RELS 4020/5000
Rewriting the Book of Genesis
MW 5:00-6:15
Dr. John C. Reeves
204B Macy
Office hours: MTW 2:00-3:15; or by appointment
jcreeves@uncc.edu
‘… a myth is made up of all its variants ….’ — Claude Lévi-Strauss, “The Structural Study of Myth,” in his Structural Anthropology (New York, 1963; repr., Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor Books, 1967), 213.
‘All literary works … are “rewritten,” if only unconsciously, by the societies which read them; indeed, there is no reading of a work which is not also a “re-writing”.’ – Terry Eagleton, Literary Theory: An Introduction (2d ed.; Minneapolis: The University of Minnesota Press, 1996), 11.
Course Description
An overview and comparative study of a broad variety of Jewish, Christian, gnostic, and Muslim literary traditions surrounding characters and narrative events featured in the biblical book of Genesis. The texts which we will examine encompass approximately 1800 years from the putative sources of the biblical book itself to medieval works like the Zohar and the Syriac language world chronicle of Bar Hebraeus. Careful consideration will also be given to the cultural issues surrounding the generation (or preservation?) of canonically extraneous lore and legendry pertaining to Genesis.
Texts
The following textbooks are required for this course:
James L. Kugel, The Bible As It Was (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1997).
M. A. S. Abdel Haleem, The Qur’an: A New Translation (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004).
Géza Vermès, The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English (7th ed.; New York: Penguin, 2012).
Naturally a course focusing upon the biblical book of Genesis will necessitate some interaction on both the instructor’s and students’ parts with its canonical form as well. Many students may already own Bibles, or at least have ready access to multiple translations either online or in Atkins Library, and you are perfectly welcome (within certain limits) to use them. Should you however be in need of an accessible ‘default’ translation, I have asked the bookstore to make available the following edition, which is a recommended purchase for this course:
Tanakh, The Holy Scriptures: The New JPS Translation According to the Traditional Hebrew Text (Philadelphia & Jerusalem: The Jewish Publication Society, 1985).
Often supplementary readings will be assigned and/or distributed by the instructor as needed.
Course Requirements
a. Take-home written exercises. An indeterminate number of written exercises will be prepared and submitted for in-class discussion and out-of-class evaluation. These exercises will vary in length from a minimum of one (1) to a maximum of five (5) typewritten or electronically printed pages. All of these exercises will be announced and explained by the instructor during the course of or at the conclusion of a class meeting. The instructor’s evaluation of the student’s collective written exercise performance (using a scale √+ = A-; √ = C+; √- = D) will comprise 40% of the course grade.
b. Research project. One (1) formal research project to be presented in written form (no less than 15 typed pages and no more than 20, exclusive of notes and list of sources) that focuses either upon a particular character (e.g., Laban) or upon a particular narrative event (e.g., Jacob’s dream at Bethel) that attracts a significant degree of elaboration in one or more ‘rewritten versions’ of Genesis. Characters or events which are scheduled for formal treatment in class (see Rough Outline below) are ineligible for such selection. An initial written précis of the paper, coupled with a brief oral report to the class, is due Wednesday, October 31. The final draft of the paper and its formal presentation orally to the class falls due the final day of class (i.e., Wednesday, December 5). The research project and its component parts (précis, final draft, and two oral presentations) account for 40% of the final course grade.
c. Individual involvement. Almost perfect attendance (see below) is an essential requirement for this course. Each class meeting builds upon the knowledge gained during previous meetings. Moreover, in-class discussion and analysis comprises a significant portion of every class meeting. Preparation for every class usually involves the completion of a series of assigned readings and/or written assignment(s). Students are expected to contribute in an informed manner to the public analysis and discussion of any assigned topic, and the instructor reserves the right to administer occasional unannounced ‘pop-quizzes’ should he deem the situation so warrants (grades for such quizzes are averaged with those of the take-home exercises). The instructor’s assessment of one’s attendance, class preparation, and informed oral contributions will constitute 20% of the final course grade.
d. Zakhor (Remember!): Mastery of the assigned readings and diligent class attendance are necessary prerequisites for the successful completion of this course. Each student is responsible for all lectures, class discussions, assignments, and announcements, whether or not he/she is present when they occur.
