The Place of the Law in the Religion of Ancient Israel

Over a hundred years ago, Wellhausen's revolutionary aim in his "Prolegomena" was to prove that the Priestly legal sections of the Pentateuch reflect postexilic Judaism and must be considered a deviation from the prophetic religion which preceded it. The present study points out the biased assumptions underlying Wellhausen's theory and the fallacies in this thesis. A strong case is made for the antiquity of the Priestly Code and its antedating the Book of Deuteronomy in light of many parallels between the Priestly Law and ritual texts from the Ancient Near East, and an examination of the mythic outlook in P which distinguishes it from both Deuteronomy and Second Isaiah.

About the author

Moshe Weinfeld, Ph.D., Hebrew University, Jerusalem, is Professor (Emeritus) in Biblical Studies in the Department of Bible at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem. His most important books are Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomic School (Oxford, 1972) and Deuteronomy 1-11 (AB, New York, 1991).

Product details

• Authors: Moshe Weinfeld
• Publisher: Brill
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 29.03.2004
• EAN: 9789004137493
• ISBN: 978-90-04-13749-3
• No. of pages: 176
• Dimensions: 246 mm x 165 mm x 19 mm
• Weight: 449 g
• Series: Vetus Testamentum, Supplements
• Subject: Humanities, art, music > Religion/theology > Religious writings, prayers, songbooks, religious meditations