Deuteronomy and the Pentateuch (The Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library | AYBRL)

by Jeffrey Stackert

Publisher:

Yale University Press

, 2022

Overview

This indispensable monograph synthesizes current debates and offers a new historical and literary analysis of the book of Deuteronomy

The book of Deuteronomy introduces and develops many of the essential ideas, events, and texts of both Judaism and Christianity, and it has thus been a resource—and in some instances even a starting point—for investigations of themes and concepts beyond it. In this volume, Jeffrey Stackert deftly guides the reader through major topics in the interpretation of Deuteronomy and its relationship to the other four pentateuchal books. Considering subjects such as the relationship between law and narrative, the role of Deuteronomy in Israel’s history, its composition and reception history, the influence of cuneiform legal and treaty traditions, textual and archaeological evidence from the Levant and Mesopotamia, and the status of Deuteronomy within the larger biblical canon, this book introduces ongoing debates surrounding the book of Deuteronomy and offers a contemporary evaluation of the latest textual and material evidence.

Key Features

• Guides the reader through major topics in the interpretation of Deuteronomy
• Explores its relationship to the other four pentateuchal books
• Offers a contemporary evaluation of the latest textual and material evidence

Contents

• Acknowledgments
• List of Abbreviations
• Introduction: The Importance of Deuteronomy and the Challenge of Its Interpretation
• 1 What Is Deuteronomy?
• 2 Literary Revision in Deuteronomic Composition
• 3 Ancient Near Eastern Influence in Deuteronomic Composition
• 4 Deuteronomic Reception and the Compiled Pentateuch
• 5 Dating Deuteronomic Composition
• Conclusion: Literature in History and the Scriptural Pentateuch
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index of Ancient Sources
• Index of Names and Subjects

Praise for

Deuteronomy is arguably the most important book in the Pentateuch, if not in the entire Hebrew Bible. With his trademark clarity and rigor, Stackert compellingly explains what Deuteronomy is, what it does, and how it works, both on its own and in its broader literary context. Deuteronomy and the Pentateuch is unquestionably the best book out there on this central biblical text, and should be standard reading for scholars and students alike.

—Joel Baden, Yale Divinity School

Jeffrey Stackert is known for his thoughtful and theoretically informed contributions to Pentateuchal scholarship. In this new work, he tackles the range of complex issues surrounding the compositional history of Deuteronomy with characteristic acumen and clarity.

—Molly Zahn, author of Genres of Rewriting in Second Temple Judaism

Product Details

• Title: Deuteronomy and the Pentateuch
• Author: Jeffrey Stackert
• Series: Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library
• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Print Publication Date: 2022
• Logos Release Date: 2024
• Pages: 251
• Era: era:contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Bible. O.T. Deuteronomy Criticism, interpretation, etc; Bible. O.T. Pentateuch Criticism, interpretation, etc; Bible. O.T. Deuteronomy; Bible. O.T. Pentateuch; Criticism, interpretation, etc
• ISBNs: 9780300167511, 0300167512
• Resource ID: LLS:DTRNMYPNTTLBRRY
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-09-17T19:07:06Z

About Jeffrey Stackert

Jeffrey Stackert is a biblical scholar who situates the Hebrew Bible in the context of the larger ancient Near Eastern world in which it was composed. His first book, Rewriting the Torah: Literary Revision in Deuteronomy and the Holiness Legislation (Mohr Siebeck, 2007), addresses literary correspondences among the biblical legal corpora and especially the relationships between similar laws in Deuteronomy and pentateuchal Priestly literature. He also coedited the recent volume Perspectives on Purity and Purification in the Bible (T&T Clark, 2008). His current research focuses upon the composition of the Torah and especially literary interactions with Israelite and non-Israelite sources in the book of Deuteronomy. One outgrowth of this research will be a new book tentatively titled After Revision: The Wake of Inner-biblical Exegesis in the Composition of the Torah. It will address the question of what biblical authors who employed and revised sources in their compositions meant for the afterlife of the sources they exploited.