Department of Religion

Ed Silver

Assistant Professor
Founders 220
(781) 283-2611
esilver@wellesley.edu
The primary focus of my research is ancient Israelite prophecy. My work examines prophetic texts in the Hebrew Bible in relation to their original historical contexts. I draw on a range of literary methods in order to reconstruct how Hebrew-speaking prophets attempted to influence, through poetry, the political debates of their time. I also examine the process through which those original acts of political speech were reframed and reformulated in the course of their canonization within the Hebrew Bible.

In my dissertation, “The Prophet and the Lying Pen: Jeremiah’s Poetic Challenge to the Deuteronomic School,” I developed a new approach to reading the poetry of Jeremiah along these lines. I examined how Jeremiah drew upon and adapted prior authoritative traditions in the course of developing his own poetry. By focusing on the prophet’s techniques of citation and his patterns of rhetorical engagement, I demonstrated how Jeremiah’s own particular intention and his relationship to the historical controversies of his period could be recovered. Reading the prophet in this way, it became possible to recognize how his own speech had been transformed and at times even subverted by the scribes who composed the book that now bears his name.

More broadly, I am interested in the relationship between the operation of Hebrew poetry and indigenous Israelite forms of critical discourse. I am fascinated by the question of how the Hebrew language itself frames and represents issues of political or philosophical concern. My research draws upon the disciplines of sociology, anthropology, comparative literature, philology and linguistics in order to recover the historical interests at work at the core of Biblical traditions. I am also interested in the emergence of historically-situated practices of textual interpretation that develop out of the reading of the Hebrew Bible.

At Wellesley College, I teach courses in Hebrew Bible and the ancient Near East. My primary interest is to help students learn how to read closely and with sensitivity to the unique historical and social conditions of ancient Israelite society. I recognize that it is impossible to read the Biblical text in ignorance of its extended history of interpretation, and yet, I hold that there is much to be gained in struggling to understand the text in relation to its historical point of origin.

I am a member of the Society of Biblical Literature, the American Schools of Oriental Research, and the Association for Jewish Studies.

At present, I am writing a book on rhetorical questions in Biblical Hebrew.

COURSES

REL 104 Study of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament
Critical introduction to the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, studying its role in the history and culture of ancient Israel and its relationship to ancient Near Eastern cultures. Special focus on the fundamental techniques of literary, historical, and source criticism in modern scholarship, with emphasis on the Bible’s literary structure and compositional evolution.

REL 114 Science and the Bible
Discussion of controversies over the Bible and its relevance to scientific inquiry. Examination of significant areas of perceived conflict between science and religion such as: evolutionary theory, geological history, environmental stewardship, neuro-scientific models of the mind, and genetic engineering. We will ask how religious believers have drawn upon the Bible to develop critical perspectives toward aspects of the scientific project, and we will assess the benefits and limitations of using ancient texts in this way.

REL 203 Prophets and Prophecy in Ancient Israel
Examination of texts in the Hebrew Bible bearing on the phenomenon of prophecy: narrative descriptions of prophetic behavior and literary texts which purport to be the words of the biblical prophets themselves. Consideration of prophetic behavior in its ancient Near Eastern context and in relation to the unique cultural, social and political conditions in ancient Israel. Particular attention to the relationship between poetry and political critique and on the transition from orally delivered oracles to written prophetic texts.

REL 205 Wisdom Literature in the Hebrew Bible and Early Judaism
The worldview of ancient Israelite wisdom literature: its philosophical, ethical and cosmological systems, and broader cross-cultural contexts. Also the adaptation of individual ethical doctrines to the governance of the political collective during the great Judean reform movement of the 7th century BCE, and the breakdown of this system in the wake of the Babylonian Exile. Special attention to scribal responses to the Problem of Evil and their ideas on the relationship between the created cosmos and divine intentionality.

REL 208 Legend, Satire and Storytelling in the Hebrew Bible
The art of narrative composition in the Hebrew Bible. The literary techniques and conventions of ancient Israelite authors in the Bible’s rich corpus of stories. Philosophical and aesthetic treatment of themes such as kingship, power, gender and covenant. Primary focus on the role of narrative in the cultural life of ancient Israel, with attention also to the difficulties of interpreting biblical stories from within our contemporary milieu.

REL 242 Introduction to Rabbinic Literature
An introduction to the main Rabbinic writings of the first half of the first millennium: the Mishnah, the Talmud, the Midrashic writings on Scripture, and early mystical texts.

REL 248 The Dead Sea Scrolls
Survey of the texts discovered in the 1940’s and 1950’s at the site of Wadi Qumran in the Judean desert. Investigation of biblical manuscripts, apocryphal and non-canonical texts, and sectarian documents. Consideration of the controversies surrounding the scrolls and the community that produced them. Particular attention paid to the apocalyptic and eschatological themes of the scrolls in relation to the political events of the period.

REL 307 Seminar. Gods, Politics, and the Body in the Ancient Near East
Study of the interconnection of politics, theology and identity in the ancient Near East. Exploration of how language about the divine was used to frame concepts of political collectivity. Particular focus on sovereignty and its resistance; the uses of violence, torture and bodily spectacle; and the emergence of literacy and writing culture as catalysts for new forms of community.

Contact: Dianne Baroz
Created by: Rachel Isaacs and Audrey Fergason
Created: April 2002
Expires: May 2005