WEBVTT 00:00.950 --> 00:03.750 Professor Christine Hayes: So as we saw last 00:03.746 --> 00:07.266 week, before we stopped to talk about the priestly materials and 00:07.269 --> 00:10.619 the Holiness Code--as we saw last week, the covenant ceremony 00:10.624 --> 00:13.484 at Sinai included God's announcement of and Israel's 00:13.476 --> 00:16.436 agreement to certain covenantal stipulations. 00:16.440 --> 00:21.020 So Exodus 24:3 and 4, describe this agreement as 00:21.018 --> 00:23.418 follows: Moses went and repeated 00:23.422 --> 00:26.272 to the people all the commands of the lord and all the rules; 00:26.270 --> 00:28.410 and all the people answered with one voice, 00:28.413 --> 00:31.733 saying "All the things that the lord has commanded we will do!" 00:31.730 --> 00:35.000 Moses then wrote down all the commands of the Lord. 00:35.000 --> 00:38.650 So the covenant concluded at Sinai is the climactic moment in 00:38.653 --> 00:40.423 the Pentateuchal narrative. 00:40.420 --> 00:45.090 And it came to be viewed as the initiation of God's articulation 00:45.088 --> 00:49.088 of the laws and rules and ordinances and instruction by 00:49.090 --> 00:52.500 which the ancient Israelites were to live. 00:52.500 --> 00:55.520 And so later editors consequently inserted law 00:55.515 --> 00:59.335 collections from later times and circles into the story of 00:59.336 --> 01:01.946 Israel's meeting with God at Sinai, 01:01.950 --> 01:04.650 and subsequent sojourn in the wilderness. 01:04.650 --> 01:08.030 This was done in order to lend these collections an air of high 01:08.031 --> 01:10.651 antiquity and to give them divine sponsorship. 01:10.650 --> 01:14.500 The conclusion of biblical scholarship is that a number of 01:14.501 --> 01:18.351 separate bodies of law have gravitated to the story of the 01:18.353 --> 01:22.073 40-year period of Israel's formation into a people. 01:22.069 --> 01:24.969 So that's the period of the covenant at Mount Sinai and then 01:24.972 --> 01:26.942 the journey towards the Promised Land. 01:26.939 --> 01:30.729 All Israelite law is represented in the biblical 01:30.731 --> 01:34.121 account as having issued from that time, 01:34.120 --> 01:39.200 that 40-year period of intimate contact between God and Israel. 01:39.200 --> 01:42.120 So on your handout, I've given a division, 01:42.124 --> 01:44.914 a rough division, of the different legal 01:44.907 --> 01:48.257 collections that we have in the Pentateuch. 01:48.260 --> 01:51.560 The laws that scholars will often refer to as the JE laws, 01:51.558 --> 01:53.868 since they sort of are introduced by that 01:53.873 --> 01:57.353 narrative--some people think it's best to just think of these 01:57.345 --> 01:59.885 as separate legal collections--those occur in 01:59.891 --> 02:02.581 Exodus. And so they tend to be dated 02:02.578 --> 02:05.368 tenth-ninth century in their written form. 02:05.370 --> 02:07.810 The laws of the priestly material are mostly going to be 02:07.807 --> 02:10.707 found in Leviticus and Numbers, and those will be formulated 02:10.706 --> 02:13.166 somewhere from the eighth to the sixth century. 02:13.169 --> 02:15.959 Same period of time roughly we have the laws of D, 02:15.958 --> 02:18.518 which are found, obviously, in Deuteronomy. 02:18.520 --> 02:21.920 But these sources themselves are clearly drawing upon much 02:21.917 --> 02:23.047 older traditions. 02:23.050 --> 02:26.140 Some of the individual laws are clearly quite ancient. 02:26.139 --> 02:28.809 They have a great deal in common with Ancient Near Eastern 02:28.806 --> 02:30.676 legal traditions, generally of the second 02:30.678 --> 02:32.748 millennium. The laws of Exodus, 02:32.745 --> 02:37.055 for example--some of them bear such similarity to the Code of 02:37.058 --> 02:41.078 Hammurabi that we can really assume that they are drawing 02:41.083 --> 02:45.113 upon a common legal heritage: Canaanite law or what would 02:45.108 --> 02:48.988 have been known as a legal tradition in Canaan. 02:48.990 --> 02:51.590 So whatever their actual origin, however, 02:51.585 --> 02:55.215 the bible represents these materials as having been given 02:55.220 --> 02:58.400 at Sinai or during that 40-year period after. 02:58.400 --> 03:00.870 So given at Sinai, now this is on your sheet, 03:00.871 --> 03:04.131 you have the Decalogue--not very well translated as the Ten 03:04.130 --> 03:06.490 Commandments--we'll come back to that. 03:06.490 --> 03:08.990 Covenant code, so that's a chunk of material, 03:08.993 --> 03:10.533 three chapters in Exodus. 03:10.530 --> 03:12.940 Then we have a small passage referred to as a ritual 03:12.941 --> 03:15.401 Decalogue--we'll come back to that--you have priestly 03:15.399 --> 03:17.999 legislation--a little bit in Exodus about the cult, 03:18.000 --> 03:21.840 obviously, then on into Leviticus and some Numbers. 03:21.840 --> 03:23.930 According to the biblical narrative then, 03:23.927 --> 03:26.797 the following materials were given in the 40 years after 03:26.798 --> 03:28.588 Sinai, as the Israelites are encamped 03:28.588 --> 03:30.788 in the wilderness on their journey toward the land of 03:30.787 --> 03:33.437 Israel. So those are presented as 03:33.438 --> 03:38.428 supplements in Numbers, but also the Deuteronomic code. 03:38.430 --> 03:40.770 Let's talk a little bit now about the Decalogue. 03:40.770 --> 03:44.080 There was a scholar by the name of Alt, A-L-T. 03:44.080 --> 03:47.950 Albrecht Alt, a German scholar who examined 03:47.951 --> 03:52.101 the legal material of the Bible in general. 03:52.099 --> 03:55.319 And he noticed that there were really two forms of law. 03:55.319 --> 03:58.699 Yeah--these things I forgot to write down . 03:58.699 --> 04:02.779 There's conditional law and apodictic law. 04:02.780 --> 04:05.500 Conditional law is case law, casuistic law. 04:05.500 --> 04:10.900 And then there's absolute or apodictic law. 04:10.900 --> 04:13.100 He noticed these two forms. 04:13.099 --> 04:17.209 Casuistic law is the common form that law takes in the 04:17.209 --> 04:20.929 Ancient Near East, and you've seen it in the Code 04:20.931 --> 04:24.541 of Hammurabi. It has a characteristic if/then 04:24.543 --> 04:27.043 pattern. Casuistic law tells you, 04:27.043 --> 04:29.953 for example, if a person does X or if X 04:29.945 --> 04:33.225 happens, then Y will be the consequence. 04:33.230 --> 04:34.310 It can be complex. 04:34.310 --> 04:36.060 It can be quite specific. 04:36.060 --> 04:38.060 If X happens, Y is the consequence, 04:38.058 --> 04:41.118 but if X happens under these different circumstances, 04:41.116 --> 04:42.876 then Z is the consequence. 04:42.879 --> 04:46.209 And it can be quite detailed giving three or four sub-cases 04:46.207 --> 04:47.467 with qualifications. 04:47.470 --> 04:50.000 Absolute or apodictic law, by contrast, 04:50.004 --> 04:54.144 is an unconditional statement of a prohibition or a command. 04:54.139 --> 04:57.279 It tends to be general and somewhat undifferentiated. 04:57.280 --> 04:58.590 You shall not murder. 04:58.589 --> 05:01.109 You shall love the lord your God. 05:01.110 --> 05:03.250 And absolute law, apodictic law, 05:03.251 --> 05:06.911 is not unknown as a form in other Ancient Near Eastern 05:06.912 --> 05:09.212 cultures, but it seems to be most 05:09.207 --> 05:11.027 characteristically Israelite. 05:11.029 --> 05:14.359 You find a great deal more of it in our legal collections in 05:14.360 --> 05:16.110 the Bible than anywhere else. 05:16.110 --> 05:18.690 The provisions of the Decalogue--and again, 05:18.693 --> 05:21.773 the translation Ten Commandments is actually a very 05:21.768 --> 05:24.048 poor translation; in the Hebrew, 05:24.053 --> 05:28.313 it simply means ten statements, ten utterances--the ones that 05:28.312 --> 05:32.502 are in some sort of legal form, are in absolute or apodictic 05:32.500 --> 05:35.140 form. The Decalogue is the only part 05:35.141 --> 05:38.681 of God's revelation that is disclosed directly to all of 05:38.681 --> 05:40.871 Israel without an intermediary. 05:40.870 --> 05:44.010 But its directives are couched in the masculine singular. 05:44.009 --> 05:47.359 So it seems to be addressing Israelite males as the legal 05:47.356 --> 05:49.026 subjects in the community. 05:49.029 --> 05:52.749 And the Decalogue sets out some of God's most basic and 05:52.754 --> 05:55.034 unconditional covenant demands. 05:55.029 --> 05:57.409 The division into ten is a bit awkward. 05:57.410 --> 06:00.020 It probably should be seen as an ideal number, 06:00.024 --> 06:02.584 an effort to find ten statements in there. 06:02.579 --> 06:04.609 Because, in fact, there are really about 13 06:04.607 --> 06:05.667 separate statements. 06:05.670 --> 06:09.940 And we see the fact that ten doesn't work very well in a very 06:09.940 --> 06:13.110 interesting phenomenon, which is that the so-called 06:13.106 --> 06:16.036 commandments are actually numbered differently by Jews and 06:16.035 --> 06:19.215 by Christians and then even within the Christian community, 06:19.220 --> 06:21.150 different Christian denominations number the 06:21.145 --> 06:23.555 commandments one through ten quite differently from one 06:23.562 --> 06:25.362 another. They disagree about what is 06:25.356 --> 06:27.446 number one and what is number two and so on. 06:27.449 --> 06:29.989 The first statements, either one through four or one 06:29.989 --> 06:32.079 through five depending on your counting, 06:32.079 --> 06:34.999 but the first group of statements concern Israel's 06:35.004 --> 06:37.574 relationship with her suzerain, with God. 06:37.569 --> 06:39.699 She's to be exclusively faithful to God. 06:39.699 --> 06:42.749 She's not to bow down to any manmade image. 