Lex Talionis in Early Judaism and the Exhortation of Jesus in Matthew 5.38-42 (The Library of New Testament Studies) - Hardcover

Davis, James

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0567041506 ISBN 13: 9780567041500

Publisher: T&T Clark, 2005

Synopsis

In Matthew 5:38-42, Jesus overrides the Old Testament teaching of 'an eye for eye and a tooth for a tooth' - the Lex Talionis law - and commands his disciples to turn the other cheek. James Davis asks how Jesus' teaching in this instance relates to the Old Testament talionic commands, how it relates to New Testament era Judaism and what Jesus required from his disciples and the church.

Based on the Old Testament texts such as Leviticus 24, Exodus 22 and Deuteronomy 19, a strong case can be made that the Lex Talionis law was understood to have a literal application there are several texts that text of Leviticus 24 provides the strongest case that a literal and judicial application. However, by the second century AD and later, Jewish rabbinic leadership was essentially unified that the OT did not require a literal talion, but that financial penalties could be substituted in court matters. Yet there is evidence from Philo, Rabbi Eliezer and Josephus that in the first century AD the application of literal talion in judicial matters was a major and viable Jewish viewpoint at the time of Jesus.

Jesus instruction represents a different perspective from the OT lex talionis texts and also, possibly, from the Judaism of his time. Jesus commands the general principle of not retaliation against the evil person and intended this teaching to be concretely applied, as borne out in his own life.

JSNTS

About this title

About the Author:

James Davis is on the senior faculty at Jordan Evangelical Theological Seminary, Amman, Jordan teaching New Testament studies. He worked as a Bible translator/editor for the Holman Christian Standard Bible and served as an adjunct faculty at Dallas Theological Seminary.

Review:

"...cannot and should not be ignored. The work is well researched, carefully written, and will make a valuable addition to Sermon on the Mount studies. Anyonw who enters into studies of the Law in the NT, the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus' view of the Law and of Jesus' ethic would be foolish not to include this work in the bibliography."- Samuel Lamerson, June 2006/ Vol. 49 no.2 (Journal Of Evangelical Theological Society)

'There should be little doubt that this is an extremely useful book for the analysis of the lex talionis...It is conveniently set out and provides masses of important parallel examples from early Judaism.' James G. Crossley (Journal for the Study of the New Testament)

About this edition

• Publisher: T&T Clark
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0567041506
• ISBN 13: 9780567041500
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 210