Secrets of the Times: Myth and History in Biblical Chronology (review)

132 SHOFAR What becomes clear in Danzger's analysis is that there are basic differences between the conversion process in Judaism and that in Christianity, stemming from fundamental differences in. the sociologies of the two faith communities. This stands as a useful corrective to the sociological literature on the conversion process, which normally takes Christianity as its paradigm. Finally, Returning to Tradition indicates that the Ba 'aL Teshuva phenomenon has had and is likely to continue to have a profound effect on Orthodoxy itself. Whereas previously Orthodox Jews worked hard to retain their own children in their communities, now they are attracting Jews from the "outside" culture who have joined by their own choice. The implication for Orthodoxy is potentially profound. As Danzger states (p. 340): In the process the traditionalists open themselves to the broader world in their innermost recesses ... Even if they are successful, their own beliefs are transformed from unarticulated ... practices to reasoned choices. The nature of their beliefs is changed. It may be strengthened-but not necessarily . Ira Robinson Concordia University Montreal Secrets of the Times: Myth and History in Biblical Chronology, by Jeremy Hughes. Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series, 66. Sheffield, England: JSOT Press, 1990. 315 pp. $60.00. Hughes' monograph on biblical chronologies is a successful revision of an Oxford dissertation directed by James Barr. The validity of his approach is rooted in his recognition that biblical chronology is primarily mythic and schematic, a product of the biblical writers' imperative to explicate the theological significance of the lapse of universal and Judaeo-centric time. The theological meaning of time is punctuated by the formative events of Jewish self-identity: the life of Abraham, the Exodus and the Sinai theophany, the founding of the First and Second Temples, the Exile. "In arguing that biblical chronology is essentially mythical, I am saying that it uses historical fiction to express ideological beliefs. The most fundamental of these beliefs, which motivated Ussher just as it motivated the original biblical chronologers, is the belief that there is a divine plan behind human history" (pp.3f). Hughes notes that, unlike most students of biblical chronology, he be-' gan his investigation with the mythological chronology of the Priestly source, Volume 9. No.4 Summer 1991 133 endeavoring to gain access to its own inner logic, rather than commencing ab initio with a quest for the historic kernel folded away within the discrepant numbers of Kings (p. v). In chapter 2, "The Priestly Chronology of the World," the author compares the 4,000 years of P's mythic history in terms of the textual traditions preserved in the Massoretic Text (MT), the Septuagint (LXX), and the Samaritan Pentateuch (SP), a methodologically sound procedure. He concludes that MT consistently preserved Priestly figures for postdiluvian chronology from the birth of Arpachshad to the fall of the First Temple, whereas SP is the best witness for antediluvian chronology (p. 43). The chronological schematization of P divides history into a pre-Abrahamic period of 1599 years and a post-Abrahamic period of 2400 years, with the latter divided into pre-(Jerusalem) temple and temple eras of 1200 years each. The most striking schematic correspondences exist between the final period of the pre-Abrahamic period (a postdiluvian age of 290 years followed by a patriarchal ago of 290 years) and the first period of the post-Abrahamic period (480 years from Exodus to the First Temple and 480 years from the First to the Second Temple) (p. 48). The foci of the schema define the "ideological presuppositions" of P: creation, the patriarch Abraham, and the temple cult. In opposition to the views of F. M. Cross, Hughes maintains that P was an independent narrative source that was intended to supersede JE, rather than to act as a supplemental source (p. 50). The systemic schematization of P, with its 480-year stretch from the First to the Second Temple, is indicative of a post-Exilic date of composition (p. 51). Chapter 3, "The Deuteronomistic Chronology of Israel," examines the various chronological notices in Deuteronomy-Kings in terms of schema, redactional activity, and textual tradition (MT, the major and sometimes minor manuscript families of...