Seconding Sinai: The Development of Mosaic Discourse in Second Temple Judaism
"What is meant by attributing texts to Moses in Hebrew Bible and Second Temple Judaism? The answer depends not only on the history of texts but also on the history of concepts of textuality. This book criticizes the terms 'Pseudepigraphy' and 'Rewritten Bible', which presuppose conceptions of authentic attribution and textual fidelity foreign to ancient Judaism." Instead, this book develops the concept of a discourse whose creativity and authority depend on repeated returns to the exemplary...
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What is meant by attributing texts to Moses in Hebrew Bible and Second Temple Judaism? The answer depends not only on the history of texts but also on the history of concepts of textuality. This book criticizes the terms “Pseudepigraphy” and “Rewritten Bible”, which presuppose conceptions of authentic attribution and textual fidelity foreign to ancient Judaism.Instead, this book develops the concept of a discourse whose creativity and authority depend on repeated returns to the exemplary figure and experience of a founder. Attribution to Moses is a central example, whose function is to re-present the experience of revelation at Sinai. Distinctive features of Mosaic discourse are studied in Deuteronomy, Jubilees, the Temple Scroll, and the works of Philo of Alexandria.
General AbbreviationsPrefaceAcknowledgmentsCh. 1Mosaic Discourse1The History of Texts and the History of Textuality1Four Features of Mosaic Discourse16Deuteronomy and the Origin of Mosaic Discourse19Reworking as Expansion and Omission20Self-Ascribed Status of Torah29Re-Presentation of Sinaitic Revelation31Pseudonymous Attribution to Moses36Ch. 2Rewriting Rewritten: Jubilees and 11QTemple as Participants in Mosaic Discourse41The Proliferation and Second Temple Interpretation41Reworking Authoritative Literature in Jubilees and 11QTemple43Jubilees and 11QTemple as This Torah50Re-Presentation of Sinai in Second Temple Interpretation53Sinai Revisited53Appeals to Pre-Sinaitic Authority56Mediated versus Unmediated Revelation60Divine Pseudepigraphon63Ch. 3Copying Nature, Copying Moses70Does Philo Participate in Mosaic Discourse?70The Authority of the Figure and Law of Moses in a Hellenistic Context70Philo of Alexandria and the Discourse of Moses100Ch. 4Constructing Continuities and the Dangers of Anachronism108Later Developments of Mosaic Discourse108Ezra and the Torah of Moses111Jubilees and [actual symbol not reproducible] (Oral Torah)117Unwritten Natural Law and Written Mosaic Law126Bibliography139Index of Authors163Subject Index168Index of Primary Texts170
