Debt and its solutions : a comparative study of the biblical jubilee year and the edict of Ammisaduqa
Date
2013-03
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
Abstract
The Edict of Ammisaduqa and the Jubilee Year legislation in Leviticus 25 provide the most extensive evidence for the debt relief tradition throughout the ancient Near East. A comparative analysis of these texts points to an indirect relationship between them based upon a common theme, debt-slavery of the head of the household, and terminology, andurārum and drr. However, the substantial differences in content between the two texts suggest that there is no direct relationship between them.
In light of this analysis it is possible that the tradition of debt relief entered ancient Israel in some form at an early date and then was later re-emphasized during the late monarchic period under Neo-Assyrian influence. This possibility rests upon the debt relief tradition existing in Syro-Palestine under influence from Mari and the Hittites, as well as later under the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Internal evidence in Leviticus 25 also potentially points to an early rural situation for the origination of the Jubilee tradition.
Description
Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2013.
Keywords
Edict of Ammisaduqa, Debt -- Middle East -- History, Debt-slavery -- Ancient Israel, Bible. Leviticus, XXV -- Criticism, interpretation, etc., Jubilee (Judaism), Dissertations -- Ancient studies, Theses -- Ancient studies