The authority of law in the Hebrew Bible and early Judaism: Tracing the origins of legal obligation from Ezra to Qumran

263 Pages·2018·1.175 MB·English

by  Jonatham Vroom

The Authority of Law in the Hebrew Bible and Early Judaism
Supplements to the Journal for
the Study of Judaism
Editors
Rene Bloch (Institut für Judaistik, Universität Bern)
Karina Martin Hogan (Department of Theology, Fordham University)
Associate Editors
Hindy Najman (Theology & Religion Faculty, University of Oxford)
Eibert J. C. Tigchelaar (Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, KU Leuven)
Benjamin G. Wright, III (Department of Religion Studies, Lehigh University)
Advisory Board
A.M. Berlin – K. Berthelot – J.J. Collins – B. Eckhardt
Y. Furstenberg – S. Kattan Gribetz – S. Mason – F. Mirguet – J.H. Newman
A.K. Petersen – M. Popović – I. Rosen-Zvi – J.T.A.G.M. van Ruiten
M. Segal – J. Sievers – W. Smelik – G. Stemberger – L.T. Stuckenbruck
L. Teugels – J.C. de Vos
VOLUME 187
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/jsjs
The Authority of Law
in the Hebrew Bible and
Early Judaism
Tracing the Origins of Legal Obligation
from Ezra to Qumran
By
Jonathan Vroom
LEIDEN | BOSTON
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Vroom, Jonathan, author.
Title: The authority of law in the Hebrew Bible and early Judaism : tracing
 the origins of legal obligation from Ezra to Qumran / by Jonathan Vroom.
Description: Leiden ; Boston : Brill, [2018] | Series: Supplements to the
 Journal for the study of Judaism ; 187
Identifiers: LCCN 2018033031 (print) | LCCN 2018034229 (ebook) |
 ISBN 9789004381643 (E-book) | ISBN 9789004364493 (hardback : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Jewish law—History—To 1500. | Authority—Religious
 aspects—Judaism. | Law (Theology)—Biblical teaching.
Classification: LCC BM520.52 (ebook) | LCC BM520.52 .V76 2018 (print) |
 DDC 296.1/8—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018033031
Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill-typeface.
issn 1384-2161
isbn 978-90-04-36449-3 (hardback)
isbn 978-90-04-38164-3 (e-book)
Copyright 2018 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi, Brill Sense,
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Contents
Acknowledgements vii
Abbreviations ix
Introduction 1
1 Legal Obligation and the Ancient Near Eastern Law ‘Codes’ 1
2 Interpretation as the Key to Identifying Legal Obligation 6
3 Legal Theory and the Problem of Conceptual Anachronism 7
4 Overview of Chapters 10
PART 1
Theory and Method
1 Identifying Legal Obligation in Interpretive Sources 15
1 Legal Obligation and the Nature of Law’s Authority 15
2 The Rule of Law and Legal Interpretation 26
3 Sabbath Interpretation as a Test Case 39
4 Conclusion 47
2 History of Research and the Need for a Legal-Theoretical Approach 49
1 Arguments for the Non-Binding Character of Ancient Near Eastern
Law 50
2 History of Scholarship and Conflicting Assumptions about Law 55
3 Conclusion 75
3 Authority and Problem of Interpretation 76
1 Defining Interpretation, Authority, and Scripture 76
2 Authority and the Problem of Interpretation 79
3 Authority Transfer and the Limits of Interpretation in Modern
Law 82
4 Authority and Interpretation in Ancient Israel and Early Judaism 85
5 Interpretive Methods and Motives 94
6 Conclusion 97
vi Contents
PART 2
Textual Analysis
4 Legal Interpretation in the Temple Scroll’s Yom Kippur Law 101
1 An Overview of the Temple Scroll 101
2 The Text of Temple Scroll 25:10–27:10 108
3 Threats to the Rule of Law Addressed in Temple Scroll’s Interpretive
Rewriting 115
4 Conclusion 129
5 Legal Innovation in the Samaritan Pentateuch’s Covenant Code 130
1 The Provenance of the Samaritan Pentateuch’s Legal
Innovations 131
2 Correcting Threats to the Rule of Law in the Samaritan Pentateuch 134
3 Further Considerations 142
4 Conclusion 147
6 Legal Rewriting in the Qumran Penal Codes 148
1 The Literary Relationship among the Rule Texts and the Problem of
Their Genre 149
2 Interpretive Rewriting in the Penal Codes 156
3 The Genre of the Penal Codes and Historical Reconstruction 168
4 Conclusion 173
7 The Authority of the Torah in the Ezra-Nehemiah Legal Narratives 174
1 Preliminary Issue: Ezra’s Torah and Pentateuchal Law 175
2 Community Response as Reflecting a Binding Attitude toward
Law 177
3 The Authority of the Torah versus Torah Experts in Yehud 181
4 Conclusion 200
Conclusion 202
1 Summary of Theory and Method 202
2 Summary of Textual Analysis 204
3 Between Authority and Interpretation in Ancient Law 206
4 Mapping the Emergence of Legal Obligation in Early Judaism 208
5 Looking Ahead 212
Bibliography 215
Index of Ancient Sources 242
Index of Modern Authors 248
Acknowledgements
This book is a revision of my Ph.D. dissertation at the University of Toronto’s
Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations. I owe a great debt of
gratitude to my committee and colleagues at the University of Toronto, par-
ticularly my supervisor, Sarianna Metso. It was her interest in the genre of
Qumran law that initially sparked my curiosity, which, in turn, led me to ask
the question of what it means for law to be law in the first place, and then to
ask that question for biblical and Mesopotamian law collections. Fortunately,
she gave me great freedom to explore this question wherever it led me—deep
into the realm of legal theory as it turns out. I thank her for her patience, en-
couragement, and guidance throughout this journey. I also thank the other
members of my committee. Judith Newman’s theoretical and philological ap-
proach to early Jewish texts has been inspiring for my own work. I thank Paul-
