Full Description
Since antiquity, the five books of Moses have served as a sacred constitution, foundational for both Jews and Samaritans. However long the process of accepting the Pentateuch as authoritative tōrâ ("instruction") took, this was by all accounts a monumental achievement in the history of these peoples and indeed an important moment in the history of the ancient world. In the long development of Western societies, the Pentateuch has served as a major influence on the development of law, political philosophy, and social thought. The question is: how, where, and why did this process of acceptance occur, when did it occur, and how long did it take?
Contents
Abbreviations
How, When, Where, and Why Did the Pentateuch Become the Torah? Gary N. Knoppers and Bernard M. Levinson
Part 1. Ratifying Local Law Codes in an International Age
The Persian Imperial Authorization as a Historical Problem and as a Biblical Construct: A Plea for Distinctions in the Current Debate Konrad Schmid
The Rise of Torah David M. Carr
Local Law in an Imperial Context: The Role of Torah in the (Imagined) Persian Period Anselm C. Hagedorn
Temple and Torah: Reflections on the Legal Status of the Pentateuch between Elephantine and Qumran Reinhard G. Kratz
The Pentateuch in Ancient Mediterranean Context: The Publication of Local Lawcodes Gary N. Knoppers and Paul B. Harvey, Jr.
Part 2. Prophets, Polemics, and Publishers: The Growing Importance of Writing in Persian Period Judah
From History Writing to Library Building: The End of History and the Birth of the Book Jean-Louis Ska
Scribal Scholarship in the Formation of Torah and Prophets: A Postexilic Scribal Debate between Priestly Scholarship and Literary Prophecy— The Example of the Book of Jeremiah and Its Relation to the Pentateuch Eckart Otto
Part 3. The Torah as a Foundational Document in Judah and Samaria
The Torah between Samaria and Judah: Shechem and Gerizim in Deuteronomy and Joshua Christophe Nihan
The "Publication" of Legal Texts in Ancient Judah Joachim Schaper
The Samaritans and Their Pentateuch Reinhard Pummer
Part 4. The Translation, Interpretation, and Application of the Torah in Early Jewish Literature
The Second Temple and the Legal Status of the Torah: The Hermeneutics of the Torah in the Books of Ruth and Ezra Sebastian Grätz
The Septuagint of the Pentateuch and Ptolemaic Rule Arie van der Kooij
The Use of the Pentateuch in the Temple Scroll and the Damascus Document in the Second Century B.C.E. Sidnie White Crawford
The Torah as the Rhetoric of Priesthood James W. Watts
