This was originally published in Of Scribes and Sages: Early Jewish Interpretation and Transmission of Scripture (ed. C. A. Evans Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2004), 69–113. Errors have been removed and minor improvements to the presentation of the argument have been made. Original page numbers are in square brackets.
The second edition will soon be republished in C. Fletcher-Louis, Collected Works. Volume 1: The Image-Idol of God, the Priesthood, Apocalyptic and Jewish Mysticism (Eugene Or./Toddington: Wipf & Stock/Whymanity Publishing).