Speed Reading?

Then afterward he read all the words of the Law, the blessing and the curse, according to everything that is written in the Book of the Law.  Joshua 8:34  NASB

All the words – According to the text, following the successful conquest of Ai, all Israel gathers between two mountains and a series of religious rituals are performed.  One of these, is reading

קָרָא֙ אֶת־כָּל־דִּבְרֵ֣י הַתּוֹרָ֔ה (“all the words of the law”).  Consider this for a moment.  The “law” is the Torah given by Moses.  How many words are in the Torah?  79,847.  How long would it take you to read 79,847 words?  Let’s say you read about 200 to 300 words per minute, perhaps a little less if you have to read out loud.  That means Joshua would need about five hours or more to read the entire Torah to this audience.  Possible—but not likely.  

The rabbis noticed this problem and provided several different solutions.  First, they said that the Levites (previous verse) read an abbreviated version of the Torah.  Second, they said that Joshua read on the blessings and the curses from the second book of the law (Deuteronomy 27-28).  Third, they suggested that “all the words” really means the commandments (but there are 613 of them so it’s not quick).  Fourth, they posited that only the Decalogue was read (the Ten Commandments).  Finally, they proposed that the word for “words” here really means “things” since dābār has multiple meanings (word, speaking, speech, thing).  In this case, all Joshua communicated were “things” about the law.  All of these explanations have been offered to account for the unlikely option of the whole Torah.  Take your pick.  

Let me suggest something else.  Rather than trying to reconcile “all” with the total numbers of words in the Torah, perhaps there’s another reason behind the idea.  We’ve just been told that the initial group included the elders, the priests and the Levites, and those who were once outsiders but are not part of the larger assembly.  We can assume that these three groups are all men.  Why?  Because the next verse specifically mentions women and children.  What is the purpose behind designating all these different categories of people in Israel?  It is to ensure that the record shows that every single person is now accountable.  No one can say, “But I never heard this?”  Joshua is at another turning point.  The Land is ready to accept Israel, but that means  tribes will disperse.  Before that happens, everyone must know why they are here and what God wants.  The text isn’t concerned with counting all the words.  It’s concerned with who’s listening.  This is, in a sense, the second Sinai.  Only all those people who heard God speak, and subsequently heard Moses reiterate what God said, have died.  This new audience needs to hear for the first time.  It’s not how many words that matter.  It’s who hears the words.  And, in typical Torah literary fashion, the point is made by repeating and elaborating the narrative.  

We’ve seen this before after Isreal’s defeat at Ai.  Repetition, duplication, elaboration—the Hebraic technique of adding exclamation points to the text.  Here it is again.  Instead of struggling to explain kāl dibrê’ with some theological gymnastics, why not notice the audience and consider the people as the point?

Topical Index:  kāl dibrê’, all the words, dābār, thing, audience, Torah, Joshua 8:34