**In addition to fulfilling the aforementioned requirements, students taking this course for graduate credit will compile an analytical portfolio of their extracurricular (i.e., beyond that required for undergraduates) readings in the subject matter of this course. Items eligible for such treatment include the articles or books identified later in this syllabus, bibliographical notices discovered during the course of these readings, and material uncovered during ongoing research for one’s project. Entries (consisting of formal bibliographic citation, brief summary, and evaluative analysis for each separate item) will be submitted to the instructor in written form at biweekly intervals, beginning the first week of September. Acquisition of special expertise in a particular topic may result in one or more oral presentations in lieu of biweekly submissions.
Miscellaneous information
a. The grading scale used for undergraduates in this course is as follows:
91-100 A = demonstrable mastery of material; can creatively synthesize
81-90 B = some demonstrable proficiency in control of material & analysis
71-80 C = satisfactory performance of assignments; little or no analysis
61-70 D = inadequate and/or faulty understanding of material
0-60 F = unacceptable work
The grading scale used for graduate students is:
91-95+ A = demonstrable mastery of material—outstanding performance
81-90 B = satisfactory performance of assignments
71-80 C = inadequate and/or faulty understanding of material
0-70 U = unacceptable graduate-level work
b. One of the requirements of this course is to complete the work of the course on time. Sometimes there are legitimate reasons for late work—an illness or other emergency. ‘Emergency,’ however, does not include your social involvements, travel plans, job schedule, disk and/or printer failures, the state of your love life, your obligations to other courses, or general malaise over the state of the world. The world has been in a mess as long as anyone can remember, and most of the world’s work is done by people whose lives are a mass of futility and discontent. If you haven’t learned yet, you had better learn now to work under the conditions of the world as it is. Therefore:
1) All missed quizzes, unwritten papers, and neglected exercises will be averaged as a 0 in the computation of the course grade. There is no such thing as a ‘make-up pop quiz.’ No exceptions will be considered or granted.
2) All papers and written exercises are due on the dates scheduled in the syllabus, or on the date announced by the instructor in class (usually, the next class meeting). ‘Late’ submissions of papers (not homework exercises – see below) bear the following penalties: one day late/one letter grade; two days late/two letter grades; three or more days late/F. Please note: these ‘days’ are calendar days, not class meeting days. For accounting purposes, letter grades bear the following values: A=95; A-=92; B=85; C+=78; C=75; D=65; F=30. A paper or written exercise that is not typed automatically receives the grade F, as do those typed papers which violate the required parameters or which the instructor deems physically unacceptable and/or grammatically incomprehensible.
3) Homework exercises are due on the date announced by the instructor in class. Since we will normally discuss these exercises together in class on that date, it would clearly be unfair to those who submitted their work on time for me to accept ‘late’ work from those who were privy to our in-class discussion. Hence I will not accept ‘late’ homework submissions (even from those physically absent during our discussion); however, ‘early’ submissions are always welcome and will receive full credit.
4) Attendance at class meetings will be monitored by the instructor. One or two absences are somewhat understandable, three (3) is the limit of tolerability. Each successive absence lowers the Individual Involvement component of your assessment by one letter grade; seven (7) or more earns an automatic F in that component. Please note that the instructor does not distinguish ‘excused’ from ‘unexcused’ absences. Unsanctioned late arrivals and early departures will be tallied as absences.
5) Policy regarding Audits: the instructor expects auditors (whether formally enrolled as such or not) to meet the same attendance, preparation, and oral participation standards as those students who are taking the course for credit. The instructor does not expect auditors to prepare and submit any written assignments.
c. Assistance and solicitation of criticism is your right as a member of the class. It is not a privilege to be granted or withheld. Do not hesitate to request it nor wait too late in the course for it to be of help.