Alain Beaulieu, who introduced me to Akkadian and the Code of Hammurabi.
His philological rigor and vast knowledge of Akkadian sources has been an
invaluable resource for me.
Thanks are also due to Ernest Weinrib, Aharon Barak, and David Dyzenhaus
from the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law, who graciously allowed me
into their courses, and encouraged me as I began connecting insights from
legal theory to ancient legal texts. They helped guide me through the murky
waters of legal theory and affirmed my ideas early on. I also owe an especially
significant debt to Bernard Levinson for his thorough, thoughtful, and chal-
lenging appraisal of my dissertation. This book is far better off because of his
critique, and I am certain that it would not have been accepted so quickly for
publication without his extensive and judicious feedback.
I am also grateful to my colleagues at the University of Toronto, particularly
John Screnock, Nathalie LaCoste, Carmen Palmer, Shawn Flynn, Mark Graham,
Ryan Stoner, and Demetrios Alibertis. While their feedback and encourage-
ment have been invaluable, I am most appreciative for the supportive friend-
ships that were forged as we navigated our way through grad school. Much
thanks are also due to the various sources of funding that made my graduate
career financially possible: the University of Toronto Fellowship; the Centre
for Jewish Studies; Ontario Graduate Scholarships; and the Social Sciences and
Humanities Research Council of Canada. I am also thankful to the editors of
JSJSup, Karina Hogan, René Bloch and the peer reviewers, for their encourag-
ing and thoughtful comments.
I owe the greatest debt of gratitude to my family for all their support, par-
ticularly my sister Carlye and mother Louise, who spent many hours editing
viii Acknowledgements
the whole work. To my in-laws, Ken and Scarlet Rampersad, I am very grateful
for their unwavering love and support, despite their (understandable) bewil-
derment at my career choice. To my children, Joshua and Julia, I thank you
for putting up with a Dad whose mind was often in the clouds. You always
brought me back to reality and reminded me that there are things that are far
more important than ancient legal thought, and for that I am forever grateful.
Most of all, I thank my wife, Sherryl, who has always supported me. She has put
up with being the household bread-winner for far longer than she ever would
have imagined when she agreed to marry me. Yet she has been nothing but a
source of constant encouragement and support. This book is dedicated to her.
Jonathan Vroom
Toronto, Ontario
February 2018
Abbreviations
AIL Ancient Israel and its Literature
AJEC Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity
AOAT Alter Orient und Altes Testament
ASE Annali di Storia dell’Esegesi
BA Biblical Archaeologist
BGBE Beiträge zur Geschichte der biblischen Exegese
BibInt Biblical Interpretation
BJS Brown Judaic Studies
BZABR Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für altorientalische und biblische
Rechtsgeschichte
BZAW Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft
CahRB Cahiers de la Revue biblique
CBET Contributions to Biblical Exegesis and Theology
CBQ Catholic Biblical Quarterly
CHANE Culture and History of the Ancient Near East
CJA Christianity and Judaism in Antiquity
CQS Companion of Qumran Studies
DCLS Deuterocanonical and Cognate Literature Studies
DJD Discoveries in the Judean Desert
DSD Dead Sea Discoveries
EJL Early Judaism and its Literature
FAT Forschungen zum Alten Testament
FRLANT Forschungen zur Religion und Literatur des Alten und Neuen Testaments
HAT Handbuch zum Alten Testament
HL Hittitle Laws
HOS Handbook of Oriental Studies
HSS Harvard Semitic Studies
HTR Harvard Theological Review
HUCA Hebrew Union College Annual
IOS Israel Oriental Society
JAJ Journal of Ancient Judaism
JAOS Journal of the American Oriental Society
JCS Journal of Cuneiform Studies
JBL Journal of Biblical Literature
JHS Journal of Hebrew Scriptures
JNES Journal of Near Eastern Studies
JPS Jewish Publication Society
x Abbreviations
JQR Jewish Quarterly Review
JSJ Journal for the Study of Judaism in the Persian, Hellenistic, and Roman
Period
JSJSup Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism
JSOT Journal for the Study of the Old Testament
JSOTSup Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series
JSPSup Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha: Supplement Series
JTS Journal of Theological Studies
KAT Kommentar zum Alten Testament
LAI Library of Ancient Israel
LE Laws of Eshnunna
LH Laws of Hammurabi
LHB/OTS Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies
LL Laws of Lipit-Ishtar
LSTS Library of Second Temple Studies
LU Laws of Ur-Namma
MVAG Mitteilungen der vorderasiatisch-ägyptischen Gesellschaft
MAL Middle Assyrian Laws
MT Masoretic Text
NBL Neo-Babylonian Laws
NCBC New Century Bible Commentary
NEA Near Eastern Archeology
NRSV New Revised Standard Version
OBO Orbis biblicus et orientalis
OTG Old Testament Guides
OTL Old Testament Library
OTS Old Testament Studies
RB Revue Biblique
RevQ Revue de Qumran
SAOS Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization
SBL Society of Biblical Literature
SBLBSNA Society of Biblical Literature Biblical Scholarship in North America
SBLit Studies in Biblical Literature
SBLSymS Society of Biblical Symposium Series
SBLWAW Society of Biblical Literature Writings of the Ancient World
ScrHier Scripta Hierosolymitana
SDSSRL Studies in the Dead Sea Scrolls and Related Literature
SJLA Studies in Judaism in Late Antiquity
SJOT Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament