Kirjahaku

Professor Carmichael here proposes a convincing solution to a perplexing problem in biblical studies--the order and arrangement of the Deuteronomic laws. He shows that Deuteronomy is not a haphazard collection of fragments, but rather a carefully constructed, coherent literary work with a definite purpose. Through his analysis, many of the peculiar features of the code are made intelligible, for example, the relationship between the laws and earlier stories, sagas, and historical narratives. Opening up a new approach to the interpretation of the laws, this book makes an important contribution to the understanding of biblical material. Calum M. Carmichael is Professor of Comparative Literature and Biblical Studies at Cornell.

Calum M. Carmichael here challenges commonly accepted views respecting the derivation of the biblical laws recorded in Deuteronomy and the Decalogue, presenting compelling evidence that literary traditions, rather than social imperatives, dictated the form taken by the laws. Carmichael confronts and discusses such problematic and important issues as the sequence in which apparently unrelated laws appear. Why, he then asks, are some laws general in scope, while others are extremely specific? Acknowledging the literary sophistication of the biblical compilers, Carmichael accounts for their attribution of the Deuteronomic laws to Moses, and of the Decalogue to Yahweh. He asserts that, in order to preserve the prophetic impact of their material, the compilers closely studied existing biblical narrative, and selected laws which maintained the appropriate historical context. Using this perspective, Carmichael is able to detect strong logical continuity in both the structure and the content of the Decalogue and the Deuteronomic laws. An original and distinguished contribution to the study of biblical law, Law and Narrative in the Bible will interest legal historians and Biblical scholars alike. Calum M. Carmichael is Professor of Comparative Literature and Biblical Studies at Cornell.