Deuteronomy 28:58, CTH 53, and the Rhetoric of Self-Reference
This article revisits the long perceived referential difficulty in the phrase “this sēper” in Deut 28:58. It introduces phraseology drawn from the 14th century BCE Hittite treaty of Šuppiluliuma I with Tette of Nuḫašši (CTH 53) parallel to the expression “all the words of this sēper written in this...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
[2020]
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| In: |
Vetus Testamentum
Year: 2020, Volume: 70, Issue: 4/5, Pages: 645-666 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Self-reference
/ Loyalty oath
/ Contract
/ Flight
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| IxTheo Classification: | HB Old Testament HD Early Judaism |
| Further subjects: | B
Bibel. Deuteronomium, 28,58
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| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This article revisits the long perceived referential difficulty in the phrase “this sēper” in Deut 28:58. It introduces phraseology drawn from the 14th century BCE Hittite treaty of Šuppiluliuma I with Tette of Nuḫašši (CTH 53) parallel to the expression “all the words of this sēper written in this tôrâ” (Deut 28:58). In light of this comparative evidence it argues that it is probable that “this sēper” had a self-referential function: the expression “this sēper” in Deut 28:58 indicates for audiences the material text-object on which the verse was written, and does not merely point to a text-object that exists within the world of the narrative. Finally, it considers the analogy of treaty performance to understand how the spatial relationship created between audiences and physical text-objects through deictic self-reference functions within the literary context of the Deuteronomic source. |
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| ISSN: | 1568-5330 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Vetus Testamentum
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/15685330-12341414 |