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Ancient Israel: Social Institutions
Ancient History, Biblical Studies, Religion
- GenresHistory
267 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1961
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October 5, 2024
THE FIRST VOLUME OF A FRENCH CATHOLIC PRIEST/ARCHAEOLOGIST
Father Roland Guérin de Vaux (1903-1971) was a French Dominican priest who led the Catholic team that initially worked on the Dead Sea Scrolls. He was the director of the Ecole Biblique, a French Catholic Theological School in East Jerusalem, and he was charged with overseeing research on the scrolls. His team excavated the ancient site of Khirbet Qumran (1951–1956) as well as several caves near Qumran northwest of the Dead Sea. The accompanying volume to this book is 'Ancient Israel: Religious Institutions.'
He wrote in the Preface to this 1957 book, “the institutions of Israel have usually been studied as part of a larger whole… it has been felt that Old Testament institutions could well form the subject of a special study. For this the main source is evidently the Bible itself… the Bible does not treat directly of these questions, but the historical, prophetical and wisdom books contain much information, all the more interesting because it tells us what actually did happen and not what ought to have happened. To make use of all these texts calls for accurate exegesis, and before we can draw conclusions, literary criticism must assign dates to the various passages, for the development of institutions followed the course of history…
"The present book offers only the conclusions of all this research… In the study of the Old Testament itself, institutions occupy a subordinate place, and the reader may sometimes feel that he is very far from the spiritual and doctrinal message he seeks for in the Bible. Nevertheless, he is always on the border-land of biblical religion, and often in direct contact with the message it enshrines… the Word of God is a living thing, and a man is better able to hear its tones if he listens to it in the actual surroundings in which it was first given to mankind.”
He notes, “It is clear, that the most common form of marriage in Israel was monogamy. It is noteworthy that the books of Samuel and Kings, which cover the entire period of the monarchy, do not record a single case of bigamy among commoners (except that of Samuel’s father, at the very beginning of the period). The Wisdom books, too, which provide a picture of society in their age, never mention polygamy.” (Pg. 25)
Later, he adds, “In a society which tolerated polygamy, the possession of a large harem was a mark of wealth and power. It was also a luxury which few could afford, and it became the privilege of kings. Saul had at least one concubine… and elsewhere there is mention of his ‘wives’… Even when David was reigning only in Hebron, he already had six wives… and in Jerusalem he took more concubines and wives… The ‘king’ in the Song of Songs has sixty queens and eighty concubines… Whatever we may think … Dt. 17:17 had good cause to warn the king against possessing too large a harem.” (Pg. 115)
He says of the status of women, “the wife of an Israelite was by no means on the level of a slave. A man could sell his slaves or even his daughter (Ex 21:7), but he could never sell his wife, even though he had acquired her as a captive in war (Dt 21:1). The husband could divorce his wife, but she was protected by the letter of repudiation, which restored her freedom… The social and legal position of an Israelite wife was, however, inferior to the position a wife occupied in the great countries round about. In Egypt the wife was often the head of the family, with all the rights such a position entailed. In Babylon she could acquire property, take legal action, be a party to contracts, and she even had a certain share in her husband’s inheritance.” (Pg. 40)
Of slaves, he said, “In everyday life the lot of a slave depended largely on the character of his master, but it was usually tolerable. In a community which attached such importance to the family, in which work was scarcely conceivable outside the framework of the family, a man on his own was without protection or means of support. The slave was at least assured of the necessities of life. More than that, he really formed part of the family, he was a ‘domestic’ in the original sense of the word… He joined in the family worship, rested on the Sabbath… shared in the sacrificial meals, and in the celebration of religious feasts… including the Passover… from which the visitor and the wage-earner were excluded… He could share in his master’s inheritance.” (Pg. 85)
He comments on the Jubilee year in Leviticus 25, “The practical application of this law seems to encounter insuperable obstacles. Unless we arbitrarily suppose… that the fiftieth year was really was really the forty-ninth, the last of the sabbatical years… Secondly, the directions on the redemption or liberation of the slaves would be ineffective in themselves and are in contradiction to the law of the sabbatical year, which provides for their liberation every seventh year… one may advance the hypothesis that the Law of Jubilee was a late and ineffective attempt to make the sabbatical law more stringent by extending it to landed property, and at the same time to make it easier to observe, by spacing out the years of remission. It was inspired by ancient ideas, and made use of the framework of an archaic calendar…. But it was a Utopian law and it remained a dead letter.” (Pg. 175-177)
This volume (and its companion) will be of interest to those studying the early days of Israel; it emphasizes the biblical material more than archaeological material (but that may be a “plus” for some readers).
