Juxtaposition

The law of the ben sorer umoreh poses a number of problems. Like the rabbis, Josephus interprets the law, but his conclusions are quite different.

The well-known rabbinic principle of אין מוקדם ומאוחר בתורה (there is no chronological order in the Torah) is often understood to be a hermeneutical solution to a textual, peshat problem. The principle, however, should be understood as midrashic, formulated to highlight other reasons for which biblical accounts could have been juxtaposed.