Biblical Theology as the key to understanding the relationship between Law and Narrative in the...

7/31/2019 Biblical Theology as the key to understanding the relationship between Law and Narrative in the Pentateuch

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BIBLICAL THEOLOGY AS KEY: UNDERSTANDING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN

LAW AND NARRATIVE IN THE PENTATEUCH

ABSTRACT

The apparent hodge-podge of legal and narrative material contained not just

within the five books of the Pentateuch as a whole, but within the boundaries

of the books themselves, has created a dilemma for interpreters throughout

history.

Assuming that the Pentateuch is Christian Scripture, we will survey the

variety of approaches to this complex law and narrative relationship (LNR),

with an emphasis on the views popular in current Biblical studies,

particularly the traditional, critical, canonical, and Biblical Theological views.

We will assess each model on its treatment of the text, context, and subtext,

which we will assume relates to the Pentateuchs ultimate fulfillment in

Christ.


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Pentateuchs position in Christian scripture, and how it relates to the

unfolding of salvation history. This means trying to navigate between the

Charybdis of critical, liberal, prophetic, and dispensational views of the legal

material that place it as a passing phase in Israels, or salvation, history, and

the Scylla of theonomic or ethical readings that fail to consider the Pentateuch

within the Biblical meta-narrative.1

We will conclude that a truly satisfying understanding of the LNR grasps its

purpose for Israel, as revelation shaping identity, ethics, and future hope, and

its culmination in Jesus.

THE TEXT A MIX OF LAW AND NARRATIVE, AND LAWS AS NARRATIVE

The Pentateuch features an intertwined mix of genres that depict Israels

history from Creation to the Promised Land. This story takes place in several

major narrative movements. In Genesis, Adam leaves the Garden (Genesis 3),

Abraham leaves the land of his forefathers (Genesis 12), Joseph leaves for

Egypt (Genesis 37), bringing his father and brothers (Genesis 45-47). This

physically sets the scene for the central section of the Pentateuchs narrative

(Exodus to Numbers), which includes the Exodus (Exodus 1-18), the Sinai

narrative (Ex 19-34),2 and the Wilderness wanderings (Numbers 10:11-20:39).3

These main narratives contain smaller pericopes, such as Balaam, his donkey,

and Balak (Num 22-24).4

These narratives are linked by various law codes and passages of case law,

such as the Decalogue (Exodus 20:1-17), Covenant Code (Exodus 20:22-23:33),

Holiness Code (Leviticus 17-26), and priestly code (Exodus 35-40).5 Legal

material is embedded in this middle section,6 in almost equal quantities,7 and

1 P.T Vogt, Interpreting the Pentateuch, (Grand Rapids, Kregel, 2009), 37-42, provides asummary of these approaches2 On the unity of this narrative see J.I Lawlor, The At Sinai Narrative: Exodus 18-Numbers10,Bulletin for Biblical Research 21.1 (2011) 23-42, contra A. Phillips, A Fresh Look at the SinaiPericope: Part 1 Vetus Testamentum, 34, 1 (1984), 39-52, A. Phillips, A Fresh Look at the SinaiPericope: Part 2 Vetus Testamentum, 34, 3 (1984), 282-2943 J.H Sailhamer, The Meaning of the Pentateuch: Revelation, Composition and Interpretation,(Downers Grove, IVP, 2009), 3604 J.H Sailhamer, The Meaning of the Pentateuch, 3575

J.H Sailhamer, The Meaning of the Pentateuch, 3576 J. Barton, Law and Narrative in the Pentateuch, Communio viatorum, 51 no 2 (2009), 126-140,126-127, A. Bartor, Reading Law as Narrative: A Study in the Causistic Laws of the Pentateuch,


