Everyday Law in Biblical Israel: An Introduction

by Raymond Westbrook, Bruce Wells

Raymond Westbrook and Bruce Wells examine Old Testament legal materials that illustrate how ancient Israelites settled their grievances. This textbook is unique in exploring these legal materials as they relate to the issues of everyday life--family, property, contracts, and crimes--and providing readers with a broad understanding of their ancient legal and social foundations.

Genres: Biblical Studies, Ebooks

168 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2009

Reviews

[Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very simple to read/understand, which was quite different from Westbrook's Property and Family Law entry in the LHB/OTS series. Great overviews, lots of excellent citing of Scripture as examples of the law in action. It's not an Evangelical-approach, but I really appreciate the work done in this for better understanding Biblical and ANE society through their laws.

[JonM · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book. It utilizes source criticism for some of it's exegesis and application, and it also attempts to accommodate contemporary views of morality (clearly contrary to mainstream conservative values, i.e. abortion, homosexuality, etc...), which I didn't care for. The book is not "liberal" in its theology or morality, but it does attempt to be as "safe" and neutral as possible in it's approach to such a controversial topic (because it clearly provides practical relevance for applying biblical laws). On a more positive note, it's constant use of related ANE laws is extremely valuable, and the book is very readable; both excellent qualities. The book is good, but not great.