06:42.750 --> 06:47.030 She may not use God's name in a false oath, to attest to or 06:47.029 --> 06:48.799 swear by a false oath. 06:48.800 --> 06:52.420 She is to honor God's Sabbath day, and honor parental 06:52.417 --> 06:56.797 authority, which is arguably an extension of God's authority. 06:56.800 --> 07:00.110 The remaining statements then concern Israel's relationship 07:00.106 --> 07:02.326 with her fellow vassals, if you will. 07:02.329 --> 07:06.749 And they prohibit murder and adultery and robbery, 07:06.751 --> 07:09.911 false testimony and covetousness. 07:09.910 --> 07:13.930 It's important to realize that the Pentateuch contains three 07:13.931 --> 07:15.841 versions of the Decalogue. 07:15.839 --> 07:18.099 And there are differences among them. 07:18.100 --> 07:20.810 The Decalogue is going to be repeated in Deuteronomy, 07:20.808 --> 07:22.898 chapter five. And there are some minor 07:22.896 --> 07:25.076 variations. Specifically you'll see that 07:25.079 --> 07:28.029 the rationale for observing the Sabbath is different. 07:28.029 --> 07:33.169 God's name in Deuteronomy 5 is not to be used in a vain oath as 07:33.173 --> 07:35.333 opposed to a false oath. 07:35.329 --> 07:37.129 There are differences in the meaning. 07:37.129 --> 07:39.289 And there are some more differences too in language. 07:39.290 --> 07:41.360 So what are we to make of this? 07:41.360 --> 07:42.790 One scholar, Marc Brettler, 07:42.786 --> 07:45.686 whose name I've mentioned before, he says that what we 07:45.693 --> 07:47.843 learn from this, these variations, 07:47.844 --> 07:51.194 is something about the way ancient Israel preserved and 07:51.193 --> 07:52.933 transmitted sacred texts. 07:52.930 --> 07:56.380 They didn't strive for verbatim preservation when they 07:56.381 --> 07:58.271 transmitted biblical texts. 07:58.269 --> 08:01.109 And they didn't employ cut and paste methods that might be 08:01.114 --> 08:03.664 important to us in the transmission of something. 08:03.660 --> 08:07.000 Texts were modified in the course of their transmission. 08:07.000 --> 08:11.400 Verbatim repetition was not valued in the way that it might 08:11.399 --> 08:13.829 be for us. So that even a text like the 08:13.831 --> 08:17.201 Decalogue, which is represented as being the unmediated word of 08:17.199 --> 08:19.589 God, can appear in more than one version. 08:19.589 --> 08:22.339 There's a more surprising variation that occurs, 08:22.343 --> 08:23.753 however, in Exodus 34. 08:23.750 --> 08:28.040 After smashing the first set of tablets that were inscribed with 08:28.040 --> 08:30.900 the Decalogue--the tablets in Exodus 20, 08:30.899 --> 08:34.179 those are smashed after the golden calf incident--Moses is 08:34.180 --> 08:36.310 then given a second set of tablets. 08:36.309 --> 08:39.099 And the biblical writer emphasizes in the story at that 08:39.095 --> 08:42.085 point that God writes on the tablets the words that were on 08:42.086 --> 08:44.146 the former tablets that were broken. 08:44.150 --> 08:47.650 The same words. So we expect now a verbatim 08:47.652 --> 08:49.592 repetition of Exodus 20. 08:49.590 --> 08:51.410 And yet we don't have it. 08:51.409 --> 08:54.499 The Decalogue that follows in fact has very little overlap 08:54.498 --> 08:56.068 with the earlier Decalogue. 08:56.070 --> 08:59.170 There's really only two statements that even have the 08:59.166 --> 09:01.196 same content. And even those, 09:01.198 --> 09:04.688 which do overlap in content, vary in wording. 09:04.690 --> 09:06.820 This Decalogue, which is often called the 09:06.821 --> 09:09.111 ritual Decalogue, so it's listed on there in 09:09.113 --> 09:11.183 Exodus 34, bans intermarriage with 09:11.181 --> 09:14.801 Canaanites less they entice the Israelites into worship of their 09:14.800 --> 09:17.310 gods. It has other terms that give 09:17.311 --> 09:21.121 commandments about the observance of the festivals, 09:21.120 --> 09:23.850 various festivals, the dedication of first fruits 09:23.850 --> 09:27.490 to God, the dedication of first born animals to God and so on; 09:27.490 --> 09:30.860 things that were not in the Exodus 20 Decalogue. 09:30.860 --> 09:33.420 So evidently, there were different traditions 09:33.423 --> 09:35.873 regarding the contents of the Decalogue. 09:35.870 --> 09:39.420 And the story of the golden calf and Moses' destruction of 09:39.423 --> 09:43.233 the first set of tablets is a brilliant narrative strategy for 09:43.227 --> 09:46.217 introducing this second Decalogue tradition. 09:46.220 --> 09:49.870 Also surprising is the fact that the Decalogue in Exodus 20 09:49.867 --> 09:53.197 doesn't stand completely unchallenged in the Bible. 09:53.200 --> 09:56.940 Exodus 20, verses 5 through 6, contain explicitly the 09:56.936 --> 10:00.166 principle of inter-generational punishment. 10:00.169 --> 10:03.519 God is said to spread punishment for sin out over 10:03.523 --> 10:05.483 three or four generations. 10:05.480 --> 10:07.960 This is understood as a sign of his mercy. 10:07.960 --> 10:11.010 It's reducing the punishment on the actual sinner by spreading 10:11.009 --> 10:13.609 it out and limiting the consequences to only three or 10:13.610 --> 10:16.260 four generations, in contrast to what is said in 10:16.255 --> 10:18.535 the next verse, that kindness he spreads out 10:18.542 --> 10:20.142 over thousands of generations. 10:20.138 --> 10:22.898 Right? So it's seen as merciful mode 10:22.895 --> 10:24.825 of operation. But the notion of 10:24.833 --> 10:27.983 intergenerational punishment is something that some segments of 10:27.984 --> 10:30.784 the community or perhaps later in time was rejected? 10:30.779 --> 10:33.059 Some segments of the community rejected this notion. 10:33.059 --> 10:36.339 And so in Deuteronomy 7, we see that quite pointedly. 10:36.340 --> 10:39.820 "God punishes only those who spurn him, and does so 10:39.816 --> 10:42.066 instantly." Ezekiel, when we get to 10:42.074 --> 10:45.674 Ezekiel, we'll see that he will also very adamantly reject the 10:45.665 --> 10:48.015 idea of intergenerational punishment. 10:48.019 --> 10:50.399 The children do not suffer for the sins of the father, 10:50.401 --> 10:53.191 only the father. So what are we to make of this? 10:53.190 --> 10:57.920 Again, Marc Brettler concludes that the Decalogue or Decalogues 10:57.917 --> 11:02.417 did not originally possess the absolute authority that is so 11:02.415 --> 11:05.155 often claimed for it even today. 11:05.159 --> 11:08.689 Later religious traditions have elevated the Decalogue in Exodus 11:08.685 --> 11:10.975 20 to a position of absolute authority. 11:10.980 --> 11:14.540 A position that's not completely justified given the 11:14.544 --> 11:17.694 Bible's own fluid treatment of the wording, 11:17.690 --> 11:20.520 the Decalogue's text, and its content, 11:20.523 --> 11:24.433 and its later objection even to one of its terms. 11:24.429 --> 11:28.009 So the claim that God's revelation of the Decalogue was 11:28.006 --> 11:31.446 fixed in form--the words that we see in Exodus 20, 11:31.450 --> 11:35.160 for example--and immutable in substance is not a claim that's 11:35.161 --> 11:38.751 really native to or even justified by the biblical text. 11:38.750 --> 11:43.060 It's a later ideological imposition upon the text. 11:43.059 --> 11:45.629 And I want to talk a little bit more about biblical law's 11:45.634 --> 11:48.124 connection with the legal patrimony of the Ancient Near 11:48.116 --> 11:50.146 East. Because certainly biblical law 11:50.148 --> 11:53.118 shares in that patrimony, even if sometimes it's clearly 11:53.116 --> 11:55.116 reforming it. So it's helpful and it's 11:55.118 --> 11:58.058 instructive to compare it with other ancient law collections. 11:58.059 --> 12:00.939 And I hope you've had time to sit and read--there was a study 12:00.936 --> 12:03.716 guide posted on the website and I hope you had time to work 12:03.717 --> 12:05.057 through these materials. 12:05.060 --> 12:06.310 They're fascinating. 12:06.309 --> 12:08.809 And we'll see that there are certain key features that 12:08.814 --> 12:11.654 distinguish Israelite law from the other Ancient Near Eastern 12:11.650 --> 12:12.690 legal collections. 12:12.690 --> 12:16.010 I've also put on the handout for today just a list of those 12:16.009 --> 12:18.069 collections: the Laws of Ur-nammu, 12:18.070 --> 12:20.840 the Laws of Lipit-Ishtar, the Laws of Eshnunna, 12:20.835 --> 12:23.055 the Code of Hammurabi, which is CH, 12:23.059 --> 12:26.189 the Hittite laws, the youngest laws would be the 12:26.187 --> 12:29.507 middle Assyrian laws, giving you rough dates and so 12:29.514 --> 12:31.324 on. So you have that to refer to 12:31.316 --> 12:33.986 for the information about these particular collections. 12:33.990 --> 12:37.980 I should also say that we would do better to understand these 12:37.976 --> 12:41.096 materials as legal collections and not codes. 12:41.100 --> 12:43.310 I know the word code gets thrown around a lot, 12:43.307 --> 12:44.777 Code of Hammurabi and so on. 12:44.780 --> 12:45.970 But they really aren't codes. 12:45.970 --> 12:50.370 Codes are generally systematic and exhaustive and they tend to 12:50.368 --> 12:51.808 be used by courts. 12:51.809 --> 12:55.009 We have no evidence about how these texts were used. 12:55.009 --> 12:57.319 In fact, we think it's not likely that they were really 12:57.322 --> 12:59.692 used by courts. But they were part of a learned 12:59.686 --> 13:02.796 tradition and scribes copied them over and over and so on. 13:02.799 --> 13:05.789 They are also certainly not systematic and exhaustive. 13:05.789 --> 13:07.719 So for example, in the Code of Hammurabi, 13:07.720 --> 13:10.230 we don't even have a case of intentional homicide. 13:10.230 --> 13:11.840 We only have a case of accidental homicide. 13:11.840 --> 13:13.980 So we really don't even know what the law would be in a case 13:13.977 --> 13:14.917 of intentional homicide. 