Studies in Biblical and Cuneiform Law (review)

Hebrew Studies 34 (1993) 222 55:5 55:6-7 55:8-11 55:12-13 David in that it provides for sovereignty over peoples. Yahweh speaks to Darius and recognizes his restoration ofJerusalem. Everyone is called to worship Yahweh. Rebels are challenged to their rebellion because Yahweh suppons Darius. Yahweh defends his plan to use the Persian ... Yahweh insists that his goal is [sic] using the Persian is Jerusalem's well-being. (p. 245) Reviews If earlier generations of interpreters engaged in imaginative allegoresis of biblical texts, this seems an equally imaginative attempt at "historesis" (if one may coin such a term). It requires, among other things, that verse 5 (according to p. 241 an address not of Yahweh but of the Heavens) be interpreted as designating Darius as a Yahwist: "For the sake of Yahweh your (masc sg [sic]) God." Surely much more natural is the interpretation of Volz, von Rad, Westermann, and others, that the promises to David (reinforced by the allusion to Ps 18:44 [43] in verse 4) are now applied to Israel as a whole. This short review has employed a few soundings to suggest the character of Watts' second volume. Readers will be grateful for the bibliographies . But for the rest, caveat lector! Raymond C. Van Leeuwen Calvin College Grand Rapids, MI49546 STUDIES IN BIBLICAL AND CUNEIFORM LAW. By Raymond Westbrook. Cahiers de la Revue Biblique 26. Pp. 150. Paris: Gabalda, 1988. Paper. This monograph comprises four topical studies, connected by the common theme of the redress of wrongs in biblical and cuneiform law. The first deals with the abuse of economic and administrative power. After discussing the terms gzl and 'sq in their biblical contexts (including Gen 31:27-31, Leviticus 21-26, and 2 Sam 12:1-14 where, as the author notes, the term gzl does not occur), Westbrook concludes that gzl refers to cases of abuse in which the victim's property was taken away, while 'sq refers to those in which the victim's legal due was denied. Biblical evidence indicates that in ancient Israel as elsewhere in the ancient Near East redress for such abuse was by direct petition to the king. Hebrew Studies 34 (1993) 223 Reviews The second study discusses penalties for causing personal bodily injury or death. A comparison of the biblical and cuneiform cases of unpremeditated non-permanent injury (Exod 21:18-19), injury to a pregnant woman (Exod 21:22-25), a goring ox (Exod 21:28-32), serious and crippling injuries (Exod 21:24-25), and homicide (Exod 21:12-14, Num 35:9-34; and Deut 19:1-14) reveals that either physical or pecuniary penalties could be imposed for causing death or injury. After critiquing various theories which have attempted to explain this dichotomy, Westbrook proposes that ancient Near Eastern law, including that of the Bible, recognized a dual legal right of either revenge or ransom by the victim and/or his family upon the perpetrator and/or his family. These rights were regulated by limiting the extent of revenge and by fixing the price of the ransom. Westbrook concludes that although some legal rules regulated only revenge while others regulated only ransom, biblical law accepts both as viable options. The chapter ends with an excursus on the stoning of a goring ox. Westbrook observes that the biblical injunction to kill the ox should not be considered unique since all of ancient Near Eastern law would have required that such a public danger be destroyed. He suggests that the Bible's requirement that the ox be stoned was necessary to prevent the killing of the animal from being viewed as a sacrificial act, since only the Bible requires ritual sacrifice for the slaughter of an animal for food. The third study focuses on the mistreatment of slaves (Exod 21:20-21, 26-27, Lev 19:20-22) in the context of cuneiform law relating to debtslavery . Westbrook defines these biblical slaves as Israelite debtors or members of their households whom a creditor had seized as debt-slaves. He further understands the verb nqm as a technical term for vicarious punishment (with the associated verb n/r meaning "to slaughter...