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sanctions, and lists of prohibitions is not uncommon in the ANE.26 And such a

mix in ancient codes, like Hammurabis Code, were arguably designed to say

more about the lawgiver than provide guidelines for legal administration.27

The interpretive value of such similarities should not be understated. The

context can shed light on the intended meaning of the text and provide a

method of interpretation.28 So, for example, Westbrook (2007) suggests the

written presentation of the Old Testament laws, alongside similar laws in the

ANE, are styled in a manner that lends itself to situational, rather than literal,

application,29 such a situational approach is supported by the narrative form

and setting of the law.30

However, the differences between the laws of the Pentateuch and those of the

ANE are fundamentally more important than the similarities. These

differences include the presentation of law as divine revelation,31 the law is

foundational to national ideology, is didactic, omits issues common to other

ANE codes, is different in form as it incorporates both legislation and

mentions of individual responsibility and it speaks of motivation, and is

fundamentally more similar to an ANE treaty than a law code.32

The LNR within the text of the Pentateuch has presented an interpretive

conundrum. The laws seemingly present a series of archaic rules for human

behaviour, while the characters in the narrative have often been put forward

as Godly examples for Christians to follow, or negative examples to be

avoided. We have demonstrated above that separating the LNR for the

26 J.W Watts, Reading the Law, 49, T. Ziolkowski, Literature and Law, Sewanee Review 99.1(1991), 122-132, 12327 J.H Sailhamer, The Mosaic Law and the Theology of the Pentateuch, WestminsterTheological Journal, 53, (1991), 241-261, 246-24728 J.P. Burnside, God, Justice and Society, 6-7.29 R. Westbrook, The Character of Ancient Near Eastern Law, in A History of Ancient NearEastern Law, Vol. 1, ed. Raymond Westbrook (Boston: Brill Academic Publishers, 2003), 74suggests OT laws were not written for the pragmatic experience of the law courts. also, 71-78, C.J.H Wright International Biblical Commentary: Deuteronomy, (Massachusetts: HendricksonPublishers, 1996), 244, suggests this is indicative of a paradigmatic purpose for the law, alsoD. R Hillers Covenant: the History of a Biblical Idea (Baltimore: The John Hopkins Press, 1969),88 says the laws provided a framework for decision making.30 B.S. Jackson, Wisdom-Laws, 25.31 As opposed to kingly, so Biblical law is delivered by Yahweh, and mediated by Moses,

rather than a king, J.P Burnside, God, Justice, and Society, 8-1032 J.P Burnside, God, Justice, and Society, 8-10, on the incomplete nature of the Pentateuch seeJ.H Sailhamer, The Mosaic Law and the Theology of the Pentateuch, 245-246


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purpose of interpretation and application is not clear-cut. 33 A hermeneutic

that pushes one to ignore the laws while adopting the ethical behaviour of the

characters is not straightforward given the relationship described above, and

has been the result of various approaches through history.

LAW AS LAW, NARRATIVE AS NARRATIVE: HISTORY OF INTERPRETATION

Historically, interpreters have either attempted to classify the Pentateuch as

law or narrative, with the decision having an impact on how the text is

applied. Such a classification relies on foregrounding either element, and

allowing one to dominate, and interpret the other.34 Early Jewish interpreters

treated the Pentateuch as Torah, foregrounding law over narrative. The legal

material provided guidelines for how to live,35 while the narrative

demonstrated how this works in practice,36 and serves as an example of the

type of conduct that leads to Gods judgment.37 Some history of religions

scholars suggest the emphasis in Jewish interpretation switched after the

exile, so, as Israel suddenly had to grapple with its new situation, it turned to

an account of its history.38

Early Christian interpreters, who sought to avoid legalism, foregrounded thenarrative, and treated the legal material as laws operating in a particular time

and place, for a particular people.39 The issue at stake for the early church

revolved around the continuity or discontinuity between the testaments.40

Two schools of interpretation emerged. The Alexandrian School favoured an

allegorical approach to both the legal and narrative material in order to stress

continuity and unity, while the Antiochene School favoured the literal and

historical sense of the text, within the framework of a broader salvation

history narrative, but stressed a dispensational style division or discontinuity

33 A. Bartor, The Representation of Speech in the Casuistic Laws of the Pentateuch: ThePhenomenon of Combined Discourse,JBL 126, no. 2 (2007), 23124, 231-232, also P. Barmash,The Narrative Quandry: Cases of Law in Literature, Vetus Testamentum 54.1 (2004), 1-1634 J. Barton, Law and Narrative in the Pentateuch,12735 J.H Sailhamer, The Mosaic Law and the Theology of the Pentateuch, 24436 J. Barton, Law and Narrative in the Pentateuch,12837ibid, 12838ibid, 12939

ibid, 13240 The importance of this point was highlighted by the controversy sparked by Marcion, seeC.J.H Wright, Old Testament Ethics for the People of God, 388-395