13:14.919 --> 13:17.709 We can't really make that comparison with the biblical 13:17.713 --> 13:19.393 law. Now, in a very important 13:19.389 --> 13:22.559 article that was written nearly half a century ago now, 13:22.559 --> 13:25.759 it's hard to believe, by a man named Moshe 13:25.759 --> 13:29.969 Greenberg--he's a biblical scholar and he argued that a 13:29.973 --> 13:34.423 comparison of biblical law with other Ancient Near Eastern 13:34.422 --> 13:38.792 collections reveals the central postulates or values that 13:38.792 --> 13:41.292 undergird biblical law . 13:41.289 --> 13:44.199 I'll be drawing extensively on Greenberg's work in this 13:44.200 --> 13:47.490 presentation as well as other scholars who have picked up some 13:47.487 --> 13:50.557 of his ideas and have taken them in other directions. 13:50.559 --> 13:53.439 But it was really Greenberg who was the one who I think made the 13:53.438 --> 13:55.858 first foray into this kind of comparative approach, 13:55.860 --> 13:59.320 and since then others have taken advantage of that idea. 13:59.320 --> 14:02.920 There is, Greenberg says, an immediate and critically 14:02.915 --> 14:07.055 important difference between Ancient Near Eastern collections 14:07.063 --> 14:10.453 and the Israelite laws as they're presented by the 14:10.450 --> 14:12.110 biblical narrator. 14:12.110 --> 14:14.080 And that's a difference in authorship. 14:14.080 --> 14:15.620 So if you look, for example, 14:15.623 --> 14:18.883 at the prologue to the laws of Ur-nammu: An and Enlil gave 14:18.881 --> 14:22.091 kingship to Ur-nammu, but Ur-nammu is said to 14:22.090 --> 14:24.490 establish equity and the laws. 14:24.490 --> 14:27.580 If you look at Lipit-Ishtar, both the prologue and the 14:27.581 --> 14:30.701 epilogue: An and Enlil, the gods, give kingship to 14:30.696 --> 14:33.306 Lipit-Ishtar, but Lipit-Ishtar establishes 14:33.309 --> 14:35.689 justice. He refers to the laws as "my 14:35.685 --> 14:37.595 handiwork" in the first person. 14:37.600 --> 14:40.080 Or the prologue to the Code of Hammurabi. 14:40.080 --> 14:44.690 Again, lofty Anum and Enlil established for him an enduring 14:44.685 --> 14:46.945 kingdom. They name him "to promote the 14:46.946 --> 14:49.726 welfare of the people…cause justice to prevail… When 14:49.726 --> 14:52.506 Marduk commissioned me… to direct the land" and now it 14:52.507 --> 14:55.287 continues in first person speech: "I established law and 14:55.287 --> 14:58.217 justice in the language of the land…At that time, 14:58.220 --> 15:00.430 (I decreed): the laws of justice," the laws 15:00.428 --> 15:02.688 that the efficient King Hammurabi set up. 15:02.690 --> 15:05.970 "I wrote my precious words on my stela," which you can go and 15:05.972 --> 15:09.202 see at Sterling Memorial Library "and in the presence of the 15:09.200 --> 15:11.090 statue of me, the king of justice, 15:11.087 --> 15:13.527 I set up in order to administer the law of the land, 15:13.530 --> 15:15.590 to prescribe the ordinances of the land, 15:15.590 --> 15:17.250 to give justice to the oppressed." 15:17.250 --> 15:20.140 And he refers to it as "my justice," "my statutes," no one 15:20.143 --> 15:21.263 should rescind them. 15:21.259 --> 15:23.569 "My inscribed stela," "my precious words." 15:23.570 --> 15:26.710 Do not alter the law of the land which "I" enacted; 15:26.710 --> 15:28.260 I, I, I throughout. 15:28.259 --> 15:32.049 By contrast in biblical law, authorship is not ascribed to 15:32.049 --> 15:35.159 Moses, ever. It is attributed always to God. 15:35.159 --> 15:38.819 So you see in Exodus 24:3 and 4: Moses went and repeated to 15:38.816 --> 15:42.596 the people all the commands of the lord and all the rules; 15:42.600 --> 15:44.510 and all the people answered with one voice, 15:44.511 --> 15:47.471 saying "All the things that the lord has commanded we will do!" 15:47.470 --> 15:50.520 Moses then wrote down all the commands of the Lord. 15:50.519 --> 15:53.309 It's the repetition that makes you feel that the biblical 15:53.314 --> 15:56.014 writer here is not accidentally saying these things, 15:56.009 --> 15:58.149 trying to drive home a very strong point. 15:58.149 --> 16:01.659 Exodus 31:18: "When he finished speaking with 16:01.661 --> 16:05.491 him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the two tablets 16:05.492 --> 16:08.532 of the Pact, stone tablets inscribed with 16:08.531 --> 16:09.791 the finger of God." 16:09.789 --> 16:11.449 So Greenberg, and since him, 16:11.448 --> 16:14.888 Brettler, and many others, have argued that the principle 16:14.887 --> 16:18.877 of divine authorship has certain very important implications. 16:18.879 --> 16:23.549 First, it has a significant effect on the scope of the law. 16:23.549 --> 16:27.059 Ancient Near Eastern and biblical law differ concerning 16:27.057 --> 16:30.697 the areas of human life and activity that fall within the 16:30.695 --> 16:32.185 concern of the law. 16:32.190 --> 16:34.150 That doesn't mean they don't fall within the concern of 16:34.153 --> 16:36.083 humanity, they just fall within concern of the law. 16:36.080 --> 16:37.910 That's an idea I'll come back to in a minute. 16:37.909 --> 16:42.789 Israelite law will contain more than just rules and provisions 16:42.785 --> 16:47.575 that fall within the scope of the coercive power of the state 16:47.581 --> 16:50.411 to enforce. More than what would fall under 16:50.408 --> 16:52.668 the jurisdiction of law courts, for example, 16:52.666 --> 16:53.766 or legal decisors. 16:53.770 --> 16:56.850 It is holistic. The scope of the law is 16:56.852 --> 16:58.902 holistic. It's going to contain social 16:58.900 --> 17:01.670 and ethical and moral and religious prescriptions, 17:01.669 --> 17:04.539 and very often they're going to be couched in an authoritative, 17:04.537 --> 17:06.497 apodictic style, particularly the things that 17:06.498 --> 17:08.028 aren't enforceable in a court of law. 17:08.029 --> 17:10.209 They will tend to be the ones that are backed up by the 17:10.207 --> 17:11.977 authority of God directly: you shall do this, 17:11.981 --> 17:13.071 I the Lord am your God. 17:13.069 --> 17:16.189 Notice how many times that refrain is used. 17:16.190 --> 17:18.640 And it's almost always used with those unenforceable kinds 17:18.643 --> 17:20.373 of things. Love your neighbor as yourself, 17:20.366 --> 17:21.686 you know, I the Lord am your God. 17:21.690 --> 17:25.050 It's me who's watching out for this one, not the court, 17:25.053 --> 17:26.873 okay? The extra-biblical law 17:26.874 --> 17:30.154 collections deal almost exclusively with matters that 17:30.146 --> 17:32.156 are enforceable by the state. 17:32.160 --> 17:33.890 That doesn't necessarily mean they were. 17:33.890 --> 17:35.340 We don't know how these were used. 17:35.339 --> 17:38.279 But they don't tend to deal with matters that we would call, 17:38.279 --> 17:40.469 we would call, matters of conscience or moral 17:40.472 --> 17:42.962 rectitude. So you'd be very hard pressed 17:42.958 --> 17:46.098 in the extra-biblical collections to find a law like 17:46.103 --> 17:49.043 Exodus 23:4 and 5: When you encounter your 17:49.041 --> 17:52.261 enemy's ox or ass wandering, you must take it back to him. 17:52.259 --> 17:54.959 When you see the ass of your enemy lying under its burden, 17:54.961 --> 17:57.191 and you would refrain from raising it, you must, 17:57.189 --> 17:59.179 nevertheless, raise it with him. 17:59.180 --> 18:02.440 Or Leviticus 19:17 and 18: "You shall not hate your 18:02.443 --> 18:04.143 kinsfolk in your heart." 18:04.140 --> 18:06.030 Can you imagine Congress passing a law like that? 18:06.029 --> 18:08.559 "You shall not hate your kinsfolk in your heart. 18:08.559 --> 18:11.049 Reprove your kinsmen, but incur no guilt because of 18:11.051 --> 18:12.281 him." And don't carry around a grudge. 18:12.279 --> 18:13.699 Reprove him, tell him what's wrong, 18:13.701 --> 18:15.801 clear the air. Don't carry around a grudge. 18:15.799 --> 18:17.949 "You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against your 18:17.948 --> 18:20.718 countrymen. Love your fellow as yourself: 18:20.724 --> 18:24.314 I am the Lord." That refrain always comes after 18:24.309 --> 18:26.329 those kinds of statements. 18:26.329 --> 18:30.739 So the Bible includes norms for human behavior set by the divine 18:30.735 --> 18:34.995 will, even though enforcement has to be left to the individual 18:35.001 --> 18:37.101 conscience. And in the Torah, 18:37.102 --> 18:40.452 therefore, life is treated holistically in the realm of 18:40.446 --> 18:41.946 law. One's actions aren't 18:41.954 --> 18:44.214 compartmentalized, and that's why the legal 18:44.210 --> 18:47.430 materials to us can sometimes seem like an indiscriminate mix 18:47.433 --> 18:49.693 of laws concerning all areas of life. 18:49.690 --> 18:51.770 And it's one of the things that makes people confused. 18:51.769 --> 18:54.349 Because a lot of moderns have gotten the idea that the Bible 18:54.350 --> 18:56.100 only deals with what we call morality. 18:56.099 --> 18:58.519 And so they don't understand all this other stuff that's in 18:58.523 --> 19:00.033 there, right? And sometimes if we tell 19:00.025 --> 19:01.585 ourselves, well, this is a legal collection, 19:01.594 --> 19:03.714 then we don't understand why there's all this moral-looking 19:03.710 --> 19:06.040 stuff in there. It is a mixture because it's 19:06.038 --> 19:07.538 holistic. It is the will of God, 19:07.539 --> 19:09.819 and God has something to say about all areas of life. 19:09.819 --> 19:12.349 And so in Exodus 23, you're going to have a law that 19:12.352 --> 19:14.982 tells you not to oppress a stranger because you were a 19:14.984 --> 19:17.034 stranger. It tells you to not plow your 19:17.029 --> 19:19.589 land in the Sabbath year immediately following that to 19:19.586 --> 19:21.416 let the poor and needy eat from it. 19:21.420 --> 19:23.430 It tells you to observe the Sabbath day rest. 19:23.430 --> 19:25.100 You shall not mention any other gods. 19:25.099 --> 19:28.309 It tells you how to observe the three pilgrimage festivals and 19:28.308 --> 19:31.568 rules of ritual offering and then there are also civil laws. 19:31.569 --> 19:33.749 Same thing in Leviticus: 18 through 20. 