Law Power And Justice In Ancient Israel

Using socio-anthropological theory and archaeological evidence, Knight argues that while the laws in the Hebrew Bible tend to reflect the interests of those in power, the majority of ancient Israelites--located in villages--developed their own unwritten customary laws to regulate behavior and resolve legal conflicts in their own communities. This book includes numerous examples from village, city, and cult. --from publisher description

In this very significant work, translated from the Italian, Bovati examines in careful detail the practice of justice in ancient Israel, first the bilateral controversy (the rib), and then the legal judgement properly speaking. "Re-establishing Justice" is destined to become the standard reference work in the field. The contents deal with 1. The juridical dispute in general. 2 The accusation, 3 The response of the accused, 4 The reconciliation , 5. Judgement in court, 6.The acts and procedures preceding the debate , 7. The debate, 8. The sentence and execution.

In this fascinating and informative work, Weinfeld investigates the ideal of justice in relation to social reforms promoted by Israelite monarchy, the implications of the ideal in individual life, and the theological implications of all aspects of the concept.

Prescriptive law writings rarely mirror the ways a society practices law, a fact that raises special problems for the social and legal historian. Through close analysis of the laws of bailment (i.e., temporary safekeeping) in Exodus 22, Yael Landman probes the relationship of law in the biblical law collections and law-in-practice in ancient Israel and exposes a vision of divine justice at the heart of pentateuchal law. Landman further demonstrates that ancient Near Eastern bailment laws continue to influence postbiblical Jewish law. This book advances an approach to the study of biblical law that connects pentateuchal and ancient Near Eastern law collections, biblical narrative and prophecy, and Mesopotamian legal documents and joins philological and comparative analysis with humanistic legal approaches, in order to access how people thought about and practiced law in ancient Israel.

"Since the mid-sixties, a steady stream of essays and addresses has come from the pen and heart of Millard Lind. Millard began his teaching career at the Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminaries in 1959. During the early years of his teaching a major portion of Millard's scholarly energies went toward the refinement of his doctoral dissertation, in order to be published. Its final form appeared in the Herald Press book, Yahweh Is a Warrior. This book represents a landmark in studies on the topic of Yahweh's warfare as presented in the Hebrew Scriptures. It has numerous critical reviews, and has generally stood the test of the scholarly picking and pruning. Alongside this major work Millard has turned out numerous essays, some playing a supportive role to his Yahweh Is a Warrior thesis, but many pioneering in new directions as well. As the four divisions in the table of contents indicate, these essays represent work in at least four areas of probing in the Hebrew Scriptures: method; aspects of law, justice, and power; war and economics; and worship, mission, and community. This range of investigation and productivity indicates the holistic perspective of Millard's scholarly concern and theological reflection. In part it also testifies to Millard's role as a churchman, since some of these investigations grew out of specific requests of various groups or congregations to address a particular issue." --From the Foreword by William Swartley