The Comparative Method in Scripture and Inscription

This chapter considers the comparative method, arguing that scholars concerned with parallels between ancient Near Eastern and biblical literature have frequently operated without considering the crucial means of the transmission of the traditions, encompassing the availability of the texts in questions to the biblical scribe, and the linguistic competence of that scribe to read and translate Akkadian texts. This sets the stage for a new examination of the means of the transmission of Esarhaddon’s Succession Treaties to Deuteronomy, with a study of cuneiform culture in Iron II Judah. By showing that the evidence for the existence of such a tradition is essentially lacking, it will be proposed that Aramaic may have served an intermediary function between the literatures of East and West, given that the language functioned as a lingua franca during this period.