rc7 Flashcards
The laws of the Torah. according to Frigge,
Represent many, many years of development in Israel that also involved the emergence of the priesthood and system of sacrifice at the temple.
According to Frigge, a key lesson that the Priestly redactors learned from centuries of living in covenant with God was
God’s great faithfulness despite the people’s frequent unfaithfulness.
Bernard M. Levinson reports what many scholars have observed about the Mosaic covenant in (Exodus and) Deuteronomy:
That this covenant follows the strict outline for similar covenants between the Babylonian god Marduk and his followers. WRONG
Many scholars believe that the Priestly redactors created Deuteronomy
Using an earlier source, D or the Deuteronomist, probably primarily law codes, and then the redactors added other literary units (e.g., hymns, narratives, etc.).
The Mosaic covenant is
Conditional.
Deuteronomy has a particular pattern or structure:
It is a series of parables that teach the people lessons about how they should live. WRONG
The “great Shema” refers to a verse in Deuteronomy
That calls on the people of Israel to “hear” and follow God.
For Walter Brueggemann, the Mosaic covenant creates “social possibility” for the ancient Israelites because
God’s vision for human society presents an alternative that is very different from the hierarchical models of governance (e.g., Egypt, Canaanite city-states) that the people had observed and experienced; God’s vision is much more egalitarian in access to power, land, goods, etc.
According to Frigge, the Priestly redactors, who began their work of writing and shaping the Torah in the Babylonian Exile,
Believed that the exiles had finally learned the all-important lesson of remaining faithful to God, no matter what.
The Book of Deuteronomy closes with
A covenant renewal ceremony that reminds everyone of their bilateral covenant with God, a hymn of lessons learned, and Moses’ death and burial.
Walter Brueggemann reports that, for Martin Buber, a Jewish theologian who lived through the Holocaust era, the notion of God as king
Delegitimates all other political authority: God is the supreme ruler, above any human ruler; all human rulers may be critiqued!
Deuteronomy is so named because
It presents a second account of God’s giving the law to Moses at Mt. Sinai.
The storyline of Deuteronomy (world of the text) is set
Just before the people of God are about to enter the Promised Land of Canaan.
The Priestly redactors were interested in reminding the exiles who they were through stories of their origins,
And they also wanted to remind the people what failure to follow God and God’s covenant meant: the loss of their land and exile.
Bernard M. Levinson states that the particular design of the Mosaic covenant
Is intended to counter the ancient Assyrian treaties imposed upon Judah without their choice and out of the Assyrians’ desire for conquest and wealth.
