Subject: [b-hebrew] Iron and Curses in Deuteronomy 28
Date: Fri, 06 Feb 2009 12:26:50 -0800
MODERATORS: Although this post begins in response to something from the
"absence of evidence" thread, I have started anew based on the belief
that the subsequent textual analysis is germane to the list. Let me know
if I'm wrong.
If Deuteronomy is from the 15th century the mentions of iron seem
anachronistic, leading Karl to doubt the mainstream archaeological
account. Some of his argument concerned the textual motivation to say
"iron" (iron yoke in Deut.28) when the reality might have been something
else. But what is the motivation for telling people NOT to use iron
tools (Deut.27:5)? Here there can be no metaphor; rather it is assumed
that iron tools will be available in Shechem or will be brought there.
Just a guess: if the text is really quite old, it might reflect a
situation in which Israelites were in contact with iron-using people,
but had no history of iron use -- a situation also suggested by Joshua
17. Then the use of iron to build a holy altar might be regarded as
something foreign. (Perhaps there is a whole theological explanation for
the no-iron thing here, of which I am ignorant.)
But what I really want to talk about is the structure of Deut.28. It is
well-known that a number of the curses here are also found in
Esarhaddon's loyalty oath from the 7th century (VTE for Vassal Treaty of
Esarhaddon below). There can be no doubt that one of the two authors
read either the other one, or a third text similar to both. It's of
course possible that late Assyrian scribes had a copy of Deuteronomy.
But if you compare the two texts, Deuteronomy sounds derivative. Take
the mention of iron in verse 23...
Deut.28:23 And your skies that are over you will be bronze, and the land
that is under you iron.
VTE 526-530: May the gods of this treaty make your ground like iron, so
nothing can sprout from it. Just as rain does not fall from a brazen
heaven so may rain and dew not come upon your fields and meadows.
But that's just the beginning. Verses 22,23,26,27,29,30 and31 all
directly parallel VTE (526, 425, 419, 420, 428, 429).
Furthermore, the sequence in Deuteronomy seems random, but part of it
matches the VTE sequence, which is determined by the traditional
ordering of the gods associated with each of the curses (e.g.
Sin=leprosy precedes Shamash=blindness [the sun will hide his light]).
But wait, there's more: Deut.28 already shows itself to be composite
based on internal evidence. Verses 2-10 are blessings with parallel
curses in 15-20. Verse 25 corresponds to verse 7, it is out of order.
Verse 10 corresponds to verse 37, which seems like the original end of
the unit.
Therefore it looks like the section written by someone familiar with VTE
was inserted in the middle of the text from another source. Is there any
other explanation for the sequence of blessings and curses from verses 2-32?
Gabe Eisenstein
[b-hebrew] Iron and Curses in Deuteronomy 28,
Gabe Eisenstein, 02/06/2009