Professor Christine Hays (Yale University) delivered a lecture in the Shalom Hartman Institute 5776 Rabbinic Webinar Series on Shavuot and its commemoration of the giving of Torah. The lecture, “Moses at Sinai: God’s Partner or Adversary?” was given on the first day of Shavuot 5776 (June 1, 2016).
Sinai Covenant
John Rogerson on Law and Justice in the Old Testament
Emeritus Professor John Rogerson presents the 2012 Beauchief Abbey Lent lectures at Beauchief Abbey, Sheffield: “Law & Justice in the Old Testament”. The five lectures are available as YouTube videos (the second lecture recorded in audio only).
Handouts for the five lectures may be downloaded here.
The laws of a society reflect to some extent its values and ideals. The laws in the Old Testament also do this, but there is an additional, prophetic factor, which means that Old Testament laws do not just have a regulative purpose, but also a transforming purpose. Thus, to study Old Testament laws means to study the prophetic impulse that sought to shape a society that reflected the divine image.
First Lecture:
‘What is the point of studying these things today?’
Lecture 2:
‘How should we approach the law “codes” in the Old Testament?’
Lecture 3:
‘The Covenant “Code”, Exodus 21.1-23.19’
Lecture 4:
‘The Deuteronomic “Code”, Deuteronomy 12.1-26.19‘
Final Lecture:
‘The Holiness Laws, Leviticus 19-26’
Biblical Studies Online 