19:33.750 --> 19:36.120 We have incest laws, we have ritual laws, 19:36.121 --> 19:39.501 we have civil laws and we have moral laws all together. 19:39.500 --> 19:42.150 Now, a second implication--another idea that 19:42.150 --> 19:45.790 flows from the fact that this law is divinely authored--so a 19:45.787 --> 19:48.497 second implication of divine authorship, 19:48.500 --> 19:52.510 according to Greenberg, is this connection between law 19:52.510 --> 19:56.520 and morality so that in the biblical, legal framework, 19:56.520 --> 19:58.790 every crime is also a sin. 19:58.790 --> 20:00.500 Every crime is also a sin. 20:00.500 --> 20:04.220 Law is the moral will of God and nothing is beyond the moral 20:04.217 --> 20:06.477 will of God. So what's illegal is also 20:06.484 --> 20:09.644 immoral, and vice versa; what's immoral is also illegal. 20:09.640 --> 20:13.080 Law and morality are not separate, as we moderns tend to 20:13.078 --> 20:16.578 think they are and ought to be, right, in our society. 20:16.579 --> 20:19.809 Offenses against morality in the biblical world are also 20:19.807 --> 20:21.037 religious offenses. 20:21.039 --> 20:24.719 They're also sins because they are infractions of the divine 20:24.723 --> 20:27.233 will. So the fusion of morality and 20:27.229 --> 20:31.009 law, Greenberg argues, is the reason that biblical law 20:31.010 --> 20:34.450 not only expresses, but legislates a concern for 20:34.449 --> 20:37.719 the unfortunate members of society, for example; 20:37.720 --> 20:41.620 orphans, strangers, widows, as well as respect for 20:41.623 --> 20:44.163 the aged. From the Priestly source, 20:44.163 --> 20:47.823 this is Leviticus 19:32, we read, "You shall rise before 20:47.824 --> 20:50.624 the aged and show deference to the old; 20:50.620 --> 20:51.380 you shall fear your God. 20:51.380 --> 20:53.750 I am the Lord." Again, that refrain always has 20:53.746 --> 20:55.336 to come with this kind of a statement. 20:55.339 --> 20:58.459 The extra-biblical codes certainly exhibit concern for 20:58.458 --> 20:59.928 the rights of the poor. 20:59.930 --> 21:01.100 This is very important, particularly in their 21:01.100 --> 21:02.340 prologues. We've read some of these 21:02.338 --> 21:04.928 prologues. You know, my desire was to help 21:04.930 --> 21:07.590 the orphans, the strangers and so on. 21:07.589 --> 21:11.039 But when you look at the content of the laws, 21:11.035 --> 21:14.945 as in our society, they don't legislate charity. 21:14.950 --> 21:17.760 They don't legislate compassion. 21:17.759 --> 21:20.289 It's likely that these were considered acts of, 21:20.292 --> 21:23.052 who knows, personal conscience, religious conviction, 21:23.052 --> 21:25.842 something that was between the individual and society and their 21:25.835 --> 21:26.825 God. I don't know, 21:26.833 --> 21:29.733 but they were outside the domain and jurisdiction of the 21:29.726 --> 21:32.036 court. That doesn't mean that charity 21:32.035 --> 21:35.705 and compassion were not present in other Ancient Near Eastern 21:35.705 --> 21:37.825 cultures. The point is that law is not 21:37.832 --> 21:40.322 understood as being the appropriate vehicle for the 21:40.318 --> 21:41.808 expression of those values. 21:41.809 --> 21:44.429 There were other sorts of texts that might do those sorts of 21:44.427 --> 21:46.687 things and urge people to charity and compassion. 21:46.690 --> 21:49.680 But law, the legislation, is not understood to be the 21:49.681 --> 21:52.961 appropriate vehicle for the expression of those values. 21:52.960 --> 21:54.800 So again, I'm not trying to say that in Ancient Near Eastern 21:54.802 --> 21:57.352 society, everybody was mean, I'm trying to say that law, 21:57.347 --> 22:00.437 because of its divine authorship, suddenly takes on a 22:00.444 --> 22:02.424 scope, a holistic scope and a fusion 22:02.424 --> 22:05.364 of law and morality that are kept separate in other cultures 22:05.364 --> 22:06.764 and very much in our own. 22:06.760 --> 22:10.210 22:10.210 --> 22:11.840 So the two, however, are combined. 22:11.839 --> 22:15.739 And law is understood to be the appropriate vehicle to legislate 22:15.740 --> 22:17.350 compassion, for example. 22:17.349 --> 22:21.609 So in Leviticus 19:9, verse 10, legislating charity, 22:21.609 --> 22:23.279 When you reap the harvest of your land, 22:23.275 --> 22:25.425 you shall not reap all the way to the edges of your field, 22:25.434 --> 22:27.104 or gather the gleanings of your harvest. 22:27.099 --> 22:29.029 You shall not pick your vineyard bare, 22:29.030 --> 22:31.430 or gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard. 22:31.430 --> 22:33.800 You shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: 22:33.795 --> 22:36.975 I, the Lord am your God. Again, from the Holiness Code, 22:36.976 --> 22:39.586 Leviticus 19:14, "You shall not insult the deaf, 22:39.588 --> 22:42.198 or place a stumbling block before the blind. 22:42.200 --> 22:44.080 You shall fear your God: I am the Lord." 22:44.079 --> 22:46.379 Again, always has to back it up because this is not something 22:46.375 --> 22:47.595 the courts can back up, right? 22:47.599 --> 22:49.599 This is a question of your morality. 22:49.599 --> 22:52.399 Or Leviticus 20:18 "Love your fellow as yourself. 22:52.400 --> 22:54.980 I am the Lord." Leviticus 19:33-34: 22:54.977 --> 22:58.187 "When a stranger resides with you in your land, 22:58.192 --> 23:00.082 you shall not wrong him. 23:00.079 --> 23:03.199 The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of 23:03.199 --> 23:05.599 your citizens; you shall love him as yourself, 23:05.603 --> 23:07.753 for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: 23:07.745 --> 23:09.185 I, the Lord, am your God." 23:09.190 --> 23:12.750 Deuteronomy 22:6: "If, along the road, 23:12.750 --> 23:15.960 you chance upon a bird's nest, in any tree or on the ground 23:15.962 --> 23:18.952 with fledglings or eggs and the mother sitting over the 23:18.953 --> 23:22.383 fledglings or on the eggs, do not take the mother together 23:22.378 --> 23:24.168 with her young. Let the mother go, 23:24.165 --> 23:26.925 and take only the young, in order that you may fare well 23:26.932 --> 23:29.652 and have a long life," meaning God will reward you. 23:29.650 --> 23:32.010 So again, this is enforceable by God. 23:32.009 --> 23:35.299 Furthermore, Greenberg argues that the fact 23:35.304 --> 23:40.174 that every crime is also a sin lays the ground for certain acts 23:40.167 --> 23:43.067 to be viewed as absolutely wrong, 23:43.069 --> 23:47.149 and transcending the power of humans to forgive. 23:47.150 --> 23:50.750 Absolutely wrong and they transcend the power of humans to 23:50.747 --> 23:52.007 pardon or forgive. 23:52.010 --> 23:54.430 Take for an example, adultery. 23:54.430 --> 23:57.260 Deuteronomy 22:22: "If a man is found lying with 23:57.264 --> 24:00.164 another man's wife, both of them--the man and the 24:00.158 --> 24:02.448 woman with whom he lay--shall die. 24:02.450 --> 24:05.350 Thus, you will sweep away evil from Israel." 24:05.350 --> 24:07.020 And murder is the other one. 24:07.019 --> 24:10.459 Numbers 35:16, "…the murderer must be put to 24:10.464 --> 24:14.684 death…" "You may not accept a ransom for the life of a 24:14.675 --> 24:18.345 murderer" "who is guilty of a capital crime; 24:18.350 --> 24:20.400 he must be put to death." 24:20.400 --> 24:23.920 In the view of the biblical text, adultery and murder are 24:23.916 --> 24:25.106 absolutely wrong. 24:25.109 --> 24:29.139 They must always be punished regardless of the attitude of 24:29.142 --> 24:30.772 the offended parties. 24:30.769 --> 24:32.469 So a husband can't say "Oh, that's okay, 24:32.465 --> 24:35.125 I don't want to punish my wife; let them have their fun. 24:35.130 --> 24:38.090 It's no big deal; I don't mind." Alright? 24:38.089 --> 24:40.569 And the family of a murder victim can't say, 24:40.568 --> 24:43.388 "You know, Joe was such a pain in the neck anyway, 24:43.393 --> 24:45.933 you've really done us a favor, you know? 24:45.930 --> 24:48.100 Just pay the funeral costs, we'll call it quits." 24:48.100 --> 24:49.500 You can't do that. 24:49.500 --> 24:51.250 These are absolutely wrong. 24:51.250 --> 24:53.860 These deeds, as infractions of God's will, 24:53.860 --> 24:56.280 and God's law, they're always wrong. 24:56.279 --> 25:00.139 They transcend the power of human parties to pardon or 25:00.142 --> 25:01.602 forgive or excuse. 25:01.599 --> 25:04.009 And you compare that with the extra-biblical collections and 25:04.013 --> 25:05.203 you see quite a difference. 25:05.200 --> 25:08.950 In the Code of Hammurabi, number 129, adultery is 25:08.947 --> 25:11.287 considered a private affair. 25:11.289 --> 25:14.839 "If the wife of a seignor"--and I have to-- this terminology is 25:14.837 --> 25:16.797 just wonderful. Seignor. 25:16.799 --> 25:20.179 This comes, I think, from French feudalism. 25:20.180 --> 25:22.840 These have to do with class distinctions. 25:22.839 --> 25:26.479 And so the translators of this particular translation chose 25:26.479 --> 25:30.119 these feudal--very meaningful to you I'm sure--these feudal 25:30.118 --> 25:32.338 categories. Essentially what's going on 25:32.339 --> 25:34.519 here is the underlying Akkadian words, I guess, 25:34.519 --> 25:36.179 are awilum, mushkenum, 25:36.178 --> 25:37.978 and then a third category, slave. 