The Lost World of the Torah: Law as Covenant and Wisdom in Ancient Context 9780830872572, 9780830852413

Table of contents :
Introduction

Part I: Methodology
Proposition 1: The Old Testament Is an Ancient Document
Proposition 2: The Way We Interpret the Torah Today Is Influenced by the Way We Think Law and Legislation Work

Part II: Function of Ancient Near Eastern Legal Collections
Proposition 3: Legal Collections in the Ancient World Are Not Legislation
Proposition 4: Ancient Near Eastern Legal Collections Teach Wisdom
Proposition 5: The Torah Is Similar to Ancient Near Eastern Legal Collections and Therefore also Teaches Wisdom, not Legislation
Proposition 6: The Israelite Covenant Effectively Functions as an Ancient Near Eastern Suzerainty Treaty
Proposition 7: Holiness Is a Status, Not an Objective

Part III: Ritual and Torah
Proposition 8: Ancient Near Eastern Ritual Served to Meet the Needs of the Gods
Proposition 9: Ancient Israelite Ritual Serves to Maintain Covenant Order Because Yahweh Has No Needs

Part IV: Context of the Torah
Proposition 10: The Torah Is Similar to Ancient Near Eastern Legal Collections Because It Is Embedded in the Same Cultural Context, Not Because It Is Dependent on Them
Proposition 11: The Differences Between the Torah and the Ancient Near Eastern Legal Collections Are Found Not in Legislation but in the Order Founded in the Covenant
Proposition 12: Torah Is Situated in Context of the Ancient World
Proposition 13: Torah Is Situated in the Context of the Covenant
Proposition 14: Torah Is Situated in the Context of Israelite Theology Regarding Yahweh's Presence Residing Among Them

Part V: Ongoing Significance of the Torah
Proposition 15: Discussions of Law in the New Testament Do Not Tell Us Anything About Old Testament Torah in Context
Proposition 16: The Torah Should Not Be Divided into Categories to Separate Out What Is Relevant
Proposition 17: Torah Was Never Intended to Provide Salvation
Proposition 18: Divine Instruction Can Be Understood as a Metaphor of Health Rather than a Metaphor of Law
Proposition 19: We Cannot Gain Moral Knowledge or Build a System of Ethics Based on Reading the Torah in Context and Deriving Principles from It
Proposition 20: Torah Cannot Provide Prooftexts for Solving Issues Today
Proposition 21: The Ancient Israelites Would Not Have Understood the Torah as Providing Divine Moral Instruction
Proposition 22: A Divine Command Theory of Ethics Does Not Require that the Torah Is Moral Instruction
Proposition 23: Taking the Torah Seriously Means Understanding What It Was Written to Say, Not Converting It into Moral Law
Summary of Conclusions
Appendix: The Decalogue
Further Reading
Subject Index
Scripture Index