Inventory of Structurally Important Literary Features in the Anonymous and Pseudepigraphic Jewish Literatures of Antiquity
A corpus-based list of generically defined literary features occurring in at least one text of the Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament, the Apocrypha of the Old Testament, the near-complete large Dead Sea Scrolls, or Rabbinic Literature.
Work in progress, version -355, 25 February 2011. Please cite information from this document as: A. Samely, P. Alexander, R. Bernasconi, R. Hayward, "Inventory of Structurally Important Literary Features in Ancient Jewish Literature (Version -355)" (Manchester: http://www.manchester.ac.uk/ancientjewishliterature, 2010), plus Inventory Point number.
This Inventory is part of the outcomes of the Project Typology of Anonymous and Pseudepigraphic Jewish Literature of Antiquity (TAPJLA) Manchester-Durham 2007-2011, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (UK).
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E. Relationships between texts
7. Correspondences and wording overlap between texts (for lemmatic sequential commentary or homily, only 7.1.4. and 7.1.8.2 can apply here)
| Definition of the literary feature | Selected texts illustrating the feature |
|---|---|
| 7.1. Narrative or thematic correspondences, or overlap of specific wording, occur between the non-biblical text and one or more biblical texts in a manner that is prominent or pervasive. (This point is based on a synchronic comparison and makes no assumptions about historical priority except for explicit quotations and similar phenomena.) | |
| 7.1.1. Characters correspond between the non-biblical narrative and the narrative of a biblical text or texts. | |
| 7.1.1.1. Some or all main characters of the text correspond to main characters in a biblical partner text. | Jubilees, LAB |
| 7.1.1.1.1. A main character shared with a biblical partner text is also the first-person narrator of the text. | GenApocNoah/Abram part-texts, TJob |
| 7.1.1.2. The text's main character is a minor character in Scripture. | |
| 7.1.1.2.1. That character is also the first-person narrator of the text. | 1Enoch |
| 7.1.1.3. Only minor character(s) of the text correspond to character(s) in a biblical text(s), whether minor or major. | 1Bar, Tobit |
| 7.1.1.4. The first-person narrator of the text is a non-biblical character. | Tobit |
| 7.1.2. Chronology, physical setting or emplotment correspond between the non-biblical narrative and the narrative of a biblical text or texts: | |
| 7.1.2.1. The narrative's chronological and spatial framework, as well as certain events, are co-extensive with that of a biblical partner text, or with some extended part of it. | 1Bar |
| 7.1.2.1.1. The text tends to narrate the story through events described in approximately the same amount of detail as a biblical partner text. | Jubilees, LAB |
| 7.1.2.1.2. The narrative is told in more detail than that of a biblical partner text, or contains more components that slow down the narrative pace. See 4.6, 4.12 or 4.13. | TJob, GenApoc part-texts |
| 7.1.2.1.3. The text tends to narrate the story through events described in less detail or through fewer events than a biblical partner text. | Sibyl.Or., 1Bar, GenApoc part-texts |
| 7.1.2.1.4. Some of the narrative's sub-plots or episodes, mostly corresponding to those of a biblical text, differ from each other in the amount of detail provided if compared to the biblical text. | LAB, Jubilees |
| 7.1.2.1.4.1. Among the sub-plots or episodes with more detail are some or all of the ones that have no biblical counterpart. | LAB (25:2 ff.); Jubilees |
| 7.1.2.2. While the narrative or some part of it covers the same chronological-spatial ground or plot as a biblical text, it lacks extended speeches of law-giving, prophecy or other kinds found in that biblical text. | LAB Ex. 20ff., etc.; TJob |
| 7.1.2.3. The narrative is located at a particular point ("niche") in a chronological-spatial framework also known from a biblical text, but there is no overlap in the narrative substance. | Tobit, Judith, 4Ezra |
| 7.1.3. There is prominent use of explicit quotations of biblical wording, whether in non-narrative or in narrative (but for lemmatic commentaries see section 6). | Damascus Document, Tosefta (also Mishnah), Targum Esther Sheni |
| 7.1.4. The text shares features of language with the Hebrew Bible, or exhibits tacit overlap with specific biblical wording, whether narrative or not. | |
| 7.1.4.1. There are pervasive biblical linguistic features (vocabulary, morphology or syntax) or a pervasive use of unspecific biblical language, such as generic biblical phrases or single words. | Sirach, 1QpHab, Wisdom, 1Bar, LAB, 4Ezra, 4Mac |
