Theology 6314, The Law of Moses

St. Mary’s University
Spring 2020
Dr. Todd Hanneken (EMAIL)

Jump to January 14, 21, 28, February 4, 11, 18, 25, March 3, 10, 17, 24, 31, April 7, 14, 21, 28, May 5

January 14, Introductions and Start Decalogue (Exodus 20:1–18 and Deuteronomy 5)

• Syllabus (HTML)
• Notes on three categories of biblical interpretation (HTML)
• The Decalogue in Exodus and Deuteronomy (PDF)
• Notes on issues in the interpretation of the Decalogue (HTML)
• Sources on transgenerational punishment in chronologial sequence (PDF)

January 21, The Decalogue and Its Status in Interpretation

• Reading guide (HTML)
• Collins, “Introduction,” and “The Revelation at Sinai”
• Blenkinsopp, “Ordering Life by Law,” pp. 84–89; and “Decalogue,” pp. 102–106
• Kugel, “At Mt. Sinai [part 1],” pp. 373–395
• Vermes, “The Decalogue and the Minim” (1968) pp. 232–240 (PDF)
• Select New Testament passages on the Law (PDF)
• Philo of Alexandria, excerpts from On the Decalogue (PDF)

January 28, The Covenant Code, Hammurabi

• Guide for Final Paper (HTML)
• Reading guide (HTML)
• Collins, “Near Eastern Context”
• Blenkinsopp, “Law in Early Israel,” pp. 90–93; and “Covenant Code,” pp. 94–102
• Exodus 20:19—23:33
• Roth, “Hammurabi,” pp. 76–140
• Notes on the goring ox (HTML)

February 4, Cancelled

February 4 February 11, The Covenant Code, Life, Personal Status and Slavery

• Reading guide (HTML)
• Greenberg, “Some Postulates of Biblical Criminal Law” (1960) pp. 25–41 (PDF)
• Westbrook, “Personal Status [in the Ancient Near East]” (2003) pp. 35–44 (PDF)
• Frymer-Kensky, “Personal Status [in Israel]” (2003) pp. 999–1007 (PDF)
• Matthews, “The Anthropology of Slavery in the Covenant Code” (1994) pp. 119–135 (PDF)
• Kugel, “At Mt. Sinai [part 2],” pp. 395–414
• Optional: Greenberg on Kaufmann (PDF)

February 11 February 18, Deuteronomy

• Reading guide (HTML)
• Deuteronomy 12–26
• 2 Kings 22–23
• Collins, Chapter 8, “Deuteronomy”
• Collins, end of Chapter 14, “The End of the Kingdom of Israel,” and “Judah in the Assyrian Crisis”
• Blenkinsopp, “Deuteronomy,” pp. 107–119
• Levinson, “The First Constitution” Cardozo Law Review 27 (2006) pp. 1853–1888 (PDF)

February 18 February 25, Deuteronomy, Family and Inheritance Law

• Reading guide (HTML)
• LH 137–140 and 148–149; Deuteronomy 22–25; Malachi 2:13–16; Matthew 19:1–12 (divorce)
• Numbers 27:1–11; 36 (inheritance)
• Numbers 30 (vows)
• Westbrook, “Family Law [in the Ancient Near East]” and “Property [in the Ancient Near East]” (2003) pp. 44–62 (PDF)
• Frymer-Kensky, “Family Law [in Israel]” and “Property [in Israel]” (2003) pp. 1007–1019 (PDF)
• LH 131–132 and Numbers 5 (suspicion of adultery)
• Matthews, “Honor and Shame in Gender-Related Legal Situations in the Hebrew Bible” (1998) pp. 97–112 (PDF)

February 25 March 3, Deuteronomy, Premodern and Feminist Interpretation

• Reading guide (HTML)
• Schneiders, “The Bible and Feminism: Biblical Theology” (1993) pp. 31–57 (PDF)
• Laws Addressing the Rape of an Unbetrothed Girl (in the reading guide)
• Genesis 34
• Kugel 233–244
• Jubilees 30 (PDF)
• Optional: Frymer-Kensky, “Virginity in the Bible” (1998) pp. 79–96 (PDF)

March 10, Spring Break (no class meeting)

March 17, Unplanned Extended Spring Break

Following the direction of President Mengler, there will be no class meeting this week. We will push back the reading schedule another week and cancel the content on Jacob and Esau. During the regular class time Dr. Hanneken will be in the Zoom meeting room. We can talk about papers, review, or talk about what we will be missing on Jacob and Esau.

