Hidden Bibliographic Details
ISBN: | 9780511499159 0511499159 9780511296673 0511296673 0511295928 9780511295928 9781107407954 1107407958 9781139132695 1139132695 9780511294358 0511294352 052187193X 9780521871938 9786610959815 6610959811
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Notes: | Includes bibliographical references and index. Print version record.
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Summary: | Ritual and Rhetoric in Leviticus uses rhetorical analysis to expose the motives behind the writing of the central book of the Torah/Pentateuch and its persuasive function in ancient Judaism. The answer to the question, 'who was trying to persuade whom of what by writing these texts?' proves to be quite consistent throughout Leviticus 1-16: Aaronide high priests and their supporters used this book to legitimize their monopoly over the ritual offerings of Jews and Samaritans. With this priestly rhetoric at its center, the Torah supported the rise to power of two priestly dynasties in Second Temple Judaism. Their ascendancy in turn elevated the prestige and rhetorical power to the book, making it the first real scripture in Near Eastern and Western religious traditions.
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Other form: | Print version: Watts, James W. (James Washington), 1960- Ritual and rhetoric in Leviticus. Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2007 9780521871938
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