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between the Testaments. 41 Both approaches arise from valid concerns, but

neither completely resolves the tension.42 These historical models can be

combined to emphasise the continuity between the testaments, the literal and

historical sense of the text, and the function of both the narrative and legal

materials in their original setting. Such a combination provides the basis for

an appropriate model for interpreting the Pentateuch as Christian Scripture.43

Aquinas distinction between moral, ceremonial, and civil law, and the later

Reformation distinction between law and gospel,44 then become clunky

and reductionist, in the light of understanding of the Pentateuch as a united

mix of legal and narrative material, which contributes to serve one rhetorical

purpose, related to salvation history.

The 19th century saw the birth of two significant, and divergent, approaches to

the Old Testament, which have some bearing on the interpretation of the

Pentateuchs mix of legal and narrative material. In 1882, Wellhausen

published his landmarkProlegomena to the History of Israel, which identified a

variety of literary sources within the Pentateuch.45 This approach relied on

various assumptions about the historical location of various sources,

humanising and fragmenting the text.46 In 1894, Vos, published an essay

advocating Biblical Theology, a unified reading of the Bible as a whole,

including the Pentateuch.47 These divergent approaches and presuppositions

about the text have spawned various models for understanding the

Pentateuch.

LAW AND NARRATIVE CRITICAL SCHOLARSHIP

41 C.J.H Wright, Old Testament Ethics for the People of God, 388-395 or C.J.H Wright, The EthicalAuthority of the Old Testament: A survey of approaches (Part 1), Tyndale Bulletin, 43.1 (1992)101-120, outlines three approaches taken by these early church fathers and followed by thereformers, also R.N Longenecker, Three Ways of Understanding Relations between theTestaments: Historically and Today, Tradition and Interpretation in the New Testament: Essays inHonour of E. Earle Ellis, ed. G.F Hawthorne with O. Betz, (Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1987), 22-3242 C.J.H Wright, The Ethical Authority of the Old Testament, 10843 C.J.H Wright, Old Testament Ethics for the People of God, 388-39544ibid, 39245 G. Wenham, Pentateuchal Studies Today, Themelios, 22.1 (October 1996), 3-13, 346ibid, 3, particularly with its emphasis on the origins of the source material and historicalreconstructions.47

G. Vos, The Idea of Biblical Theology as a Science And as a Theological Discipline,inaugural lecture as Professor of Biblical Theology, Princeton, delivered May 8, 1894,retrieved online 25 May 2012, http://www.bsmi.org/download/vos/BiblicalTheology.pdf


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Wellhausens documentary hypothesis (DH) involved four sources from four

different Jewish epochs, creating the Pentateuch as a composite document.

