Literary Connections and Social Contexts: Approaches to Deuteronomy in Light of the Assyrian adê-Tradition

This article explores the possibility of a historical connection between Deuteronomy and Esarhaddon's Succession Treaty when Judah was a vassal of the Assyrian empire. It aims to complement previous literary approaches to the question by reconstructing a social context for Esarhaddon's Succession Treaty. This social context suggests a possible association of the Assyrian text to Deut 31:9-13. The article concludes by considering some methodological conditions that would need to be met before any posited historical connection between the texts could be considered anything more than a conjecture.