Envisioning Writing: Texts and Power in Early Judaism

This work traces the development of Judaism as a Scriptural religion, claiming that this did not arise from discrete moments of "political" authority (e.g., Sinai, Josiah, Ezra), but was part of a complex and multifarious negotiation involving writing, literacy, orality and the socio-political power of the Persian, Greek and Roman empires.

• Table Of Contents
• Introduction - Writing, Orality, Power and Empire: A Model
• Section One - Prophets, Moses and Deuteronomists: Learning to Write
  • The Written Prophets: Setting the Record Straight
  • Deuteronomy and Moses (an expansion of my article from Postmodern Interpretations of the Bible)
  • Josiah, Joshua and Imperial Textuality (a revision of my article from Semeia Studies)
• Section Two - Inscribing Yehud
  • The Prophets Learn to Write (Ezekiel, Zechariah, Malachi)
  • Nehemiah: Subject of the Empire (a revision of my paper delivered at 2004 SBL)
  • Ezra: The Discipline of Letters
• Section Three - Engraved Invitations: Writing at the Table of the Powerful
  • Esther: A Writing Carnival?
  • The Letter of Aristeas: A Hellenistic Writing Symposium
  • Writing and Resistance in Daniel 1-6 (an expansion of my JBL paper)
• Section Four - Writing and the Sectarian Subject
  • Irresistible Texts
  • Daniel's Vision and the Empire
  • Jubilees and Torah
  • 1 Enoch: Writing the Sectarian Subject
  • Writing by the Dead Sea: 4QMMT as Signifier
• Conclusion