for consistent
origin.

For more on this topic, see the Hertz Soncino Chumash, which
discusses in great detail, for example, arguments that the 5th
book is of later origin, and disposes of most of the arguments.

  - Toby Robison (not Robinson!)
  {allegra, decvax!ittvax, fisher, princeton}!eosp1!robison