Specification as a Hermeneutical Technique in Babylonian and Assyrian Commentaries

This article discusses the hermeneutical feature of specification in Akkadian commentaries, i.e., narrowing the commented text to specific circumstances, not necessarily implied by its literal meaning. The article explores the reasons for this phenomenon, often triggered by ambiguity, textual contradiction, or problems in the verisimilitude of the reality referred to by the commented text. The article also examines the phenomenon of specification in the wider context of textual harmonization and canonization. Finally, the article offers a typological comparison with a similar feature found in early rabbinic exegesis, namely, oqimta.