11. the Book of the Covenant, Part 1

5/24/2018 11. the Book of the Covenant, Part 1

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Lesson #11

Book of the Covenant, Part 1(Exodus 21: 122: 5)


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In Lessons #9 and #10, God reaffirmed with the Israelites the covenant

he made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And we learned that the

covenant followed a 6-part standardized form common to many

sovereign/vassal covenants in the ancient Near East:

1. Preamble, or introduction of the speaker;

2. Historical prologue;3. Stipulations;

4. The document;

5. The gods as witnesses; and

6. Blessings and curses

We also learned that the Torah as a whole (Genesis through

Deuteronomy) is the fullest expression of Gods covenant with the

Israelites.


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In addition, we learned that the covenant God makes with the Israelites

is markedly different from previous Near Eastern covenants:

1. As our narrative presents it, the covenant is not the result of cultural

norms in a preliterate society being codified over time into a written law;

rather, in Exodus God intrudes dramatically into history, descending to the

top of Mt. Sinai in fire and smoke, where he dictates the stipulations of the

covenant in a voice of thunder, accompanied by a terrifying pyrotechnicdisplay of his power and authority.

2. Gods covenant with the Israelites does not reflect the minutiae of

contractual, domestic, military and judicial law (as does the Code of

Hammurabi, for example); rather, in lapidary style God dictates ten terse

stipulations that govern the covenant communitys relationship with God

and with one another.3. In his covenant with the Israelites, God becomes the moral and ethical

arbiterof humanity, the central focus of the rest of Scripture.


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In Lesson #11, we learn that the ten covenant stipulations dictated by

God must be appliedin specific cases. In a very important sense, the

Ten Commandments are to their applications what the U.S.

Constitution is to municipal case law.

In Lesson #11 we explore how these principles are applied.

Such applications open the door to a vast body of rabbinical thinking

on the Law. Indeed, as we continue our study through the Torah

(Genesis through Deuteronomy) we will find 613 specific laws to

implement the ten principles! The Law is far more than the Ten

Commandments; it is Gods comprehensive teachingon all aspects of

life.


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The Code of Hammurabi (diorite stele), c. 1772 B.C.

Louvre Museum, Paris.*Shaped like a giant index finger, the top of the 75 stele portrays the sun god

Samas instructing Hammurabi in the law.]

.


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The Ten Commandments are ten

principles by which a covenant

people is to live with God and

with one another. Those

principles must then be appliedto specific cases.

The Book of the Covenant

illustrates how to do so.


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In an insightful article, David P.Wright, professor of Bible and

Ancient Near Eastern Studies at

Brandeis University argues that

the core of the Book of the

Covenant (Exodus 20: 2223: 19)draws extensively on the Code of

Hammurabi as both a source and

a controlling template for the

Book of the Covenantscomposition.

David P. Wright, The Laws of Hammurabi as a Source for

the Covenant Collection (Exodus 20: 2323: 19), Maarav

10 (2003): 11-87.


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The Book of the Covenant spans Exodus 20: 2223: 33,

and it may be divided into four parts:

1. Cultic ordinances (20: 22-26);

2. Legal prescriptions (21: 122: 16);

3. Religious, moral and cultic instructions (22: 1723: 19); and

4. Epilogue (23: 20-33)

Exodus 24: 1-18 then ratifies the covenant as a whole.


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If you look very closely you willalso find that the Book of the

Covenant begins (20: 22-26) and

ends (23: 10-19)immediately

preceding the epiloguewith

instructions on correct ritualprocedure.

We will see this cultic framing

again in the Holiness Code of

Leviticus (17: 1-16; 26: 1-2) and

in the laws of Deuteronomy (12:1-31; 26: 19).


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Drop that into theconversation at

your next dinner

party and you willdazzle your guests

with your stunning

esoteric knowledgeof Scripture!


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4. Epilogue (23: 20-33)


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An altar of earth make for me . . .(Exodus 20: 24).

Sea of Galilee

Mt. Ebal(Joshua 8: 30-35)

Stone Altar at Mt. Ebal

Photography by Ana Maria Vargas


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But if you make an altar of stone for me, do not build it of cut

stone, for by putting a chisel to it you profane it.

(Exodus 20: 25)

Robert Alter correctly observes that herev, the word traditionally translated

chisel, is emphatically sword.

The great medieval rabbi Rashi (A.D. 1040-1105), who wrote an indispensable

commentary on the Torah, catches the implication, like Bill Mazeroski

snagging a line drive at 2ndbase! Rashi writes:

The altar was created to lengthen a mans days and iron was created to shorten a

mans days; it is not fitting that the means of shortening should be brandished over the

means of lengthening.

Excellent, Rabbi!


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David Dancing before the Lord (2 Samuel 6: 16, 20) in Davids Rise to Power,abridged and illustrated by Barbara Griffiths. www.barbaragriffiths.com.

