Deuteronomistic History
- LAST REVIEWED: 23 November 2022
- LAST MODIFIED: 13 September 2010
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195393361-0028
- LAST REVIEWED: 23 November 2022
- LAST MODIFIED: 13 September 2010
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195393361-0028
Introduction
The Deuteronomistic History (DH) is a modern theoretical construct holding that behind the present forms of the books of Deuteronomy and Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings (the Former Prophets in the Hebrew canon) there was a single literary work. In the late 19th century, some scholars conceived of the DH as a loosely edited collection of works, written in reference to some of the standards espoused in the book of Deuteronomy. The architect of the modern theory, which holds to greater unity within the work, was Martin Noth who built upon older theories (see Noth’s Theory [Single Literary Work]). He noted similarities in language, style, and content among these biblical books in his Überlieferungsgeschichtliche and suggested that an originally unified work was composed during the exilic period by an individual—the “Deuteronomist” (Dtr)—reflecting on the loss of the kingdoms soon after the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem in 587–586 BCE following the conclusion of 2 Kings. Noth’s theory was so persuasive that it was widely accepted within critical scholarship until recently. While the theory still enjoys significant support in modified forms, many of its central tenets have been called into question. These challenges have given rise to a proliferation of new theories, as detailed below. The topic of history and history writing in the Deuteronomistic History (and in the rest of the Hebrew Bible) is a large and important topic distinct from, but related to, the theory of the DH.
General Overviews
For one interested in the topic of the DH, many overviews are readily accessible from dictionary-type entries and articles to essay collections. The latter grouping is more helpful for the advanced inquirer interested in exposure to the complexity and ongoing nature of the debate, particularly in European circles.
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- Archaeology and Material Culture of Aram and the Arameans
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- Deuteronomistic History
- Deuteronomy
- Diaspora in the New Testament
- Didache
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- Judaism, Second Temple
- Judas, Gospel of
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- Kings, First and Second
- Kingship
- Lamentations
- Letters, Johannine
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- Levirate Obligation in the Hebrew Bible
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- Messianism
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- Midrash and Aggadah
- Minoritized Criticism of the New Testament
- Miracle Stories
- Modern Bible Translations
- Moses
- Music
- Mysticism in Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity
- Myth in the Hebrew Bible
- Nahum, Book of
- Names of God in the Hebrew Bible
- New Testament and Early Christianity, Women, Gender, and S...
- New Testament, Feminist Scholarship on the
- New Testament, Men and Masculinity in the
- New Testament, Rhetoric of the
- New Testament, Social Sciences and the
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- New Testament Views of Torah
- Numbers, Book of
- Nuzi (Nuzi Tablets)
- Old Testament, Biblical Theology in the
- Old Testament, Social Sciences and the
- Orality and Literacy
- Parables
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- Pentateuch
- Performance Criticism
- Period, The "Persian"
- Peter
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- Poetry, Hebrew
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- Qumran/Dead Sea Scrolls
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- Samuel, First and Second
- Satan
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- Second Baruch
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- Sin (Hebrew Bible/Old Testament)
- Sirach
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- Sojourner
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- Song of Songs
- Succession Narrative
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- Ten Commandments
- The Bible and the American Civil War
- The Bible in China
- the Dead, Egyptian Book of
- the Hebrew Bible, Ancient Egypt and
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- Tobit
- Trauma and the Bible, Hermeneutics of
- Twelve Prophets, Book of the
- Ugarit
- Virtues and Vices: New Testament Ethical Exhortation in I...
- War, New Testament
- Wisdom
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- Worship in the New Testament and Earliest Christianity
- Worship, Old Testament
- Zadok
- Zechariah
- Zoology (Animals in the New Testament)