"Law and Gospel" in the Pentateuch organisation

Abstract

Both the structure of the overarching literary blocks in the Pentateuch (primarily containing either narrative or legal material) and the unfolding of its story line attest to the fact that the legal sections in the Pentateuch are subsumed under the narrative material. In light of the flexibility of the concept of "theme", the article argues that the theme of the Pentateuch can be expressed by the idea of i1"n. The narrative sequence of the Pentateuch is reviewed from this angle to show that the general theme is manifested in specific parts of the text. The interrelationship between the motifs of divine providence ("Gospel") and obedience demanded from humans ("Law") demonstrate both the meaning ofi1"n and the presence of this theme throughout the Pentateuch.