Rough Course Outline
1. Introduction: Learning about the pertinent issues
a. publication, scripturalization, canonization
b. Genesis as ‘scripture’
c. the problematic notion of ‘rewritten scripture’
d. folktale analysis
2. A brief survey of ‘rewritten forms’ of Genesis, with some assessment/testing of their utility
a. compositional and expositional formats within rabbinic tradition
b. the Dead Sea Scrolls
c. Jewish apocryphal and pseudepigraphical sources
d. ‘gnostic’ counter-narratives to Genesis
e. Christian ‘historiography’ and the Cave of Treasures cycle
f. the Qur’ān, Muslim ‘historiography,’ and the qisas al-anbiyā’ traditions
3. Selected case studies for intensive study
a. Satan/Samael/Iblīs (no specific Genesis lemma//Q 2:30-39; 7:11-27; 15:26-50; 38:71-85)
b. Cain and Abel (Gen 4:1-16//Q 5:27-34)
c. the ‘sons of God’ and the ‘daughters of man’ (Gen 6:1-4//Q 2:101-103)
d. the anonymous wife of Noah (Gen 6:18; 7:7; 8:18//Q 65:10)
e. Abraham in Ur and Harrān (Gen 11:27-32//Q 6:74-84; 19:41-50; 21:51-73; 26:69-86; 29:16-27; 37:83-98; 43:26-27; 60:4)
g. Nimrod (Gen 10:8-10// (?) Q 41:15-16; 46:21-25; 51:41-42; 54:18-21; 69:6-8)
h. Joseph and the wife of Potiphar (Gen 39:1-23//Q 12:21-34)
4. Concluding remarks and reflections
Supplemental Bibliography for Rewriting the Book of Genesis
In response to student requests for recommendations regarding useful and enlightening discussions of certain topics, themes, and personalities that are presented in class and/or readings, I offer the following suggestions for further study at the student’s leisure. I confine myself to materials which I myself have used with profit and which are currently available at Atkins Library.
It is often helpful for the student to begin with appropriate articles in the standard Bible dictionaries. The most up to date are The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible (5 vols.; ed. Katherine Doob Sakenfeld; Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2006-09) and The Anchor Bible Dictionary (6 vols.; New York: Doubleday, 1992). Dated but still reliable are The Interpreters’ Dictionary of the Bible (4 vols.) and its Supplementary Volume (ed. George A. Buttrick; Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1962 & 1976), and the Harper’s Bible Dictionary (ed. Paul J. Achtemeier; San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1985). Highly recommended are the relevant articles in the new Encyclopaedia Judaica (22 vols.; Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA/Thomson Gale, 2007), the Encyclopaedia of Islam (2d ed.; 11 vols.; Leiden: Brill, 1954-2002), the Encyclopaedia of the Qur’ān (6 vols.; ed. Jane Dammen McAuliffe; Leiden: Brill, 2001-06), and The Qur’ān: An Encyclopedia (ed. Oliver Leaman; London and New York: Routledge, 2006).
Traditional Commentaries and Midrashim (English only)
Chumash with Targum Onkelos, Haphtaroth, and Rashi’s Commentary (5 vols.; ed. A[braham]. M[aurice]. Silbermann and M[orris]. Rosenbaum; repr. Jerusalem: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1985). Only the biblical text and Rashi are translated into English.
Israel Drazin, Targum Onkelos to Genesis (Hoboken, N.J.: Ktav Publishing House, 1998).
Bernard Grossfeld, Targum Onkelos to Genesis (The Aramaic Bible 6; Wilmington, Del.: Michael Glazier, 1988).
Martin McNamara, Targum Neofiti I: Genesis (The Aramaic Bible 1A; Collegeville, Md.: The Liturgical Press, 1992).
Michael Maher, Targum Pseudo-Jonathan: Genesis (The Aramaic Bible 1B; Collegeville, Md.: The Liturgical Press, 1992).
