The foundation for all study of biblical law is the assumption that the Covenant Code is the oldest legal code in the Hebrew Bible and that all other laws are revisions of that code. This book sets forth the radical hypothesis that those laws in the covenant code that are similar to Deuteronomy and the Holiness Code are in fact later than both of these, and therefore can't be taken as the foundation of Hebrew Law.

A Law Book for the Diaspora: Revision in the Study of the Covenant Code

Reference

Van Seters, John

Words, Language & Grammar

Oxford University Press

Originally published by Yale University Press, Abraham in History and Tradition evaluates previous scholarly insight on the early patriarchal period while challenging many dominant views in Biblical Studies and providing criticism on tradition history and documentary hypothesis. Upon its initial publication in 1975, this landmark work provided fresh insight in the fields of Near Eastern Studies and Biblical Archaeology. Well-researched and cogent, Van Seters' groundbreaking analysis remains relevant and continues to inspire new research in the present.  John Van Seters is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.  “An important work which cannot be ignored.” —Journal of Biblical Literature “The author has undertaken an objective evaluation of the more serious scholarly attempts at reconstructing the early Patriarchal Period during the past half century of archaeologically oriented research. . . . He presents a wealth of extra biblical material, in conjunction with the biblical, to determine how much of the data dealing with Abraham (and in part with Isaac) are historical and how the data in general are to be handled. . . . The study provides a badly needed whiff of fresh air in a period whose scholarly atmosphere has become stale. Three useful indexes . . . bring this volume to a close.” —Harry Orlinsky, JWB Circle  “Old Testament Scholars have learned to expect critical precision and provocative insight from the pen of John Van Seters. His book on the Abraham traditions meets those expectations in detail not previously available in print and this must be welcomed by all involved in Pentateuchal research.” —George W. Coats, Interpretation

Abraham in History and Tradition

Religion & Spirituality

Christian Books & Bibles

Yale Univ Pr

In Search of History: Historiography in the Ancient World and the Origins of Biblical History

Hardcover with dust jacket. G/G. Dust jacket is edge worn, chipped and scuffed. Boards are edge worn and scuffed.

Yale University Press

History

Changing Perspectives 1 (Copenhagen International Seminar)

Ancient Civilizations

Routledge

This overview of the Pentateuch reviews the various historical-critical attempts to read it that arise from notions about the social evolution of Israel's religion and culture. Is the Pentateuch an accumulation of folk traditions, a work of ancient historiography, a document legitimizing religious reform? The present book, in dialogue with competing views, advocates a compositional model that recognizes the social and historical diversity of the literary strata. It argues that a proto-Pentateuchal author created a comprehensive history from Genesis to Numbers that was written as a prologue to the Deuteronomistic History (Deuteronomy to 2 Kings) in the exilic period and later expanded by a Priestly writer to make it the foundational document of the Jerusalem temple community.

The Pentateuch: A Social-Science Commentary (Academic Paperback)

Bloomsbury T&T Clark

In this magisterial overview of the Pentateuch John Van Seters reviews the various historical-critical attempts to read it that arise from notions about the social evolution of Israel's religion and culture. Is the Pentateuch an accumulation of folk traditions, a work of ancient historiography, a document legitimizing religious reform? In dialogue with competing views, Van Seters advocates a compositional model that recognizes the social and historical diversity of the literary strata. Van Seters argues that a proto-Pentateuchal author created a comprehensive history from Genesis to Numbers that was written as a prologue to the Deuteronomistic History (Deuteronomy to 2 Kings) in the exilic period and later expanded by a Priestly writer to make it the foundational document of the Jerusalem temple community.This social-science commentary on the Pentateuch is renowned as one of the most influential volumes on this group of texts. For the new edition Van Seters has revised several sections of the text, updating and integrating new bibliographical items, and refining the text where necessary. A reflective preface summarizes these changes and developments for the reader's convenience.

The Pentateuch: A Social-Science Commentary (T&T Clark Cornerstones)

T&T Clark

"This remarkable study . . . makes a momentous case for a different view: in its pre-sacerdotal (or first) written form, the book of Genesis represents the prologue to a major literary work conceived and crafted by an individual writer who lived in the exilic/postexilic times of the early Persian era."--Albert de Pury, University of Geneva, Switzerland.

Prologue to History: The Yahwist As Historian in Genesis

World

Westminster John Knox Pr

This companion to Prologue to History: The Yahwist as Historian in Genesis continues the argument that the Yahwist was an antiquarian historian concerned with reconstructing the origins of Israel. Here, John Van Seters examines the corpus of the Yahwist in Exodus-Numbers and explores the literary nature of the work, its limits in the text, its relationship to the history of Deuteronomy to 2 Kings, and its dating in the exilic period. He shows how J, the literary work attributed to the Yahwist, integrates a wide diversity of themes and subjects around the biography of Moses. This book will provide a better understanding of the unity and integrity of Exodus-Numbers in the context of other writings and the general history of the exilic period. It disputes the widely held view that J is merely a collection of accumulated traditions. In Van Seters's view, J's portrayal of Moses is heavily influenced by prophetic biography and conventional historiographic forms and models, allowing the Yahwist to express a number of major theological themes that address the religious concerns of the exilic period and the diaspora community.

The Life of Moses: The Yahwist As Historian in Exodus-Numbers

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Van Seters, John. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Van Seters, John

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Van Seters, John. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

A Law Book for the Diaspora: Revision in the Study of the Covenant Code

Abraham in History and Tradition

In Search of History: Historiography in the Ancient World and the Origins of Biblical History

In Search of History: Historiography in the Ancient World and the Origins of Biblical History

Abraham in History and Tradition

Changing Perspectives 1 (Copenhagen International Seminar)

The Pentateuch: A Social-Science Commentary (Academic Paperback)

The Pentateuch: A Social-Science Commentary (T&T Clark Cornerstones)

Prologue to History: The Yahwist As Historian in Genesis

The Life of Moses: The Yahwist As Historian in Exodus-Numbers