Law and Narrative

Megan Turton reconsiders two major consensuses: the initial non-binding character of biblical law collections and the textual fluidity of the Torah. By analysing legal and narrative variants in Exodus 19-24, the author reassesses how normative authority was constructed despite substantial textual instability.

English summary: In her work, Megan Turton begins from two emerging consensuses: that biblical law collections, like their ancient Near Eastern counterparts, did not originally operate as binding sources of legislation, and that the text of the Torah remained fluid and pluriform until the Common Era. Against this background, she highlights a neglected issue: how textual instability affects the characterization of biblical law. Focusing on legal and narrative variants in the Hebrew manuscripts of Exodus 19-24 – including the Samaritan Pentateuch, the biblical Qumran Scrolls and the 4QReworked Pentateuch – the author reassesses the extent to which a “law code” model can describe the role of law in the late Second Temple period. She first surveys debates on the nature and functions of cuneiform and biblical collections, emphasizing how modern European ideals of exhaustive, coherent and finite written legislation shape scholarly expectations. Drawing on legal theory and Fernanda Pirie’s work in legal anthropology, legal history and comparative law, she proposes an alternative conceptualization of legal writings: “legalism” as a system of meaning-making that does not depend on stable textual form nor on the exclusion of other normative sources such as custom, older law, oral tradition or religious narrative. By analyzing and comparing both the quantity and quality of legal and narrative variants, Megan Turton shows that, although legal texts display somewhat reduced diversity relative to narrative ones, they nevertheless undergo substantial change and are interpreted within broader ideological, theological and literary frameworks. This calls into question the adequacy of legislative models and literalistic interpretation for describing biblical law in the late Second Temple period and beyond. German description: Megan Turton setzt sich mit zwei zentralen fachwissenschaftlichen Konsensen auseinander: dass biblische Gesetzessammlungen – wie ihre altorientalischen Gegenstucke – ursprunglich nicht als bindende Gesetzesquellen fungierten und dass die Textgestalt der Tora bis in die Zeitenwende hinein fluid und pluriform blieb. Vor diesem Hintergrund macht sie auf ein vernachlassigtes Problem aufmerksam: wie textuelle Instabilitat die Charakterisierung biblischen Rechts beeinflusst. Durch die Fokussierung auf rechtliche und narrative Varianten in den hebraischen Handschriften von Ex 19-24 – einschliesslich des Samaritanischen Pentateuch, der biblischen Qumranrollen und des 4QReworked Pentateuch – bewertet die Autorin neu, inwieweit ein “Gesetzeskodex”-Modell die Rolle des Rechts in der spaten Zeit des Zweiten Tempels beschreiben kann. Zunachst skizziert sie Debatten uber Wesen und Funktionen keilschriftlicher und biblischer Sammlungen und betont, wie moderne europaische Vorstellungen erschopfender, koharenter und begrenzter schriftlicher Gesetzgebung die wissenschaftlichen Erwartungen pragen. Unter Ruckgriff auf Rechtstheorie und die Arbeiten von Fernanda Pirie in Rechtsanthropologie, Rechtsgeschichte und vergleichendem Recht entwickelt sie eine alternative Konzeption rechtlicher Schriftlichkeit: “Legalismus” als ein System der Sinnbildung, das weder von stabiler Textgestalt abhangt noch von der Ausschliessung anderer normativer Quellen wie Brauch, alterem Recht, mundlicher Tradition oder religioser Erzahlung. Durch die Analyse und den Vergleich von Umfang und Qualitat rechtlicher und narrativer Varianten zeigt Megan Turton, dass rechtliche Texte, obwohl sie gegenuber narrativen eine etwas geringere Vielfalt aufweisen, dennoch erheblichen Wandel durchlaufen und innerhalb breiterer ideologischer, theologischer und literarischer Rahmen gedeutet werden. Dies stellt die Angemessenheit gesetzgeberischer Modelle und einer literalistischen Auslegung zur Beschreibung biblischen Rechts in der spaten Zeit des Zweiten Tempels und daruber hinaus infrage.

Introduction
Chapter 1: The Character and Functions of the Ancient Near Eastern Laws and Legal Revision
1.1 Challenges to the Legislative and Legal Characterization of the ANE Law Collections
1.2 The Concept of Law and its Relationship to Modern Legislation
1.3 Written Law, Orality and the Limits of Literalism
1.4 The ANE Law Collections as Legalistic Expression and Systems of Meaning
1.5 The Character and Extent of Legal Revision
1.6 Conclusion
Chapter 2: The Character and Functions of the Biblical Laws and Legal Revision
2.1 Biblical Law as Legalistic Expression and Systems of Meaning
2.2 The Interrelationship of Biblical Law and Narrative
2.3 The Character, Extent and Significance of Biblical Legal Revision
2.4 Searching for a "Re-characterization" of Biblical Law
2.5 Conclusion
Chapter 3: The Character of the Textual Transmission of Biblical Law and Narrative in the Late Second Temple
3.1 Textual Fluidity and Pluriformity in the Late STP
3.2 Previous Studies on the Textual Transmission of Biblical Law and Narrative
3.3 Building a Methodology: A Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis and Comparison of "Legal" and "Narrative" Variants
3.4 Summary of the Method and Presentation of the Evidence
Chapter 4: Legal and Narrative Variation in the Samaritan Pentateuch Version of Exod 19-24
4.1 The Samarian Pentateuch
4.2 Narrative: Arrival at Sinai and Theophany Beginning (Exod 19:1-25)
4.3 Law/Instruction: Ten Commandments (Exod 20:1-17)
4.4 Narrative: Request for Divine Mediator (Exod 20:18-21)
4.5 Law: Covenant Code (Exod 20:22-23:19)
4.6 Narrative: Epilogue to the Book of the Covenant (23:20-33)
4.7 Narrative: Covenant Ratification and Further Theophany (Exod 24:1-18)
4.8 Accumulative Statistics and Conclusions on the Character and Extent of Legal and Narrative Variation in SP Exod 19-24
Chapter 5: Legal and Narrative Variation in the Biblical Qumran Scrolls of Exod 19-24
5.1 The Biblical QS of Exod 19-24
5.2 1QExod (1Q2)
5.3 2QExoda (2Q2)
5.4 2QExodb (2Q3)
5.5 4QpaleoGen-Exodl (4Q11)
5.6 4QpaleoExodm (4Q22)
5.7 Accumulative Statistics and Conclusions on the Character and Extent of Legal and Narrative Variation in the Biblical QS of Exod 19-24
Chapter 6: Legal and Narrative Variation in the 4Q(Reworked) Pentateuch Manuscripts of Exod 19-24
6.1 The 4QRP Manuscripts of Exod 19-24
6.2 Manuscript 4Q158 (4QRPa)
6.3 Manuscript 4Q364 (4QRPb)
6.4 Manuscript 4Q366 (4QRPd)
6.5 Accumulative Statistics and Conclusions on the Character and Extent of Legal and Narrative Variation in the 4QRP Manuscripts of Exod 19-24
Chapter 7: Conclusion
7.1 Summary of Theory and Method
7.2 Summary of the Manuscript Evidence
7.3 Biblical Law in the Late STP as Legalistic Expression and an Ongoing System of Meaning-Making
7.4 Looking Ahead and Future Research

Born 1986; 2021 PhD (Department of Hebrew, Biblical and Jewish Studies, University of Sydney); Lecturer in Hebrew Bible and Language, Whitley College, University of Divinity.

• By (author) Megan Turton