Orality and Textuality in the Hebrew Bible

The Hebrew Bible is rooted in an oral and performative tradition. Each audience received different versions and interacted with the stories. In modern day, we lose the sense of how the Hebrew Bible is supposed to be heard and participated with because we read it. We expect a single, standardized, written version when the Hebrew Bible was not intended to be that. I argue that the Hebrew Bible’s textuality reflects the oral and performative traditions of ancient Israel