This paper was published here on 26 February 2020. It was published first in PDF form on 25 January 2020 DOI of the version of the paper on academia.edu: |
This paper is the translation of chapter I of the doctoral dissertation: Wojciech Kosek, Pierwotny ryt Paschy w świetle schematu literackiego Księgi Wyjścia 1-18, [The original rite of the Passover in the light of the literary scheme of the Book of Exodus 1-18], Kraków 2008, p. 53-198. |
On academia.edu, see also the other parts of this dissertation: |
The present paper shows subsequent methodological steps to discover the division of the Book of Exodus into basic literary units according to the thought of its final writer-redactor, the one who arranged the text under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God.
In the first step, one ought to make a list of the more essential means of dividing this book, which occurred from the very beginning to our times. It concerns, of course, the version in the Hebrew language, and also its translations into different languages, including the Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate. One must take into account also the contribution of the contemporary biblicists done through their translations and scientific discussions and analyses resulting in books or articles in specialized magazines.
The comparative material collected in this way will answer the question about the criterion for the division of the text: is there visible an original logic in the contemporary editions of the Bible according to which the last editor-writer finally shaped this holy text? What is this original logic? Can this be discovered with scientific credibility?
The second step of the methodological looking for the original division of the Book of Exodus will be a through-out reading of the Hebrew text.
For providing the fulfillment of the requirement to read the text profoundly, one will involve the principle of theocentrism as the essential criterion for this task. Namely, to understand the sacred text, one should look especially for those places where God of Israel – יְהוָה – appears as the subject (dynamic center) of acts and simultaneously the grammatical subject of the biblical sentence.
As a result of such reading, one will discover the six-element literary structure of Ex 1-18 as the first main part of the Book of Exodus; its second part – Ex 19-40 – will not be analyzed in the present publication.