Injustice Made Legal
Subtitle: Deuteronomic Law and the Plight of Widows, Strangers, and Orphans in Ancient Israel (Bible in Its World)
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
Published: October 2002
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 224
ISBN-13: 9780802839091
Subjects: Biblical studies, criticism & exegesis; Social history; Social legislation (Jewish law); Jewish - Ancient; Critical legal studies; Religion - Commentaries / Reference; Social legislation; Religion; Ancient World; Biblical teaching; To 1500; Ancient - General; Biblical Criticism & Interpretation - Old Testament; History; Israel; Social justice
First sentence: Deut 14:22-29; 16:9-12, 13-15; 24:17-18, 19-22; and 26:12-15 purport to improve the circumstances of widows, strangers, and orphans in ancient Israelite society.
Description: "The scriptural laws dealing with widows, strangers, and orphans are conventionally viewed as rules meant to aid the plight of vulnerable persons in ancient Israelite society. In Injustice Made Legal Harold V. Bennett challenges this perspective, arguing instead that key sanctions found in Deuteronomy were actually drafted by a powerful elite to enhance their own material condition and keep the peasantry down.".

"Building his case on a careful analysis of life in the ancient world and on his understanding of critical law theory, Bennett views Deuteronomic law through the eyes of the needy in Israelite society. His unique approach uncovers the previously neglected link between politico-economic interests and the formulation of law.

The result is a new understanding of law in the Hebrew Bible and the ways it worked to support and maintain the dehumanization of widows, strangers, and orphans in the biblical community."--BOOK JACKET.