Law And Wisdom In The Bible: David Daube's Gifford Lectures, Volume Ii »

Calum Carmichael is professor of comparative literature and adjunct professor of law at Cornell University. He has degrees in science, historical theology, and law from the Universities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Oxford. He is the author of nine books that focus primarily on biblical law, the editor of a six volume series devoted to the work of David Daube, who was his tutor at Oxford, and the author of a memoir of Daube.

David Daube (1909-1999) was known for his unique and sophisticated research on Roman law, biblical law, Jewish law, and medical ethics. In Law and Wisdom in the Bible, the first published collection of his 1964 Gifford Lectures, Daube derives form his complex understanding of biblical texts both ancient and contemporary notions about wisdom, justice, and education.

In addressing these and other profound issues, Daub crosses traditional disciplinary boundaries and bridges the gap between humanism and religion, especially with regard to Christianity and Judaism. With his sophisticated understanding of Talmudic law and literature, his thinking-on full display in these lectures-revolutionized prevailing perceptions about the New Testament.

Preface vii

Abbreviations xi

1 The Fifth Commandment 3

2 Deuteronomy 26

3 Reasons for Commandments 56

4 Justice in the Narratives 66

5 Legal Institutions in Wisdom Books 85

6 The Wise Judge 105

7 Reforms of Machinery 127

8 The Example of the Sage 144

9 Mystification and Disclosure 161

10 The Torah 171

Notes 181

Index of Sources 203