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Syracuse University

Bible

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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities

The Historical Role Of Leviticus 25 In Naturalizing Anti-Black Racism, James Watts Jul 2021

The Historical Role Of Leviticus 25 In Naturalizing Anti-Black Racism, James Watts

Religion - All Scholarship

Leviticus 25:39–46 describes a two-tier model of slavery that distinguishes Israelites from foreign slaves. It requires that Israelites be indentured only temporarily while foreigners can be enslaved as chattel (permanent property). This model resembles the distinction between White indentured slaves and Black chattel slaves in the American colonies. However, the biblical influence on these early modern practices has been obscured by the rarity of citations of Lev. 25:39–46 in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century sources about slavery. This article reviews the history of slavery from ancient Middle Eastern antiquity through the seventeenth century to show the unique degree to which early modern …


Scripturalization And The Aaronide Dynasties, James W. Watts Jan 2013

Scripturalization And The Aaronide Dynasties, James W. Watts

Religion - All Scholarship

Priests claiming descent from Aaron controlled the high priesthood of temples in Jerusalem and on Mount Gerizim in the Second Temple period. These Aaronides were in a position to influence religious developments in this period, especially the scripturalization of the Torah. The priests’ dynastic claims were probably a significant factor in the elevation of the Pentateuch to scriptural status. This claim can be tested by correlating what little we know about the Aaronide dynasties with what little we know about the scripturalization of two different portions of the Hebrew Bible, the Pentateuch and Ezra-Nehemiah.


The Political And Legal Uses Of Scripture, James W. Watts Jan 2013

The Political And Legal Uses Of Scripture, James W. Watts

Religion - All Scholarship

No abstract provided.