From Temple to Text: Text as Ritual Space and the Composition of Numbers 6:24–26

Abstract

Past studies emphasize the difficulties in understanding the logic behind the placement of the priestly blessing within the description of tabernacle rituals of Numbers 5:1–10:10. The present article sheds new light on this problem by comparing the blessing in Numbers 6:24–26 to several blessings preserved in Iron Age dedicatory inscriptions. It argues that the locations of such dedications in temple spaces provide new insights into the literary location of the priestly blessing in the book of Numbers.