The Torah and Ancient Near Eastern Law Codes/0
The Torah and Ancient Near Eastern Law Codes
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Introduction
When studying the legal sections of Torah in light of their Ancient Near Eastern counterparts, one finds that there is both considerable overlap, and significant differences between the sets of codes. In terms of content, there is much that is shared. The general formulation of many laws is also similar. As is often the case, though, it is the differences between the codes which are most revealing. From the range of topics covered to specific details of the offenses and penalties, the collections vary widely. Often, these variations reflect both the different underlying values and principles of each culture, and their different conceptions of justice and punishment.
The Ancient Near Eastern Law Codes
Lists of laws have been preserved in seven major cuneiform collections - the Sumerian codes of Ur-Nammu (CU) and Lipit Ishtar (LI), the Old-Babylonian codes of Eshnuna (CE) and Hammurabi (CH), and finally, the Middle Assyrian, Old Hittite and Neo-Babylonian lists. The degree of preservation varies for each text. Some, like the code of Ur-Nammu, remain only in bits and fragments while others, like the famous code of Hammurabi, contain over 200 laws. The texts date to several different time periods. While the laws of Lipit Ishtar were composed as early as the nineteenth century BCE, the Middle Assyrian laws appear as late as the twelfth century BCE.
Points of Contact
- Common categories – Many areas of law are common to both the Mesopotamian and Biblical law collections. These include prohibitions against dishonest business dealings, false testimony, murder or rape and laws dealing with adultery, illegal entry or theft, and personal injury.
- Specific details – In many cases, though, even the details of these laws are remarkable similar. For instance, when discussing battery, the various collections contain an identical catalog of injured bodily parts: eye, tooth, hand, and leg. Both the Torah and several of the codes bring the unusual case of the striking of a pregnant woman in a brawl as the example of personal liability.1 Sometimes, too, the same extenuating circumstances appear in both sets of sources. Thus, in the case of rape, the same distinction between a city and an outlying field is found in both Sefer Devarim and the Hittite laws (197).
- Examples – Click below for two examples of many laws which bear a marked resemblance one to another:
Points of Difference
- Types of laws included – The Torah includes not just civil law, like the Ancient Near Eastern codes, but also ethical and moral precepts2 and religious and cultic law.3 The idea of interweaving religious and secular law is unique to the Torah,4 and often laws from the two categories flow seamlessly into one another.5
- Formulation of laws – In the Mesopotamian codes, all the laws are casuistic in style, formulated as case law (if… then…). In Torah, on the other hand, alongside such laws there are also apodictic rules.6 These are general prescriptions of what to do or not to do, without defining a specific case.7 Additionally, in Torah, often commandments are accompanied by some sort of rationale or motivation for obedience.8 The equivalent is somewhat rare in the secular codes, and if it does appear, it will generally not appeal to one's historical or ethical sense.
- Context – Other collections contain just a list of laws and rules, framed perhaps by an introduction or epilogue. The laws in the Torah, in contrast, are embedded into its narrative material, and in some cases are not understandable without it.9
- Authorship – Hashem is the author of the Torah's laws, whereas it is the king and not the deity who writes and promulgates the Mesopotamian codes. As such, when a person violates the other law codes, it is considered a crime against a fellow man, whereas when one transgresses a Torah commandment it is considered a sin against God. For the same reason, while many of the codes give the victim the right to pardon the offender, in Israelite law, this is not possible.10 Finally, whereas the kings impose their law on their people, the Torah's commandments are presented as a covenant which the people agreed to.11
- Punishments – In Torah, with the exception of the slave, penalties do not differ due to the social status of the criminal/victim. In the other codes, in contrast, such social stratification is common.12 Certain penalties, such as bodily mutilation, multiple punishments for the same offense or vicarious punishment, which are frequently found in other codes,13 are either rare14 or totally absent from Tanakh.
