Law and the Bible

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

Biblical law has for millennia informed much of the western legal tradition and religious practice, but its origins are complex and heterogeneous. This course will examine the relationship between law and the Bible from precursors through early reception. We begin with Ancient Near Eastern texts like the Code of Hammurabi to provide background to biblical law, before moving on to the core biblical legal collections in Exodus through Deuteronomy. We then sample these collections’ reception in early Jewish literature, and finish the course by examining how these legal traditions are inherited, interpreted, modified, or rejected in the Jewish Mishna and the Christian New Testament.