A More Perfect Torah At the Intersection of Philology and Hermeneutics in Deuteronomy and the Temple Scroll

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Levinson, Bernard M.

Series:

Critical Studies in the Hebrew Bible

Critical Studies in the Hebrew Bible ; v. 1

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Dead Sea scrolls.

Bible. Deuteronomy--Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Bible.

Vows (Jewish law).

Rabbinical literature--History and criticism.

Rabbinical literature.

Jewish law--Interpretation and construction.

Jewish law.

Hebrew language--Syntax.

Hebrew language.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (164 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Winona Lake : Eisenbrauns, 2014.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The historical-critical method that characterizes academic biblical studies too often remains separate from approaches that stress the history of interpretation, which are employed more frequently in the area of Second Temple or Dead Sea Scrolls research. Inaugurating the new series, Critical Studies in the Hebrew Bible, A More Perfect Torah explores a series of test-cases in which the two methods mutually reinforce one another.The volume brings together two studies that investigate the relationship between the composition history of the biblical text and its reception history at Qumran and in rabbinic literature. The Temple Scroll is more than the blueprint for a more perfect Temple. It also represents the attempt to create a more perfect Torah. Its techniques for doing so are the focus of part 1, entitled “Revelation Regained: The Hermeneutics of KI and ‘IM in the Temple Scroll.” This study illuminates the techniques for marking conditional clauses in ancient Near Eastern literature, biblical law, and the Dead Sea Scrolls. It also draws new attention to the relationship between the Temple Scroll’s use of conditionals and the manuscript’s organized spacing system for marking paragraphs.Part 2 is entitled “Reception History as a Window into Composition History: Deuteronomy’s Law of Vows as Reflected in Qoheleth and the Temple Scroll.” The law of vows in Deut 23:22–24 is difficult in both its syntax and its legal content. The difficulty is resolved once it is recognized that the law contains an interpolation that disrupts the original coherence of the law. The reception history of the law of vows in Numbers 20, Qoh 5:4–7, 11QTemple 53:11–14, and Sipre Deuteronomy confirms the hypothesis of an interpolation. Seen in this new light, the history of interpretation offers a window into the composition history of the biblical text.

Contents:

‎List of Figures

Preface

Abbreviations

Part 1. Revelation Regained: The Hermeneutics of X and X in the Temple Scroll / Bernard M. Levinson and Molly M. Zahn

Chapter I. Previous Attempts to Provide a Solution: The Problem of Method

Chapter II. An Alternative Approach: Rethinking the Problem of X

Chapter III. The Connection between Syntax and Text

Chapter IV. The Significance of the Manuscript’s Spacing System

Chapter V. Redactional Smoothing as the First Trigger for the Substitution

Chapter VI. The Inconsistent Use of X in the Pentateuch as the Second Trigger for the Substitution

Chapter VII. Pleonastic Marking of the Protasis

Chapter XIII. The Broader Significance of the Pleonasms

Chapter IX. Conclusion

Part 2 Reception History as a Window into Composition History: Deuteronomy's Law of Vowsc

Chapter I. Introduction: Does the Sequence of Deuteronomy's Law of Vows Logically Cohere?

Chapter II. Early Jewish and Christian Reception of Deuteronomy's Law of Vowsand Concerns about the Wisdom of Vowing

Chapter III. Qoheleth's Revision and Reworking of Deuteronomy's Law of Vows

Chapter IV. The Reception of the Law of Vows in Sipre Deuteronomy and Rabbinic Literature

Chapter V. The Anomalous Sequence of Conditional Legal Statements in Deuteronomy's Law of Vows

Chapter VI. Reworking and Expansion of Deuteronomy's Law of Vows in Numbers 30

Chapter VII. Conclusion

Afterword

Appendix 1: The Use of X and X in Selected Legal Texts from Qumran

Appendix 2

Appendix 3

Bibliography

Index of Authors

Index of Scripture

Index of Other Ancient Sources

Index of Subjects.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781575068534

1575068532

OCLC:

922991989