Theory and Method in Biblical and Cuneiform Law: Revision, Interpolation, and Development

by Bernard M. Levinson

The essays in this volume focus on two crucial topics that have been given short shrift in the contemporary debate on the composition and formation of the Pentateuch: (1) biblical law, and the development of Israelite legal institutions; (2) the significance of ancient Near Eastern law for developing a proper model for the composition and editorial history of the Pentateuch. To correct the imbalance, the focus of this volume is on whether the biblical and cuneiform legal corpora underwent a process of literary revision and interpolation that reflects legal, social, and theological development. If so, what is the nature of this development and the evidence for it? If not, how are the textual phenomena otherwise to be explained? The contributors are Raymond Westbrook, Bernard M. Levinson, Samuel Greengus, Martin Buss, Sophie Lafont, Victor H. Matthews, William Morrow, Dale Patrick, and Eckart Otto. The volume will be of interest to students and specialists in biblical law, pentateuchal studies, and comparative legal history.

208 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1983

About the author

Bernard M. Levinson is a professor of Classical and Near Eastern studies and of Law at the University of Minnesota and holds the Berman Family Chair of Jewish Studies and Hebrew Bible. He is a specialist in biblical and cuneiform law; Deuteronomy and the history of interpretation; and literary approaches to biblical studies. He is the author of Legal Revision and Religious Renewal in Ancient Israel and "The Right Chorale": Studies in Biblical Law and Interpretation. In 1999 Bernard was the co-recipient of the Salo W. Baron Award for Best First Book in Literature and Thought by the American Academy for Jewish Research for his book Deuteronomy and the Hermeneutics of Legal Innovation.

The interdisciplinary significance of Bernard Levinson's work has been recognized with appointments to the Institute for Advanced Study (1997); the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin/Berlin Institute for Advanced Study (2007); and the National Humanities Center, where he served as the Henry Luce Senior Fellow in Religious Studies during the 2010-2011 academic year. He was also recently elected to be a Fellow of the American Academy for Jewish Research (AAJR), the oldest professional organization of Judaica scholars in North America.

Bernard Levinson seeks to bring the academic biblical scholarship to the attention of a broader, non-specialist readership. In this vein, he has recently written on the impact of the King James Version of the Bible upon the American Founding; drawn attention in the national press to the role of early feminist Bible scholars like Elizabeth Cady Stanton in helping win the vote for women; and, in his attention to language, has been cited in the Oxford English Dictionary.