Table Of ContentOUP CORRECTED PROOF – FINAL, 01/09/17, SPi
Deuteronomy 28 anD the
aramaic curse traD ition
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oXForD theoLoGy anD reLiGion monoGraPhs
Editorial Committee
D. acharya m. n. a. BocKmuehL
m. J. eDWarDs P. s. FiDDes
s. r. i. Foot D. n. J. maccuLLoch
h. naJman G. WarD
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oXForD theoLoGy anD reLiGion monoGraPhs
Intercessory Prayer and the Monastic Ideal in the
Time of the Carolingian Reforms
renie s. choy (2016)
Ottoman Puritanism and its Discontents
aḥmad al-rūmī al-Āqḥiṣārī and the Qāḍīzādelis
mustapha sheikh (2016)
A. J. Appasamy and his Reading of Rāmānuja
a comparative study in Divine embodiment
Brian Philip Dunn (2017)
Kierkegaard’s Theology of Encounter
an edifying and Polemical Life
David Lappano (2017)
Qur’an of the Oppressed
Liberation Theology and Gender Justice in islam
shadaab rahemtulla (2017)
Ezra and the Second Wilderness
Philip y. yoo (2017)
Maternal Grief in the Hebrew Bible
ekaterina e. Kozlova (2017)
The Human Condition in Hilary of Poitiers
The Will and original sin between origen and augustine
isabella image (2017)
Sartre on Sin
Between Being and nothingness
Kate Kirkpatrick (2017)
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Deuteronomy 28 and
the aramaic curse
tradition
Laura QuicK
1
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1
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Acknowledgements
This book began as my doctoral dissertation, completed at the Faculty
of Theology and religion at the university of oxford. i would like to
express my most profound thanks to my Doctor-Father, John Barton.
he has been a truly supportive, kind, and generous supervisor. John
also acted as a mentor during the revision of my thesis for publication,
and i am so thankful that once again i was given the opportunity to
work closely with him on this project.
significant thanks are also owed to Kevin cathcart, whom i met
during my first term in oxford when i took a class he was offering on
Phoenician inscriptions. since then, i have benefited from his wisdom
in a number of different classes which he kindly ran for students of the
hebrew Bible at the university of oxford, in comparative semitics,
aramaic inscriptions, and ugaritic Grammar. Beyond these classes,
Professor cathcart’s engagement with my work, along with his pastoral
support, has been immense, and my time in oxford would not have
been nearly so pleasant or productive without knowing him.
While at the university of oxford, i have been able to benefit from
a number of classes run by the Faculty of oriental studies and the
oxford centre for hebrew and Jewish studies, as well as to attend sem-
inars held at both venues, along with the Faculty of Theology and
religion. along the way, i have met and learnt from conversations
with a number of teachers and colleagues, and from whose advice and
support this manuscript was significantly improved: alma Brodersen,
carly crouch, Jacob Dahl, stephanie Dalley, Graham Davies, susan
Gillingham, sondra hausner, robert hayward, Jan Joosten, ekaterina
Kozlova, aulikki nahkola, hindy najman, sonja noll, Frances
reynolds, Jonathan stökl, Lena-sofia tiemeyer, hugh Williamson,
and William Wood. it goes without saying that any errors contained in
the following are my own.
During the completion of the thesis i was financially supported by a
clarendon Fund D.Phil. scholarship provided by the university of
oxford; and a Graduate teaching and research scholarship provided
by oriel college, university of oxford. While i was revising the thesis
for publication, oriel college continued to be my home as i worked
and taught at the college as a Lecturer in hebrew Bible. The highly
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viii Acknowledgements
intelligent and conscientious students of the hebrew Bible whom i
have been privileged to teach have also contributed to this study, test-
ing me, challenging my assumptions, and in general allowing me to
try out some of the ideas that ultimately crystallized in this book.
i would like to thank all of them.
none of this would be possible without the support and friendship
of my best friend, sebastian Wedler. i could not have produced this
book without him, and it is only fitting that the manuscript is dedi-
cated to him.
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Table of Contents
List of Abbreviations xi
introduction 1
1. Deuteronomy 28 and ancient near eastern curses 12
2. The comparative method in scripture and inscription 41
3. The Futility curse as a northwest semitic trope:
The old aramaic inscriptions 68
4. Futility curses in the hebrew Bible 107
5. The composition of the tell Fakhariyah inscription
and Deuteronomy 28 137
6. Writing and ritual in Deuteronomy 28 159
conclusion 179
Bibliography 187
Index of Authors 207
Index of Primary Texts 210
