Legal revision and religious renewal in ancient Israel / Bernard M. Levinson.

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Biblical studies as the meeting point of the humanities -- Rethinking the relation between "canon" and "exegesis" -- The problem of innovation within the formative canon -- The reworking of the principle of transgenerational punishment: four case studies -- The canon as sponsor of innovation -- The phenomenon of rewriting within the Hebrew Bible: a bibliographic essay on inner-biblical exegesis in the history of scholarship.

Print version record.

This book examines the doctrine of transgenerational punishment found in the Decalogue - the idea that God punishes sinners vicariously, extending the punishment due them to three or four generations of their progeny. Although a 'God-given' law, the unfairness of punishing innocent people in this way was clearly recognized in ancient Israel. A series of inner-biblical and post-biblical responses to the rule demonstrates that later writers were able to criticize, reject, and replace this doctrine with the notion of individual retribution. Supporting further study, it includes a valuable bibliographical essay on the distinctive approach of inner-biblical exegesis, showing the contributions of European, Israeli, and North American scholars. This Cambridge release represents a major revision and expansion of the French edition, L'Herméneutique de l'innovation: Canon et exégèse dans l'Israël biblique, nearly doubling its length with extensive content and offering alternative perspectives on debates about canonicity, textual authority, and authorship.

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