Studies of the Pentateuch then focused on the different emphases of each

source.48 Different genres were assumed to be the result of different sources,49

but while the legal material was occasionally attributed to the Priestly

source,50 DH scholars were much more interested in the narrative.51 Noth and

Von Rad combined Wellhausens source criticism with Gunkels form

criticism to suggest that Deuteronomy operated as a theological guidebook to

the events of the Former Prophets.52 While Wellhausens reconstruction may

now be a matter of significant debate, his methodological assumptions are

still shared by many.53

The obvious parallels between the law codes and ANE counterparts led many

to assess them only against this background,54 or dismiss their significance

altogether,55 which means the significance of the LNR for interpretation has

been a fringe concern for critical scholars.56 For those who adopt a history of

religions approach, and the assume the Deuteronomic History, Gods

judgment operates as the unifying centre of the Pentateuch and subsequent

texts, together the LNR highlights why Israel fell into exile, after the fact.57

48 J.H Sailhamer, The Meaning of the Pentateuch, 35849 J. Barton, Law and Narrative in the Pentateuch,12750 G. Wenham, Exploring the Old Testament: A Guide to the Pentateuch, Vol 1, (Illinois, IVP,2003), 166, Some scholars have identified different ethical/holiness approaches in differentsources, however, such studies have been largely unsystematic, G. Wenham, Story as Torah(Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2000), 8, while recent work on Leviticus suggests thedifferences have been overstated, see L.M Trevaskis, Holiness, Ethics, and Ritual in Leviticus,(Sheffield, Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2011), summarised in 230-23751 G. Wenham, Pentateuchal Studies Today, 552ibid, 3, J. Barton, Law and Narrative, 136-137, Noth then treated the narrative as atetrateuch, with Deuteronomy held to be a late addition, while Von Rad argued for aHexateuch, which included Joshua, On Noths Tetrateuch reconstruction see R.N Whybray,The Making of the Pentateuch, 13-14, G. Von Rad, The Problem of the Hexateuch and Other Essays, Trans. E.W.T Dicken, (London, Oliver and Boyd, 1966), 1-78, who sees the Hexateuch as acomplicated narrative accounting for settlement in the promised land, which lays a

foundation for Gods Kingdom on Earth, made complicated largely by the reconstructions thathe posits for the sources.53 J.J.M Roberts, The decline of the Wellhausen reconstruction of Israelite religion,Restoration Quarterly, 9 no 4 (1966), 229-240, 239-24054 C. Halberstam, The Art of Biblical Law, Prooftexts 27.2 (2007), 34655 G. Wenham, A Guide to the Pentateuch, 17256

R.N Whybray, The Making of the Pentateuch: A Methodological Study, (Sheffield, JSOT Press,1987), 128, citing Noth57 J Barton, Law and Narrative, 135-137


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strategy of the final form of the text.65 The LNR becomes a theological tool in

the hand of the editor.66

While many scholars operating within the framework of canonical criticism

place a great distance between the original sources and the final editor, their

observations are based on an attempt to understand how law and narrative,

and even different laws, possibly from different sources, work together to

serve the compositional purpose of the text.67 The interpretive question then

turns on whether the law is simply an inserted legal code, or a deliberate

editorial decision that serves a single purpose.68 It seems likely given our

above treatment of the text, and the proposed cohesion within the LNR, that

the two function together.69

In this view it is not the legal or narrative materialbrought to the foreground, but the purpose behind their compositional

relationship, so the Pentateuch, including law codes, is treated as a complete

didactic work, where a covenantal tension emerges between faith and the

works of the law.70 Sailhamer (1991) argues that this tension is established as

the author of the Pentateuch reflected on Israels inability to faithfully keep

the law.71 The purpose of the text then, for the reader, is both ethical and

identity shaping, while serving the overarching biblical narrative, which sets

its sights on a new covenant.72 It should be noted that the interpretive

strengths of canonical criticism do not necessarily do away with the

traditional acceptance of a single author, literary critics, following Robert

Alter, have identified a unifying artistry behind the text of the Pentateuch.73

LAW AND NARRATIVE AS ETHICAL INSTRUCTION

It is clear that the Pentateuch had an ethical purpose in the life of Israel, those

positing a Deuteronomic History were right to notice that Israels conduct,and historical situation, are assessed through the interpretive prism of the

Pentateuch.

65ibid, 36066 B. Childs, The Old Testament as Scripture, 718-22167 J.H Sailhamer, The Meaning of the Pentateuch, 35968ibid, 35769ibid, 360-36170 J.H Sailhamer, The Mosaic Law and the Theology of the Pentateuch, 242-24371

ibid, 26172ibid, 26173 R. Alter, The Art of Biblical Narrative, (Basic Books, 1981), 19-20


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Traditionally the ethical weight of the Pentateuch was produced by

foregrounding the law, in this case the narrative served to convince the reader

of the laws validity,74 provide supplementary detail,75 or exemplify its

implementation.76 However, the LNR is too close to justify treating one as

commentary on the other.77 The intrinsic relationship between the two would

seem to lend itself to a paradigmatic understanding of right conduct based on

covenantal faith,78 rather than establishing strict rules and regulations. Rather

than the law being the means of covenantal compliance,79 it is the bare

minimum required for holiness, or faithful ethical living.80 The ethical

function of the text depended in some way, on its use, which we have argued

involved public retelling in community, as a paradigmatic narrative.81

Thishas great explanatory power for the LNR, and the non-comprehensive nature

of the laws.82 A paradigmatic narrative shapes identity, and identity shapes

ethics.83 Applying modern speech act theory to the Pentateuchs use of the

second person, and identification of Israel as the implied reader, suggests the

overall function of the Torah is to convince the readers to be the true Israel.84

