Two interrelated communications play before the reader of the deuteronomic narrative: Moses' promulgation of the written book of the law to Israel, and the narrator's mediation of it to the external reader (Sonnet 1997). After Moses' death, the embedded "book of the law" awaits hermeneutical engagement by characters populating the Primary Narrative (Genesis-Kings). This paper analyzes narratologically Solomon's temple prayer of dedication in 1 Kings 8, which obviously confirms Solomon's conformity to his father's advice (1 Kings 2: 3-4). Solomon's discourse also reveals an aptitude for innovative appropriation as he transforms the house of God into a mechanism for normalizing problematic divine-human relations. In making the temple pivotal to Israel's relationship with God, Solomon substitutes his cult for Moses' law.
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