Milner S. Ball

Law and Prophets, Bridges and Judges

Aviam Soifer said that Robert Covers death left many of us with the feeling that a vital conversation had been interrupted in mid-sentence. 1 What follows are notes for an unfinished conversation2 on the metaphor of law as bridge3 and the prophetic function of the judge.4 They are only preparatory background material. Their focus is upon some tough biblical texts, the kind that leave the mark of their infectious truculence upon those whom they irresistibly engage.