Homicide in ancient Israel, the ancient Near East, and traditional societies

This dissertation analyzes to what extent the biblical treatment of homicide is a result of the borrowing of legal precedents from the cuneiform cultures of the rest of the ancient Near East or a result of independent invention. It concludes that only a few elements in the treatment of homicide in ancient Israel are based upon the precedents from the rest of the ancient Near East. The majority of the institutions and concerns of the adjudication of homicide in the Bible are based either upon elements that characterize the treatment of homicide in traditional societies in general, that is, preindustrial, decentralized, and unspecialized societies, or upon concerns specific to ancient Israel.;The differences between the Hebrew Bible and the cuneiform treatments of homicide are found in the operation of blood feud, the presence of refuges for the killer from the blood avenger, the role of the monarchy, and the effect of a homicide upon the Israelite nation as a whole.;Certain phenomena in the adjudication of homicide in ancient Israel are akin to those in traditional societies. The operation of feud is rule-bound. While the victim's relatives assumed the initiative in remedying the murder and possessed the right and the responsibility to kill the killer, there were constraints on its power to effect vengeance.;Certain phenomena, such as the cities of refuge, the stay of an accidental homicide in the city of refuge even after his offense has been deemed accidental, and the use of the high priest's death as the time for the release of the accidental homicide, are specific to ancient Israel.;It is only in a single legal document, and then only in a few specialized cases, that a linkage to ancient Near Eastern laws emerges. In the Book of the Covenant, two cases of deadly assault, the goring ox and the attack on a pregnant woman, appear to be part of an ancient Near Eastern literary tradition.;In sum, a comparison of the totality of elements involved in the biblical adjudication of homicide shows that, for the most part, it reflects the independent invention of legal institutions in traditional societies and concerns specific to ancient Israel.