Chapter Twelve: New Laws for a New Age

This chapter looks at how the biblical laws of marriage, divorce, and sexual relations were interpreted during the Second Temple (or intertestamental) period, with reference to the writers of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the followers of Jesus. It shows that there is considerable fluidity between literary genres that are nowadays regarded as distinct and that the early chapters of Genesis were often crucial to legal interpretation. Despite fundamental differences between the Qumran community and the New Testament writers, the laws of marriage, divorce, and remarriage were important to both groups as a means of championing a particular attitude towards Moses, the purposes of God, and the eschaton (the end of the present age). The chapter argues that interpretations of biblical law (including on the question of divorce and remarriage) helped to define the identity of both religious groups, particularly in relation to their opponents.