Ritual and Rhetoric in Leviticus: From Sacrifice to Scripture

Description

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.

James W. Watts is Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Religion at Syracuse University. He is the author of Psalm and Story: Inset Hymns in Hebrew Narratives (1992), Reading Law: the Rhetorical Shaping of the Pentateuch (1999) and editor of Persia and Torah: The Theory of the Imperial Authorization of the Pentateuch (2001).

'Ritual and Rhetoric in Leviticus is a lively, very readable, and clear exposition of a scholarly approach to biblical material that Watts has pioneered in the field of biblical studies. This book is indeed a timely contribution to understanding the book of Leviticus, a body of texts that continues to receive a great deal of attention from so many different standpoints.' Calum Carmichael, Cornell University 'Though Leviticus might not seem important at first glance, it has been the focus of several major publications recently. In addition, it is a highly fraught issue for Christians and Jews. Watts provides an original approach to many issues, offering a significant alternative to recent treatments. This book is a very exciting, often original, well-produced and thorough study of some important questions.' David Carr, Union Theological Seminary 'Watts skilfully carries out his fresh reading of Leviticus with penetrating attention to persuasive effects of literary features (e.g., genre conventions, repetitive structures, negative stipulations, terminology); robust interaction with secondary sources and comparative materials; and excellent writing that is engaging, precise, and concise. With finely tuned logic, Watts builds his case from critiques of existing ritual interpretations to identification of rhetoric supporting a priestly monopoly to the breathtaking conclusion that these ritual instructions at the heart of the Pentateuch legitimated authority of the whole collection of writings and played the pivotal role in elevating it to the status of scripture.' Roy E. Gane, The Catholic Biblical Quarterly