25:37.980 --> 25:40.000 When the three--when they appear together, 25:39.998 --> 25:42.608 awilum tends to refer to an upper class person, 25:42.608 --> 25:44.428 a mushkenum to a commoner. 25:44.430 --> 25:46.420 Awilum can just mean an ordinary citizen, 25:46.421 --> 25:48.581 but when it's in juxtaposition with the other terms, 25:48.581 --> 25:50.701 it's clearly someone of a higher social class. 25:50.700 --> 25:53.350 So we'll use aristocrat, which is where we get the 25:53.351 --> 25:56.221 French feudal seignor, and then we'll use commoner and 25:56.218 --> 25:58.568 slave. So in the Code of Hammurabi, 25:58.571 --> 26:02.261 "If the wife of a citizen has been caught while lying with 26:02.259 --> 26:04.489 another man, they shall bind them and throw 26:04.494 --> 26:05.384 them into the water. 26:05.380 --> 26:07.740 But if the husband of the woman wishes to spare his wife, 26:07.739 --> 26:09.719 then the king in turn may spare his subject." 26:09.720 --> 26:10.540 It's up to the husband. 26:10.540 --> 26:11.780 He's the offended party. 26:11.780 --> 26:13.090 It's a private matter. 26:13.090 --> 26:15.800 He decides. The middle Assyrian laws on 26:15.795 --> 26:17.585 Tablet A numbers 14 to 16. 26:17.589 --> 26:19.959 Again, it's a crime against the property of the husband, 26:19.955 --> 26:22.445 and so it's within his power to either prosecute or not. 26:22.450 --> 26:26.340 "If a seignor," an awilum has lain with the wife of another, 26:26.335 --> 26:30.085 either in a temple brothel or in the street knowingly," 26:30.089 --> 26:33.069 knowing that she was a wife, "then they shall treat the 26:33.069 --> 26:36.269 adulterer as the seignor orders his wife to be treated." 26:36.269 --> 26:37.919 Okay? So whatever he does to her, 26:37.916 --> 26:39.816 they do the same thing to the male. 26:39.819 --> 26:42.469 But if he was innocent, he didn't know that she was a 26:42.468 --> 26:44.608 married woman, "the seignor shall prosecute 26:44.607 --> 26:46.897 his wife, treating her as he thinks fit." 26:46.900 --> 26:49.480 It's up to him. "If… the woman's husband," 26:49.481 --> 26:52.311 more ifs and thens, but here's a case of "if… the 26:52.307 --> 26:54.677 woman's husband puts his wife to death, 26:54.680 --> 26:58.100 he shall also put the seignor to death, but if he cuts off his 26:58.096 --> 27:00.186 wife's nose, he shall turn the seignor into 27:00.194 --> 27:02.734 a eunuch"--I guess this is considered equivalent--"and they 27:02.734 --> 27:04.184 shall mutilate his whole face. 27:04.180 --> 27:07.580 However, if he let his wife go free, they shall let the seignor 27:07.577 --> 27:10.347 go free." Again, it's a private matter. 27:10.349 --> 27:13.339 In the Hittite laws as well, Tablet 2,197-198, 27:13.338 --> 27:16.258 the husband can decide to spare his wife, 27:16.259 --> 27:19.229 If he brings them to the gate of the palace and declares: 27:19.230 --> 27:22.010 "My wife shall not be killed' and thereby spares his wife's 27:22.008 --> 27:24.298 life, he shall also spare the life of 27:24.304 --> 27:26.654 the adulterer and shall mark his head. 27:26.650 --> 27:28.290 But if he says, "Let them die both of them!" 27:28.289 --> 27:29.909 …[then] the king may order them killed, 27:29.911 --> 27:31.981 [but also], the king may spare their lives. 27:31.980 --> 27:35.080 And we see the same sorts of distinctions in murder cases. 27:35.080 --> 27:37.550 We'll come back to them later. 27:37.549 --> 27:40.379 A third implication or consequence of the divine 27:40.376 --> 27:43.266 authorship of biblical law, according to Greenberg, 27:43.268 --> 27:46.358 is that the purpose of the law in Israelite society is going to 27:46.364 --> 27:49.514 be different from the purpose of the law in other societies. 27:49.509 --> 27:54.279 So in non-Israelite society the purpose of the law is to secure 27:54.276 --> 27:56.886 certain sociopolitical benefits. 27:56.890 --> 27:59.930 Think about the preamble of the American Constitution, 27:59.930 --> 28:02.110 which states the purpose of the law. 28:02.109 --> 28:04.469 It reads almost exactly like the prologues to these ancient 28:04.470 --> 28:06.840 collections. You can pick out words that are 28:06.840 --> 28:08.980 identical. The purpose of the law is to 28:08.981 --> 28:11.611 "establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, 28:11.609 --> 28:15.119 provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, 28:15.119 --> 28:17.439 and secure the blessings of liberty." 28:17.440 --> 28:20.510 So when you see the prologue of Ur-nammu, the purpose of the 28:20.508 --> 28:23.118 law: "establish equity," protect the underprivileged, 28:23.116 --> 28:25.266 promote the common weal and welfare, basically. 28:25.269 --> 28:28.349 The Laws of Lipit-Ishtar in the prologue: "establish justice… 28:28.347 --> 28:30.287 banish complaints," I like that one, 28:30.285 --> 28:33.415 "bring wellbeing"--promote the common weal and welfare. 28:33.420 --> 28:36.040 Same again with the Code of Hammurabi's prologue: 28:36.039 --> 28:38.929 to promote the welfare of the people, good government, 28:38.932 --> 28:40.572 the right way, prosperity. 28:40.569 --> 28:43.609 But for Israel, the law does include these 28:43.608 --> 28:47.238 benefits, but is not limited to these benefits. 28:47.240 --> 28:50.370 The law also aims at sanctifying. 28:50.369 --> 28:52.859 A concept we dealt with at great length in the last 28:52.861 --> 28:54.381 lecture. Sanctifying, 28:54.375 --> 28:59.195 rendering holy or like God those who abide by its terms. 28:59.200 --> 29:03.230 So the laws that are presented in the Holiness Code are 29:03.226 --> 29:06.806 introduced with this exhortation, which you don't 29:06.805 --> 29:08.665 find in other places. 29:08.670 --> 29:11.230 Leviticus 19:2: "You shall be holy for I, 29:11.227 --> 29:13.207 the Lord your God, am, holy." 29:13.210 --> 29:15.270 And then the laws begin; "You shall each revere your 29:15.265 --> 29:17.125 mother and father,… keep my Sabbath," etcetera, 29:17.125 --> 29:18.925 etcetera. But the introduction, 29:18.925 --> 29:22.545 "You shall be holy for I the Lord your God am holy"--being 29:22.549 --> 29:26.049 holy in imitation of God is emphasized repeatedly as the 29:26.046 --> 29:29.666 purpose of the laws in the Holiness Code especially. 29:29.670 --> 29:32.190 The holiness motif is represented as being present at 29:32.188 --> 29:33.978 the very inception of the covenant. 29:33.980 --> 29:37.810 When Israel is assembled at Mount Sinai, that opening speech 29:37.805 --> 29:40.265 that God makes in Exodus 19:5 and 6, 29:40.269 --> 29:43.709 "Now then, if you will obey Me faithfully and keep My covenant, 29:43.708 --> 29:45.808 keep my laws, you shall be My treasured 29:45.806 --> 29:47.526 possession among all the peoples. 29:47.529 --> 29:50.139 Indeed, all the earth is Mine, but you shall be to Me a 29:50.138 --> 29:52.068 kingdom of priests and a holy nation." 29:52.069 --> 29:56.709 These are the rules that demarcate you as dedicated to 29:56.709 --> 29:58.109 me; i.e. holy. 29:58.109 --> 30:01.839 Now, there are lots of general and specific similarities and 30:01.843 --> 30:05.643 parallels between Israelite and Ancient Near Eastern laws. 30:05.640 --> 30:08.700 Lots of goring oxen, lots of pregnant women who are 30:08.698 --> 30:12.248 in the wrong place at the wrong time and getting struck and 30:12.246 --> 30:14.016 accidentally miscarrying. 30:14.019 --> 30:17.479 But we're going to look at some of the formal and stylistic 30:17.480 --> 30:21.060 differences between Ancient Near Eastern and biblical law. 30:21.059 --> 30:23.389 And we can assume just a tremendous amount of common 30:23.393 --> 30:25.493 ground, okay? And some of these are pointed 30:25.490 --> 30:27.680 out by Greenberg and some by other scholars. 30:27.680 --> 30:30.480 But I've listed them there under "features." 30:30.480 --> 30:35.110 One distinguishing feature of Israelite law is the addition of 30:35.108 --> 30:39.128 a rationale or a motive clause in many of the laws. 30:39.130 --> 30:43.030 Which again is not something that's really featured in the 30:43.029 --> 30:46.449 genre of law writing in these other collections. 30:46.450 --> 30:48.370 It's not a part of the genre of writing those. 30:48.369 --> 30:50.199 It doesn't mean they didn't have a rationale, 30:50.200 --> 30:51.740 but it wasn't how it was presented. 30:51.740 --> 30:55.170 So we find this in the Bible particularly in what we might 30:55.166 --> 30:57.326 refer to as the humanitarian laws. 30:57.329 --> 31:01.509 And on the whole, these rationales will appeal to 31:01.505 --> 31:05.675 historical events like the exodus or creation. 31:05.680 --> 31:09.210 Here are a few laws that express the idea that the 31:09.208 --> 31:12.738 experience of slavery and liberation should be the 31:12.736 --> 31:15.036 wellspring for moral action. 31:15.039 --> 31:17.459 It should be the impetus for moral action. 31:17.460 --> 31:20.320 Exodus 22:20: "You shall not wrong a stranger 31:20.317 --> 31:23.177 or oppress him, for you were strangers in the 31:23.175 --> 31:26.095 land of Egypt." 23:9: "You shall not oppress a 31:26.102 --> 31:28.982 stranger, for you know the feelings of the stranger, 31:28.978 --> 31:32.248 having yourselves been strangers in the land of Egypt." 31:32.250 --> 31:35.450 And Leviticus 19 contains a similar exhortation not to wrong 31:35.447 --> 31:38.827 a stranger who resides with you, but "love him as yourself for 31:38.833 --> 31:41.073 you were strangers in the land of Egypt." 31:41.069 --> 31:44.939 Likewise, in Deuteronomy 5 --this is the Decalogue in 31:44.943 --> 31:49.193 Deuteronomy--which is talking about Sabbath observance, 31:49.190 --> 31:52.200 and ensuring that all in your abode rest "…you, 31:52.196 --> 31:54.986 your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, 31:54.990 --> 31:56.790 your ox or your ass, or any of your cattle…" 31:56.789 --> 31:59.599 "stranger in your settlements, so that your male and female 31:59.598 --> 32:00.978 slave may rest as you do. 32:00.980 --> 32:03.950 Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the 32:03.946 --> 32:05.886 Lord your God freed you from there." 