06_Biblica_AN_Ska_Layout 1 01/04/14 12:04 Pagina 115 115 OLD AND NEW IN THE BOOK OF NUMBERS * * * Not all is said on the topic, admittedly, and a more complete argumen- tation is indispensible if one wants to demonstrate that the Priestly Writer is actually present in the Book of Numbers. My purpose was to show that we have enough grounds to believe that this investigation will not be in vain. I am thinking in particular of Numbers 13–14; 20,1-13; and 27. In other words, it seems unlikely to me that the Priestly Writer could stop before answering some basic questions, one of them being the question of the land. This is first of all a question of narrative logic 51. Where to look for the conclusion drawn by the Priestly Writer is an- other question. In my opinion, however, the conclusion by the Priestly Writer could be an open conclusion, which is not unusual in biblical lit- erature. “Tomorrow is another day”, as Margaret Mitchell would say 52. Via della Pilotta, 25 Jean Louis SKA I – 00187 Rome (Italy) 51 It was not possible to discuss the thesis of J. Wöhrle in this article. See J. WÖHRLE, “The Un-Empty Land: The Concept of Exile and Land in P”, The Concept of Exile in Ancient Israel and Its Historical Contexts (eds. E. BEN ZVI – C. LEVIN) (BZAW 404; Berlin – New York 2010) 189-206; ID., Fremdlinge im eigenen Land. Zur Entstehung und Intention der priesterlichen Passagen der Vätergeschichte (FRLANT 246; Göttingen 2012). The author affirms that the land is already given to the patriarchs in P, in Genesis 17, and is given anew to each generation. The patriarchs are usufructuaries, but not proprietors of the land. The only proprietor of the land is God. This may be true according to the strongly theological language adopted by P in Genesis 17 and elsewhere. From God’s perspective the land is obviously given, especially if the covenant is uni- lateral. In other words, the land is given de iure. But is the land taken de facto? See N. LOHFINK, “Wann hat Gott dem Volk Israel das den Vätern verheissene Land gegeben? Zu einem rätselhaften Befund im Buch Numeri”, Väter der Kir- che. Ekklesiales Denken von den Anfängen bis in die Neuzeit. Festgabe für Hermann Josef Sieben SJ zum 70. Geburtstag (Hrsg. J. ARNOLD – R. BERNDT – R.M.W. STAMMBERGER) (Paderborn 2004) 9-30. More important, in Gen 17,8 and 48,4, God promises to Abraham and Jacob to give them the land as “eternal possession” – ~lw[ tzxa. Is this compatible with the idea that usufruct of the land must be given anew to each generation? The latter idea seems to be closer to Heb 13,14 than to P’s theological and juridical language. 52 See SKA, “Une histoire sans fin”, 636-639. Tomorrow is another day are the last words of the novel Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell (1936).