Exceptions to the Law in the Old Testament
The law of the Old Testament is frequently portrayed as a relatively rigid and frozen law, which should be applied to the letter in full and suffering no exception. However, on closer examination, the main collections of laws of the Old Testament already provide for many concessions to the application of the rule. This short study endeavours to update this phenomenon by reviewing four main exception dimensions: involuntary homicide exceptions, exceptions in case of particular circumstances or events, exceptions for socio-economical reasons, and last, cases where the law provides for a person to require the non application of the rule. These various cases put forward the ways in which the codes of the Old Testament provide for many concessions in the application of the rule. Besides, it should be taken into account the fact that the Old Testament legislative codes are not codes or manuals of law in the modern sense of the word, but rather are learned compositions showing a strongly theoretical character. Various clues suggest that, in ancient Israel, the effective juridical practice could vary in a significant way in relation to the rulings of these codes and show still greater exception phenomena.