Midrash Rabbah (5 vols.; ed. and trans. H[arry]. Freedman and Maurice Simon; repr. London and New York: Soncino Press, 1977). The first volume translates Genesis Rabbah.
Jacob Neusner, Genesis Rabbah, the Judaic Commentary to the Book of Genesis: A New American Translation (3 vols.; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1985).
Pirkê de Rabbi Eliezer (trans. Gerald Friedlander; repr. New York: Sepher-Hermon Press, 1981).
Ramban (= Nachmanides), Commentary on the Torah (5 vols.; trans. Charles B. Chavel; New York: Shilo Publishing House, 1971-76).
The Zohar (5 vols.; trans. Harry Sperling and Maurice Simon; repr. London: Soncino Press, 1973).
The Zohar = [Sefer ha-Zohar] (7 vols. to date; trans. Daniel C. Matt; Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2004- ).
Modern Critical Commentaries to Genesis
Umberto Cassuto, A Commentary on the Book of Genesis (2 vols.; Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1961). Regrettably unfinished; extends only to around Genesis 12.
Herman Gunkel, Genesis (3d ed.; Göttingen, 1910; Eng. trans. Mark E. Biddle, Macon: Mercer University Press, 1997).
Gerhard von Rad, Genesis: A Commentary (rev. ed.; Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1972).
Nahum M. Sarna, The JPS Torah Commentary: Genesis/Bereshit (Philadelphia, New York, and Jerusalem: The Jewish Publication Society, 1989).
John Skinner, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Genesis (ICC; Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1910).
Ephraim A. Speiser, Genesis: Introduction, Translation, and Notes (Anchor Bible 1; Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1964).
Claus Westermann, Genesis 1-11; 12-36; 37-50 (3 vols.; Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1984-86).
Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha Resources
Gary A. Anderson and Michael E. Stone (eds.), A Synopsis of the Books of Adam and Eve (2d rev. ed.; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1999).
R. H. Charles (ed.), The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament in English (2 vols.; Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1913).
James H. Charlesworth (ed.), The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha (2 vols.; Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1983-85).
______, The Pseudepigrapha and Modern Research, With A Supplement (Chico, Calif.: Scholars Press, 1981).
John C. Reeves (ed.), Tracing the Threads: Studies in the Vitality of Jewish Pseudepigrapha (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1994).
H. F. D. Sparks, ed., The Apocryphal Old Testament (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1984).
Michael E. Stone, ed., Armenian Apocrypha Relating to Adam and Eve (SVTP 14; Leiden: Brill, 1996).
______, A History of the Literature of Adam and Eve (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1992).
Michael E. Stone and Theodore A. Bergren (eds.), Biblical Figures Outside the Bible (Harrisburg, Pa.: Trinity Press International, 1998). Relevant articles on Adam/Eve, Seth, Enosh, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Melchizedek, Levi, and Joseph.
Dead Sea Scrolls Resources
Moshe J. Bernstein, “Contours of Genesis Interpretation at Qumran: Contents, Context, and Nomenclature,” in Studies in Ancient Midrash (ed. James L. Kugel; [Cambridge, Mass.]: Harvard University Center for Jewish Studies, 2001), 57-85.
Florentino García Martínez, The Dead Sea Scrolls Translated: The Qumran Scrolls in English (2d ed.; Leiden and Grand Rapids, Mich.: Brill and Eerdmans, 1996).
Dorothy M. Peters, Noah Traditions in the Dead Sea Scrolls: Conversations and Controversies of Antiquity (Leiden: Brill, 2009).
Classical and Syro-Mesopotamian Gnostic Resources
Jean Doresse, The Secret Books of the Egyptian Gnostics (repr. New York: AMS Press, 1970).
Werner Foerster, Gnosis: A Selection of Gnostic Texts (2 vols.; Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972). Volume 1 features patristic testimonies to classical gnosis; volume 2 has translations of Coptic and, more importantly, Mandaic sources.
