Sforno’s Threefold Approach to the Torah’s Structure
Classical exegetes’ exploration of structure and order in the Pentateuch is generally perceived as part of an internal-Jewish debate. However, in an exceptional testimonial, the introduction to R. Ovadiah Sforno’s Torah commentary describes a polemic against the Torah grounded in a claim about the T...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Brill
[2020]
|
| In: |
The review of rabbinic Judaism
Year: 2020, Volume: 23, Issue: 2, Pages: 260-278 |
| Further subjects: | B
Religious Polemics
B Sforno B order in the Pentateuch |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | Classical exegetes’ exploration of structure and order in the Pentateuch is generally perceived as part of an internal-Jewish debate. However, in an exceptional testimonial, the introduction to R. Ovadiah Sforno’s Torah commentary describes a polemic against the Torah grounded in a claim about the Torah’s disorderliness. Responding to this critique, Sforno set out to uncover the Torah’s logical order. His efforts to elucidate the Torah’s order and structure include three aspects: he points to a circular structure that is repeated seven times in Genesis-Numbers, he systematically links the independent legal sections in Deuteronomy, and he discusses the Torah’s division into five separate books. While methodically addressing the question of order, Sforno also offers a response to fundamental theological issues at the center of the interfaith polemic. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1570-0704 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The review of rabbinic Judaism
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/15700704-12341372 |