32:05.890 --> 32:09.340 Also , "For the Lord your God is God supreme and Lord supreme, 32:09.342 --> 32:12.682 the great, the mighty and the awesome God who shows no favor 32:12.681 --> 32:14.041 and takes no bride." 32:14.040 --> 32:15.210 Takes no bride also! 32:15.210 --> 32:17.590 But takes no bribe "…but upholds the cause of the 32:17.587 --> 32:20.057 fatherless and the widow, and befriends the stranger, 32:20.060 --> 32:22.010 providing him with food and clothing. 32:22.009 --> 32:24.379 you too must befriend the stranger, for you were strangers 32:24.381 --> 32:25.381 in the land of Egypt." 32:25.380 --> 32:28.350 We have two rationales there; one is the explicit rationale 32:28.354 --> 32:29.794 of imitatio dei. 32:29.789 --> 32:33.569 This is what I do and this is what you should do. 32:33.570 --> 32:35.360 And there are more. 32:35.359 --> 32:38.329 Many of them referring to the exodus in Egypt and others 32:38.326 --> 32:40.966 referring to the notion of imitatio dei. 32:40.970 --> 32:44.820 So it's also illuminating to compare the Ancient Near Eastern 32:44.816 --> 32:48.856 and the biblical legal materials in terms of the concern for the 32:48.855 --> 32:52.585 disadvantaged, the elimination of social class 32:52.585 --> 32:55.155 distinctions, and a trend toward 32:55.161 --> 32:58.561 humanitarianism. Greenberg notes that the 32:58.556 --> 33:02.336 Torah's concern for the disadvantaged of society is 33:02.339 --> 33:05.819 quite marked in the actual laws themselves. 33:05.819 --> 33:08.769 Many of the extra-biblical legal collections pay homage to 33:08.767 --> 33:10.367 this idea in their prologues. 33:10.369 --> 33:13.059 It doesn't always seem to be appearing, however, 33:13.064 --> 33:15.534 in the actual terms of these collections. 33:15.529 --> 33:17.129 Now, these collections are incomplete. 33:17.130 --> 33:18.230 We don't have everything. 33:18.230 --> 33:21.550 And again, it may be another literary genre that accomplished 33:21.548 --> 33:23.538 some of that work in that culture. 33:23.539 --> 33:27.509 The Torah laws-- And also, the laws in those collections 33:27.509 --> 33:31.259 very often, despite the prologues' rhetoric that they 33:31.263 --> 33:34.803 bring justice to the disadvantaged and so on, 33:34.799 --> 33:38.879 many of the laws clearly serve the interests of an upper class. 33:38.880 --> 33:40.330 Okay, that's the more important point. 33:40.329 --> 33:42.919 They clearly serve the interests of an upper class. 33:42.920 --> 33:46.650 The Torah laws do not contain all the same distinctions of 33:46.653 --> 33:50.583 social class among free persons as the contemporary laws--the 33:50.584 --> 33:53.714 Laws of Eshnunna, the Laws of Hammurabi. 33:53.710 --> 33:58.140 These laws distinguish between punishments for crimes committed 33:58.135 --> 34:01.195 against upper class and lower class persons, 34:01.204 --> 34:03.064 not to mention slaves. 34:03.059 --> 34:08.479 So if we look at the Code of Hammurabi, there's a stretch of 34:08.479 --> 34:11.969 laws numbering 195 to 208 something. 34:11.969 --> 34:14.719 And they're--very interesting to read them all in a row. 34:14.720 --> 34:16.350 I'll hit some highlights. 34:16.349 --> 34:19.759 So if an upper class person, if an aristocrat has destroyed 34:19.762 --> 34:23.002 the eye of a member of the aristocracy, they destroy his 34:22.999 --> 34:25.249 eye. If he breaks his bone, 34:25.245 --> 34:26.935 they break his bone. 34:26.940 --> 34:30.420 But as you move down to 198, if he destroys the eye of a 34:30.417 --> 34:34.267 commoner or breaks the bone of a commoner, he pays one mina of 34:34.274 --> 34:36.074 silver. And if it's a slave, 34:36.068 --> 34:38.098 he pays half the value of the slave. 34:38.099 --> 34:40.429 On to 200 and 201: If he knocks out an 34:40.425 --> 34:43.375 aristocrat's tooth, they knock out his tooth. 34:43.380 --> 34:46.880 But if it's a commoner's tooth, he pays a third of a mina of 34:46.875 --> 34:48.055 silver, and so on. 34:48.059 --> 34:52.089 The Hittite laws too: there are different amounts 34:52.087 --> 34:55.277 fixed by class in the miscarriage laws, 34:55.275 --> 34:57.735 95 and 99. The middle Assyrian laws also 34:57.735 --> 34:59.375 distinguish between the awilum, 34:59.375 --> 35:01.055 the mushkenum and the slave. 35:01.059 --> 35:07.279 Leviticus 24:17-22--we have, there, laws of personal 35:07.277 --> 35:09.777 liability; bodily injury, 35:09.781 --> 35:12.611 assault and battery or bodily injury. 35:12.610 --> 35:15.810 And we find a clear and explicit statement to the effect 35:15.805 --> 35:19.635 that there shall be one standard for citizen and stranger alike. 35:19.639 --> 35:25.059 This is known as the principle of talion; 35:25.062 --> 35:27.602 lex talionis. 35:27.599 --> 35:31.219 So reading from Leviticus, "If anyone maims his fellow." 35:31.219 --> 35:35.019 "If anyone maims his fellow, as he has done so shall it be 35:35.016 --> 35:38.146 done to him: fracture for fracture, eye for eye, 35:38.147 --> 35:41.027 tooth for tooth. The injury he inflicted on 35:41.033 --> 35:44.263 another shall be inflicted on him… You shall have one 35:44.259 --> 35:46.589 standard for stranger and citizen alike: 35:46.588 --> 35:48.618 for I the Lord, am your God." 35:48.619 --> 35:51.499 This was a radical concept in its day, evidently. 35:51.500 --> 35:55.370 The punishment should fit the crime, no more and no less for 35:55.366 --> 35:59.496 all free persons--granted slaves are not included--regardless of 35:59.495 --> 36:02.705 social class. Equality before the law. 36:02.710 --> 36:04.930 And this casts the principle of talion, 36:04.927 --> 36:06.157 I hope, in a new light. 36:06.159 --> 36:08.409 The law of talion, which is essentially the 36:08.411 --> 36:11.081 principle that a person should be punished according to the 36:11.075 --> 36:13.815 injury they inflicted, it's been decried as a 36:13.820 --> 36:18.470 primitive, archaic reflex of the vengeance or vendetta principle. 36:18.469 --> 36:22.229 The notion of "an eye for an eye" is usually cited or held up 36:22.228 --> 36:25.858 as typical of the harsh and cruel standards of the vengeful 36:25.861 --> 36:27.241 Old Testament God. 36:27.239 --> 36:30.429 But when you look at it in a comparative light in its legal 36:30.432 --> 36:33.302 context, we see that it's a polemic against the class 36:33.295 --> 36:36.095 distinctions that were being drawn in antecedent and 36:36.103 --> 36:39.953 contemporary legal systems, such as the Code of Hammurabi. 36:39.949 --> 36:42.269 According to the Bible, the punishment should always 36:42.268 --> 36:45.128 fit the crime regardless of the social status of the perpetrator 36:45.133 --> 36:47.273 on the one hand or the victim on the other. 36:47.269 --> 36:51.439 All free citizens who injure are treated equally before the 36:51.438 --> 36:53.628 law. They're neither let off lightly 36:53.626 --> 36:55.096 nor punished excessively. 36:55.099 --> 36:57.449 If you read the middle Assyrian laws, don't want to do that on 36:57.448 --> 36:58.178 an empty stomach. 36:58.179 --> 37:01.819 A.20, A.21 and F1--you have multiple punishments that are 37:01.820 --> 37:03.760 carried out. Someone who causes a 37:03.762 --> 37:05.722 miscarriage: they have a monetary fine, 37:05.724 --> 37:08.464 they have to pay two talents and 30 minas of lead. 37:08.460 --> 37:10.550 They're flogged 50 times and then they have to do 37:10.553 --> 37:12.523 corvée, forced labor for the state for 37:12.516 --> 37:14.146 a month. Multiple punishments. 37:14.150 --> 37:15.990 For sheep stealing, that's even worse. 37:15.989 --> 37:18.859 You're flogged 100 times and they pull out your hair and 37:18.862 --> 37:21.472 there's a monetary fine, and you do corvée, 37:21.473 --> 37:23.043 forced labor, for a month. 37:23.039 --> 37:26.519 So are these ideas--is this idea that the punishment should 37:26.519 --> 37:28.739 be neither too little nor too much, 37:28.739 --> 37:32.299 it should match the crime, that all free persons are equal 37:32.297 --> 37:35.107 before the law, that one standard should apply 37:35.105 --> 37:38.595 regardless of the social status of the perpetrator or the 37:38.600 --> 37:42.470 victim--are these ideas really primitive legal concepts? 37:42.469 --> 37:46.049 In addition to asserting the basic equality before the law 37:46.052 --> 37:49.322 for all free citizens, the Bible mandates concern for 37:49.321 --> 37:50.831 the disenfranchised. 37:50.829 --> 37:53.869 We've already seen that a little bit in the laws of 37:53.872 --> 37:56.612 Leviticus 19:9-10, which says that you have to 37:56.611 --> 37:58.341 leave, you know, don't go over your 37:58.335 --> 37:59.845 fields picking every little last bit. 37:59.849 --> 38:01.659 You know, just go through, get what you need, 38:01.656 --> 38:03.826 but leave a little bit behind and let the poor and the 38:03.833 --> 38:04.863 stranger glean there. 38:04.860 --> 38:06.910 Deuteronomy is a little less generous. 38:06.909 --> 38:10.979 They substitute the phrase "the widow, the orphan and the 38:10.982 --> 38:14.912 stranger" in that law where Leviticus says the poor. 38:14.910 --> 38:18.540 Deuteronomy 24:20-22: When you beat down the 38:18.543 --> 38:20.993 fruit of your olive trees, [or gather the grapes of your 38:20.986 --> 38:22.006 vineyard; see note 2] 38:22.014 --> 38:23.234 do not go over them again. 38:23.230 --> 38:24.290 That [which remains on the tree] 38:24.288 --> 38:25.928 shall go to the stranger, the orphan [see note 3] 38:25.928 --> 38:27.808 and the widow… Always remember you were a slave in the 38:27.806 --> 38:29.886 land of Egypt, therefore do I enjoin you to 38:29.885 --> 38:32.795 observe this commandment. So Leviticus supports outright 38:32.804 --> 38:34.884 charity for the poor in the form of gleanings. 