| 7.1.4.2. The text contains prominently, but not necessarily frequently, the wording of specific biblical passages such as whole sentences or unique biblical phrases, used in a tacit manner. See also 8.1.4.1. | Jubilees, 4Ezra, Sefer Yetsirah, 1QS opening column, Psalms of Solomon |
| 7.1.4.2.1. The tacit overlap of specific wording extends regularly to whole sentences or to extensive sentence groupings, found alongside sentences or sentence parts not found in that biblical partner text. | Sirach, LAB, [the hypothetical Hebrew original of Jubilees] |
| 7.1.4.3. The tacit overlap of wording takes place across language boundaries, with respect to the current language of the text. (Point 6.13 does not apply, as there is no complete representation of a biblical text in another language.) | LAB, Greek compositions using LXX, Sirach, Jubilees |
| 7.1.5. The projected persona of the governing voice of the text, whether narrative or not, is also known from a biblical text; or the governing voice takes an epistemic stance similar to that of a biblical text. | 4Ezra, GenApoc part-texts, Jubilees (Angelic narrative), Prayer of Manasseh, Sirach, Targum Onkelos Genesis, Wisdom |
| 7.1.5.1. The projected first-person persona of the governing voice is also a character in a biblical text. (In the case of narratives, this point will duplicate 7.1.1.1.1/7.1.1.2.1.) | 4Ezra, GenApoc, Jubilees (Angelic narrative), Wisdom |
| 7.1.5.1.1. The persona appears to be linked to that character as it specifically appears in that biblical text, not merely as it might be known from diffuse cultural knowledge. | Jubilees (Angelic narrative) |
| 7.1.5.2. The projected first-person persona of the governing voice is presented as identical with or as an extension of the persona of the governing voice of a biblical text. | Wisdom, Jubilees |
| 7.1.5.3. The epistemic stance of the governing voice (narrative or not, first person or not) can be interpreted as falling into the same generic category as one of the following stances also adopted in biblical texts: | 4Ezra, Jubilees, Prayer of Manasseh, Sibyl.Or. 5, Sirach, Targum Genesis Onkelos |
| 7.1.5.3.1. The conveyance of personally received verbal or visual revelation: prophecy model. | 4Ezra (in particular frame chapters), 1Enoch, Sibyl.Or. 5 |
| 7.1.5.3.2. The omniscient narration, as in Genesis-Joshua; or unrestricted knowledge of a described reality, similar to Genesis 1. | LAB, Jubilees, Targum Onkelos Genesis; Sefer Yetsirah |
| 7.1.5.3.3. The plea to God of human prayer or supplication, as in Psalms. | Prayer of Manasseh |
| 7.1.5.3.4. The conveyance of wisdom on the basis of personal experience or learning, as in Proverbs, Qohelet. | Sirach, Wisdom of Solomon |
| 7.1.6. The range of themes in the non-narrative text is wholly or nearly contained within the specific range of themes found also in a biblical text. (Does not apply to 6.1 commentaries in relation to their base text.) | Temple Scroll |
| 7.1.7. The sequence of themes in (at least) substantial parts of the non-narrative text is tacitly isomorphic with the sequence of themes in a biblical text. | |
| 7.1.8. The non-narrative text pervasively or prominently presupposes the narrative fabric of biblical events/reported speech, beyond the contents of any specific biblical wording it may quote. | |
| 7.1.8.1. The text presupposing biblical narrative fabric has a thematic structure of discourse or description. | 4Mac, Sirach, Damascus Document |
| 7.1.8.2. The text presupposing biblical narrative fabric is a lemmatic sequential commentary on some part of the Hebrew Bible. | 1QpHab, all exegetical Midrash |
| 7.1.9. While sharing the basic narrative-chronological framework of biblical texts, the narrative also mentions characters or events which presuppose a potentially quite different framework. | Tobit (Ahiqar), 1EnWatchers (Gilgamesh) |
| 7.2. Narrative or thematic correspondences, or overlap of specific wording, occur between the non-biblical text under discussion and other non-biblical texts in a manner that is prominent or pervasive. This point is based on a synchronic comparison and makes no assumptions about historical priority except for explicit quotations. It is thus reciprocal between texts if they are both in the Inventory corpus. | |
| 7.2.1. There is a correspondence of characters; this may include the persona projected as the governing voice of the current text. | GenApoc, Jubilees |
| 7.2.1.1. This also constitutes a correspondence with a biblical text (7.1.1). | GenApoc, Jubilees |
| 7.2.2. The overall chronological and spatial framework of the narrative, as well as certain events, are substantially or prominently co-extensive with that of a non-biblical narrative or with some extended part of it. | Jubilees, LAB |
