Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Norman Cohn <normanncohn AT yahoo.com.br>]

Hi Karl,

 

James W. Watts made some very interesting studies on the subject of the audience of the Pentateuch Law. (Reading Law, 1999; Ritual and Rhetoric in Leviticus, 2007). I wouldn't be able to say how "Reading Law" is regarded by scholars today, but the work seems to have enjoyed a good reception when it was published. I think Watts would say that the Pentateuch Law was directed towards a mixed audience composed of people with different and at times even conficting visions about the subject being presented to them. He goes as far as saying that the text of the Law is fraught with rethoric devices which suggest it was meant to be read aloud in public, including to the common and ordinary folk. 

 

His conclusions, however, and I can be wrong on this, seem to apply mainly to the legal parts of the Pentateuch. Do you know of a good study which tackles the intended audience of the rest of the Pentateuch?

 

There are indeed some scholars who maintain that the Pentateuch wasn't composed to be read by an audience, large or small, but mainly for reasons of preservation (e.g. Jean Louis Ska's essay in Persia and Torah: The Theory of Imperial Authorisation of the Pentateuch, 2001, Society of Bilical Literature).   

 

Best regards,

 

Norman Cohn

São Paulo - Brazil.