Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Bill Rea <bsr15 AT cantsl.it.canterbury.ac.nz>]

James wrote:-

>I think that if this had been referred to as Moshe's Torah then a good
>argument could have been made for this meaning that the entire law code
>would be written in their hearts. However, what should be taken in to
>consideration is that Yhwh is the speaker and he says 'my law' and not
>'Moshe's law'. As already noted the law that was given to Moshe on Mount
>Sinai took the form of the ten words written by God's own finger.

Without wishing to offend our tradition Jewish friends on this list,
it is widely accepted in scholarly circles that the scope of the
Torah changed over time. Whether is it the ``core'' ten words or
whatever consistuted ``Moshe's Torah'' at the time that is to be
written on the heart is uncertain. What is not unclear (i.e. clear)
from the text is that there is no new torah mentioned as part
of the new covenant. Later interpreters of both Jewish and
Christian interpretative communities have read this back into
the text for their own valid and differing reasons. I don't
see a problem with doing this for religious reasons. But it
is a problem if the scholarly community starts doing it without
making a solid case for it.

Bill Rea, ICT Services, University of Canterbury \_
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