Ritual and Rhetoric in Leviticus: From Sacrifice to Scripture
James Washington Watts
Cambridge University Press, 2007-07-02 - Religion - 257 pages
Ritual
and Rhetoric in Leviticus uses rhetorical analysis to expose the
motives behind the writing of the central book of the Torah/Pentateuch
and its persuasive function in ancient Judaism. The answer to the
question, 'who was trying to persuade whom of what by writing these
texts?' proves to be quite consistent throughout Leviticus 1-16:
Aaronide high priests and their supporters used this book to legitimize
their monopoly over the ritual offerings of Jews and Samaritans. With
this priestly rhetoric at its center, the Torah supported the rise to
power of two priestly dynasties in Second Temple Judaism. Their
ascendancy in turn elevated the prestige and rhetorical power to the
book, making it the first real scripture in Near Eastern and Western
religious traditions. Rhetorical analysis of Leviticus therefore has
implications not only for the form and contents of that book, but also
for understanding the later history of the rhetoric of priesthood, of
sacrifice, and especially of scripture
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This
volume examines the formation, final form, themes, and interpretation
of the Book of Leviticus. Contributors include well-known experts on
Leviticus: Baruch Levine, Jacob Milgrom, Graeme Auld, Andreas Ruwe, and
James Watts address Leviticus in its compositional and literary context;
Alfred Marx, Mary Douglas, Walter Houston, and Adrian Schenker treat
issues of cult and sacrifice; and Rene Peter-Contesse, Lester Grabbe,
and Calum Carmichael discuss Leviticus on the priesthood. A
groundbreaking section on Leviticus in translation and interpretation
includes essays by Sarianna Metso and Eugene Ulrich, Martin McNamara,
David Lane, Peter Flint, Robert Kugler, Bruce Chilton, Hannah
Harrington, Gerhard Bodendorfer, Linda Schearing, and Judith Romney
Wegner. These essays will serve students of Leviticus well for long time
to come.