Capital Punishment in the Pentateuch
Subtitle: Why the Bible Prescribes Ritual Killing
Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic & Professional
Published: 2023
Language: eng
ISBN-13: 9780567707192
Description: Through the application of mimetic theory Skidmore examines the social impact of capital punishment upon the community, and explores the cathartic nature of this practice within key Pentateuchal texts. Skidmore shows how Mimetic theorists such as Girard advance a view that a community ravaged by vengeance and blood feuds may be saved from extinction by scapegoating one of their own. As the community select a common scapegoat, and vent their collective violence upon this person, peace and order are restored. Though an in-depth analysis of various passages, Skidmore reveals this process in key Pentateuchal texts concerning capital punishment. These observations suggest that biblical capital punishment may have functioned as a means of protecting the Israelite community by managing rivalry and violence. .