Who Inserted the Book of the Torah?
Over a decade ago, Hans Walter Wolff observed that there is a bracket around the Deuteronomic Corpus (Dtn) which includes parts of Deuteronomy 4 and Deuteronomy 28-30. The elements of the frame which he isolated and discussed in some detail are Deut 4:29-31 and Deut 30:1-10. He saw the former passag...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Cambridge Univ. Press
1975
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| In: |
Harvard theological review
Year: 1975, Volume: 68, Issue: 3/4, Pages: 203-233 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (JSTOR) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Over a decade ago, Hans Walter Wolff observed that there is a bracket around the Deuteronomic Corpus (Dtn) which includes parts of Deuteronomy 4 and Deuteronomy 28-30. The elements of the frame which he isolated and discussed in some detail are Deut 4:29-31 and Deut 30:1-10. He saw the former passage as a late addition to the Moses speech in Deut 4:25-28, regarding the change from plural to singular address as a decisive indication of authorial discontinuity. Several years later, Norbert Lohfink argued in detail for the unity of Deut 4:1-40 from a variety of viewpoints. The broadest in scope was that the passage in question follows the outlines of the covenant formulary in much the same way as do the succeeding chapters of Deuteronomy. For example, like Deuteronomy 5-11, Deut 4:1-24 offers an historical retrospect and a statement of the chief commandment, in this case, the prohibition on images. Deut 4:25-31 then constitutes the curses arid blessing, such as we shall see in Deuteronomy 27-28. Arguing in greater detail, Lohfink noted also a highly specific and integrated rhetorical structure which could hardly result from the linking of originally disparate pericopes. Thus, vv. 1-4 are a plea for attention, followed by a demand for observance of the laws (vv. 5-8), which narrows first into a discussion of the Decalogue in particular (vv. 9-14) and then of its central stipulation (vv. 15-22). As in the text of the Decalogue itself (Exod 20:5-6, Deut 5:9-10), this commandment is followed by a statement of YHWH's jealousy (vv. 23-24). Having laid the groundwork, the preacher begins to speak to the existential situation of his audience. The idolatry he has just stressed is the ground of the Exile (v. 25), which he then describes (vv. 26-28). |
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| ISSN: | 1475-4517 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Harvard theological review
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1017/S0017816000017168 |