Hate and Enmity in Biblical Law (The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies)

by Klaus-Peter Adam

Publisher:

Bloomsbury

, 2022

Overview

Enmity between individuals was an ubiquitious phenomenon in the ancient world. Using the method of legal anthropology this book examines patterns of hate-driven feuding in kinship-based and segmentary societies and applies these insights to biblical law. It defines the fundamental categories of enmity, love, revenge, honor and shame in the context of feuding and it illustrates certain legal actions, such giving false witness, and shows how they are expressions of hateful relationships.

Adam proposes that we should understand hate between individuals as a legal construct that becomes visible when lived out as private enmity, a social status that exhibits distinct hallmarks. In kinship-based societies, private hate/enmity was publicly declared and, consequently, was publicly known in one’s own kin and beyond. Private enmity was acted out in feud-like patterns, with a flexibility that allowed opponents to choose between various measures to hurt their opponent. Acting out hate was reciprocal, and it typically escalated and swiftly expanded into one party’s attempt to kill the other and to trigger a blood feud. Finally, private enmity was “transitive” in the sense that opponents at enmity naturally expected solidarity from kin and friends.

Adam uses textual analysis to illustrate how the legal construct of hate informs biblical law from the Covenant Code, to Deuteronomic and Priestly Legislation, including the Holiness Code. He also demonstrates how hate forms the backdrop of conflict settlement. Ultimately, by ways of tracing back through the category of private hate and enmity, this book unpacks the meaning of the quintessential command to “Love your neighbor!”

Key Features

• Examines patterns of hate-driven feuding in kinship-based and segmentary societies.
• Defines the fundamental categories of enmity, love, revenge, honor and shame in the context of feuding.
• Proposes that we should understand hate between individuals as a legal construct that becomes visible.

Contents

• List of Tables
• Acknowledgments
• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: ‘If two are quarreling with each other…’ Long-term Enmity in the Covenant Code
• Chapter 3: Long-Term Enmity and Legal Procedure in Deuteronomic Law
• Chapter 4: Enmity and Hate in Priestly Law: Numbers 35 (Deut 4, Joshua 20)
• Chapter 5: Brotherly Love in Lev 19:11-18
• Chapter 6: Conclusion
• Bibliography
• Index

Praise for Hate and Enmity in Biblical Law

A welcome contribution for those interested in biblical law and legal history.

—Review of Biblical Literature

Product Details

• Title: Hate and Enmity in Biblical Law (The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies)
• Author: Klaus-Peter Adam
• Series: Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies
• Publisher: Bloomsbury
• Print Publication Date: 2022
• Pages: 320
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• ISBNs: 9780567681898, 9780567681904, 0567681890, 0567681904
• Resource ID: LLS:HTNMTYBBLCLLW
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-11-14T22:41:40Z

About Klaus-Peter Adam

Klaus-Peter Adam was born in Stuttgart, Germany, has studied in Berlin, Tubingen, Munich, Marburg and at the Oriental Institute in Chicago. He served as an ordained minister in the Lutheran church of Wuerttemberg for six years. From 2002-2008 he was a research scholar, and taught in the field of Old Testament and Religious Studies at Marburg, Hamburg, Bremen and Erlangen. Combining historical and theological dimensions of Old Testament scholarship, his work interfaces philological, historical, literary, and comparative methods. His current work includes biblical historiography, the stories about Saul and David, the book of Kings, biblical archaeology, the impact of dramatic forms on biblical narratives, as well as abstract legal norms and case narratives. Klaus-Peter Adam is a passionate jogger and bike rider and enjoys reading modern fiction in English and German as well as listening to early music.