A Separation of Powers in Biblical Israel

In The Crown and the Courts, David C. Flatto traces the development of the idea of judicial independence in Jewish commentaries on the Scriptures - particularly Deuteronomy 17 - from the Second Temple and early rabbinic periods. These periods roughly span 400 BC to 300 AD. Flatto does not treat the subsequent question of whether this body of thought contributed to Western ideas of judicial independence. His interest is comparative rather than genealogical. At the very least, he argues, these commentaries provide an alternative to later Enlightenment justifications for separated powers in general, and of judicial independence in particular. Flatto's discussion also provides a distinctive account of the limits, or at least potential limits, on royal power in the political theology of the Pentateuch.