Like Unto Moses: The Constituting of an InterruptionIndiana University Press, 1995 M05 22 - 416 pages "This exhaustive and important study of the meaning of Moses in the Bible demonstrates conclusively 'the Mosaicization of the canon'... Nohrnberg possesses a remarkable typological imagination. No summary can do justice to the sheer brilliance of the congruities and disparities he discovers on every page." -- Journal of Religion "LIKE UNTO MOSES proposes a series of challenging perspectives on theprocess of canon-formation in the Bible. James Nohrnberg's ability totrace connections among different elements of the biblical corpus isunflaggingly resourceful, sometimes provocative, and often deeplyinstructive." -- Robert Alter "... an insightful study of the traditions of Moses in the Bible." -- Choice "This is a formidably argued, large book.... It is also certainly the most sophisticated book on Moses and one of the most sophisticated readings of the Bible which I have ever had the pleasure of reading.... I think it is a brilliant achievement and would recommend it to every reader of the Bible." -- R. P. Carroll, The Society for Old Testament Study Book List The Moses of the Bible is a veiled figure who exists both inside and outside the text which describes and defines him. "Moses" is a creation of Israelite literary and scriptural tradition, an ideological construct, a reinvented memory, a projection of what Israel wished to see in Moses. Nohrnberg examines the texts of "Moses" for their representation of the tradition's self-doubt and its revisionary, "deuteronomic" content. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 85
... become , as it were , all canon . By definition , a canon is complete ; its members form a literature of sufficiency , all members of the class canon , upon its formation , having been identified . In contrast , literature includes ...
... become an atomistic unity . The Bible's own , interior assumption of an encyclopedic totality , starting from its account of the Creation on page one , is essential ground , at any rate , for the large number of comparisons offered by ...
... becoming symbolic of a whole culture , the principal feature of the legend will be the hero's activity of finding , founding , instituting , transmitting , or sponsoring such institutions as the culture subscribes to . David is a ...
... become prophets ( Num . 11:29 ) . In such texts historicity is lost between the foreconceit of Moses ' uniqueness and the back - reading of revivalistic congregations that would ideally be composed of many Moseses . The tradition is ...
... becomes a long - standing precedent . The " chair of Moses " seems to be especially a legal one , one occupied by a law - speaker . While only God can be the hero of the Bible , Moses can be heroized through his agency in executing the ...
Contents
3 | |
The Text of the | 43 |
Moralia in Exodum | 133 |
Sojourner in Midian | 153 |
The Prehistory of Mosaic Intervention | 165 |
Sinai and the Name | 174 |
Prophet unto Pharaoh | 189 |
The Burden of Egypt | 208 |
The Exodus and the Numbering | 241 |
The Exodus and the Visiting | 250 |
Allegories of Scripture | 267 |
The Golden Calf and the History of the Priestly | 307 |
Supplementary Originals | 325 |
Notes | 347 |
General Index | 377 |
Scriptural Index | 391 |