| 7.2.2.1. The narrative is located at a particular point ("niche") in a chronological-spatial framework also known from another non-biblical text, but there is no overlap in the narrative substance. | |
| 7.2.2.2. This co-extension also constitutes a co-extension with a biblical text; or, this "niche" relationship also constitutes a "niche" relationship with a biblical text. See 7.1.2.1/7.1.2.3. | Jubilees-LAB |
| 7.2.3. There are explicit quotations or instances of explicitly marked expressive use of wording from a non-biblical partner text | BerR, Mekhilta, Sifra, Sifre Deut (all with Mishnaic wording); tBQ (Mishnah); Targum Esther Sheni; |
| 7.2.4. The wording or specific theme of self-contained thematic units is occasionally identical to those of another non-biblical text (or part-text), without being marked as quotations from that other text. This point only applies if extensive wording overlap (7.2.6), thematic range inclusion (7.2.8) or thematic isomorphism (7.2.9) does not apply; it only applies to non-narrative; and it does not include, for practical reasons, the Tractates of Mishnah/Tosefta in their overlap with other works of rabbinic literature (but other works fall under this point). | Many works of rabbinic literature |
| 7.2.4.1. Such overlapping units are found in text types which differ from each other in their thematic arrangement. | Sifra-Mishnah, Yerushalmi-BerR, b/yBaraitot - Tosefta |
| 7.2.4.2. It is common for such overlapping units to be marked as the speech of a character or as anonymous quoted speech in one or both of the texts. | most of rabbinic texts |
| 7.2.4.3. Such overlapping units occur within what is, by other structural signals, manifestly the same text (or part-text). | Sifre Deut, BerR, yBQ, bGit |
| 7.2.5. There are prominent single allusions to specific wording found in a non-biblical partner text. | |
| 7.2.6. There is extensive tacit overlap with the wording of a non-biblical partner text, whether in narrative or in non-narrative texts. | Mishnah-Tosefta, 1Bar |
| 7.2.6.1. The text presents statements as anonymous (or in the governing voice) which are also anonymous (in the governing voice) in a partner text. | Mishnah, Tosefta |
| 7.2.6.2. The text assigns to a character statements which are anonymous in a partner text. | many Tosefta Tractates, mMaaserot |
| 7.2.6.2.1. The character thus quoted is also the person traditionally identified as the redactor or tradent of the anonymous parts of a partner text. | tBetsah 2:9/ mBetsah 2:3 |
| 7.2.6.3. The text presents statements as anonymous which are assigned to a character in a partner text. | many Mishnah Tractates |
| 7.2.6.4. The extensive wording overlap takes place across language boundaries. | |
| 7.2.6.5. The extensive wording overlap takes place in a thematic environment or in a cotext (narrative, thematic, lemmatic, dialectical conversation, rabbinic homily) different from that of the wording in the partner text. | |
| 7.2.6.6. The 7.2.6 wording overlap also constitutes wording overlap with a biblical text. | |
| 7.2.7. The projected first-person persona of the governing voice of the text, whether narrative or not, is also known from another non-biblical text. | GenApoc (Jubilees/1En) |
| 7.2.7.1. The projected first-person persona is identical with a character in another non-biblical text. | GenApoc (Jubilees, 1En) |
| 7.2.7.1.1. The persona appears to be linked to that character as it specifically appears in the other text, not merely as it might be known from diffuse cultural knowledge. | |
| 7.2.7.2. The projected first-person persona is presented as identical with or as an extension of the persona of the governing voice of another non-biblical text. | |
| 7.2.7.3. The 7.2.7 overlap also constitutes an overlap with a biblical text. | GenApoc |
| 7.2.8. The range of themes in the non-narrative text is wholly or nearly contained within the specific range of themes found also in another non-biblical text. (Does not apply to 6.1 commentaries in relation to their base text.) | Mishnah-Tosefta |
| 7.2.9. The sequence of themes in (at least) substantial parts of the non-narrative text is tacitly isomorphic with the sequence of themes in another non-biblical text. | Mishnah-Tosefta |
| 7.2.9.1. Shared themes occur largely or entirely in the same sequence, albeit separated by other themes. [DELETE OR KEEP as applicable: These themes may be supporting arguments.] | many Mishnah Tractates, Tosefta Tractates, 1Bar, 4Mac |
| 7.2.9.2. Characteristic thematic or formal groupings of sentences (e.g. 9.3, 9.4, 9.4.4/5) occur approximately at the "same" point (as defined, for example, in relation to neighbouring groupings) in the other non-biblical text. | many Mishnah Tractates, Tosefta Tractates |
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