Timeline for How could laws related to "private life" be enforceable in Ancient Israel?
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12 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Aug 10, 2017 at 17:28 | comment | added | DonielF | The Talmud in Shavuos (quoted by Rashi to Exodus 21:12) relates that if one killed on purpose with no witnesses and one killed by accident with no witnesses, HaShem will orchestrate things such that they meet up at an inn and the latter will accidentally kill the former, allowing everyone to get their just desserts. Justice isn’t always carried out by the courts. | |
| Aug 10, 2017 at 17:26 | comment | added | DonielF | @Kovesh Worse than that. We find that if a man warns his wife not to sin with another and she does so anyway, depending on the circumstances she could literally be blown up (Numbers 5). But be that as it may, in all cases punishment is only meted if there are two witnesses meeting certain criteria who warned according to certain criteria and who were responded to by the perpetrator according to certain criteria. As you can imagine, even in “public” sins, as you call them, capital punishment was extremely rare. (Cont) | |
| Aug 10, 2017 at 11:51 | history | tweeted | twitter.com/StackJudaism/status/895613585895960576 | ||
| Aug 10, 2017 at 7:50 | answer | added | Shalom | timeline score: 1 | |
| Aug 10, 2017 at 3:27 | answer | added | AZav_nov | timeline score: 0 | |
| Oct 2, 2016 at 5:28 | comment | added | Gary | @Kovesh - YW - It's just my opinion formed from a fair amount of reading the ancients. "Destroyed" probably doesn't need the quotation marks- it was a lot easier getting killed/mutilated/enslaved for insulting/offending/breaking an oath to someone, especially if you were in a tributary nation with an overlord...and if that could happen with an Earthly person, all the more reason to behave publicly and privately in fear of a Deity. A good mix of the two can be found reading one of Essarhadden's vassel treaties. They took integrity and respect a LOT more seriously back then. | |
| Sep 26, 2016 at 17:51 | comment | added | Kovesh | Thanks Gary, that does help. So in an honor/shame society there was much more concern for integrity than nowadays. I'm sure someone's life back then would be much more "destroyed" if their secret sins were ever revealed, than nowadays when some "scandal" happens, people talk about it and then it just makes them famous/rich. | |
| Sep 25, 2016 at 15:07 | comment | added | Gary | ..hence all the literary activity regarding oaths, whereas nowadays, unfortunately, people have no problem looking into your eyes and lying straight in your face, in a lot of instances...in those days, there was a lot more Fear of G-d/whatever deities they believed in, preventing false swearing and general deception. | |
| Sep 25, 2016 at 14:58 | comment | added | Gary | In those days, apparently, the "honor system" really meant something to MOST people, as a perusal of ancient texts SEEMS to indicate---of course, a lot of the time, they were writing extremely idealistically..how the average Joe really acted might have been quite a bit different from the way the "classic" Greek, Egyptian, and Roman writers portrayed their respective societies. The Hebrew prophets, on the other hand, seemed to have no problems writing the truth about what was going on in their times..for better or worse. But, as compared to now, a person's word was their honest Word. | |
| Sep 23, 2016 at 13:38 | comment | added | Kovesh | Fair enough, but I'm not making any claim of halachic distinction, rather, a practical one. Day to day life, people doing things that others don't see. Perhaps a couple are in the habit of disregarding taharat hamishpachah and nobody knows, or perhaps it is a sin such as those listed in our parashah (Ki Tavo) that Ibn Ezra said share the trait of all being "private sins" (dishonoring parents, misleading the blind, secret idol worship, etc.). My question is not about a halachic distinction, it is about whether or not there was proactive enforcement or more of an "honor system" in place. | |
| Sep 23, 2016 at 4:13 | comment | added | Double AA♦ | Murder and kosher are both only punishable with witnesses. I guess I'm not sure how to define your "public/private" distinction. I'm at least unfamiliar with such a distinction in Halakha regarding this. | |
| Sep 23, 2016 at 4:11 | history | asked | Kovesh | CC BY-SA 3.0 |