You shall not ascend to my altar by steps,

lest your nakedness be exposed.(Exodus 20: 26)


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4. Epilogue (23: 20-33)


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Legal prescriptions regarding slaves (21: 2-11)

As we observed at the start of our Scripture study, the world ofthe Bible (Old Testament and New) is: 1) patriarchal; 2)

monarchical; 3) polytheistic and 4) slaveholding. Unlike in

modern times, however, slaves in the ancient world were more

akin to indentured servants than to chattel. Nevertheless, in

biblical times it would be inconceivable to envision a world

without slavery.

Like any work of art, the Bible mirrors the time and culture from

which it emerges. Thus, Scripture accepts slavery as a fact of

life, nowhere condemning it; Scripture does, however regulateit, as do most other ancient Near Eastern legal codes.


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Legal prescriptions regarding slaves (21: 2-11)

In the Code of Hammurabi, for example, 10 of the 282 laws (14-20 and 117-119) regulate slavery. Compare Exodus 21: 2 with

the Code of Hammurabi, #117:

Scripture

When you purchase a Hebrewslave, he is to serve you for six

years, but in the seventh year he

shall leave as a free person

without any payment.

(Exodus 21: 2)

Code of Hammurabi

If anyone fail to meet a claim for debtand sell himself, his wife, his son or

daughter for money, or give them

away to forced labor, they shall work

for three years in the house of the

man who bought them . . . and in thefourth year they shall be set free.

(Code of Hammurabi, #117)


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Legal prescriptions regarding personal injury (21: 12-32)

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says:

You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, You shall not [murder];

and whoever [murders] will be liable to judgment. But I say to you, whoever

is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment . . ..

(Matthew 5: 21-22)

We learned that the Hebrew word retzach in the 6thcommandment refersspecifically to the premeditated, unlawful taking of another persons life.

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus addresses the inner dynamics of the

6thcommandment when he recognizes that murder is the final step in a

sequence of actions, beginning with the kind of anger that congeals into

hatred, that leads to plotting revenge and that ultimately results inpremeditated murder. In Jesus teaching he says that if you feel that kind of

anger, nip it in the bud and deal with it before it metastasizes.


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Legal prescriptions regarding personal injury (21: 12-32)

In a similar way the laws regarding personal injury emerge from the 6 thcommandment, You shall not murder. Clearly, Whoever strikes someone

a mortal blow must be put to death (Exodus 21: 12), refers specifically to

the premeditated taking of another persons life.

But then the personal injury laws go on to address degrees of culpability:

accidents (with varying degrees of negligence); assault and battery; injury to

innocent bystanders; and so on. The examples address how to apply the 6th

commandment to a wide spectrum of homicides and associated behaviors:

Premeditated Accidents

Murder


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Now these are the citiesyou will give to the

Levites: the six cities of

asylum which you must

establish for the homicideto run to, and in addition

forty-two other citiesa

total of forty-eight cities

with their pasture lands

which you will assign to

the Levites.(Numbers 35: 6-7)

Golan

Ramoth

Bosor

Kedesh

Shechem

Hebron


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Cities of refuge are not places to escapejustice,

but places to ensurejustice.

The Lord spoke to Moses: Speak to the Israelites and say to

them: When you go across the Jordan into the land of Canaan,

select for yourselves cities to serve as cities of asylum, where a

homicide who has killed someone inadvertently may flee. These

cities will serve you as places of asylum from the avenger of

blood, so that a homicide will not be put to death until tried

before the community.

(Numbers 35: 9-12)


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When the news came toJoab,

since he had sided with

Adonijah, though not with

Absalom, he fled to the tent of

the Lord and clung to the horns

of the altar. King Solomon was

told, Joab has fled to the tent of

the Lord and is by the altar. He

sent Benaiah, son of Jehoiada,

with the order, Go, strike him

down.

(1 Kings 2: 28-29)Dr. Creasy being dragged from the horns of the altar

at Beersheva.

Photography by Ana Maria Vargas


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Legal prescriptions regarding property damage (21: 3322: 5)


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Legal prescriptions regarding property damage (21: 3322: 5)


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1. How do the laws in the Book of the Covenant differ from theTen Commandments?

2. Are the laws in the Book of the Covenant unique to Scripture?

3. If there are close parallels between the laws in the Book of theCovenant and other ancient Near Eastern legal codes, whatdoes that say about Scripture?

4. Slavery is commonplace throughout the Bible. Why doesScripture not condemn slavery outright?

5. In Exodus 21: 33-34 we read: When someone uncovers or digsa cistern and does not cover it over again, should an ox or adonkey fall into it, the owner of the cistern must make good . ... How might this law apply today in an urban residentialenvironment?


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Copyright 2014 by William C. Creasy

All rights reserved. No part of this courseaudio, video,

photography, maps, timelines or other mediamay be

reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic

or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any

information storage or retrieval devices without permission in

writing or a licensing agreement from the copyright holder.

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11. the Book of the Covenant, Part 1