the early second centuryb.c.e.,Jubileesclearly attests this: “The Lordre-
vealed to him...”(Jub.1:4), and “The angel of the presence spoke to Moses
according to the word of the Lord, saying: ‘Write the complete history of
thecreation...’”(Jub.2:1).
The divine authorship envisioned on Sinai was extended to material
that had presumably been simply the priests’ ritual handbook for Temple
sacrifices. It is quite plausible that editorial framing in the Second Temple
period transformed the priests’ handbook of directions for performing the
various offerings. The directions in Leviticus 1–7 may at an earlier point
have begun with “When any of you bring an offering of livestock to the
Lord, you shall...”(1:2b), proceeded with the detailed sacrificial direc-
tions, and then ended with “This is the ritual of the burnt offering, the
grain offering, the sin offering, the guilt offering, the ordination offering,
and the sacrifice of well-being” (7:37). The editorial framing of those
priestly directions would then have introduced the section with “The
Lordcalled Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting, saying,
‘Speak to the people of Israel and say to them’ ” (1:1-2a), and concluded it
with “which the Lordcommanded Moses on Mount Sinai, when he com-
manded the people of Israel to bring their offerings to the Lord, in the
wilderness of Sinai” (7:38; cf. also 4:1-2a; 5:20; 27:1-2a, 34). According to this
view, the priestly ritual handbook was transformed into a divinely
authored book.
Just as Moses relayed God’s word in the Torah, certain prophets were
seen to deliver God’s message to the king and people. But eventually the
entire prophetic book, including stories about the prophets and the full
editorial framework, was considered divine revelation. With the passage of
time a book containing God’s word became a divinely revealed book.
Similarly, the Psalms, which originated as humanly composed hymns
to God, were elevated to the status of divinely authored Scripture. The
largest Psalms scroll from Qumran states explicitly the divine source of
David’s Psalter: “All these he spoke through prophecy that was given to
him from the Most High” (11QPsa27:11). The divinely inspired prophetic
nature of the Psalms is echoed in the Acts of the Apostles: “Since he was a
prophet....Foreseeing this, David spoke of the resurrection of the Mes-
siah...”(Acts2:30-31).
Second, additions that enhanced the theological, pious, or festival-
oriented nature of a text seem to have been influential in considering a
book as Scripture. For example, the theological material in Proverbs 1–9
may well have been the factor that achieved scriptural status for that book.125The Jewish Scriptures: Texts, Versions, CanonsEERDMANS -- Early Judaism (Collins and Harlow) final text
Tuesday, October 09, 2012 12:03:57 PM