John C. Reeves, Heralds of That Good Realm: Syro-Mesopotamian Gnosis and Jewish Traditions (Leiden: Brill, 1996). A plethora of traditions pertaining to Adam, Seth, Enosh, Enoch, and Shem.
James M. Robinson (ed.), The Nag Hammadi Library in English (3d rev. ed.; San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1988).
Kurt Rudolph, Gnosis: The Nature and History of Gnosticism (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1983).
Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Traditions Pertaining to Genesis Figures and Events
Philip S. Alexander, “Jewish Tradition in Early Islam: The Case of Enoch/Idrīs,” in Studies in Islamic and Middle Eastern Texts and Traditions in Memory of Norman Calder (ed. G. R. Hawting, et al.; JSSSup 12; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), 11-29.
Gary A. Anderson, “The Exaltation of Adam and the Fall of Satan,” Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy 6 (1997): 105-34.
Carol Bakhos, Ishmael on the Border: Rabbinic Portrayals of the First Arab (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2006).
Shosh Ben-Ari, “The Stories about Abraham in Islam: A Geographical Approach,” Arabica 54 (2007): 526-53.
Marc S. Bernstein, Stories of Joseph: Narrative Migrations Between Judaism and Islam (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2006).
Leigh N. B. Chipman, “Mythic Aspects of the Process of Adam’s Creation in Judaism and Islam,” Studia Islamica 93 (2001): 5-25.
______, “Adam and the Angels: An Examination of Mythic Elements in Islamic Sources,” Arabica 49 (2002): 429-55.
Reuven Firestone, “Comparative Studies in Bible and Qur’ān: A Fresh Look at Genesis 22 in Light of Sura 37,” in Judaism and Islam: Boundaries, Communication and Interaction: Studies in Honor of William M. Brinner (ed. Benjamin H. Hary, et al.; Leiden: Brill, 2000), 169-84.
______, Journeys in Holy Lands: The Evolution of the Abraham-Ishmael Story in Islamic Exegesis (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990).
Stephen Gero, “The Legend of the Fourth Son of Noah,” Harvard Theological Review 73 (1980): 321-30.
Louis Ginzberg, The Legends of the Jews (7 vols.; Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society, 1909-38). A very useful resource for investigating the aggadic development of biblical characters and events.
David M. Goldenberg, The Curse of Ham: Race and Slavery in Early Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2003).
Shalom Goldman, The Wiles of Women/The Wiles of Men: Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife in Ancient Near Eastern, Jewish, and Islamic Folklore (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1995).
Robert Graves and Raphael Patai, Hebrew Myths: The Book of Genesis (repr. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1966). Use this work with caution; Patai was sometimes unable to restrain Graves’s flights of fancy.
Etan Kohlberg, “Some Shī‘ī Views of the Antediluvian World,” Studia Islamica 52 (1980): 41-66.
James L. Kugel, The Ladder of Jacob: Ancient Interpretations of the Biblical Story of Jacob and His Children (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2006).
______, Traditions of the Bible: A Guide to the Bible As It Was at the Start of the Common Era (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1998). The expanded ‘scholarly’ version of The Bible As It Was.
Joshua Levinson, “Dialogical Reading in the Rabbinic Exegetical Narrative,” Poetics Today 25 (2004): 497-528.
Shari L. Lowin, The Making of a Forefather: Abraham in Islamic and Jewish Exegetical Narratives (Leiden: Brill, 2006).
Tilman Nagel, “Kisas al-anbiyā’,” Encyclopaedia of Islam2 (Leiden: Brill, 1960-2002), 5:180-81.
John C. Reeves, ed., Bible and Qur’ān: Essays in Scriptural Intertextuality (Atlanta/Leiden: Society of Biblical Literature/Brill, 2003).
Gabriel Said Reynolds, The Qur’ān and Its Biblical Subtext (London & New York: Routledge, 2010). Must be used with caution.
Franz Rosenthal, The History of al-Tabarī, Volume I: General Introduction and From the Creation to the Flood (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989). Stops with the introduction of Noah; Atkins unfortunately does not own Volume II (translated by William M. Brinner) which continues with the remaining Genesis characters.
