Code Of Hammurapi

-The Code of Hammurabi is a well-preserved Babylonian law code, dating back to about 1772 BC. It is one of the oldest deciphered writings of significant length in the world. 

-Law codes were largly political documents in acient Near East

-Iconography shows to go against law of Hammerapi is to go against code of gods. 

Deuteronomistic

History (Dtrh)

-Another namer for the Former Prophets

-Named because Israelite history (from the entrance into the land until the exile from the land) is viewed under the theological framework of Deuteronomy

-Dtrh is made of a number of pre-existing works wich are unified by the Deuteronomist as a redactor

-The point of the Dtrh is to explain How and Why Israel was abandoned by Yahweh and went into exil in Babylon. 

Apodictic Law

Absolute or general commands

Regulations in the form of divine commands. 

Suzerain Treaty

(Suzerainity)

agreement between unequal parties

common in the literature of anceint Near Eastern Kingdoms

Often use Father-son or mater languange

Larger kingdoms would often offer protection to smaller kingdoms

Psuedepigraphic 

 -Spurious writings, especially writings falsely attributed to biblical characters or times.

-A body of texts written between 200 b.c. and a.d. 200 and spuriously ascribed to various prophets and kings of Hebrew Scriptures. 

Mezuzah

 -A piece of parchment (often contained in a decorative case) inscribed with specified Hebrew verses from the TorahThese verses comprise the Jewish prayer "Shema Yisrael"

-A mezuzah is affixed to the doorframe in Jewish homes to fulfill the mitzvah (Biblical commandment) to inscribe the words of the Shema "on the knobposts of your house" (Deuteronomy 6:9)

Holiness Code

-A term used in biblical criticism to refer to Leviticus 17-26, and is so called due to its highly repeated use of the word Holy.

-Unlike the remainder of Leviticus, the many laws of the Holiness Code are expressed very closely packed together, and very briefly.According to the documentary hypothises.

-The Holiness Code represents an earlier text that was edited and incorporated into the priestly source and the Torah as a whole.

Kosher

-Kosher Foods are those that conform to the regulations of Jewish dietary law. Food that may be consumed according to Jewish law is termed Kosher

-A list of some kosher foods are found in the book of Leviticus 11:1-47, as are also certain kosher rules. Reasons for food not being kosher include the presence of ingredients derived from nonkosher animals or from kosher animals that were not slaughtered in the ritually proper manner

Lex Talionis 

 - (Eye for an Eye)  the principle that a person who has injured another person is penalized to a similar degree, or according to other interpretations the victim receives the value of the injury in compensation.

- According to Jewish interpretations the victim in criminal law gets financial compensation based on the law of human equality eschewing mutilation and 'lex talionis'

- (Punishment fits the Crime)  legal systems that specify formulaic penalties for specific crimes, which are thought to be fitting in their severity

Double Redaction

of the Dtrh 

Purity/Impurity 

-Purity in Ancient Israel was not about sin
-Living a normal human life will result in impurity. It is unavoidable
-Many normal things cause impurity: childbirth, contact with something dead, bodily emissions. 
-Food Laws (Kosher= proper,fit,correct)

Tahor

Ritualistically Clean 

Tamae

QaDosh

Hebrew word for sacred or holy. 

Tefillin

A set of small black leather boxes containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with verses from the Torah, which are worn by observant Jews during weekday morning prayers

Casuistic Law

Case Law, often in conditional formulation 

(If... Then....) 

Covenant Code

-Biblically, the text is the second of the law codes given to Moses by God at Mount Sinai. This legal text provides a small, but substantive proportion of the Mitzvot within the Torah, and hence is a source of Jewish Law.

-Very ancient perhaps containing material from Israelites/pre-canaanite days

Deuteronomy 

-Derived from two Greek terms meaning second law. 
-Highly homiletical in nature
-The larger form of work is that of last will and testament
-Highlights the relevance of Moses. He is the ultimate medatory figure
-Law of Moses

Frank Moore Cross

(July 13, 1921 – October 16, 2012) was the Hancock Professor of Hebrew and Other Oriental Languages Emeritus at Harvard University, notable for his work in the interpretation of the Dead Sea Scrolls , his 1973 magnum opus Canannite Myth and Hebrew Epic, and his work in Northwest Semitic epigraphy. Many of his essays on the latter topic have since been collected in Leaves from an Epigrapher's Notebook.

The Shema

The title of a central prayer

in Judaism which is drawn directly from Deut 6: 4-9

Tallit

-The Prayer Shawl

-Worn by observant Jews during most prayers

-The ends of the garments have (tzitzit) little fringes

-Derives from Deut 22:12

Centralization of the Cult

 (Deuteronomy 11:26-16:17), Moses instructs the Children of Israel to centralize the Cult in “the place that the Adonai your God will choose.” 

The Children of Israel are instructed:
1. To destroy the sacred places of Canaanite worship;
2. Not to worship as the Canaanites;
3. To establish an exclusive site for sacrifice;
4. That families are to go to this central shrine for sacrifices;

Amphictyony

An association of neighboring states in ancient Greece to defend a common religious center; broadly: an association of neighboring states for their common interest

Herem

T    -The institution of the ban. Is a translation from the Hebrew Herem which literally means prohibited or set-aside.

-Prohibited or set aside, women set aside for the King (Herem) 

Assyrian Prophecies 

The Assyrian prophecies date from the first half of the seventh century BCE, from the 

reigns of the Assyrian kings Esarhaddon (681-669 BCE) and Ashurbanipal (669-631 BCE)

Mari Archives 

To date, twenty-seven Mari letters have been discovered that contain references to communications from persons claiming to have dreams or direct mes sages from deities. These messages are directed from the deity to a third party, usually the king. Before the appearance of the Mari texts, divine guidance induced by various divination practices (by inspecting the viscera of animals or by interpretation of smoke patterns, of oil patterns on water, or of the flight of birds) was well known from Mesopotamian sources.

Prophetic Sign Act

Sign-acts refer to the way the prophet embodies and dramatizes a particular prophetic message.

Ezekiel

*Lying on his side for a number of days, then switching to the other side, symbolic of the number of years of exile for both Israel and Judah (4:4-8)
*Cooking food over human excrement, symbolizing that in exile the people will eat ‘unclean’ food (4:9-15)
*Cutting, weighing, binding, and burning his own hair, symbolizing those who will be taken away, the remnant, etc. (5:1-4)

Jezreel

Was an ancient Israelite city and fortress originally within the boundaries of the Tribe of Issachar, and later within the northern Kingdom of Israel. According to the Book of Kings, the royal palace of King Ahab in Jezreel was adjacent to the vineyard of Naboth. 

Biblical: After Jehu kills King Jehoram, he confronts Jezebel in Jezreel and urges her eunuchs to kill Jezebel by throwing her out of a window.They comply, tossing her out the window and leaving her in the street to be eaten by dogs. Only Jezebel's skull, feet, and hands remained.

Lo-Ruhama

/Lo-Ammi

 In the first chapter of Hosea, the prophet became the father of three children whose names were given by God. An important but ominous prophecy was conveyed in these names, particularly the last two. The second child was a daughter named Loruhama, which means "not having obtained mercy." The third child was a son named Loammi, which means "not my people." The reason for the first name is given in verse six: for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel; but I will utterly take them away. The reason for the second name is given in verse nine: for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God. Hence the names of these children denote the rejection of the House of Israel by God.