Positioned at the boundary of traditional biblical studies, legal
history, and literary theory, Deuteronomy and the Hermeneutics of
Legal Innovation shows how the leglislation of Deuteromomy reflects
the struggle of its authors to renew late seventh-century Judaean
society. Seeking to defend their revolutionary vision during the
neo-Assyrian crisis, the reformers turned to earlier laws, even
when they disagreed with them, and revised them in such a way as to
lend authority to their new understanding of God's will. Passages
that other scholars have long viewed as redundant, contradictory,
or displaced actually reflect the attempt by Deuteronomy's authors
to sanction their new religious aims before the legacy of the past.
Drawing on ancient Near Eastern law and informed by the rich
insights of classical and medieval Jewish commentary, Levinson
provides an extended study of three key passages in the legal
corpus: the unprecedented requirement for the centralization of
worship, the law transforming the old Passover into a pilgrimage
festival, and the unit replacing traditional village justice with a
professionalized judiciary. He demonstrates the profound impact of
centralization upon the structure and arrangement of the legal
corpus, while providing a theoretical analysis of religious change
and cultural renewal in ancient Israel. The book's conclusion shows
how the techniques of authorship developed in Deuteronomy provided
a model for later Israelite and post-biblical literature.
Integrating the most recent European research on the redaction of
Deuteronomy with current American and Israeli scholarship, Levinson
argues that biblical interpretation must attend to both the
diachronic and the synchronic dimensions of the text. His study,
which provides a new perspective on intertextuality, the history of
authorship, and techniques of legal innovation in the ancient
world, will engage Pentateuchal critics and historians of Israelite
religion, while reaching out toward current issues in literary
theory and Critical Legal Studies. `Bernard Levinson is a brilliant
young scholar who has written an outstanding book about how the
Covenant Code from Mount Sinai became the Code of Deuteronomy at
the borders of the River Jordan. It is a fascinating discourse on
how to change law without changing tradition. The importance of
Biblical law for canon theory, Biblical narrative, and Israelite
religion usually is underestimated; this new approach will
hopefully get more people reading law, and especially Deuteronomy.
It will be compelling to both American and European readers as it
integrates the leading scholarly discourses of both communities.'
Norbert Lohfink, SJ, Professor of Biblical Studies,
Philosophisch-Theologische Hochschule Sankt Georgen, Frankfurt `An
exemplary work of biblical scholarship-careful and controlled by
analytic rigour, yet bold and innovative in its scope and
suggestions. Students of ancient law, legal literature, religion,
and culture will greatly benefit from Levinson's work.' Michael
Fishbane, Nathan Cummings Professor of Jewish Studies, University
of Chicago `In noting that the Deuteronomic innovations were not
simply interpolated into a reworked version of the Covenant Code
but rather presented in a new, complete composition, Levinson
demonstrates his own primary commitment to the text, to the history
of textual transmission, and to the social milieu in which the text
functions. Levinson elegantly presents the use of the Covenant Code
as both a source and resource for the Deuteronomic authors.' Martha
T. Roth, Professor, Oriental Institute, University of Chicago and
Editor-in-Charge of the Chicago Assyrian Dictionary `Bernard
Levinson's book is a major study. He demonstrates the radical break
with the past and the way in which the authors or composers of
Deuteronomy not only transformed religion and society in ancient
Israel but also radically revised its literary history. The power
and accomplishment of the Deuteronomic movement has rarely been so
clearly demonstrated. Levinson's work is a clarification of the way
in which hermeneutics is not something that starts with the
interpreter's handling of the canonical text but is a process by
which the canonical text itself came into being. He shows how the
new text subverts and dominates older texts in behalf of a radical
cultural and religious transformation. With this book, Levinson
places himself in the front rank of Deuteronomy scholars.' Patrick
D. Miller, Charles P. Haley Professor of Old Testament Exegesis and
Theology, Princeton Theological Seminary
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