Departmental Papers (Religious Studies)
Document Type
Book Chapter
Date of this Version
2003
Publication Source
Rabbinic Law in Its Roman and Near Eastern Context
Start Page
83
Last Page
103
Abstract
In this paper I look at one particular exegetical complex through which, I will argue, the rabbis grapple with the question of legal jurisdiction and the status of revelation in the shadow of Roman legal hegemony. I will try to show that rabbinic midrash in its literariness (that is, as a source for the history of ideas, rather than a repository of more or less viable data for reporting history on the ground) is a valuable site for mining the mentalité of tannaitic culture (to the extent that we can posit such a thing), and specifically of tannaitic constructions of the idea of the law from the perspective of the subaltern.
Copyright/Permission Statement
This text was originally published by Mohr Siebeck in Rabbinic Law in Its Roman and Near Eastern Context in 2015. Full book available at www.mohr.de/en/book/rabbinic-law-in-its-roman-and-near-eastern-context-9783161480713.
Recommended Citation
Dohrmann, N.B. (2003). The Boundaries of the Law and the Problem of Jurisdiction in an Early Palestinian Midrash. In C. Hezser (Ed.), Rabbinic Law in Its Roman and Near Eastern Context. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck.
Included in
Islamic World and Near East History Commons, Jurisdiction Commons, Legal Commons, Religion Commons
Date Posted: 08 September 2017