Litigation

2019 ◽  
pp. 44-58
Author(s):  
Eryl Wynn Davies
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Near East ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Indirect Evidence ◽  
Judicial System ◽  
Ancient Near East ◽  
Trial Procedure ◽  
Ancient Israel ◽  
The Way

The chapter examines the Old Testament evidence concerning the nature of the trial procedure in ancient Israel. Although the evidence is limited in comparison with the abundance of material available in the ancient Near East, the laws in the Pentateuch and the narratives in the Old Testament do provide indirect evidence for the way in which the judicial system operated in Israel and Judah. The elders played a prominent role in trials at a local level, and it is probable that the main qualification for eldership was possession of landed property. Appeal against arbitrary decisions by the local assemblies could be made directly to the king, though, in practice, this responsibility was probably delegated to his officials. In cases where there were no witnesses present the matter could be directed to God for a verdict by means of a “trial by ordeal.”

Law in the Ninth Century: Jehoshaphat’s ‘Judicial Reform’

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
BERNARD S. JACKSON
Keyword(s):  
Near East ◽  
Ninth Century ◽  
Judicial System ◽  
Ancient Near East ◽  
Judicial Reform ◽  
Biblical Law ◽  
Ancient Israel ◽  
The Future ◽  
History Of ◽  
Law Courts

The Chronicler attributes to Jehoshaphat of Judah (874–850 BCE) the appointment of royal judges in all the fortified cities of his kingdom, and the establishment of a central court in Jerusalem (2 Chron. 19.5–11). This chapter examines the issue of anachronism from the standpoint of the history of biblical law, and asks whether the Chronicler paints a picture coherent with law as it is likely to have functioned in the ninth century. The problem, however, does not commence in the ninth century. Almost universally, 2 Chron. 19.4–11 is taken to be a ‘judicial reform’, which assumes the existence of a preceding judicial system. Unlike some parts of the ancient Near East, ancient Israel was weakly institutionalized. Regular law courts and applying written rules (and thus assuming the presence of literate personnel) backed by state enforcement was a matter for the future.

Materialität und Spiritualität im altisraelitischen Opferkult: Religionsgeschichtliche Abstraktionsprozesse

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Jan Dietrich
Keyword(s):  
Near East ◽  
Ancient Greece ◽  
Ancient Near East ◽  
Ancient Israel ◽  
Economic Sphere ◽  
High Esteem ◽  
The Way

Abstract In the ancient near East, including ancient Israel, the material value of sacrifice was held in high esteem. In the sacrificial system of Leviticus 1-5, however, we find modes of abstraction from the material value of offerings which have parallels to the invention of money in ancient Greece. Here, money as an accepted medium of exchange, was invented with the value of the coin not totally dependent on its metal weight. While in ancient Greece this form of abstraction developed in the economic sphere, in ancient Israel it developed in the religious sphere and paved the way to regard prayers or confessions of faith as equivalent substitutions of material sacrifice.

Setting the Scene: A Brief Outline of Histories of Israel

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. W. ROGERSON
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Near East ◽  
Sixth Century ◽  
Ancient Near East ◽  
Ancient Israel ◽  
History Of

This chapter presents a brief outline of the history of ancient Israel, starting with Humphrey Prideaux's The Old and New Testament connected, in the History of the Jews, and neighbouring nations; from the declensions of the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah to the time of Christ. The book's purpose, as the word ‘Connection’ indicates, was to set Old Testament history in the context of the history of the ancient Near East. Other similar works include Johann Gottfried Herder's Ideen zur Philosophie der Geschichte der Menschheit of 1784–1791, an interesting feature of which was a ‘secular’ account of the reason for the downfall of Judah in the sixth century; Wilhelm Martin Leberecht de Wette's Beiträge; Heinrich Ewald's History of Israel, which argued that the Pentateuch and Joshua had reached their final form by way of at least six redactional processes; and Julius Wellhausen's Israelitische und Jüdische Geschichte of 1894 and Israelitisch-jüdische Religion of 1905; Albrecht Alt's Der Gott der Väter; and the writings of Martin Noth.

