“Word” to “Book”: Canonical Consciousness in Deuteronomistic History and Selected Prophetic Texts

Abstract: The idea of public reading and the mandate of obedience to a written document are the backbone of most scriptural ideologies. Some texts of the Deuteronomistic History and the Prophets display a consciousness that the written words of their texts have acquired the status of Scripture and are, therefore, to be read publicly with a mandate to obey them. Inner-biblical evidence suggests that scribes sought to project this idea through connections established between texts of the Deuteronomistic History and the prophetic books. The fulcrum of this entire system is Deuteronomy 31, which clearly underlines the transformation of Mosaic laws from spoken commands to written law. Moreover, by emphasizing the writtenness of the law, Deuteronomy 31 ensures its permanence and the possibility of its being transferred to a new custodian, Joshua, who succeeds Moses after the latter’s death. The motif of a book as a witness to rebellion in Deuteronomy 31 is an Isaian motif adopted to express the relationship between divine judgment and the disregard for the law in Deuteronomy 31. This Deuteronomic chapter is also connected to Jeremiah 36, which mimics the former by presenting Jeremiah’s prophecy as a complete book meant for public reading. The scheme of Jeremiah 36 is again fully understood in the prophetic role of Huldah as an interpreter of the book of the law. The connections underscore the traditional conception of Scripture as the Law and the Prophets.