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Lawyers And Biblical Prophets, Thomas L. Shaffer
Lawyers And Biblical Prophets, Thomas L. Shaffer
Journal Articles
This is part of a broader exploration of the suggestion that the biblical prophets-Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, Nathan, and the others-are sources of ethical reflection and moral example for modern American lawyers. The suggestion appears to be unusual; I am not sure why.
The Prophets were, more than anything else, lawyers-as their successors, the Rabbis of the Talmud, were. They were neither teachers nor bureaucrats, not elected officials or priests or preachers. And the comparison is not an ancient curiosity:
Much of what admirable lawyer-heroes have done in modern America has been prophetic in the biblical sense-that is, what they …