The Oxford Handbook of Biblical Law

by Pamela Barmash (Editor)

Overview

Major innovations have occurred in the study of biblical law in recent decades. The legal material of the Pentateuch has received new interest with detailed studies of specific biblical passages. The comparison of biblical practice to ancient Near Eastern customs has received a new impetus with the concentration on texts from actual ancient legal transactions. The Oxford Handbook of Biblical Law provides a state of the art analysis of the major questions, principles, and texts pertinent to biblical law. The thirty-three chapters, written by an international team of experts, deal with the concepts, significant texts, institutions, and procedures of biblical law; the intersection of law with religion, socio-economic circumstances, and politics; and the reinterpretation of biblical law in the emerging Jewish and Christian communities. The volume is intended to introduce non-specialists to the field as well as to stimulate new thinking among scholars working in biblical law.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780190900854
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	10/10/2019
Series:	Oxford Handbooks
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	640
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Pamela Barmash is a professor of Hebrew Bible at Washington University in St. Louis and has served as director of Jewish, Islamic and Near Eastern Studies there. She has been a fellow at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, and at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton. She is the author of Homicide in the Biblical World, and she is the co-editor of Exodus in the Jewish Experience: Echoes and Reverberations.

Table of Contents

Introduction Legal Institutions and Fundamental Concepts Covenant Social Justice Offences Against Human Beings in Public and Private Law Litigation: Trial Procedure, Jurisdiction, Evidence, Testimony Women, Children, Slaves, and Foreigners Ritual Law: Sacrifice and Holy Days Ritual Law: Priests, Purity, and the Sanctuary "An Eye for an Eye and Capital Punishment Legal Texts of the Bible The Decalogue The Book of the Covenant The Priestly Law The Holiness Legislation The Deuteronomic Reform Law and Narratives Determining the Date of the Legal Texts of the Hebrew Bible Law in the Canon of the Hebrew Bible The Role of Law in the Formation of the Pentateuch and the Canon The Law and the Prophets Law and the Wisdom Tradition The Legacy of the Ancient Near East Context of Biblical Law Law Collections and Legal Forms and Institutions Ancient Near Eastern Treaties and Biblical Law The Pre-Exilic Monarchy and the Law Law in the Persian Period The Late Second Temple Period and Beyond -- Reflections on Biblical Law Within Emerging Jewish Communities Law in the Late Second Temple Period in the Dead Sea Scrolls, and in Intertestamental and Diaspora Sources Judaism and Christianity: Diverging Paths in the Centuries after the Destruction of the Second Temple The Bible and the Sources of Rabbinic Law The Law and the Gospels, with Attention to the Relationship Between the Decalogue and the Sermon on the Mount/Plain Ethics and Moral Duties in Jewish Law Paul and the Covenant Rabbinic Law Ritual Law in Rabbinic Judaism Women, Children, and Slaves in Jewish Law Women, Children, Slaves, and the Law in the New Testament Period Social Justice in Early Christianity Social Justice in Rabbinic Judaism

Editorial Reviews

"The Oxford Handbook of Biblical Law is an ambitious attempt to take stock of these intellectual shifts as part of a wide-ranging, compelling account of biblical law as a cultural phenomenon, body of literature, and crucial piece of Jewish and Christian religious heritage." — Ethan Schwartz, Villanova University, Religious Studies Review

"The Oxford Handbook of Biblical Law will serve as a valuable resource for anyone studying the meaning and application of Pentateuchal laws. The breadth of this handbook is unmatched, so it can provide both information and direction for further study." — Allan Moseley, Southeastern Theological Review

"The volume offers, with clarity and through meticulous analyses, a wide range of resources related to each subject addressed...both captivating and relevant for the enrichment of investigations both in biblical exegesis and in interdisciplinary fields related to the Bible." — Paul-Marie Fidèle, Revue Biblique

From the Publisher