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T H E J E W I S H QUA R T E R LY RE V I E W, Vol. 94, No. 1 (Winter 2004) 158–161 TIMOTHY M. WILLIS. The Elders of the City: A Study of the Elders-Laws in Deuteronomy. Society of Biblical Literature Monograph Series 55. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2001. Pp. xiii Ⳮ 353. This book redresses the imbalance in studies of ancient Israel’s leadership groups from studies that have favored national leadership by conducting an analysis of an institution specific to local leadership—the governing role of elders of the city. The core of the book analyzes five Deuteronomic texts that mention these elders: Dt 19:1–13 (asylum), Dt 21:1–9 (the unknown murderer), Dt 21:18–21 (the rebellious son), Dt 22:13–21 (the unchaste bride), and Dt 25:5–10 (the levirate law). Before proceeding with his analysis of these texts, Willis provides a comprehensive and critical review of literature on the elders as well as a lucid description of the methodology he will use in his analysis of the five Deuteronomic elders-laws. The unique contribution of this study is its use of cross-cultural evidence. Willis argues that the local elders are a ‘‘local kinship-based institution’’ and describes how similar institutions function in some thirty-six contemporary Middle Eastern and African societies. Yet the author uses the results of ethnographic studies judiciously . He acknowledges that data from contemporary societies permit only an educated guess regarding the role of local leadership in ancient Israel. According to Willis, a principal shortcoming of earlier descriptions of the role of the elders in ancient Israelite society resulted from difficulties in reconstructing ancient Israel’s judicial system. While others have assumed the impossibility of appointed adjudicators (judges) coexisting with nonappointed arbiters (elders), Willis sees the two as complementary . The institution of judges appointed by kings did not necessarily prevent elders exercising judicial functions on a local level. Willis comes to this conclusion primarily on the basis of the cross-cultural data he has examined. Another important introductory matter that Willis discusses is the date of Deuteronomy. He asserts that Deuteronomy is a product of a religious and political program introduced in pre-exilic Jerusalem, and consequently , he argues that the elders’ function is to insure that local and personal issues are viewed in light of national life. Their role is to call the community to moral integrity and social solidarity. But if this is the function of these nonappointed adjudicators, what is the role of the appointed WILLIS, THE ELDERS OF THE CITY—HOPPE 159 judges? One should expect that they, too, would help people see the national implications of local action. After his lucid and comprehensive discussion of these introductory issues , Willis devotes a chapter to each of the Deuteronomic laws that mentions the elders of the city. He lays out comparative evidence derived from contemporary kinship-based societies and ancient Near Eastern societies . He follows this survey with an analysis of the pre-Deuteronomic and Deuteronomic layers of the elders-laws. Each chapter concludes with a very helpful summary and well-supported conclusions. The first of the elders-laws to be considered is the law on homicide and asylum (Dt 19:1–13). The author observes that ancient Israel was a society that considered family honor paramount and thus required bloodvengeance by the closest male relative of anyone killed. Ancient Israel allowed for a lesser penalty for an accidental killing: banishment from one’s community. The earliest layer of the law is an elaboration of Ex 21:12–14, which names three cities to shelter those guilty of accidental killing. Subsequent Deuteronomic redaction underscores the sacral aspect of the penalty and names three additional cities of asylum in order to prevent the blood-avenger from having an advantage over the accidental killer. The elders insure that the law is observed properly, thus restoring peace to the community. The law regarding the unknown murderer (Dt 21:1–9) is examined next. The law supplements the asylum law by covering cases in which the identities of the killer and the victim are unknown. In the ceremony to restore purity...

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