Both ancient Greece generally and Judaism and early Christianity specifically had strong practices of oral tradition. People memorized long works word for word and often primarily passed them on in this way. Hilariously (to the modern mind), Socrates criticized the practice of writing in general, as he felt discussing, memorizing, and repeating things conferred better mastery of the material (which is hard to disagree with, but...) : https://newlearningonline.com/literacies/chapter-1/socrates-...
This is one of my favorite examples of people being worried about the secondary effects of adopting technology. We've apparently been worried about that since the invention of writing.
Anyway. A lot of ancient systems of writing seem very ambiguous by modern standards. It is my suspicion that such systems are easier to use in a cultural context in which a lot of people already know by heart what the text is supposed to say. It is less of a complete source in itself and more of a reminder. Socrates, at least, seems to think this is what it is for.
This is one of my favorite examples of people being worried about the secondary effects of adopting technology. We've apparently been worried about that since the invention of writing.
Anyway. A lot of ancient systems of writing seem very ambiguous by modern standards. It is my suspicion that such systems are easier to use in a cultural context in which a lot of people already know by heart what the text is supposed to say. It is less of a complete source in itself and more of a reminder. Socrates, at least, seems to think this is what it is for.