The authority of law in the Hebrew Bible and early Judaism: Tracing the origins of legal obligation from Ezra to Qumran

Contents......Page 5
Acknowledgements......Page 7
Abbreviations......Page 9
1 Legal Obligation and the Ancient Near Eastern Law ‘Codes’......Page 13
2 Interpretation as the Key to Identifying Legal Obligation......Page 18
3 Legal Theory and the Problem of Conceptual Anachronism......Page 19
4 Overview of Chapters......Page 22
Part 1 Theory and Method......Page 25
1 Legal Obligation and the Nature of Law’s Authority......Page 27
2 The Rule of Law and Legal Interpretation......Page 38
3 Sabbath Interpretation as a Test Case......Page 51
4 Conclusion......Page 59
Chapter 2 History of Research and the Need for a Legal-Theoretical Approach......Page 61
1 Arguments for the Non-Binding Character of Ancient Near Eastern Law......Page 62
2 History of Scholarship and Conflicting Assumptions about Law......Page 67
3 Conclusion......Page 87
1 Defining Interpretation, Authority, and Scripture......Page 88
2 Authority and the Problem of Interpretation......Page 91
3 Authority Transfer and the Limits of Interpretation in Modern Law......Page 94
4 Authority and Interpretation in Ancient Israel and Early Judaism......Page 97
5 Interpretive Methods and Motives......Page 106
6 Conclusion......Page 109
Part 2 Textual Analysis......Page 111
1 An Overview of the Temple Scroll......Page 113
2 The Text of Temple Scroll 25:10–27:10......Page 120
3 Threats to the Rule of Law Addressed in Temple Scroll’s Interpretive Rewriting......Page 127
4 Conclusion......Page 141
Chapter 5 Legal Innovation in the Samaritan Pentateuch’s Covenant Code......Page 142
1 The Provenance of the Samaritan Pentateuch’s Legal Innovations......Page 143
2 Correcting Threats to the Rule of Law in the Samaritan Pentateuch......Page 146
3 Further Considerations......Page 154
4 Conclusion......Page 159
Chapter 6 Legal Rewriting in the Qumran Penal Codes......Page 160
1 The Literary Relationship among the Rule Texts and the Problem of 
Their Genre......Page 161
2 Interpretive Rewriting in the Penal Codes......Page 168
3 The Genre of the Penal Codes and Historical Reconstruction......Page 180
4 Conclusion......Page 185
Chapter 7 The Authority of the Torah in the Ezra-Nehemiah Legal Narratives......Page 186
1 Preliminary Issue: Ezra’s Torah and Pentateuchal Law......Page 187
2 Community Response as Reflecting a Binding Attitude toward Law......Page 189
3 The Authority of the Torah versus Torah Experts in Yehud......Page 193
4 Conclusion......Page 212
1 Summary of Theory and Method......Page 214
2 Summary of Textual Analysis......Page 216
3 Between Authority and Interpretation in Ancient Law......Page 218
4 Mapping the Emergence of Legal Obligation in Early Judaism......Page 220
5 Looking Ahead......Page 224
Bibliography......Page 227
Index of Ancient Sources......Page 254
Index of Modern Authors......Page 260