Oral Traditions - Post #5 on Old Testament Manuscripts, Source Texts, and Textual Analysis

Oral Traditions

A clip from, “The Hebrew Bible: A Comparative Approach” by Dr. Christopher D. Stanley:

“The origins of the Hebrew Bible are shrouded in mystery. Our only evidence for the development of the collection, including the authorship and dating of individual books, comes from the texts themselves. Some of the books contain historical references or allusions that can be checked against the records of Israel’s neighbors (the Assyrians, Babylonians, and Egyptians) in order to arrive at an estimated date of composition or editing. Others can be dated by correlating their contents with the more dateable books. In the end, however, all that we have are inferences; there are no outside references to the authorship or dating of any of the books in the Hebrew Bible.

Because of the limited nature of the evidence, scholars have developed various theories about the origins and history of the biblical text. Some think that the Hebrew Bible contains materials that were composed fairly early in the history of the people of Israel (1000 BCE or earlier), while others would date virtually all of the texts to the last few centuries before the Common Era (400 - 200 BCE)….

Virtually all scholars agree that at least some of what eventually became the Hebrew Bible began as oral tradition, a term that refers to any kind of material that is passed on within a society by word of mouth. For example, people in every culture have a stock of traditional stories that they tell their children (and other adults) in order to keep alive the traditional beliefs and practices of the society. Other types of material that are commonly passed on in oral form include wise sayings about life (often called proverbs), songs, prayers, and rules of conduct.

Why do people pass on such important elements of their cultural legacy by word of mouth rather than in writing? The simple answer is that written texts are useless to people who cannot read. The evidence for literacy levels in ancient Palestine is sparse, but materials from similar cultures suggest that not more than 5 to 10% of the population would have been able to read or write at a functional level, and virtually all of these people would have lived in the cities. Public schooling was nonexistent in ancient Israel; most children went to work in the fields or began training for a trade at a very early age in order to help the family survive. Formal education (including literacy training) was a luxury to which only the urban elites could aspire….

In societies where literacy is scarce, a variety of formal and informal institutions and activities work together to preserve the traditional beliefs, values, and practices of the culture. Parents tell their children age-old stories of how the world reached its present form and where people like them fit into this world. Adults remind children about proper standards of conduct. Shepherds and farmers swap stories and songs around the campfire on a cold winter evening. Religious leaders recite stories, sing songs, offer prayers, and oversee the rituals that the group uses to curry favor with the supernatural forces that surround them.”

- The Hebrew Bible: A Comparative Approach By Dr. Christopher D. Stanley http://amzn.to/2r6jOnu / http://bit.ly/2pmiBb1

(In that last line, or actually the last paragraph, he’s speaking of ancient Near Eastern cultures in general, of which Israel was a part.)