The festive meal texts of Deuteronomy 12-26 depict Israel as a unified people participating in cultic banquets - a powerful and earthy image for both preexilic Judahite and later audiences. Comparison of Deuteronomy 12:13-27, 14:22-29, 16:1-17, and 26:1-15 with pentateuchal texts like Exodus 20-23 is broadened to highlight the rhetorical potential of the Deuteronomic meal texts in relation to the religious and political circumstances in Israel during the Neo-Assyrian and later periods. The texts employ the concrete and rich image of festive banquets, which the monograph investigates in...