Oral-Formulaic Theory: Annotated Bibliography

John Van Seters. "The Conquest of Sihon's Kingdom: A Literary Examination." Journal of Biblical Literature, 91:182-97.

In an analysis of the two primary accounts of Israel's conquest of Sihon and Og (Numbers 21: 21-35 and Deuteronomy 2:24-3: 11), he argues against "the current a priori, but unwarranted, assumption that there must always be primitive oral traditions behind every episode recorded in the pentateuchal narratives," and that "the possibility of a literary artificial' development of the tradition without any great antiquity must be seriously considered" (197).
Area: BI