The peculiarities of language and style in the book of Deuteronomy

The Book Deuteronomy belonging to the Pentateuch constitutes the core of an entire group of literature which is known as "Deuteronomistic literature". The criteria detected for this literature are on the one hand certain content- related positions (historical, cultish and theological ideas), on the other linguistic peculiarities (above all certain terms and stylistic features). The planned project will concentrate on the latter, to critically examine the insights gained so far, replenish them with new findings and lift the data to the newest standard. It is to be expected that thereby decisive clarification can be brought to the presently very lively and controversially held discussions about "Deuteronomism". Then from the first in the new development it has to be reckoned with besides the possibility of a common character of language shared by several scriptures (which as of now allowed the assumption of a common authorship) other possibilities: like the independent influence of similar submittals (perhaps Assyrian texts of contracts), with intentional intertextuality across boundaries of books to older scriptures (marked by citations or insinuations) or with the usage of elements of the language of Deuteronomy of the late era which meanwhile have become part of the commonly spoken language. A raster criterion has to be established for the distinction of these possibilities. One aspect of the undertaking is without doubt the critical argument with the corresponding scientific works approximately since de Wette. This requires quite substantial bibliographical activity. Now we have already established a bibliography to Deuteronomy during the last 30 years for our endeavour on the commentary to Deuteronomy and we presume that this bibliography is the most complete and the easiest analysable which exists presently. She is openly accessible as an interactive internet bibliography with the name "AnaBiDeut" (=Analytische Bibliographie zum Deuteronomium). Its home is the University of Vienna and it can be called up under http://www.univie.ac.at/anabideut/. The bibliography is analytical, that is lists of searched for literature can be put together in direct action by looking for passages in the Bible, key words and diverse categories. In this respect the bibliography is unequalled in the realm of the whole Bible sciences and Oriental studies. But she needs constant fostering. On the one hand new publications, series and the internet have to be incorporated and analysed as regards content, on the other existing gaps stemming from former periods of the history of research have to be closed. This latter aspect above all has proved urgent in view of the project. As a qualified research associate for the internet bibliography Dr. Miroslav Varšo could be obtained, who by his specialised competency and his 3 year supervision of the data base of the Deuteronomy bibliography is most familiar with the project. Since his period as assistant professor terminates ultimately in August 2009 because of the return of the holder of the position the research on the project should already be started with the beginning of the year 2010. 2 years post-doc position at 50% (20 hours a week) working time is applied for.

Not only through its historical, cultic and theological concepts, but also through its linguistic and stylistic properties, the book of Deuteronomy leaves its mark on several Old Testament writings - the so-called "Deuteronomic literature". The project focused on the linguistic and stylistic features that were only previously recorded in incomplete lists of word and word compounds, and had been treated selectively in monographs. The linguistic evidence was collected and reanalyzed in detail. Hebrew syntax and narrative analysis now have also been included in a methodical manner. It has shown, for example, that certain areas of Deuteronomy and the following book of Joshua, not only by common language and peculiarities of style, but also by common formulas and patterns, are interconnected. From this an older, once independent literary work of the 7th Century BC, a "Deuteronomic land conquest narrative", can be proposed. Accordingly, it becomes a reference point for the dating of various texts of Deuteronomy, and its linguistic range can be used in their literary historical placement. The critical analysis of currently available secondary literature required comprehensive bibliographical research. For this purpose an analytical bibliography of Deuteronomy, which had already been created in previous projects, has been further developed into an online database. With its help you can look up scripture, keywords, authors, topics under different categories, and put together lists of sought after literature. The database is set up in German and English. It covers 13,570 scholarly publications on Deuteronomy by currently around 6,000 authors. This database is second to none in the fields of oriental studies and the Biblical sciences due to the extent of the analysis of the data, its search capabilities and the use of the latest technology. In the meantime, it has become available for free online; a unique international, interdisciplinary working tool that is used frequently.