Description
Book SynopsisPlato and the Creation of the Hebrew Bible for the first time compares the ancient law collections of the Ancient Near East, the Greeks and the Pentateuch to determine the legal antecedents for the biblical laws. Following on from his 2006 work, Berossus and Genesis, Manetho and Exodus, Gmirkin takes up his theory that the Pentateuch was written around 270 BCE using Greek sources found at the Great Library of Alexandria, and applies this to an examination of the biblical law codes. A striking number of legal parallels are found between the Pentateuch and Athenian laws, and specifically with those found in Plato's Laws of ca. 350 BCE. Constitutional features in biblical law, Athenian law, and Plato's Laws also contain close correspondences. Several genres of biblical law, including the Decalogue, are shown to have striking parallels with Greek legal collections, and the synthesis of narrative and legal content is shown to be compatible with Greek literat
Trade Review
"In this book, Russell E. Gmirkin has produced a brilliant demonstration of the Hebrew Bible’s dependence on Plato’s Laws, with a focus on the Pentateuch. The demonstration is remarkably clear and convincing, and I am confidant that the theory proposed will be discussed favourably among biblical scholars, and also among classical and philosophical scholars."
- Philippe Wajdenbaum, previously Lecturer at the Institute of Advanced Studies, Belgium
"I find this a provocative, stimulating study. This is a significant and exciting contribution to the growing field of interdisciplinary scholarship that explores the influence of Greek culture on the Hebrew Bible. It should be of interest to a number of audiences, those interested in the Hebrew Bible, classicists, comparatists, philosophers and political scientists."
- Bruce Louden, The University of Texas at El Paso, USA
"Gmirkin's book is a richly detailed (form and motif), historical comparison of Ancient Near Eastern, Greek, and Pentateuchal law collections that comes as a welcome addition to his 2006 work Berossus and Genesis, Manetho and Exodus."
- Journal of Theological Studies
"... [a] very interesting and well documented study"
- Étienne Nodet, French Biblical and Archeological School of Jerusalem, Israel, Revue Biblique, 2018
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements
Abbreviations
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Athenian and Pentateuchal Legal Institutions
Chapter 3: Biblical, Ancient Near Eastern, and Greek Laws
Chapter 4: Greek and Ancient Near Eastern Law Collections
Chapter 5: Greek and Biblical Legal Narratives
Chapter 6: The Creation of the Hebrew Bible
Index of References
Index of Authors