Such a reading considers the text in its initial context. However, according to

our assessment criteria, the view arguably inherently fails to acknowledge the

74 A. Bartor, Reading Law as Narrative, 5-7.75 P. Barmarsh, The Narrative Quandary: Cases of Law in Literature. VT54.1 (2004), 1-16, 5.76 J. Barton, Law and Narrative in the Pentateuch, 128, G.J Wenham, Reflections on Singingthe Ethos of God, 117, suggests the purpose of Old Testament stories was to make ethicalpoints, which operated within the grander scheme of Israels identity.77 C. Halberstam, The Art of Biblical Law, 346-878 Where the law serves as a paradigm for Israels conduct, and Israel in turn serves as aparadigm for the nations, see P.T Vogt, Interpreting the Pentateuch, 45-4679 J. Watts, Reading the Law, 129, H.P, Nasuti, Narrative Hermeneutics of Biblical Law.Journalof Law and Religion 4 (1986), 9-2380 G. Wenham, Story as Torah, 80.81 B.C Birch, Let Justice Roll Down: The Old Testament, Ethics, and the Christian Life, (Louisville,Westminster John Knox, 1991), 53-57, B. Brock, Singing the Ethos of God, 33, J. Burnside,Exodus and asylum: uncovering the relationship between biblical law and narrative,Journal

for the Study of the Old Testament, 34 no 3 Mr 2010, 243-266, 26282 A. Bartor, Reading Law as Narrative: A Study in the Causistic Laws of the Pentateuch, (Atlanta,SBL, 2010), 9 and C. Halberstam, The Art of Biblical Law, 354-5 argue that while thestructure of most laws is in some sense prescriptive, the actions prescribed provide aparadigmatic approach to potential situations, not a hard and fast rule for a particularsituation that repeats itself.83 B.C Birch, Let Justice Roll Down, 54, all our convictions about the nature and meaning ofour lives find their ground and intelligibility in some sort of over-arching paradigmaticstory. C.J Wright, Old Testament Ethics for the People of God, 54-74, 315-326, argues that the

embedded casuistic narratives, and the narrative of Israel, and the master narrative ofredemption are all paradigmatic frameworks for constructing a biblical ethic.84 J.W Watts, Reading the Law, 129, J.P Burnside, God, Justice and Society, 9.


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bigger picture. While it understands Israelite law within its own narrative

framework,it fails to establish the necessity of a coherent relationship with

the New Testament.85 As a result it runs the risk of encouraging legalism in

the guise of ethics.86

LAW, NARRATIVE, ETHICS AND BIBLICAL THEOLOGY

To establish such a relationship, one must show some sort of continuity

between the Pentateuch and the New Testament. One can find this continuity

in the words of Jesus (Matthew 5:17-20). His summary of the law as do unto

others (Matthew 7:12), love the Lord your God with all your heart and

love your neighbour as yourself. (Matthew 22:37-40) would seem to

indicate that the proposed paradigmatic understanding of the law, and theinterpretation of both law and narrative, revolved around these commands

(Leviticus 19:8, Deuteronomy 6:5, 10:12, 11:13). The paradigmatic

understanding explains why Jesus rebukes the Pharisees for their rigid

application to the letter of the law (Mark 2-3:6, Matthew 23:23-24), and why

Paul can speak of the importance of the spirit of the law (Romans 2:29).

One can legitimately reach this position, and understand the law and

narrative of the Pentateuch as being fulfilled in Christ, if one accepts that the

entire Old Testament works as a coherent account of salvation history. This

approach, known as Biblical Theology, meets the assessment criteria outlined

above, and addresses the deficiencies in the aforementioned approaches. Vos

early response to higher Biblical criticism was that the critical approach to

Biblical history is at odds with a Christian reading of the text.87 Observations

from Canonical scholarship seem to be more able to be subsumed into a

Christian reading, placing the authority in the final form of the text, ratherthan in an inspired author. Treating the Pentateuch as a paradigmatic story

for the sake of ethical instruction is an essentially Jewish exercise if one does

