Early readers of the Bible saw it not only as an authoritative guide for conduct and belief, but also as an artistic model that exemplified the norms of Israelite literary expression. This vision of the Bible inspired early Jewish readers to reshape biblical songs to suit their expectations of sacred scripture. So says Weitzman (religious studies Indiana U.), who chronicles the history of song in biblical narrative from its origin as a congeries of literary behaviors to its emergence as a self-conscious literary convention. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.
"... a book which asks and answers a new, interesting question, using a rich range of biblical and humanistic methodologies." -- Journal of Biblical Literature
This book examines a literary form within the Bible that has slipped through the cracks of modern scholarship: the mixing of song and story in biblical narrative. Journeying from ancient Egyptian battle accounts to Aramaic wisdom texts to early retellings of biblical tales in the Dead Sea Scrolls, Jewish-Hellenistic literature, and rabbinic midrash, Steven Weitzman follows the history of this form from its origins as a congeries of different literary behaviors to its emergence as a self-conscious literary convention.
.."". a book which asks and answers a new, interesting question, using a rich range of biblical and humanistic methodologies."" -- Journal of Biblical Literature
This book examines a literary form within the Bible that has slipped through the cracks of modern scholarship: the mixing of song and story in biblical narrative. Journeying from ancient Egyptian battle accounts to Aramaic wisdom texts to early retellings of biblical tales in the Dead Sea Scrolls, Jewish-Hellenistic literature, and rabbinic midrash, Steven Weitzman follows the history of this form from its origins as a congeries of different literary behaviors to its emergence as a self-conscious literary convention.
.."". a book which asks and answers a new, interesting question, using a rich range of biblical and humanistic methodologies."" -- Journal of Biblical Literature
This book examines a literary form within the Bible that has slipped through the cracks of modern scholarship: the mixing of song and story in biblical narrative. Journeying from ancient Egyptian battle accounts to Aramaic wisdom texts to early retellings of biblical tales in the Dead Sea Scrolls, Jewish-Hellenistic literature, and rabbinic midrash, Steven Weitzman follows the history of this form from its origins as a congeries of different literary behaviors to its emergence as a self-conscious literary convention.
