them in the future as related to the nations of the earth? The unfortunate translation of “law” for tôrāh gives the impression that the Mosaic writings are essentially legal texts. Such texts in the corpus are well recognized, but they by no means predominate. Genesis is narrative and genealogical for the most part. Exodus 1–19 is mainly narrative, with the remainder divided between “legal” prescription and its implementation. Leviticus is basically cultic instruction, legal in the sense of prescribing
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