The Formation of The Book of the Twelve: A Study in Text and Canon (review)

Hebrew Studies 38 (1997) 141 Reviews THE FORMATION OF THE BOOK OF THE TWELVE: A STUDY IN TEXT AND CANON. By Barry Alan Jones. SBL Dissertation Series 149. Pp. xii + 266. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1995. Paper, $24.95. This 1994 Duke dissertation by Barry Alan Jones, a student of Eric M. Meyers, argues that "multiple forms of the Hebrew Book of the Twelve existed in antiquity" (p. xi) and that these multiple forms provide fruitful ground for examining literary and canonical issues related to the later stages of the development of the Book of the Twelve. In fact, he claims that his method of studying the Minor Prophets from the perspective of manuscript evidence provides more objective conclusions than approaches which rely on literary-critical tools alone. In chapter 1, a review of the manuscript evidence for the Book of the Twelve leads to the conclusion that three textual traditions for the Minor Prophets existed in antiquity: the Masoretic Text (MT), the Hebrew Vorlage of the Septuagint (LXX), and the text represented in 4QXna (from Cave 4 at Khirbet Qumran). An edition of the Qumran text appears in a 1988 Harvard dissertation by R. Fuller. According to Fuller, 4QXIIa concluded with Zechariah, Malachi, and Jonah-the only three books represented in the surviving fragments of this manuscript. In the second half of chapter I, Jones surveys the scholarly use of the manuscript evidence for the Minor Prophets and notes three tendencies: an almost exclusive focus on MT, the widespread opinion that the Book of the Twelve is a unity, and the general agreement that the formation of the Book of the Twelve has a link with the history of the canon. Jones' intention is to advance the discussion by employing a text-critical method which focuses on the evidence from LXX and 4QXna regarding the Minor Prophets. Chapter 2 explores the value of the text-critical method for reconstructing the growth of the Book of the Twelve and surveys scholarship regarding the contribution of textual criticism to literary and canonical issues . Especially germane for the dissertation is the observation that three of the Minor Prophets-Joel, Obadiah, and Jonah-are in different sequences in the traditions represented by MT, LXX, and 4QXna (see chart below). In chapter 3, an analysis of variants between MT and LXX in the Book of the Twelve leads Jones to conclude that the Hebrew source text of LXX and the proto-MT text preserved in MT were based on the same archetype which developed two slightly different transmission histories. Hebrew Studies 38 (1997) 142 Reviews The fourth chapter is an examination of the location of Jonah in the three manuscript traditions under consideration. Jones proposes that the placement of Jonah in last position in the Book of the Twelve in 4QXIIa is likely the oldest tradition. Jonah has literary connections with Malachi and serves as a postscript to the Book of the Twelve (Le., a retrospective commentary which defends God's justice and the institution of prophecy in light of the delay of the prophetically announced judgment of God). Jones speculates that the relocation of Jonah in LXX was due to its verbal affinities with Joel and Nahum. The placement of Jonah in MT reflects a focus on the historical figure of the eighth-century prophet. Chapter 5 considers the textual evidence LXX provides regarding the formation of the Book of the Twelve. Jones argues that the book is a literary unity in LXX, whose sequencing of the Minor Prophets reflects an alternative tradition to MT rather than an adaptation of MT. He does so by noting the unity of blocks of material in LXX through the examination of textual variants (e.g., Amos 9:12; Joel 4:19), verbal connections (e.g., catchwords), and them~tic concerns. Those blocks are AmoslHosealMicah, JoeVObadiah, Nahum/Habakkuk/Zephaniah, and Haggai/Zechariah/Malachi. The concluding chapter proposes the following reconstruction of the development of the Book of the Twelve, moving (left to right) from the earliest to the latest stage: Book of IX Book ofXI 4QXlla LXX XII MT XII 1. Hosea Hosea Hosea Hosea Hosea 2. Amos Amos Amos Amos Joel 3. Micah Micah Micah Micah Amos...