Theory and Method in Biblical and Cuneiform Law: Revision, Interpolation and Development
Journal for the Study of the Old Testament: Supplement Series, Vol. 181, B. Levinson, ed., Sheffield Academic Press, 1994
Posted: 6 Sep 2012 Last revised: 20 Jun 2013
Date Written: 1994
Abstract
This seminal work, first published by Sheffield Academic Press in the JSOT Supplement Series, remains in demand among scholars of biblical and cuneiform law, as well as among all those interested in the Pentateuchal traditions. The essays in the collection focus on two crucial topics that have been too much neglected in recent debate on the formation of the Pentateuch: (1) biblical law, and the development of Israelite legal institutions, and (2) the significance of ancient Near Eastern law as a model for the composition and editorial history of the Pentateuch.
To correct the imbalance, the contributors to this volume investigate whether the biblical and cuneiform legal corpora underwent a process of literary revision and interpolation. If so, what is the evidence for it, and how did such revision take place? If not, how are the textual phenomena to be explained?
The contributors are: Raymond Westbrook, Bernard M. Levinson, Samuel Greengus, Martin Buss, Sophie Lafont, Victor H. Matthews, William Morrow, Dale Patrick and Eckart Otto.
Keywords: biblical law, ancient Near Eastern law, cuneiform law, Pentateuch, Hebrew Bible, Israel history, biblical studies, biblical literature, Covenant Code, Deuteronomy, legal development
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