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Title: The אמנה in Nehemiah 10
Subtitle: An Imitation of Mesopotamian Contracts from the Long Sixth Century B.C.E.
Author(s): MORROW, William S.
Journal: Biblica
Volume: 104    Issue: 3   Date: 2023   
Pages: 350-368
DOI: 10.2143/BIB.104.3.3292417

Abstract :
The אמנה in Nehemiah 10 shares substantial parallels with Neo- and Late Babylonian contracts. Like them it contains a list of the parties to the agreement, a statement that an oath has been taken, and stipulations in the first-person plural. Several features show, however, that the canonical text of Nehemiah 10 is a literary imitation of that tradition. The same conclusion is warranted for an earlier version of the chapter. As examples of post-colonial mimicry, both compositions recall circumstances during the Persian era when the community committed itself to support the temple establishment in Jerusalem under oath.

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