'The Right Chorale': Studies in Biblical Law and Interpretation

FORSCHUNGEN ZUM ALTEN TESTAMENT 54, Mohr Siebeck, 2008

1 Pages Posted: 26 May 2011 Last revised: 31 Jul 2011

Date Written: 2008

Abstract

This book presents twelve selected investigations of textual composition, interpretation, revision, and transmission. With these studies, Bernard Levinson draws on the literary forebears of biblical law in cuneiform literature and its reinterpretation in the Second Temple period to provide the horizon of ancient Israelite legal exegesis. The volume makes a sustained argument about the nature of textuality in ancient Israel: Israelite scribes were sophisticated readers, authors, and thinkers who were conscious of their place in literary and intellectual history, even as they sought to renew and transform their cultural patrimony in significant ways. Originally published over a decade and a half, the significantly revised and updated studies gathered here explore the connections between law and narrative, show the close connections between Deuteronomy and the Neo-Assyrian loyalty oath tradition, address the literary relationship of Deuteronomy and the Covenant Code, reflect on important questions of methodology, and explore the contributions of the Bible to later Western intellectual history. The volume offers essential reading for an understanding of the Pentateuch and biblical law.

From the back cover (paperback edition, 2011):

"Levinson’s book on Deuteronomic law has already made him a major figure in the field. This collection shows that thoughtful reflection on major issues is required even when approaching the most particular of problems, and will be widely appreciated." 
- Bernard S. Jackson, SOTS Book List 2009 =JSOT 33 (2009): 159–60.

This collection of essays is a testimony to Levinson’s methodological brilliance and broad perspective as a bridge-builder between the various factions of Hebrew Bible scholarship."
 - Armin Lange, Journal of Ancient Judaism 1 (2010): 122.

Keywords: Intellectual History, Hermeneutics, Law, Assyriology, Comparative Law, Hebrew Bible, Hebrew Bible/Old Testament (in Theology/Biblical Studies), Biblical Studies, Constitutional Theory, Old Testament, Textual Criticism, Deuteronomy, Deuteronomistic History, Book of Deuteronomy, Jewish Studies

Suggested Citation

Levinson, Bernard M., 'The Right Chorale': Studies in Biblical Law and Interpretation (2008). FORSCHUNGEN ZUM ALTEN TESTAMENT 54, Mohr Siebeck, 2008, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1851624

Bernard M. Levinson (Contact Author)

University of Minnesota ( email )

245 Nicholson Hall
216 Pillsbury Dr., SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455-0229
United States
612-625-4323 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://levinson.umn.edu/

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