85 While many Canonical scholars share the assumption that the New Testament is Christianscripture, and that Biblical Theology is a legitimate discipline, the methodology does notmake such a conclusion the emphasis of the text, Christian interpreters are able to extractethical principles simply from what such a reading reveals of the character of God andrequirements for his people. B. Childs, The Old Testament as Scripture, 720-722, argues thatthe canonical shaping of the Old Testament stands alongside reading the Old Testament in

the light of Jesus Christ but does not link the two.86 J. Goldingay,Models for Interpretation of Scripture, (Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1995), 57-6087 G. Vos, The Idea of Biblical Theology as a Science And as a Theological Discipline, 16


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not relate it to the Bibles master narrative. However, if one adopts the

position that the LNR revolves around the concept of covenant,88 and that the

function of the text is to demonstrate Israels inability to keep covenant, and

to hold out the hope of a new covenant,89 which culminates in Christ,90 while

also providing a paradigm by which Israel could understand its identity,

priestly role to the nations, and associated behavioural requirements, that can

in some sense be paradigmatically adopted by Christians,91 then one

approaches a reading that best makes sense of the text.

Reading the Pentateuch within this framework gives us a means by which to

consistently treat laws as Scripture, without feeling the need to apply them

literally,92

helping us avoid theonomy,93

and preventing the development ofartificial categories and approaches that the text does not support.94 Seeing the

covenantal thrust of the Pentateuch culminating in Christ also helps avoid

Marcionism, by properly accounting for the Old Testament in Christian

theology.95 It helps distinguish between description and prescription in both

the legal material, and in terms of the actions of virtuous characters being

model application points.96 It allows one to capture the best insights of the

previous models, the Deuteronomic Historys emphasis on unfolding

judgment is related to a covenantal breach, the author is concerned to present

88 J. Barton, Law and Narrative in the Pentateuch,133, Suggests the laws only make sense inthe context of covenant, the covenant only makes sense as it unfolds in the narrative.89 J.H Sailhamer, The Mosaic Law and the Theology of the Pentateuch, 26190 J. Barton, Law and Narrative in the Pentateuch,133, T.D Alexander, From Paradise toPromised Land, (Grand Rapids, Baker, 2002), 83-94 demonstrates the cohesion of such anapproach.91 C.J.H Wright, Old Testament Ethics, 297-298, 314-326, 405, 41292 G. Goldsworthy, A response to Carl Trueman's A Revolutionary Balancing Act, TheTheologian: An Internet Journal for Integrated Theology, retrieved 25 May 2012,http://www.theologian.org.uk/doctrine/trueman-goldsworthy_goldsworthy.html93 D.E. Chismar, and D. A Rausch, Regarding theonomy : an essay of concern,Journal of theEvangelical Theological Society, 27 no 3 S 1984, 315-323, D. Joslyn-Siemiatkoski, "Mosesreceived the Torah at Sinai and handed it on" (Mishnah Avot 1:1): the relevance of the writtenand oral Torah for Christians, Anglican Theological Review, 91 no 3 Sum 2009, 443-46694 P.T Vogt, Interpreting the Pentateuch, 43-45 provides some reasons against artificialdistinctions between types of law, C.J.H Wright, The Ethical Authority of the Old Testament:A survey of approaches (Part 1), Tyndale Bulletin, 43.1 (1992) 101-120, 105-120 summariseshistorical approaches to Old Testament ethics. Also, R.E, Clements, Christian ethics and theOld Testament,Modern Churchman, ns 26 no 3 1984, 13-26, advocates use of the OldTestament as a foundation for Christian morality, J.W Rogerson, The Old Testament andsocial and moral questions,Modern Churchman, ns 25 no 1 1982, 28-35, treats the OT as aproduct of its time.95

Also avoiding dispensational views as described in H. Harless, The Cessation of theMosaic Covenant, Bibliotheca Sacra, 160 (July-Sept 2003), 349-36696 G. J. Wenham, Reflections on Singing the Ethos of God, 117.


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a unified document which serves a theological purpose, and mix of law and

narrative serves to create a paradigm by which Israel understands itself. It is

also consistent with our observations regarding the text and its context, and

with the priorities and traditions of interpretation in the early church,

representing a compromise that allays both Antiochene and Alexandrian

concerns.

