The words of theology: Diachronic analysis
Article by Dany Nocquet* published on the Protestants dans la Ville website (France) on 18 May 2019, freely translated by Giacomo Tessaro
What is the diachronic analysis of a biblical text? Among the tools for reading the Bible, the diachronic approach (also called "historical" or "redactional") reads the text as a "document" and places the various passages in a specific historical context, considered probable based on clues such as a date , the name of a king, of a city... For example, the story of Joseph in Genesis 37-50 suggests that its authors knew some Egyptian rites well: Jacob and Joseph are embalmed, a practice unknown to Canaan.
We can then observe words or passages added to a text, changes in style and vocabulary or surprising repetitions: in Exodus 14, the episode of the exit from Egypt, the end of the Egyptian army is narrated in two different ways, in distinct origins and then sewn together with care. Finally, diachronic exegesis allows us to understand the passage in question as a literary form linked to a specific historical period, as can be clearly seen in the stories of Esther, Judith and Joseph: this approach allows us to read them as products of the environments of the Jewish diaspora established after the Exile (6th century BC). They are stories that express the importance of foreign Jewish communities for the salvation of the entire Jewish people.
With these criteria it is possible to clarify why a given text was written. The account of Joseph (Genesis 37-50) offers a surprisingly positive image of Egypt as a “land of salvation,” which contrasts with the image provided by Exodus. The tale was likely written by Jews who lived in Egypt and had a high opinion of that land and its administration. The environment that produced the story is probably that of the Jewish colony of Elephantine, in southern Egypt, between the 5th and 4th centuries BC. The diachronic exegesis also clarifies the reasons why we wanted to place this text right before of the book of Exodus: Genesis 37-50 is not only a preparation for the harsh situation of the Jews in Egypt, but also a corrective to the image of the Egyptians, offering a positive vision of the oppressors.
* Dany Noquet, born in Poitou, teaches Old Testament at the Protestant Institute of Theology, Faculty of Montpellier.
