Sailhamer: The Adding of Laws in the Pentateuch

Well, Sailhamer may write long introductions, but he sure knows hows to get you hooked.  When considering the composition of the three legal codes of the Pentateuch he argues that the Mosaic law was added to the Sinai covenant as a consequence of Israel's transgressions. (p42)  So the structure of Exodus-Leviticus looks a little like this:

1. Sinai Covenant, Ex 19-31, original covenant >>>
2. Golden calf incident, Ex 32-33, priestly indiscretion >>>
   
3. Priestly Code, Ex 35- Lev16, extra laws >>>
4. Goat idols, Lev 17:1-9, popular indiscretion >>>
5. Holiness code, Lev17-25, extra laws

All of which serves to agree with Gal 3:19, where Paul states:  "What, then, was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions . . ." (NIV)  For Sailhamer the giving of the law is thus an act of God's grace (not a punishment) because it is God's remedy for the Israel's  breaking of the covenant (p48). All of which is really interesting, but it does ignore lots of larger narrative interuptions to the law codes and puts a lot of weight on the goat idols/demons which in Leviticus seem like more of an aside that a central interpretive signpost.  That said, Sailhamer is just sketching his arguments at the moment so he may well address these issues later in the book.

Personally, as a father of young children, I like this scheme because it is true to life.  At home we do not create new rules till the kids' behaviour demands it. In our house, as in Sailhamer's scheme, rules are purely pedagogical. The default setting is freedom and grace. However, the jury is out at this stage over whether or not this really works as an explanation of the laws in Exodus-Leviticus.

How to Type, How to Learn

Now my thesis is out the way there are a few projects that I had been putting off which I can now work on, one of which is to learn to type!  Now it would have made sense to learn to type before i had to write my thesis, but truth be told my slow error laden typing was little hindrance to the rate at which i was able to produce the document.  I found this great site for learning to type which is without all the annoying frills many of these programs come with.  Most impressive though was that it started off by instructing the student how to learn, and offered these principles of effective learning:

• No mistakes. Always be sure and in control. Follow the principle of 100% correct practice: to make a mistake is to learn incorrect things, and to confuse that which you already know.
• Slower is faster. Speed comes from certainty. The more you type things correctly, no matter how slow it has to be, the more certain you will be, and the faster you will become a proficient typist. Increase speed only when you feel sure enough to do so.
• Don't look at the keyboard! If you don't know where a key is, look at the keyboard to find it, then look away and type the key. Do not guess; always be sure.
• Relax. No unnecessary or dysfunctional tension!
• Hit the keys squarely in the center. If you find you aren't consistently doing so, SLOW DOWN!!! It should feel good to type!

These principles apply equally (with only slight modification) to other skill development, e.g. playing a musical instrument, or operating a vehicle.  Getting the right principles in place at the beginning has a profound affect on the consequent learning and its chances of success, hmm now I wonder how this might illustrate the Christian life? . . .

Pedagogy of Genesis

It is common in our society to think that for a book of the Bible, whether Genesis or any other, to be practical and relevant, it must give us a course of action.  It is more common in the Old Testament for its practical teaching to give us a way of thinking . . . The practical lessons of Genesis offer us a new way of thinking that will inevitably result in life changes.

- Walton, Genesis, NIVAC, 2001, 55

[T]he narrators interests are historical . . . his interests are also inseparably didactic and aesthetic.  Unlike a geometry textbook that may aim to be only didactic, Genesis is literature because it communicates doctrine in an artful way; it is ideological art.

- Waltke, Genesis, 2001, 31