Father Roland Guérin de Vaux (1903-1971) was a French Dominican priest who led the Catholic team that initially worked on the Dead Sea Scrolls. He was the director of the Ecole Biblique, a French Catholic Theological School in East Jerusalem, and he was charged with overseeing research on the scrolls. His team excavated the ancient site of Khirbet Qumran (1951–1956) as well as several caves near Qumran northwest of the Dead Sea. The accompanying volume to this book is 'Ancient Israel: Religious Institutions.'
He wrote in the Preface to this 1957 book, “the institutions of Israel have usually been studied as part of a larger whole… it has been felt that Old Testament institutions could well form the subject of a special study. For this the main source is evidently the Bible itself… the Bible does not treat directly of these questions, but the historical, prophetical and wisdom books contain much information, all the more interesting because it tells us what actually did happen and not what ought to have happened. To make use of all these texts calls for accurate exegesis, and before we can draw conclusions, literary criticism must assign dates to the various passages, for the development of institutions followed the course of history…
"The present book offers only the conclusions of all this research… In the study of the Old Testament itself, institutions occupy a subordinate place, and the reader may sometimes feel that he is very far from the spiritual and doctrinal message he seeks for in the Bible. Nevertheless, he is always on the border-land of biblical religion, and often in direct contact with the message it enshrines… the Word of God is a living thing, and a man is better able to hear its tones if he listens to it in the actual surroundings in which it was first given to mankind.”
He notes, “It is clear, that the most common form of marriage in Israel was monogamy. It is noteworthy that the books of Samuel and Kings, which cover the entire period of the monarchy, do not record a single case of bigamy among commoners (except that of Samuel’s father, at the very beginning of the period). The Wisdom books, too, which provide a picture of society in their age, never mention polygamy.” (Pg. 25)
Later, he adds, “In a society which tolerated polygamy, the possession of a large harem was a mark of wealth and power. It was also a luxury which few could afford, and it became the privilege of kings. Saul had at least one concubine… and elsewhere there is mention of his ‘wives’… Even when David was reigning only in Hebron, he already had six wives… and in Jerusalem he took more concubines and wives… The ‘king’ in the Song of Songs has sixty queens and eighty concubines… Whatever we may think … Dt. 17:17 had good cause to warn the king against possessing too large a harem.” (Pg. 115)
He says of the status of women, “the wife of an Israelite was by no means on the level of a slave. A man could sell his slaves or even his daughter (Ex 21:7), but he could never sell his wife, even though he had acquired her as a captive in war (Dt 21:1). The husband could divorce his wife, but she was protected by the letter of repudiation, which restored her freedom… The social and legal position of an Israelite wife was, however, inferior to the position a wife occupied in the great countries round about. In Egypt the wife was often the head of the family, with all the rights such a position entailed. In Babylon she could acquire property, take legal action, be a party to contracts, and she even had a certain share in her husband’s inheritance.” (Pg. 40)
Of slaves, he said, “In everyday life the lot of a slave depended largely on the character of his master, but it was usually tolerable. In a community which attached such importance to the family, in which work was scarcely conceivable outside the framework of the family, a man on his own was without protection or means of support. The slave was at least assured of the necessities of life. More than that, he really formed part of the family, he was a ‘domestic’ in the original sense of the word… He joined in the family worship, rested on the Sabbath… shared in the sacrificial meals, and in the celebration of religious feasts… including the Passover… from which the visitor and the wage-earner were excluded… He could share in his master’s inheritance.” (Pg. 85)
He comments on the Jubilee year in Leviticus 25, “The practical application of this law seems to encounter insuperable obstacles. Unless we arbitrarily suppose… that the fiftieth year was really was really the forty-ninth, the last of the sabbatical years… Secondly, the directions on the redemption or liberation of the slaves would be ineffective in themselves and are in contradiction to the law of the sabbatical year, which provides for their liberation every seventh year… one may advance the hypothesis that the Law of Jubilee was a late and ineffective attempt to make the sabbatical law more stringent by extending it to landed property, and at the same time to make it easier to observe, by spacing out the years of remission. It was inspired by ancient ideas, and made use of the framework of an archaic calendar…. But it was a Utopian law and it remained a dead letter.” (Pg. 175-177)
This volume (and its companion) will be of interest to those studying the early days of Israel; it emphasizes the biblical material more than archaeological material (but that may be a “plus” for some readers).
Displaying 1 of 1 review