Deuteronomy as utopia: new possibilities for reading an old friend/foe

Scholars have long held Deuteronomy up as a classic example of utopian literature in the Hebrew Bible but have not always rigorously engaged with the implications of doing so for the interpretation of the book. This chapter sets out to redress the imbalance by asking two fundamental questions: can we in fact read Deuteronomy as a utopia and what happens if we do? In response to the first, the chapter demonstrates that Deuteronomy exhibits many of the structural features typical of a literary utopia and can consequently be read as such. In response to the second, it goes on to explore some of the hermeneutical dividends for reading, utilizing work done by Utopian Studies on the social and political function of utopias. While the interpretive outcomes are manifold, reading the book as utopia brings into particular focus how Deuteronomy works as critical literature, and how its alternative, imagined world contributes to wider discussions of ancient political discourse and theory.