The Torah Is Not a Law Book (Jerry Unterman)
Episode Summary
The nation of Israel was born into a world that was already culturally old and established. When the Torah appeared, the ancient Near East contained several law collections. CHT fellow Dr. Jerry Unterman explains that unlike other law codes of the ANE, the Torah is not a law book. Rather, its unique framework reveals it to be a treaty—a covenant between God and His people, embedded in a narrative.
Chapters
- 0:26 What is the world of law in the Torah?
- 6:02 Hammurabi and “If x, then y”
- 9:58 The ANE laws were never promulgated to the people
- 12:43 The God who makes a treaty with the people
- 15:47 Laws for the people to “tend”
- 16:50 Shared responsibility
- 17:36 The way the law works
- 21:43 Michael LeFebvre’s contested article
- 25:53 God is the source of justice
- 27:28 What’s the difference between laws?
Transcripts are AI generated and are not guaranteed to correctly reflect the content of the podcast.
Transcript
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Dr. Jeremiah Unterman
Jeremiah Unterman (PhD in Near Eastern Studies, Judaica Program at UC, Berkeley) was Adjunct Professor of Bible at Yeshiva University and Director of the Association of Modern Orthodox Day Schools in North America before becoming a Resident Scholar at the Herzl Institute. Dr. Unterman is the author of a book on biblical prophecy, From Repentance to Redemption, and a book on biblical ethics, Justice for All: How the Jewish Bible Revolutionized Ethics, as well as numerous scholarly articles.
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