Wollaston Research Seminar

Dr Megan Warner to present: “Exploring the Boundaries of P: ‘It’s P, Jim, but not as we know it’”

Abstract:

The ‘P’ hypothesis remains one the few stable pillars of current pentateuchal studies. It is nevertheless beset by debates about P’s nature, date, length, stratification, end point etc. Jürg Hutzli has recently entered the fray with an open access monograph, The Origins of P: Literary Profiles and Strata of the Priestly Texts in Genesis 1 – Exodus 40 (2023, Mohr Siebeck). This paper is a response. Central to Hutzli’s findings is a proposal that P has multiple natures, manifesting differently in different places – P is best understood, according to Hutzli, as a ‘source’ in some parts of Genesis but a ‘redaction’ in other parts and in Exodus. Further, P can helpfully be divided into multiple strata that can be dated to different time periods. Despite the variegated nature of P, however, Hutzli maintains that P is highly distinctive, so that it can be reliably distinguished from non-Priestly text. “Only a few verses are disputed.”

This paper takes the paradox of a body of text that is both disparate and distinctive as a jumping-off point from which to begin to explore some of the outer regions of P. It considers some of the challenges presented by non-P texts that display multiple Priestly markers, and one or two of the counter-intuitive conclusions to which those challenges might point. More generally, the paper involves some musing about the rise and fall of pentateuchal hypotheses.

 If you wish to attend, please join our mailing list by contacting research@wollaston.edu.au. Zoom invitations and pre-reading will be distributed to this list in advance. All in-person seminars are held in the Gerald New Room, Wollaston Theological College, Mt Claremont 6010.