Jeffrey L. Rubenstein, “The Exegetical Narrative: New Directions,” Jewish Quarterly Review 99 (2009): 88-106.
Haim Schwarzbaum, “Prolegomenon,” in Moses Gaster, The Chronicles of Jerahmeel (New York: Ktav Publishing House, 1971), 1-124. A rich bibliographical resource.
Shalom Spiegel, The Last Trial: On the Legends and Lore of the Command to Abraham to Offer Isaac as a Sacrifice, The Akedah (trans. Judah Goldin; New York: Pantheon Books, 1967).
Michael E. Stone, Aryeh Amihay, and Vered Hillel, eds., Noah and his Book(s) (SBLEJL 28; Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2010).
Georges Vajda, “Isrā’īliyyāt,” EI2 4:211.
Marilyn R. Waldman, “New Approaches to ‘Biblical’ Materials in the Qur’ān,” Muslim World 75 (1985): 1-16.
Brannon M. Wheeler, Prophets in the Quran (London & New York: Continuum, 2002).
Folklore Studies Pertinent to Genesis Tales
Antti A. Aarne and Stith Thompson, The Types of the Folktale: A Classification and Bibliography (Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia, 1961).
William Bascom, “The Forms of Folklore: Prose Narratives,” Journal of American Folklore 78 (1965): 3-20.
Dan Ben-Amos, ed., Folktales of the Jews (3 vols. to date; Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2006- ).
Micha Joseph Bin Gorion, Mimekor Yisrael: Classical Jewish Folktales (3 vols.; trans. I. M. Lask; Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press, 1976).
Alan Dundes, Holy Writ as Oral Lit: The Bible as Folklore (Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 1999).
James George Frazer, Folk-lore in the Old Testament: Studies in Comparative Religion, Legend and Law (3 vols.; London: Macmillan & Co., 1918).
Theodor H. Gaster, Myth, Legend, and Custom in the Old Testament (New York: Harper & Row, 1969). An updating of Frazer’s classic work.
Hermann Gunkel, The Folktale in the Old Testament (trans. Michael D. Rutter; Sheffield: Almond Press, 1987).
______, The Legends of Genesis (trans. W. H. Carruth; Chicago: Open Court, 1901). A translation of the ‘Introduction’ to his magisterial commentary on Genesis.
Heda Jason, “Study of Israelite and Jewish Oral and Folk Literature: Problems and Issues,” Asian Folklore Studies 49 (1990): 69-108.
Heda Jason and Aharon Kempinski, “How Old Are Folktales?” Fabula 22 (1981): 1-27.
Susan Niditch, Folklore and the Hebrew Bible (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1993).
______, Oral World and Written Word: Ancient Israelite Literature (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1996).
______, A Prelude to Biblical Folklore: Underdogs and Tricksters (San Francisco, 1987; repr., Urbana, Ill.: University of Illinois Press, 2000).
Axel Olrik, “Epic Laws of Folk Narrative,” in The Study of Folklore (ed. Alan Dundes; Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1965), 129-41; also in International Folkloristics: Classic Contributions by the Founders of Folklore (ed. Alan Dundes; Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 1999), 83-97.
______, Principles for Oral Narrative Research (trans. Kirsten Wolf and Jody Jensen; Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press, 1992). See especially his Appendix A ‘The Patriarchal History of Israel’ (pp. 116-33).
V[ladimir]. Propp, Morphology of the Folktale (trans. Laurence Scott; Austin: University of Texas Press, 1968).
Howard Schwartz, Tree of Souls: The Mythology of Judaism (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004).
Stith Thompson, The Folktale (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1977).
______, Motif-Index of Folk-Literature (6 vols.; Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger, 1955-58).
Francis Lee Utley, “The Bible of the Folk,” California Folklore Quarterly 4 (1945): 1-17.
Eli Yassif, The Hebrew Folktale: History, Genre, Meaning (Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1999).