Conflict, Order and Societal Change in Max Weber's Ancient Judaism: Substantive and Methodological Implications

Abstract:Although Max Weber never formulated a theory of societal change, his study of Ancient Judaism was primarily concerned with understanding and explaining such change; especially the development of a disenchanted, this-worldly monotheistic faith having significant social and characterological consequences. Implicit in Weber's understanding of societal change is a dialectical relation between conflict and an order in which each serves both to reinforce and to transform the other. Conflict among Israelite social strata forms a consistent theme throughout Weber's discussion in Ancient Judaism, particularly the conflict between the patrimonial Israelite kings and the charismatic Hebrew prophets. This dynamic focus on conflict and change has methodological consequences which Weber illustrated with particular clarity in Ancient Judaism, especially in his application of the ideal types of traditional, charismatic, and legal Herrschaft. Presented in ‘Basic Sociological Concepts’ as terminologically precise and logically distinct, the flexibility and adaptability evident in Weber's application of these types to the empirical context of ancient Israel shows that he considered them to be profoundly interrelated.