The War Laws in Deuteronomy - war between the core and the frame of Deuteronomy
(2021) SBL annual meeting — Location: San Antonio [online] (18.November.2021)
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Details
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- Abstract
- Several laws in the Deuteronomic core, 12:1–26:16, are concerned with warfare. This article gives a thorough analysis of these laws, first by comparing them to other biblical passages and then to other Ancient Near Eastern regulations. War laws seem to be rather absent from Ancient Near Eastern regulations, although the references to armies and soldiers in them show that armies were very much part of everyday life. These comparisons show that the presentation of the Deuteronomic war laws is highly unusual, especially as present in a set of regulations. The contents of the war laws, on the other hand, do seem to reflect general tendencies in Ancient Near Eastern war practices, contrary to common belief. Hence, in order to explain the presence of the war laws in Deuteronomy and interpret them correctly, the framework of Deuteronomy needs to be taken into account.
- Affiliations
Citations
Beukenhorst, M. (2021). The War Laws in Deuteronomy - war between the core and the frame of Deuteronomy. SBL annual meeting, San Antonio [online].