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2 results

  • 4 - The Origins of the Laws

  • from Part II - The Biblical Legal Collections
  • Edited by Bruce Wells, University of Texas, Austin
  • Book:
    The Cambridge Companion to Law in the Hebrew Bible
    Published online:
    11 April 2024
    Print publication:
    18 April 2024, pp 76-94

  • Summary

    This chapter looks at potential sources that can account for the provisions in the biblical law collections such as previous legal collections, practical legal documents (e.g., contracts), and fictional court cases. Some biblical laws may have originated as stand-alone fictional court cases, akin to the Mesopotamian legal-pedagogical genre of model cases.

The Cambridge Companion to Law in the Hebrew Bible
  • Edited by Bruce Wells
  • Published online:
    11 April 2024
    Print publication:
    18 April 2024
  • This Companion offers a comprehensive overview of the history, nature, and legacy of biblical law.  Examining the debates that swirl around the nature of biblical law, it explores its historical context, the significance of its rules, and its influence on early Judaism and Christianity. The volume also interrogates key questions: Were the rules intended to function as ancient Israel's statutory law? Is there evidence to indicate that they served a different purpose? What is the relationship between this legal material and other parts of the Hebrew Bible? Most importantly, the book provides an in-depth look at the content of the Torah's laws, with individual essays on substantive, procedural, and ritual law. With contributions from an international team of experts, written specially for this volume, The Cambridge Companion to Law in the Hebrew Bible provides an up-to-date look at scholarship on biblical law and outlines themes and topics for future research.