by jimwalton » Mon Nov 01, 2021 10:10 am
Thank you for the explanation. What I saying is that the whole meaning, worldview and cultural context of "law" was something different back then. And it would be my contention that it was not the Torah that was so legalistic, but all the of Talmudic, midrashim, and rabbinic additions and contortions that were added through the centuries that made it so. My point is that my description of the Torah (and what Torah even means) was accurate, even from a Jewish perspective. What has changed is how it was interpreted.
For instance, the Torah says, in general, that work should not be done on the Sabbath. By the time of Jesus, the rabbis had established 39 categories of activities that must not be performed on the Sabbath. In turn, these main 39 categories were subdivided into 39 classes, making a total of 1521 Sabbath rules. It wasn't the Torah that was legalistic, it was Judaism.