We imagine a time when Israel was illiterate, before writing, when traditions were handed down from generation to generation by elders or priests. Considerable evidence exists for literacy in 8 th and 7 th century Israel and Judah 1. This evidence includes numerous administrative seals e. The number of inscriptions increased dramatically from the mid-8 th century onward. Substantial evidence also suggests scribal schools in this period.
The meticulous Hebrew palaeography, consistent spelling, and the use of the complicated Egyptian hieratic numeral system all suggest sophisticated knowledge of trained professionals.
Epigraphic remains from Israel are primarily ostraca. Most ostracon texts are ephemeral letters or economic documents kept for a short time before being transcribed, if at all, on to something permanent 4. Ostraca could not accommodate Belles lettres , and there are only two examples of ink-written West Semitic literary texts, the Ahiqar papyrus and the Deir Allah wall plaster. Literature, even in the late pre-exilic period, was oral literature. Recent field studies in oral tradition and folklore have shown many societies produced oral and written literature simultaneously.
Oral tradition and written literature are related phenomena, and in fact, writing often supports oral tradition and vice-versa. Works composed in writing were intended for performance, especially in the Middle Kingdom B. Writing served functions more fetish or ritual than communicative 7. At the same time, written works of literature drew on other written works. The Old Assyrian Sargon legend 19 th century B. Atrahasis 17 th century B.
A thousand years later, the Song of Erra 8 th century B. Written texts developed as improvisations based on recitation aids like storylines, plot elements, and narrative excerpts Para 4.
Scrolls were a storage system for texts kept in memory, akin to a computer backup directory, although recitation aids were included in the text in the form of repetition, inclusios, and other devices Some of this literature has been collected from societies that have recently become literate but preserve much orality, but there are also many societies that have been literate from antiquity and yet oral literature has continued to flourish Oral texts that circulated from singer to audience or singer to singer could be recorded in writing, could be consulted by writers, could be consulted by singers of other stories First, there were oral stories that circulated among singers or storytellers.
Eventually, these were written down. Those texts, perhaps as soon as they were written, were recited or chanted orally to the illiterate masses, a process that continued through the Masoretic vocalization, and on into the Mishnaic period b.
The process is not nearly so linear and cannot be in a society that knew of writing long before the 12 th century B. I found it most useful to bring in comparands from Iceland. Biblical scholars have a long history of interest in the Icelandic literature, and with good reason. And yet, the sagas are not the work of writers drawing solely on other writers Statistical analysis of the sagas indicates even writers deeply indebted to written material and written literary structure were still dependent to a reasonable extent on oral tradition When we study supposed orally derived passages from the Old Testament — we need a distinct set of tools: what is now called performance criticism We would not imagine a musicologist who only studied scores or a scholar who studied ancient Greek dramas never seeing them performed.
Oral texts emerge in contexts in which they were performed and these contexts are not only dictated by environment but emerge in social negotiations between participants In short, performance is anchored in and inseparable from its context In the remainder of this essay, let me reconstruct these performance contexts for Israelite oral narrative poetry Ancient Near Eastern evidence helps a great deal here. But for the ancient past, where we cannot look at a real spectator, if we want to avoid merely casting ourselves in that role, we must find ways to deal with practices that are of necessity located in the contingent realities of actual performances Ethnography is chief among these ways Singing is depicted graphically in such settings 33 , with the singers engaged in stylized poses 34 and vertical harps akin to Assyrian harps Contents of their oral literature include personal memoires, humorous morality tales, and encomia to the king One example of the latter from the court of Merneptah involves singing accompanied by harp A court setting is commonly depicted, and singer-audience interaction is important for composition In this view, the laws articulated by the rabbis of the Talmud — and those who later codified them systematically in works like the Mishneh Torah and the Shulchan Aruch — were not merely legislating, but deducing law that had always been practiced going back to Sinai.
As such, the Oral Law has the status of a direct divine command among Orthodox Jews. Liberal Jews take a somewhat different approach. As a general rule, Reform Judaism does not accept the binding nature of Jewish law, or halacha, seeing the Oral Law as the product of human beings operating within the assumptions and beliefs of a specific historical moment rather than an extension of divine revelation.
Conservative Judaism officially accepts the binding nature of the oral tradition, but finds much more flexibility within its strictures than Orthodox Jews and claims for modern rabbis greater authority to depart from rabbinic rulings made centuries ago.
Together with the Gemara, it makes up the Talmud. Comprised of the Mishnah and the Gemara, it contains the opinions of thousands of rabbis from different periods in Jewish history.
The Oral Torah reflects an attempt to create an eternal Judaism, unaffected by the setbacks that had afflicted the Jewish people in the preceding two centuries. We use cookies to improve your experience on our site and bring you ads that might interest you. Join Our Newsletter Empower your Jewish discovery, daily. Sign Up. Discover More. Open Access for Academic Societies. About us. Stay updated. Corporate Social Responsiblity.
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