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...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Lester, Mark (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Brill [2020]
In: Vetus Testamentum
Year: 2020, Volume: 70, Issue: 4/5, Pages: 645-666
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Self-reference / Loyalty oath / Contract / Flight
IxTheo Classification:HB Old Testament
HD Early Judaism
Further subjects:B Bibel. Deuteronomium, 28,58
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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.
ISSN:1568-5330
Contains:Enthalten in: Vetus Testamentum
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/15685330-12341414