Special Issue IOSOT 2013 - Books and Journals
Special Issue IOSOT 2013 - Books and Journals
Special Issue IOSOT 2013 - Books and Journals
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54 S. Japhet / Vetus Testamentum <strong>IOSOT</strong> (<strong>2013</strong>) 36-76<br />
מגרש .4<br />
The basic meaning of מגרש is presumably “pasture l<strong>and</strong>”, a place of cattle<br />
מגרשי הערים driving.97 are the untilled grounds surrounding the cities which<br />
were used as pasture l<strong>and</strong>s.98<br />
In most of its occurrences in the O.T. מגרש is connected with the Levites,<br />
i.e., in the explicit comm<strong>and</strong>ment to give the Levites cities with their pasture<br />
l<strong>and</strong>s (Num. xxxv 2ff.) in the law concerning the redemption of l<strong>and</strong>s (Lev. xxv<br />
32-34) <strong>and</strong> in the list of the Levitical cities ( Jos. xxi 3ff.).99<br />
In Chr. the word is used in several ways:<br />
a) In its basic meaning as pasture l<strong>and</strong>: 1 Chr. v. 16;<br />
b) To denote the pasture l<strong>and</strong>s which surround the Levitical cities: 1 Chr. vi<br />
54ff. (39ff.)100 which is a doublet of the list of the Levitical cities, in Jos. xxi 3ff.101<br />
97) Cf. KBL, p. 494.<br />
98) Cf. Num. xxxv 1-3: “The cities shall be theirs to dwell in <strong>and</strong> their pasture l<strong>and</strong>s shall be for<br />
their cattle <strong>and</strong> for their livestock <strong>and</strong> for all their beasts”.<br />
99) In addition to these <strong>and</strong> the verses in Chr. the word מגרש is mentioned also in Ez. xlv 2, xlviii<br />
15, 17, Jos. xiv 4.<br />
100) M. Noth regards the list in 1 Chr. vi 54ff. as post-chronistic. His argument is that its geographical<br />
content is not in harmony with the other lists (op. cit., p. 120). Rudolph agrees with<br />
Noth, but differs in his reasons. To him the list cannot be chronistic as “the sons of Aaron” are<br />
preferred to the Levites (Rudolph, Chronikbücher, p. 61). The assumption itself is not proved<br />
since it is difficult to see how the list prefers the priests to the Levites. But even so, it should<br />
be said that the considerations are rather general, <strong>and</strong> do not take into account the peculiar<br />
signs of the Chr.’s work. A comparison of all the verses in which the cities of priests <strong>and</strong> Levites<br />
are mentioned reveals that they all belong together <strong>and</strong> are composed of consistent groups<br />
of words <strong>and</strong> terms. On the other h<strong>and</strong>, each of them is related to its context. For example:<br />
1 Chr. xiii 2 is dependent directly upon the list in 1 Chr. vi 54ff. This causes Rudolph to doubt<br />
its originality (op. cit., p. 110). But is it possible, if we view the matter from the Chr.’s st<strong>and</strong>point,<br />
that the priests <strong>and</strong> Levites were not invited to the ceremony of bringing the ark to Jerusalem?<br />
And further: 2 Chr. xi :13 והלויים אשר בכל ישראל התיצבו עליו מכל גבולם ”והכהנים is dependent<br />
on the list too, as the phrase גבולם is found only in this list <strong>and</strong> nowhere else in Chr. (1 Chr.<br />
vi 54 (39), 66 (51)) <strong>and</strong> is also absent from the list in Jos. xxi. Should we regard this verse too<br />
as secondary? Rudolph does not. There is no doubt that the list in 1 Chr. vi 54 (39ff.) was not<br />
composed by the Chr. but it was incorporated in the book by the Chr. himself who gave it some<br />
touches of his own, but did not thoroughly rework it.<br />
101) A summation of the different views regarding the origin of this list <strong>and</strong> its relation to the parallel<br />
list in Jos. xxi is given by B. Mazar: “The Levitical <strong>and</strong> Priestly Cities” (Hebrew), Encyclopedia<br />
Biblica (Hebrew) IV, p. 476ff.