Studies in the Book of the Covenant in the Light of Cuneiform and Biblical Law

164 Pages·1970·21.29 MB·English

by  Shalom M. Paul

STUDIES
IN THE BOOK OF THE COVENANT
IN THE LIGHT OF
CUNEIFORM AND BIBLICAL LA W
SUPPLEMENTS
TO
VETUS TESTAMENTUM
EDITED BY
THE BOARD OF THE QUAR TERL Y
G. W. ANDERSON - P. A. H. DE BOER - G. R. CASTELLINO
HENRY CAZELLES - E. HAMMERSHAIMB - H. G. MAY
W. ZIMMERLI
VOLUME XVIII
LEIDEN
E. J. BRILL
1970
STUDIES
IN THE BOOK OF THE COVENANT
IN THE LIGHT OF
CUNEIFORM AND BIBLICAL LA W
BY
SHALOM M. PAUL
LEIDEN
J.
E. BRILL
1970
Copyright 1970 by E. J. Brill, Leiden, Netherlands
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or
translated in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, microfiche
or any other means without written permission trom the publisher
PRINTED IN THE NETHERLANDS
To Yona
'11~11 '113" N';' l1nN
Songs oE Songs 6: 9
and
To Michal, Yael, and Ben-Zion
N,'
",nm
p113' ;";'~:l !zhw,~;,
Koheleth 4: 12

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abbreviations . xi
1. Introduction 1
H. Cuneiform Law . 3
IH. Cuneiform Prologues and Epilogues to Legal Collections . 11
IV. The Problem of Prologue and Epilogue to the Book of the
Covenant and Leading Features of Biblical Law . .. 27
V. Annotations to the Laws of the Book of the Covenant . 43
VI. Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 99
Appendix I. Verse Arrangement of the Laws of the Book of the
Covenant .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Appendix H. Cuneiform and Biblical Legal Formulations 112
Bibliography. . 125
Index of Sources 143

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am deeply indebted to my teacher, the late Professor E. A. Speis er,
for having suggested this study and for his guidance and encourage
ment during the most critical period of his life. I would also like to
express my gratitude to Professors Moshe Greenberg, Jacob J.
Finke1stein, and Reuven Yaron for their helpful suggestions.
Jerusalem Shalom M. Paul
July, 1970