Previous scholarship on Josh 15:16–19 and Judg 1:12–15 has drawn on ancient Near Eastern and Jewish laws pertaining to dowries as an aid for interpreting Achsah’s acquisition of property from her father. This article further elucidates the Achsah narrative by bringing it into conversation with legal documents pertaining to dowries from Mesopotamia that highlight their strategic use for purposes such as economic and social advancement. Drawing on insights from law and literature scholarship that highlight how narrative may offer a perspective on law, this article interrogates the ways that Achsah operates within the framework of legal norms pertaining to daughters, while also challenging them.
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Yael Landman (2024) studied this question.
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