The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible and Law

The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible and Law (OEBL) provides the most up-to-date and extensive treatment of the Bible and law yet attempted, both updating and expanding the scope of previous scholarship in the field. In comprehensive overviews, scholars at the forefront of biblical studies and law address three foci: biblical law itself--its nature, collections, and genres; the ancient contexts of biblical law, throughout the ancient Mediterranean (ancient Near Eastern, Greco-Roman, and Early Jewish); and the afterlife and influence of biblical law in antiquity and in modern jurisprudence around the world. Essays include treatments of the Book of the Covenant, the Ten Commandments, the Sermon on the Mount, Greek Law, and the Laws of Hammurapi, but also testimony and witness, property, ritual, rhetoric, gender, and sexual legislation.

The two-volume Encyclopedia contains 130 entries ranging in length from 3,000 to 7,000 words. With bibliographic references and suggestions for further reading, each entry provides a thorough overview of the topic and serves as an entrance point to further original research for both seasoned scholars and beginning students. Given its full-orbed exploration of biblical law and its detailed summary of current scholarship, the OEBL is guaranteed to secure a privileged place in the history of biblical and legal scholarship.

Brent A. Strawn is Professor of Old Testament at the Candler School of Theology, Emory University, where he is also associated professor in the Department of Middle Eastern and South Asian Studies and a Senior Fellow in the Center for the Study of Law and Religion. He is the author of What Is Stronger than a Lion? Leonine Image and Metaphor in the Hebrew Bible and the Ancient Near East(2005) and over 150 articles, essays, and reviews. He is the editor or co-editor of thirteen other volumes, includingThe Bible and the Pursuit of Happiness: What the Old and New Testaments Teach Us aboutthe Good Life (Oxford University Press). He co-edits Cambridge University Press' Old Testament Theology series and sits on the editorial board ofOxford Biblical Studies Online, as well as the Common English Bible project, theCatholic Biblical Quarterly, the Journal of Biblical Literature, andExplorations in the Ancient Near Eastern Culture (Eisenbrauns). He is presently at work on two volumes germane to the study of biblical law: a commentary on Deuteronomy for theNew Cambridge Bible Commentary and a monograph on unintentional sin for the Society of Biblical Literature.