A Biblical Theology that sees the account of Israels origins portrayed in the

law and narrative of the Pentateuch as the first installment of the redemption

story that culminates in the work of Jesus,97 as the central paradigmatic

story,98 ultimately presents the best account for the mix of materials in the

Pentateuch.

97

B.C, Birch, Moral Agency, Community, and the Character of God in the Hebrew Bible,Semeia, no 66 1994, 23-41, 2498 J. Goldingay,Models for Interpretation of Scripture, 62, B. Brock, Singing the Ethos of God, 23


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BIBLIOGRAPHY

T.D Alexander, From Paradise to Promised Land, (Grand Rapids, Baker, 2002)

R. Alter, The Art of Biblical Narrative, (Basic Books, 1981)

P. Barmarsh, The Narrative Quandary: Cases of Law in Literature. VetusTestamentum, 54.1 (2004), 1-16

J. Barton, Law and Narrative in the Pentateuch, Communio viatorum, 51 no 2(2009), 126-140

A. Bartor, Reading Law as Narrative: A Study in the Causistic Laws of thePentateuch, (Atlanta, SBL, 2010)

A. Bartor, The Representation of Speech in the Casuistic Laws of thePentateuch: The Phenomenon of Combined Discourse,JBL 126, no. 2 (2007):

23124

B.D Bibb, Nadab and Abihu Attempt to Fill a Gap: Law and Narrative inLeviticus 10.1-7,Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, 96 (2001), 83-99, 97-98

B.C Birch, Let Justice Roll Down: The Old Testament, Ethics, and the Christian Life,(Louisville, Westminster John Knox, 1991)

B.C, Birch, Moral Agency, Community, and the Character of God in theHebrew Bible, Semeia, no 66 1994, 23-41

J.P Burnside, God, Justice and Society: Aspects of Law and Legality in the Bible,(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011)

J.P Burnside, Exodus and asylum: uncovering the relationship betweenbiblical law and narrative,Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, 34 no 3 Mr2010, 243-266

J.P Burnside, A Missing Case in the Biblical Laws of Homicide andAsylum? Vetus Testamentum, 60.2 (2010), 288-291

J. P. Burnside, '"What shall we do with the Sabbath-gatherer?" A narrativeapproach to a "hard case" in biblical law (Numbers 15:32-36),' (2010) 60, VetusTestamentum 45-62

B. Childs, The Old Testament as Scripture of the Church, ConcordiaTheological Monthly, 43 no 11 D (1972), 709-722

D.E. Chismar, and D. A Rausch, Regarding theonomy : an essay of concern,Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 27 no 3 S 1984, 315-323

R.E, Clements, Christian ethics and the Old Testament,Modern Churchman,ns 26 no 3 1984, 13-26


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J. Goldingay,Models for Interpretation of Scripture, (Grand Rapids, Eerdmans,1995)

G. Goldsworthy, A response to Carl Trueman's A Revolutionary BalancingAct, The Theologian: An Internet Journal for Integrated Theology, retrieved 25

May 2012, http://www.theologian.org.uk/doctrine/trueman-goldsworthy_goldsworthy.html

C. Halberstam, The Art of Biblical Law, Prooftexts 27.2 (2007)

H. Harless, The Cessation of the Mosaic Covenant, Bibliotheca Sacra, 160(July-Sept 2003), 349-366

D. R Hillers Covenant: the History of a Biblical Idea (Baltimore: The JohnHopkins Press, 1969)

B.S. Jackson, Wisdom-Laws: A Study of the Mishpatim of Exodus 21:1-22:16,(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006)

B.S Jackson, Studies in the Semiotics of Biblical Law (Sheffield: SheffieldUniversity Press, 2000)

D. Joslyn-Siemiatkoski, "Moses received the Torah at Sinai and handed it on"(Mishnah Avot 1:1): the relevance of the written and oral Torah forChristians, Anglican Theological Review, 91 no 3 Sum 2009, 443-466

J.I Lawlor, The At Sinai Narrative: Exodus 18-Numbers 10,Bulletin forBiblical Research 21.1 (2011) 23-42

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