Law, Power, and Justice in Ancient Israel


Book Description

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




Pursue Justice


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Everyday Law in Biblical Israel


Book Description

Introduction -- Sources -- Litigation -- Status and family -- Crimes and delicts -- Property and inheritance -- Contracts -- Conclusion







Injustice Made Legal


Book Description

"The scriptural laws dealing with widows, strangers, and orphans are conventionally viewed as rules meant to aid the plight of vulnerable persons in ancient Israelite society. In Injustice Made Legal Harold V. Bennett challenges this perspective, arguing instead that key sanctions found in Deuteronomy were actually drafted by a powerful elite to enhance their own material condition and keep the peasantry down." Building his case on a careful analysis of life in the ancient world and on his understanding of critical law theory, Bennett views Deuteronomic law through the eyes of the needy in Israelite society. His unique approach uncovers the previously neglected link between politico-economic interests and the formulation of law. The result is a new understanding of law in the Hebrew Bible and the ways it worked to support and maintain the dehumanization of widows, strangers, and orphans in the biblical community.




The Politics of Ancient Israel


Book Description

This work offers a reconstruction of the politics of ancient Israel within the wider political environment of the ancient Near East. Gottwald begins by questioning the view of some biblical scholars that the primary factor influencing Israel's political evolution was its religion.




Law and the Bible


Book Description

The Bible is full of law. Yet too often, Christians either pick and choose verses out of context to bolster existing positions, or assume that any moral judgment the Bible expresses should become the law of the land. Law and the Bible asks: What inspired light does the Bible shed on Christians’ participation in contemporary legal systems? It concludes that more often than not the Bible overturns our faulty assumptions and skewed commitments rather than bolsters them. In the process, God gives us greater insight into what all of life, including law, should be. Each chapter is cowritten by a legal professional and a theologian, and focuses on a key aspect of the biblical witness concerning civil or positive law--that is, law that human societies create to order their communities, implementing and enforcing it through civil government. A foundational text for legal professionals, law and prelaw students, and all who want to think in a faithfully Christian way about law and their relationship to it.




Ancient Israel's Criminal Law


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Monotheism, Power, Justice


Book Description

"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