38:34.880 --> 38:35.910 Kind of a welfare system. 38:35.909 --> 38:38.069 Deuteronomy has more of a workfare system in mind; 38:38.070 --> 38:39.140 they actually never mention the poor. 38:39.139 --> 38:41.449 It's only Leviticus that mentions the poor. 38:41.449 --> 38:44.039 For Deuteronomy, it's those who really can't 38:44.041 --> 38:47.181 provide for themselves: the widow, the orphan and the 38:47.175 --> 38:50.305 stranger who may not be able to find employment. 38:50.310 --> 38:52.450 The poor should be working. 38:52.449 --> 38:55.269 But you can assist them with loans, according to Deuteronomy. 38:55.270 --> 38:57.440 And these should be generous. 38:57.440 --> 39:00.840 Here's Deuteronomy's admonition to loan money to the poor even 39:00.836 --> 39:04.006 if it means potential loss to yourself because the seventh 39:04.011 --> 39:06.351 year is imminent; the sabbatical year. 39:06.349 --> 39:08.869 In the sabbatical year, all debts were released, 39:08.873 --> 39:09.843 cancelled. Okay? 39:09.840 --> 39:13.430 Sort of an economic corrective to restore people to a more 39:13.429 --> 39:15.129 equal economic situation. 39:15.130 --> 39:17.590 So in the sixth year, some people will feel 'I don't 39:17.587 --> 39:19.127 really want to lend money out. 39:19.130 --> 39:20.410 It's going to be cancelled next year. 39:20.410 --> 39:21.630 I won't get my money back.' 39:21.630 --> 39:24.500 Loans must be made even if the debt will be cancelled, 39:24.500 --> 39:27.860 for the simple reason that the problem of poverty is a terrible 39:27.857 --> 39:29.317 and persistent problem. 39:29.320 --> 39:33.010 Deuteronomy 15:7-11: If there is among you a 39:33.006 --> 39:35.836 poor man, one of your brethren, you shall not harden your heart 39:35.843 --> 39:38.043 or shut your hand against your poor brethren, 39:38.039 --> 39:40.929 but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for 39:40.931 --> 39:42.331 his need whatever it may be. 39:42.329 --> 39:45.319 Beware lest you harbor the base thought, 'the seventh year, 39:45.318 --> 39:48.148 the year of debt release is approaching' so that you are 39:48.152 --> 39:50.782 mean to your poor kinsman and give him nothing. 39:50.780 --> 39:53.610 You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be 39:53.611 --> 39:56.601 grudging when you give to him, for the poor will never cease 39:56.595 --> 39:59.005 out of the land. Alright, the poor will always 39:59.014 --> 40:00.984 be with you. This is where it comes from, 40:00.983 --> 40:02.513 but it gets misquoted later. 40:02.510 --> 40:04.380 It's taken to mean the poor are always with you, 40:04.378 --> 40:05.768 so you don't have to do anything. 40:05.769 --> 40:07.049 That's not what it means here in Deuteronomy. 40:07.050 --> 40:09.790 Lend to them because the poor will never cease out of the 40:09.794 --> 40:12.494 land," therefore I command you, open wide your hand." 40:12.490 --> 40:13.890 Get busy, give charity. 40:13.889 --> 40:17.429 It's a problem that never goes away, so you can never rest. 40:17.429 --> 40:21.029 Connected with this is the biblical trend towards 40:21.030 --> 40:23.220 humanitarianism. And there is, 40:23.216 --> 40:26.946 of course, much in biblical legislation that offends modern 40:26.946 --> 40:30.306 sensibilities. There's no point in pretending 40:30.308 --> 40:31.668 that there isn't. 40:31.670 --> 40:34.500 For example, as in the rest of the ancient 40:34.500 --> 40:36.710 world, slavery existed in Israel. 40:36.710 --> 40:39.030 It did. Even so, and this is not to 40:39.027 --> 40:41.507 apologize for it, there is a tendency toward 40:41.506 --> 40:44.386 humanitarianism in the laws concerning slavery. 40:44.389 --> 40:46.819 The Bible is equivocating on this institution. 40:46.820 --> 40:49.250 In some societies, in their legal systems, 40:49.253 --> 40:52.703 it's clear that slaves are the chattel, the property of the 40:52.697 --> 40:54.177 master. The Bible, again, 40:54.181 --> 40:55.651 equivocates on this question. 40:55.650 --> 40:58.540 They affirm some personal rights for the slave, 40:58.540 --> 41:00.420 but not all. In contrast to, 41:00.418 --> 41:02.878 for example, the middle Assyrian laws, 41:02.879 --> 41:06.139 where a master can kill a slave with impunity, 41:06.139 --> 41:09.179 the Bible legislates that the master who wounds his slave in 41:09.175 --> 41:11.945 any way, even losing a tooth--which is understood to be 41:11.953 --> 41:14.203 a minor thing, because it's not in any way an 41:14.198 --> 41:16.438 essential organ--so even if he knocks out a tooth, 41:16.440 --> 41:18.730 right, he has to set him free. 41:18.730 --> 41:22.200 That's in Exodus 21:26-27. 41:22.199 --> 41:25.269 Moreover, the slave is entitled to the Sabbath rest and all of 41:25.271 --> 41:26.581 the Sabbath legislation. 41:26.579 --> 41:30.049 And quite importantly, a fugitive slave cannot be 41:30.045 --> 41:31.845 returned to his master. 41:31.850 --> 41:36.480 That's in Deuteronomy 23:16-17: You shall not turn over 41:36.476 --> 41:39.916 to his master a slave who seeks refuge with you from his master. 41:39.920 --> 41:42.490 He shall live with you in any place he may choose among the 41:42.494 --> 41:44.674 settlements in your midst, wherever he pleases; 41:44.670 --> 41:46.250 you must not ill treat him. 41:46.250 --> 41:48.750 This is the opposite of the fugitive slave law, 41:48.753 --> 41:51.473 actually in this country in the nineteenth century, 41:51.474 --> 41:53.274 but also in Hammurabi's Code. 41:53.269 --> 41:55.809 Right, Hammurabi's Code, 15,16 through 19: 41:55.807 --> 41:59.577 "If a citizen has harbored in his house either a fugitive male 41:59.582 --> 42:03.542 or female slave belonging to the state or private citizen and has 42:03.542 --> 42:07.072 not brought him forth at the summons of the police, 42:07.070 --> 42:09.740 that householder shall be put to death." 42:09.739 --> 42:11.899 The term of Israelite, Israelite slavery, 42:11.897 --> 42:14.507 that is to say an Israelite who has fallen into service to 42:14.513 --> 42:17.783 another Israelite through, generally, indebtedness--that's 42:17.780 --> 42:21.140 a form that slavery took in the ancient world and in the 42:21.135 --> 42:25.095 biblical picture--the term was limited to six years by Exodus, 42:25.100 --> 42:26.730 by the Covenant Code. 42:26.730 --> 42:28.870 In the Priestly code, it's prohibited altogether. 42:28.869 --> 42:31.899 No Israelite can be enslaved to another Israelite. 42:31.900 --> 42:34.750 So it's actually done away with as an institution altogether. 42:34.750 --> 42:38.390 In general, the Bible urges humanitarian treatment of the 42:38.387 --> 42:41.047 slave, again, 'for you were once slaves in 42:41.051 --> 42:42.741 Egypt' is the refrain. 42:42.739 --> 42:46.269 Other evidence of the trend towards humanitarianism is the 42:46.269 --> 42:48.869 lack of legalized violence in the Bible. 42:48.869 --> 42:50.699 Here if you compare the Middle Assyrian laws, 42:50.698 --> 42:52.318 you'll see something quite different. 42:52.320 --> 42:55.680 There, the middle Assyrian laws explicitly authorize inhumane 42:55.675 --> 42:58.915 treatment of a deserting wife--you can cut off her ears; 42:58.920 --> 43:01.640 legalized violence in the case of a distrainee, 43:01.644 --> 43:04.904 a distrainee is a pledge, someone who has been placed in 43:04.902 --> 43:08.222 your house because of a debt and is working for you. 43:08.219 --> 43:11.349 The citizen may do what he wishes as he feels the 43:11.353 --> 43:12.793 distrainee deserves. 43:12.790 --> 43:13.850 He may pull out his hair. 43:13.849 --> 43:16.089 He may mutilate his ears by piercing them. 43:16.090 --> 43:20.370 The middle Assyrian laws also legalized violence against a 43:20.373 --> 43:22.053 wife. "When she deserves it" a 43:22.049 --> 43:25.069 seignor may pull out the hair of his wife, mutilate or twist her 43:25.066 --> 43:27.676 ears. There's no liability attaching 43:27.676 --> 43:29.806 to him. Legal systems often express 43:29.812 --> 43:33.182 their values by the punishments that are posited for various 43:33.181 --> 43:35.361 transgressions. And here, Moshe Greenberg has 43:35.360 --> 43:37.540 done something very interesting, a little controversial, 43:37.541 --> 43:38.851 not everyone agrees with this. 43:38.849 --> 43:42.049 But he's pointed out that the Bible differs from the other 43:42.045 --> 43:45.185 extra-biblical codes in the value that it places on human 43:45.185 --> 43:47.115 life. And you consider the crimes 43:47.116 --> 43:50.226 that are punished by capital punishment, and the crimes that 43:50.233 --> 43:52.403 are punished by monetary compensation, 43:52.400 --> 43:54.360 and he feels this is quite revealing. 43:54.360 --> 43:58.220 So I've put this very handy little chart on the board for 43:58.216 --> 44:00.416 you listing codes on one side. 44:00.420 --> 44:03.040 And you'll see the kinds of things that are punished by 44:03.044 --> 44:04.604 monetary fine or compensation. 44:04.599 --> 44:08.329 In the Hittite laws, homicide--you pay a certain 44:08.334 --> 44:11.994 amount of money to compensate for the death. 44:11.989 --> 44:13.849 Personal injury, bodily injury, 44:13.849 --> 44:16.079 you pay a certain amount of money. 44:16.079 --> 44:18.899 In the middle Assyrian laws also, homicide--it's up to the 44:18.895 --> 44:20.615 family. They can decide how they want 44:20.619 --> 44:22.649 this to be punished, but they can take money. 44:22.650 --> 44:24.890 Code of Hammurabi, we only have an accidental 44:24.888 --> 44:27.018 homicide case, we don't have an intentional 44:27.024 --> 44:28.764 homicide case, so we don't know, 44:28.764 --> 44:30.804 but bodily injury when it's between equals, 44:30.800 --> 44:33.080 then the principle of talion applies. 