Oral Law of Ancient Israel

This book explores the legal system of Ancient Israel by examining how law was practiced, performed, and transmitted in an oral-and-literate world, using Iceland as an ethnographic analogy. It shows how written artifacts of the law fit into oral performance and transmission and the relationship of the detritus of law that survives in the Hebrew Bible to that earlier social world.

Format: Hardback
Length: 148 pages
Publication date: 12 October 2022
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

This book offers a fresh perspective on the legal system of Ancient Israel, building on the understanding that Israel was a society where writing was used for certain forms of discourse but not others, where written texts were recited orally and rewritten from oral performances. Robert D. Miller II, OFS, delves into law and jurisprudence in this oral-and-literate world, using Iceland as an ethnographic analogy. He explores how law was practiced, performed, and transmitted; the role of written legal artifacts in oral performances and transmission; and the connection between the remnants of law found in the Hebrew Bible, both the Torah and Proverbs, and the earlier social world.

Miller demonstrates how law was enacted, interpreted, and passed down through generations in Iceland, highlighting the similarities and differences between the legal systems of Ancient Israel and Iceland. He also examines the relationship between the oral tradition of law and the written texts of the Hebrew Bible, exploring how the two interact and influence each other.

This book is a valuable resource for scholars and students of ancient Israel, law, and religion, providing a comprehensive and nuanced understanding of the legal system in an oral-and-literate world. It sheds light on the complex processes of lawmaking, interpretation, and transmission, and offers insights into the social and cultural context in which the law operated.

Weight: 320g
Dimension: 158 x 237 x 18 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781978715219