Max Weber and the Sociological Study of Ancient Israel.

This paper attempts to provide an overview of the questions Max Weber was attempting to answer in his study of ancient Israel and to articulate his own theses about the nature of ancient Israelite society. It also aims to assess the cogency of the ideal type "prophet" described in two of Weber's works. The author notes that in studying ancient Israel, Weber was, at once and at the same time, studying ancient literature and the society that produced it. Weber sought to understand the character of one specific religion that has continued for over a 2000 year period through this writing, wherein he expressed his feelings of the existence of Judaism as a problem. He was concerned to ask a more universal question, one that encompassed the major cultures of both Orient and Occident, and also believed that anyone who was an heir to the traditions of the modern European civilization would approach problems of universal history with a set of questions that would appear both inevitable and legitimate. One leitmotif running throughout Weber's chapters on ancient Israel is the emphasis on change.