Gen 38: 18 re W-r-i-t-t-e-n Contracts in Patriarchal Age
Posted: Mon Jan 13, 2014 10:59 am
Did Judah Routinely Sign W-r-i-t-t-e-n Contracts, Per Genesis 38: 18?
The Patriarchal narratives portray Jacob’s son Judah as being a tent-dweller who was familiar with writing -- cuneiform writing. Although Judah was not a scribe and could not write cuneiform himself, he was well aware of the importance of written contracts on clay cuneiform tablets; that is why Judah carried a cylinder seal [on a cord around his neck] that could be used to affix his identity to [and hence function as his signature of] a document written in cuneiform on a clay tablet regarding a contract for the shearing of his sheep in chapter 38 of Genesis. The one time during the year when Judah might well need to enter into a written contract was in connection with having his sheep sheared [which could also include making contractual arrangements to sell the wool, on consignment]. As such, Judah would be sure to have his cylinder seal with him for that occasion, to be pressed into the soft clay of a tablet on which the shearing contract had been “cut” using cuneiform wedges. [That cuneiform factor is why, in Biblical Hebrew, one is said to “cut”/KRT a covenant.] With a written contract in cuneiform now having been fully executed, Judah would not be needing his cylinder seal anytime soon again, so he was willing to pledge his seal to Tamar, whom he mistakenly thought was a prostitute, but who in fact was Judah’s own daughter-in-law who needed Judah’s seal [which Judah used to sign documents written in cuneiform on clay tablets] as proof of the paternity of the twin sons she desperately wanted and would soon bear:
“ '[Genesis 38:] 18. Your seal and its cord.' The small, ornamented cylinder seal, made of stone or metal and worn on a cord around the neck, was the insignia of a prominent man. When it was rolled across soft clay, such as the legitimating clay seal on a document [written in cuneiform], the resulting impression identified the owner and/or sender of the object.” Bruce K. Waltke, "Genesis A Commentary" (2001), p. 513
“Authentication of documents. The most common use of the seal was to authenticate written documents, letters, bills of sale, or receipts for goods or money. After incising the cuneiform message in the soft clay, the scribe had the sender and witnesses remove from their necks their own cylinder seals and roll them over the still wet clay to make their signatures. Judah had to give his seal to Tamar as a pledge (Gen. 38: 18); he apparently wore it attached with a cord around his neck.” Merrill C. Tenney, "The Zondervan Encyclopedia of the Bible, Volume 5" (2010)
“ '[Genesis 38:] 18. seal-and-cord.' …The cylinder seal…. ts impression on a document signalized the wearer’s readiness to accept all consequences in the event of non-compliance…. The use of the cylinder seal spread from Mesopotamia throughout the Near East, even to Crete; and many specimens have turned up in Palestine. While the stamp seal [which, unlike a cylinder seal, usually did not involve cuneiform writing on clay tablets] fulfilled a similar function, its use was limited in time and space; moreover, the term for the latter would be tabba‘at (xli 42), not hotam as here.” E.A. Speiser, "The Anchor Bible Genesis" (1962), p. 298
“The seal [of Judah at Genesis 38: 18] was a so-called cylinder seal, like those found in excavations, a small cylinder that one rolled over the soft clay documents [containing cuneiform writing] and wore on a cord around one’s neck.” Gerhard von Rad, "Genesis" (1972), p. 360
“Cylinder seals were used for over three thousand years. They ceased to be used when cuneiform writing on clay tablets was replaced by alphabetic scripts on other materials.” Dominique Collon, "Near Eastern Seals" (1990), p. 17.
“ '[Genesis 38:] 18. Your seal-and-cord, and the staff in your hand.' The seal was a cylinder seal attached to a cord and usually worn around the neck. Rolled over documents incised in clay [i.e., cuneiform clay tablets], it would be the means of affixing a kind of self-notarized signature.” Robert Alter, "Genesis" (1996), p. 221
A story about a tent-dweller, Judah, who both (i) gives his name to the new religion of Judaism, and (ii) signs written contracts in cuneiform, by using a cylinder seal, regarding the shearing of his sheep, is precisely the type of story that one would logically expect to be recorded in w-r-i-t-i-n-g [cuneiform writing] in the Bronze Age. The author of chapter 38 of Genesis was well aware of cuneiform writing, or else he could not have come up with that story of Tamar demanding as a pledge the cylinder seal of her father-in-law Judah; such cylinder seals were primarily used only regarding documents written in cuneiform on clay tablets. An author who is well aware of cuneiform writing is an author who could, in the Bronze Age, retain a scribe to record the Patriarchal narratives in cuneiform writing.
Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois
The Patriarchal narratives portray Jacob’s son Judah as being a tent-dweller who was familiar with writing -- cuneiform writing. Although Judah was not a scribe and could not write cuneiform himself, he was well aware of the importance of written contracts on clay cuneiform tablets; that is why Judah carried a cylinder seal [on a cord around his neck] that could be used to affix his identity to [and hence function as his signature of] a document written in cuneiform on a clay tablet regarding a contract for the shearing of his sheep in chapter 38 of Genesis. The one time during the year when Judah might well need to enter into a written contract was in connection with having his sheep sheared [which could also include making contractual arrangements to sell the wool, on consignment]. As such, Judah would be sure to have his cylinder seal with him for that occasion, to be pressed into the soft clay of a tablet on which the shearing contract had been “cut” using cuneiform wedges. [That cuneiform factor is why, in Biblical Hebrew, one is said to “cut”/KRT a covenant.] With a written contract in cuneiform now having been fully executed, Judah would not be needing his cylinder seal anytime soon again, so he was willing to pledge his seal to Tamar, whom he mistakenly thought was a prostitute, but who in fact was Judah’s own daughter-in-law who needed Judah’s seal [which Judah used to sign documents written in cuneiform on clay tablets] as proof of the paternity of the twin sons she desperately wanted and would soon bear:
“ '[Genesis 38:] 18. Your seal and its cord.' The small, ornamented cylinder seal, made of stone or metal and worn on a cord around the neck, was the insignia of a prominent man. When it was rolled across soft clay, such as the legitimating clay seal on a document [written in cuneiform], the resulting impression identified the owner and/or sender of the object.” Bruce K. Waltke, "Genesis A Commentary" (2001), p. 513
“Authentication of documents. The most common use of the seal was to authenticate written documents, letters, bills of sale, or receipts for goods or money. After incising the cuneiform message in the soft clay, the scribe had the sender and witnesses remove from their necks their own cylinder seals and roll them over the still wet clay to make their signatures. Judah had to give his seal to Tamar as a pledge (Gen. 38: 18); he apparently wore it attached with a cord around his neck.” Merrill C. Tenney, "The Zondervan Encyclopedia of the Bible, Volume 5" (2010)
“ '[Genesis 38:] 18. seal-and-cord.' …The cylinder seal…. ts impression on a document signalized the wearer’s readiness to accept all consequences in the event of non-compliance…. The use of the cylinder seal spread from Mesopotamia throughout the Near East, even to Crete; and many specimens have turned up in Palestine. While the stamp seal [which, unlike a cylinder seal, usually did not involve cuneiform writing on clay tablets] fulfilled a similar function, its use was limited in time and space; moreover, the term for the latter would be tabba‘at (xli 42), not hotam as here.” E.A. Speiser, "The Anchor Bible Genesis" (1962), p. 298
“The seal [of Judah at Genesis 38: 18] was a so-called cylinder seal, like those found in excavations, a small cylinder that one rolled over the soft clay documents [containing cuneiform writing] and wore on a cord around one’s neck.” Gerhard von Rad, "Genesis" (1972), p. 360
“Cylinder seals were used for over three thousand years. They ceased to be used when cuneiform writing on clay tablets was replaced by alphabetic scripts on other materials.” Dominique Collon, "Near Eastern Seals" (1990), p. 17.
“ '[Genesis 38:] 18. Your seal-and-cord, and the staff in your hand.' The seal was a cylinder seal attached to a cord and usually worn around the neck. Rolled over documents incised in clay [i.e., cuneiform clay tablets], it would be the means of affixing a kind of self-notarized signature.” Robert Alter, "Genesis" (1996), p. 221
A story about a tent-dweller, Judah, who both (i) gives his name to the new religion of Judaism, and (ii) signs written contracts in cuneiform, by using a cylinder seal, regarding the shearing of his sheep, is precisely the type of story that one would logically expect to be recorded in w-r-i-t-i-n-g [cuneiform writing] in the Bronze Age. The author of chapter 38 of Genesis was well aware of cuneiform writing, or else he could not have come up with that story of Tamar demanding as a pledge the cylinder seal of her father-in-law Judah; such cylinder seals were primarily used only regarding documents written in cuneiform on clay tablets. An author who is well aware of cuneiform writing is an author who could, in the Bronze Age, retain a scribe to record the Patriarchal narratives in cuneiform writing.
Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois