Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

LAWSUIT

Historians of ancient law warn that the modern concept of “lawsuit” may not exactly correspond to any of the available judicial or extrajudicial means ancients had for settling their disputes. Still, one is able to find biblical examples where two disputing parties bring their claim before a third for resolution, whether that be a judge, a priest, elders, or the king (Deut. 17:8-12; Josh. 20:4; 2 Sam. 15:2-6; 1 Kgs. 3:16-27; 2 Kgs. 6:26-31). Israel’s various law codes provided for the settling of such disputes throughout the centuries over which the OT was composed (Exod. 18:15-16; 23:3, 6; Deut. 19:15-19; 21:5; 2 Chr. 19:5-11).

In the past much has been written on the metaphorical understanding of a “covenant lawsuit” in certain prophetic texts, where Yahweh pressed a complaint against Israel (e.g., Isa. 1:2-3; Jer. 2:4-13; Mic. 6:1-8). More recent scholarship, however, has called into question whether one can actually identify such a form or genre in these prophetic books.

The NT has only a few references to settling disputes in a formal legal setting. Matt. 5:25-26; Luke 12:57-59 encourage people to settle their suits out of court. Matthew qualifies what may be Q material at 5:40 (cf. Luke 6:29) by rendering the confiscation of the coat as a guarantee in a lawsuit. The most extensive reference is found in 1 Cor. 6:1-11, where Paul corrects upper-status Christians in Corinth for taking lower-status Christians before provincial magistrates to settle matters of minor import. Paul reminds the Corinthians that settling their disputes this way betrays their Christian identity. As an alternative, Paul proposes private arbitration as the preferred means of settling such cases. Under arbitration, an impartial community member, acting as an arbiter, could decide the matters on a more informal and equitable basis. The proposed solution offers relief to lower-status Christians, who were at a disadvantage in the Roman legal system, and strengthens the Christian community in Corinth.

Bibliography. H.-J. Boecker, Law and the Administration of Justice in the Old Testament and Ancient Near East (Minneapolis, 1980); D. R. Daniels, “Is There a ‘Prophetic Lawsuit’ Genre?” ZAW 99 (1987): 339-60; D. J. Harrington, The Gospel of Matthew. Sacra Pagina 1 (Collegeville, 1991), 89; A. C. Mitchell, “Rich and Poor in the Courts of Corinth,” NTS 39 (1993): 562-86.

Alan C. Mitchell

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

LAWSUIT

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)