92936 - Bible Literature (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

Upon a successful completion of this course, students will achieve basic notions and skills in interpreting Biblical texts as literature, and re-framing their production and fortune as a distinctively historical, philological and literary phenomenon, between authoring and copying, translating and interpreting, from the Ancient Near East down to the Graeco-Roman Mediterranean world and contemporary literature.

Course contents

Judaite Historiography Between Memory and 'Myth': from Megiddo to the Armageddon.

As monarchy emerged (11th-10th century BCE), Israel's past moves from the shadowy, mythical time of 'origins' to the time of history. Nonetheless, Judaite literati from the Persian and Greek periods (6th-3rd century BCE) felt equally free to re-describe and re-invent the monarchical period as well, recording it in line with their experience of the present, their expectations for the future, and the religious ideology they were elaborating accordingly. The course intends first of all to offer critical readings of selected passages from the so-called Deuteronomistic history (Dt - 2 Kings); in a second step, and more specifically, it aims to reconstruct the literary and ideological process that turned the fading memories of a Cananean city, Megiddo, and a military defeat from the monarchical age into the epitome of the end of worlds: the 'myth' of Armageddon.

The course will address the following issues:

Part 1 (10 hours):

- The formation of biblical literature and 'Deuteronomistic' historiography;

– Behind the scenes: Megiddo in Ancient Near Eastern documents;

Part 2 (10 hours):

– Philological, literary, and historical analysis of selected passaged from the 'Deuteronomistic history': 1 Sam 10:17-11:11; 1 Kings 9:10-28; 2 Kings 23:28-30.

Part 3 (10 hours):

– Plains and mountains, past and future, wars and theodicies: from Megiddo to the Armageddon.

N.B. No previous knowledge of Hebrew phonetics/grammar required. Translations from Hebrew will be provided and discussed by the teacher during the course. 

Readings/Bibliography

a) Text and Translations:

II-IV Regni, in La Bibbia dei Settanta. II/1: Libri storici, Morcelliana 2016 (esclusivamente per gli studenti di filologia classica);

Liber Malachim, in Biblia Sacra Vulgata, ediderunt R. Weber-R. Gryson, Stuttgart 1969 (quinta ediz. 2007; esclusivamente per gli studenti di filologia classica);

1-2 Re in Bibbia, a cura di E. Bianchi - M. Cucca - F. Giuntoli - L. Monti, Einaudi 2023;

Re. Introduzione, traduzione e commento, a cura di P. Merlo, Paoline 2020.

b) Approaching the books of Kings and the Armageddon:

E.H. Cline, La città perduta di re Salomone: alla ricerca di Armageddon, Hoepli 2022;

— Armageddon. La valle di tutte le battaglie, Bollati Boringhieri 2017;

T. Römer, Dal Deuteronomio ai libri dei Re. Introduzione storica, letteraria e sociologica, Claudiana 2007.

c) Studies

1. Integral Readings for Attending Students

R.G. Kratz, Israele storico e biblico. Storia, tradizione, archivi, GBP 2021;

M. Liverani, Oltre la Bibbia. Storia antica di Israele, Laterza 2003 (and subsequent editions);

K. Schmid - J. Schröter, La formazione della Bibbia. Dai primi testi alle Sacre Scritture, Morcelliana 2024, pp. 13-202;

W.M. Schniedewind, The Finger of the Scribe. How Scribes Learned to Write the Bible, Oxford University Press 2019;

F. Stavrakopoulou, Anatomia di Dio, Bollati Boringhieri 2022;

2. Integral Readings for Non-Attending Students

G. Garbini, Letteratura e politica nell'Israele antico, Paideia 2010;

— Mito e storia nella Bibbia, Paideia 2003 (rist.: 2022);

W.M. Schniedewind, Who Really Wrote the Bible: The Story of the Scribes, Princeton University Press 2024.

Teaching methods

Lectures; analysis of literary texts; use of bibliographic and electronic databases; audio- and video resources.

Assessment methods

Oral exam. Students will have to prove their abilities

• to read and understand the so-called Elijah's cycle (1 Kings 17:1 - 2 Kings 2:18) in Greek or Latin (required exclusively of students of Classical Philology) or, if they are not students of Classical Philology, to read and understand the two books of Kings in a modern translation (supra, Bibliography under the entry Text and Translations). N.B. Students of Classical Philology are obviously requested to read both books in a modern translation as well;
• to interpret and profile the books of Kings as historical and literary artifacts, supplementing and integrating class notes with one reading of their choice from the two cited supra in Bibliography under the entry Approaching the books of Kings and Armageddon;
• to sketch and discuss the material, historical, and cultural processes that lead to the formation of Israel's sacred writings as we know them, or alternatively the trajectories of their fortune and reception, in the light of one reading of their choice selected from the list offered supra in Bibliography under the entry Studies, point 1. (Integral Readings for Attending Students);

Additionally, students who cannot attend the lessons will substitute class notes with one volume of their choice from those cited supra in Bibliography under the entry Studies, point 2. (Integral Readings for Non-Attending Students).

Skills will be assessed according to the following guidelines:
- failing grade (< 18): inability to translate short sections from the Greek/Latin text of the Elijah’s cycle (exclusively required of LM15 students); inability to provide a correct interpretation of the texts discussed during the course or, as for non-attending students, to comment on the critical essays of their choice.
- passing grade (between 18 and 24): elementary ability to translate short sections from the Greek/Latin text of the Elijah’s cycle (exclusively required of LM15 students); inaccuracy and lack of autonomy in providing a correct interpretation of the texts discussed during the course or, as for non-attending students, in commenting on critical essays of their choice.
- positive grade (between 24 and 30): good comprehension of the grammatical and syntactical structures of the Greek/Latin text of the Elijah’s cycle (exclusively required of LM15 students); interpretation of the texts discussed during the course is correct, but mostly superficial and not entirely autonomous; as for non-attending students, the critical essays of their choice are cursorily commented upon.
- excellent grade (30L): in-depth knowledge of the grammatical and syntactical structures of the Greek/Latin text of the Elijah’s cycle (exclusively required of LM15 students); precision and full autonomy in interpreting, contextualizing and critically comparing the texts discussed during the course; as for non-attending students, critical discussion of the essays of their choice is detailed and deep-ranging. 

Every academic year 6 exam sessions are scheduled for the following months: February, April, June, October, November, December - for all students.

Teaching tools

Computer and projector; bibliographic and electronic databases; fotocopies; texts and segments of texts in PDF format uploaded by the teacher as teaching materials. Students with learning disorders and/or temporary or permanent disabilities: please, contact the office responsible (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students ) as soon as possible so that they can propose acceptable adjustments. The request for adaptation must be submitted in advance (15 days before the exam date) to the lecturer, who will assess the appropriateness of the adjustments, taking into account the teaching objectives.

Office hours

See the website of Daniele Tripaldi