What are some errors to avoid when studying Biblical law?
Here is a list of common errors which I have encountered in scholarship on Biblical law. Often, many of these errors are committed simultaneously by a particular commentator/teacher:
- Relying upon Rabbinic interpretations of (and methods of interpreting) Biblical law. The Rabbis continued many of the errors of the Pharisees, which Jesus explicitly rebuked (Matt 15:6, Matt 16:11-12).
- Treating Biblical law as fundamentally incomplete and/or never intended to be a law code.
- Treating Biblical law as written much later than what is presented as fact from the text itself (Mosaic authorship).
- Treating Biblical law as a set of disintegrated legal codes (Covenant Code, Holiness Code, Deuteronomistic Code), created by (and representing) disparate interest groups, which were then redacted/integrated into their final form later (post-monarchy or post-exile).
- Treating Biblical law as derivative from other ancient Near East law codes (such as the Code of Hammurabi). Cite error: Closing
</ref>missing for<ref>tag
You have to watch out for all of the above problems when you pick up a given book or commentary dealing with Biblical law. Even a good portion of "conservative" scholarship is affected by one or more of the above. This doesn't mean that you cannot learn valuable things from these books or commentaries. Just be alert for the author's biases and presuppositions, and learn to throw out any worthless observations.
Half of the task in studying God's law for yourself is simply to avoid the above 15 errors. Another quarter (of the task) is to prevent yourself from reading your modern biases/worldview into Israelite culture. Learn to read God's law in a way that is sympathetic with its expressed motive clauses. Read with the assumption of consistency and authorial unity of purpose.
