The Signs of Sin: Seriousness of Offence in Biblical Law

by Jonathan P. Burnside, Andrew Mein (Editor), Claudia V. Camp (Editor)

Overview

What makes one crime more serious than another, and why? This book investigates the problem of "seriousness of offence" in English law from the comparative perspective of biblical law. Burbanside takes a semiotic approach to show how biblical conceptions of seriousness are synthesised and communicated through various descriptive and performative registers. Seven case studies show that biblical law discriminates between the seriousness of different offences and between the relative seriousness of the same offence when committed by different people or when performed in different ways. Recurring elements include location and the offender's social statue. The closing chapter considers some of the implications for the current debate about crime and punishment.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780826462183
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	05/01/2003
Series:	The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies , #364
Pages:	312
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.30(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Andrew Mein is Lecturer in Old Testament at the University of Durham, UK.

Claudia V. Camp is Professor of Religion at Texas Christian University, USA and was on the steering committee of the Seminar. She is currently co-general editor of the LHBOTS series, as well as the author or editor of 4 books and numerous articles.