44:33.079 --> 44:36.549 But when it's not between equals, monetary payment and so 44:36.550 --> 44:38.490 on. Death, on the other hand, 44:38.494 --> 44:42.094 is the punishment for certain property crimes instead of 44:42.090 --> 44:44.640 personal injury and homicide crimes. 44:44.639 --> 44:50.889 Death for theft in the Hittite laws and for bestiality. 44:50.889 --> 44:54.079 In the middle Assyrian laws, also theft and in the Code of 44:54.079 --> 44:55.869 Hammurabi, theft and cheating. 44:55.869 --> 44:58.569 I'll go over some of these in a little more detail. 44:58.570 --> 45:01.920 So Greenberg is going to argue that the Bible reverses the view 45:01.916 --> 45:04.356 of the other codes, he says, because in those, 45:04.357 --> 45:06.617 life is cheap and property is highly valued. 45:06.619 --> 45:09.369 So Hammurabi's Code imposes the death penalty for the theft of 45:09.370 --> 45:11.670 property, for assisting in the escape of a slave, 45:11.670 --> 45:14.530 which is its master's property, for cheating a customer over 45:14.533 --> 45:15.653 the price of a drink. 45:15.650 --> 45:18.850 Middle Assyrian Laws: there's death to a wife if she 45:18.852 --> 45:22.432 steals from her husband and death to any who purchased the 45:22.432 --> 45:25.182 stolen goods. The Bible never imposes the 45:25.177 --> 45:28.657 death penalty for violations of property rights--personal 45:28.656 --> 45:31.386 property rights, private property rights. 45:31.389 --> 45:34.949 Only for intentional homicide, and certain religious and 45:34.946 --> 45:37.726 sexual offenses, which are seen to be direct 45:37.726 --> 45:40.586 offenses to God. Greenberg argues that in so 45:40.585 --> 45:44.005 doing, the Bible is expressing the view that the sanctity of 45:44.005 --> 45:46.725 human life is paramount in its value system. 45:46.730 --> 45:50.000 The Bible states explicitly that homicide is the one crime 45:49.995 --> 45:53.085 for which no monetary punishment can be substituted. 45:53.090 --> 45:55.220 You cannot ransom the life of a murderer. 45:55.220 --> 45:57.290 He must pay with his life. 45:57.289 --> 45:59.739 Numbers 35:31-34: "You may not accept a ransom 45:59.737 --> 46:03.107 for the life of a murderer who is guilty of a capitol crime; 46:03.110 --> 46:04.830 he must be put to death. 46:04.829 --> 46:08.779 Nor may you accept ransom in lieu of flight to a city of 46:08.781 --> 46:10.771 refuge." Remember if it's an accidental 46:10.767 --> 46:13.467 homicide, there is a leniency in the law that that person can run 46:13.471 --> 46:15.921 to a city of refuge and remain there until the death of the 46:15.921 --> 46:18.171 high priest. The shedding of his blood 46:18.170 --> 46:20.930 purges the land of "blood guilt," if you will, 46:20.925 --> 46:23.185 because this is a religious crime. 46:23.190 --> 46:27.570 But you can't pay money instead of running to the city of 46:27.566 --> 46:29.326 refuge. "You shall not pollute the land 46:29.333 --> 46:30.023 in which you live." 46:30.019 --> 46:31.889 There's a notion here of blood guilt, of pollution. 46:31.889 --> 46:34.579 …blood pollutes the land, and the land can have no 46:34.578 --> 46:37.458 expiation for blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of 46:37.456 --> 46:39.826 him who shed it. You shall not defile the land 46:39.827 --> 46:41.887 in which you live, in which I myself abide, 46:41.894 --> 46:44.704 for I the Lord abide among the Israelite people. 46:44.699 --> 46:47.599 And outside the Bible, we really don't have that 46:47.601 --> 46:50.751 absolute ban on monetary compensation for murder. 46:50.750 --> 46:54.180 Greenberg has argued that for the biblical legislators, 46:54.176 --> 46:57.536 human life and property are simply incommensurable. 46:57.539 --> 47:01.689 Crimes in the one realm cannot be compensated by punishment in 47:01.694 --> 47:04.344 the other realm. A crime in the realm of 47:04.340 --> 47:08.170 life/personal injury has to be compensated in the same realm. 47:08.170 --> 47:11.950 In the same way property crimes are not punished by death. 47:11.949 --> 47:13.619 Also in the bible there's no, what I call, 47:13.623 --> 47:14.483 literal punishment. 47:14.480 --> 47:16.530 You'll sometimes see people refer to this as vicarious 47:16.527 --> 47:18.107 punishment. I don't think it's vicarious 47:18.108 --> 47:20.118 punishment. I call it literal punishment. 47:20.119 --> 47:22.749 Literal punishment: for example, 47:22.748 --> 47:27.068 in the Code of Hammurabi, where someone's ox kills a 47:27.074 --> 47:31.064 child, then the ox owner's child is killed. 47:31.060 --> 47:32.670 That's not vicarious. 47:32.670 --> 47:33.850 You're not substituting. 47:33.850 --> 47:37.530 It's literal. The legal subject is the father; 47:37.530 --> 47:38.880 he has lost a child. 47:38.880 --> 47:41.420 So I have to suffer the literal punishment, as a father, 47:41.423 --> 47:42.533 I have to lose my child. 47:42.533 --> 47:43.643 Right? It's not a substitution; 47:43.639 --> 47:45.979 it's a literal punishment for what you did to the other. 47:45.980 --> 47:48.280 And the Bible explicitly rejects that idea. 47:48.280 --> 47:50.800 In Exodus 21, it explicitly says that the 47:50.803 --> 47:54.403 owner's child is not to be put to death, is not killed. 47:54.400 --> 47:57.670 Deuteronomy 24:16 states that, "Parents shall not be put to 47:57.674 --> 48:00.284 death for children, nor children be put to death 48:00.279 --> 48:02.709 for their parents: a person shall be put to death 48:02.711 --> 48:04.081 only for his own crime." 48:04.079 --> 48:07.089 The equal value of human life and limb is also protected by 48:07.090 --> 48:10.050 the principle of talion that we discussed above. 48:10.050 --> 48:12.930 In the Code of Hammurabi, an aristocrat can simply pay 48:12.934 --> 48:14.734 money for injuring an inferior. 48:14.730 --> 48:17.790 That's not going to be much of a hardship to a wealthy person, 48:17.794 --> 48:20.764 and it certainly reflects the low value that's placed on the 48:20.758 --> 48:23.218 life and limb of a member of the lower class. 48:23.219 --> 48:26.369 Talion only applies between social equals in the 48:26.372 --> 48:27.542 Code of Hammurabi. 48:27.539 --> 48:29.979 In the Bible, the extension of talion 48:29.979 --> 48:32.249 to all free persons, regardless of class, 48:32.249 --> 48:35.709 expresses the notion that all persons are of equal value. 48:35.710 --> 48:38.740 In the case of rape, the rapist's wife is not raped, 48:38.736 --> 48:41.166 as happens in the middle Assyrian laws. 48:41.170 --> 48:43.060 Again, a literal punishment. 48:43.059 --> 48:45.849 Other biblical values are reflected in the emphasis on 48:45.850 --> 48:48.220 laws that deal with the plight of the poor, 48:48.219 --> 48:51.019 the slave, the alien, the rights and dignity of 48:51.021 --> 48:52.241 debtors and so on. 48:52.239 --> 48:54.359 I've reached just about the end of my time. 48:54.360 --> 48:57.090 Just one last statement, because I don't want to leave 48:57.085 --> 49:00.215 you with the impression that the biblical materials speak with 49:00.222 --> 49:01.562 one voice--they don't. 49:01.559 --> 49:08.569 I mean, Greenberg has tried to pull out some common values. 49:08.570 --> 49:11.080 Biblical legal materials contain provisions that 49:11.083 --> 49:12.423 contradict one another. 49:12.420 --> 49:15.310 Later versions of the law, particularly in D for example, 49:15.312 --> 49:18.052 will update and revise earlier versions of the law. 49:18.050 --> 49:20.610 Leviticus takes issue with the whole institution of Israelite 49:20.607 --> 49:23.157 slavery that's accepted in the covenant quoted in Deuteronomy 49:23.164 --> 49:24.874 and says just no, that can't happen. 49:24.869 --> 49:27.329 All Israelites are servants of God; 49:27.329 --> 49:29.449 none of you can be servants to another. 49:29.449 --> 49:32.799 So in these laws--there is contradiction. 49:32.800 --> 49:35.200 Nevertheless, I think what Greenberg is 49:35.199 --> 49:38.609 trying to say is that it is still fair--even though the 49:38.609 --> 49:41.639 materials contain contradictions--it's still fair 49:41.639 --> 49:44.859 to say that they sound certain common themes. 49:44.860 --> 49:47.710 They express certain important principles and values, 49:47.708 --> 49:50.058 which include: the supreme sanctity of human 49:50.064 --> 49:53.574 life: that's pretty consistently maintained among the codes; 49:53.570 --> 49:56.590 the value of persons over property: pretty consistently 49:56.592 --> 49:58.972 maintained; the equality of all free 49:58.973 --> 50:02.353 persons before the law: consistently maintained; 50:02.349 --> 50:05.309 the importance of assisting the disadvantaged in society: 50:05.310 --> 50:08.310 very consistently maintained; the integration and the 50:08.309 --> 50:11.919 interdependence of all aspects of human life all coming within 50:11.915 --> 50:15.575 the will of God to legislate: very consistently maintained. 50:15.579 --> 50:18.079 When we come back on Monday, I just want to say a little bit 50:18.083 --> 50:20.673 about the narrative context in which the laws are found before 50:20.672 --> 50:22.032 we move on into Deuteronomy. 50:22.030 --> 50:25.790 Monday evening will be the time at which the midterm exam will 50:25.793 --> 50:28.883 be posted on the website, and that'll be at 6:00 pm 50:28.877 --> 50:31.817 Monday evening. You'll have a 24-hour period of 50:31.824 --> 50:35.434 time in which to find--I forget what I said--30 or 40 minutes? 50:35.429 --> 50:36.609 It'll be clear on the instructions. 50:36.610 --> 50:39.960 To just sit and treat it as if you're in an in-class exam 50:39.963 --> 50:42.003 situation, and write your essay.