The Metaphor of the So-Called 'Weaned Child' in Psalm cxxxi

2007 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-118
Author(s):  
C.J. Labuschagne
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Near East ◽  
Ancient Near East ◽  
Documentary Evidence ◽  
Ancient Israel

AbstractIconographic evidence is adduced to show that the practice of carrying an infant on the back was known in the Ancient Near East. Documentary evidence from the Old Testament shows that it was also known in Ancient Israel. This insight sheds new light on the interpretation of the cruces in both Deut. xxxiii 12 and Ps. cxxxi 2 and renders every emendation of MT unnecessary.

Of Fields and Forced Labor

2016 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-152
Author(s):  
Carolyn J. Sharp
Keyword(s):  
Near East ◽  
Ancient Near East ◽  
Forced Labor ◽  
Economic Relations ◽  
Biblical Narratives ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Ancient Israel ◽  
Economic Practices ◽  
Economic Control ◽  
History Of

Biblical narratives about ostensibly “local” barter (Abraham’s purchase of the cave at Machpelah), protection of battle spoils (Achan’s theft and subsequent execution), and commodification of labor and bodies (Ruth gleaning for hours and offering herself to Boaz) reveal much about ideologies of economic control operative in ancient Israel. The materialist analysis of Roland Boer provides a richly detailed study of Israelite agrarian and tributary practices, offering a salutary corrective to naïve views of Israelite economic relations. Highlighting labor as the most ruthlessly exploited resource in the ancient Near East, Boer examines the class-specific benefits and sustained violence of economic formations from kinship-household relations to militarized extraction. Boer’s erudite study will compel readers to look afresh at the subjugation of the poor and plundering of the powerless as constitutive features of diverse economic practices throughout the history of ancient Israel.

scholarly journals Breach of Treaties in the Ancient Near East

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-56
Author(s):  
Gábor Sulyok
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Relative Abundance ◽  
Near East ◽  
Ancient Near East ◽  
Persistent Problem ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Abundance And Diversity ◽  
Insight Into

AbstractThe history of the breach of treaties can be traced back to the ancient Near East. The relative abundance and diversity of contemporary sources attest that the breaking of treaty obligations must have been a rather persistent problem, and that such occurrences were regarded as events of utmost importance throughout the Bronze and Iron Ages. The present study strives to demonstrate how peoples of old may have perceived and reacted to the breach of treaties on the basis of selected writings—the Legend of Etana, the Indictment of Madduwatta, the Indictment of Mita, the plague prayers of Mursili and the Old Testament—that provide, beyond the exposition of actual or alleged facts, a deeper insight into the psychological and procedural aspects of the subject.

Female Prophetic Traditions in the Old Testament

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-82
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Grey
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Near East ◽  
Ancient Near East ◽  
National Life ◽  
Prophetic Tradition ◽  
Women Prophets ◽  
Gender Limitations

Abstract This article explores the tradition of female prophets in the Old Testament utilizing Isaiah’s woman (Isa. 8.1-4) as a case study. First, it discusses the general evidence for a female prophetic tradition in the Old Testament, locating it in the broader ancient Near East context. It then focuses on examples of women prophets within the Old Testament to demonstrate the role of female prophets in shaping national life and politics despite the gender limitations of women in ancient Israelite society. Following this broader discussion, a case study of Isaiah’s wife is presented to explore her function and role as a prophet. In particular, the role of hannevi’ah as a possible mother within the prophetic guild is examined. Finally, the implications for the Pentecostal community are considered, focusing on retrieving the role of prophetic mothers to function alongside prophetic fathers.

Old Testament Parallels: Laws and Stories from the Ancient Near East

1994 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 137 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Day ◽  
V. H. Matthews ◽  
D. C. Benjamin
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Near East ◽  
Ancient Near East
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document