May 23, 2009

Intertextuality and Inner-Biblical Exegesis


See this helpful post on intertextuality (how one text uses another) and inner-biblical exegesis. In the post, David Hymes refers to the work of Jeffery M. Leonard, “Identifying Inner-Biblical Allusions: Psalm 78 as a Test Case,”
Journal of Biblical Literature 127 (2008): 241-65. According to Hymes, Leonard "present[s] two especially important guidelines/series of questions.

1. First, eight methodological principles that form a guideline:

"(1) Shared language is the single most important factor in establishing a textual connection. (2) Shared language is more important than nonshared language. (3) Shared language that is rare or distinctive suggests a stronger connection than does language that is widely used. (4) Shared phrases suggest a stronger connection than do individual shared terms. (5) The accumulation of shared language suggests a stronger connection than does a single shared term or phrase. (6) Shared language in similar contexts suggests a stronger connection than does shared language alone. (7) Shared language need not be accompanied by shared ideology to establish a connection. (8) Shared language need not be accompanied by shared form to establish a connection.” (p. 246)

2. Six Questions to determine the direction of allusions:

“(1) Does one text claim to draw on another? (2) Are there elements in the texts that help to fix their dates? (3) Is one text capable of producing the other? (4) Does one text assume the other? (5) Does one text show a general pattern of dependence on other texts? (6) Are there rhetorical patterns in the texts that suggest that one text has used the other in an exegetically significant way?” (p. 258)"

Read Hymes entire post here.

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