Legal Thinking and Notions of the Self: Why Biblical Studies Needs an Anthropology of Law

Abstract This article contributes to discussions about the history of the self in ancient Jewish contexts. Second Temple–period figures such as Philo of Alexandria expressed clear connections between legal thought and reflections on the self, but these connections were not innovations of the Second Temple period. They had roots already in earlier texts going back at least to the Pentateuch. I argue that, for several reasons, contemporary research can benefit from greater attention to points of continuity between legal thinking during the Second Temple period and earlier periods, which can enrich the way scholars conceptualize both the concept of law and the history of the self.