March 3 March 17 March 24, Holiness Code

• Reading guide (HTML)
• Collins, “The Nature of the Pentateuchal Narrative” and “The Priestly Theology”
• Blenkinsopp, “The Priestly History,” and “Cultic and Ritual Laws,” pp. 120–133
• Leviticus 17–26, “The Holiness Code”
• Milgrom, Leviticus 17–22: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. New York: Doubleday (2000) excerpts on Holiness, Ethics, and Land, pp. 1397–1405, 1711–1726. (PDF)

March 17 March 24 March 31, Holiness Code, Conflict Resolution

• Reading guide (HTML)
• Leviticus 19:16–18
• Proverbs 9:7–8
• Sirach 19:5–16
• Sectarian rules from the Dead Sea Scrolls (PDF)
• Matthew 7:1–5
• Matthew 18, especially 18:15–17
• The Didache (PDF)
• Kugel, “Worship in the Wilderness [part 2],” pp. 451–460
• Roth, “Mesopotamian Legal Traditions and the Laws of Hammurabi” Chicago Kent Law Review 71 (1995) pp. 13–39 (PDF)
• Optional: The Damascus Document (from the sectarian literature associated with the Dead Sea Scrolls) (HTML)
• Primary sources handout (HTML)

March 24 March 31 April 7, Start Research Reports, The Priestly Source, Purity and Social Order in Daily Life

Starting this week and over the final three weeks, everyone will have 10–12 minutes of class time to discuss your paper topic with the class. You won’t have time to make every point. I suggest starting with explaining what is the issue or question you are addressing and why it is important (why anyone should care). Then share your tentative thesis. Then explain your tentative plans for the basic structure to support the thesis. Leave time at the end to gather feedback from your peers.

• Reading guide (HTML)
• Leviticus 10–16 (HTML)
• Kugel, “Worship in the Wilderness [part 1],” pp. 441–451
• Douglas, Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo. New York: Praeger (1966) pp. 41–57 (PDF)
• Klawans, Impurity and Sin in Ancient Judaism. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press (2000) pp. v–ix, 21–42 (PDF)
• Milgrom, Leviticus 1–16: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. The Anchor Bible 3. New York: Doubleday (1991) pp. 42–51 (PDF)
• Optional: Milgrom, “Israel’s Sanctuary: The Priestly ‘Picture of Dorian Gray’” Revue Biblique 83 (1976) pp. 390–399 (PDF)

March 31 April 7 April 14, The Priestly Source, Hierocracy

• Reading guide (HTML)
• Exodus 32 (HTML)
• Numbers 16 (HTML)
• Numbers 18 (HTML)
• Numbers 25 (HTML)
• Ezekiel 44:10–16 (HTML)
• Kugel, “The Golden Calf” (pp. 417–437)
• Optional: Cody, A History of the Old Testament Priesthood. Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute (1969) pp. 146–174 (PDF)
• Optional: Blenkinsopp, “The Judaean Priesthood during the Neo-Babylonian and Achaemenid Periods: A Hypothetical Reconstruction” Catholic Biblical Quarterly 60 (1998) pp. 25–43 (PDF)

April 7 April 14 April 21, Narrative as Law, National Identity

• Reading guide (HTML)
• Collins chapter 4, “The Patriarchs” (Recommended: chapter 5, “The Exodus from Egypt”)
• Genesis 12–23
• Kugel “Abraham Journeys from Chaldea,” pp. 133–148; “The Trials of Abraham,” pp. 165–178.
• Hanneken, “Jubilees: Introduction” (2018) pp. 1–5 (PDF)
• Jubilees 11:11—12:27; 17:15—18:19, and skim through the rest of the Abraham cycle, Jubilees 11–23 (PDF)
• Optional: Dershowitz, “Abraham Commits Attempted Murder—and Is Praised,” in The Genesis of Justice: Ten Stories of Biblical Injustice that Led to the Ten Commandments and Modern Law. New York: Warner Books (2000) pp. 103–131 (PDF)

Cut due to University Closure March 17: Narrative as Law, Fraud and International Relations

The following elements of the course will not be covered due to the unplanned reduction of the number of class meetings. I leave it here in case anyone is interested.

• Reading guide (HTML)
• Genesis 25:19—35:29
• Kugel, “Jacob and Esau,” pp. 199–214
• Jubilees 35:9—38:14 (PDF)
• Barmash, “The Narrative Quandary: Cases of Law in Literature” Vetus Testamentum 54 (2004) pp. 1–16 (PDF)
• Optional: Dershowitz, “Jacob Deceives—and Gets Deceived,” (2000) pp. 132–146 (PDF)

April 21 April 28, Narrative as Law, The Meaning of Life (Primordial Etiology)

• Reading guide (HTML)
• Genesis 1:1—4:1
• Collins, “The Primeval History”
• Plato, excerpt from Symposium, translated by William S. Cobb (1993) (PDF)
• Kugel, “Adam and Eve,” pp. 67–82 (also 85–87 on the conception of Cain)
• Jubilees 1:1—4:1 with comparison and notes in Hanneken, “Jubilees: Reader” pp. 7–16 (PDF)
• Augustine, excerpts from City of God (PDF)
• Trible, God and the Rhetoric of Sexuality (1978) pp. 94–102 (PDF)

May 5, Final Exam

May 7, Final Paper Due

Guide for Final Paper (HTML)

Subject to frequent revision
Last updated 1/2/2020