Lesson #11

Book of the Covenant, Part 1

(Exodus 21: 1 22: 5)
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.






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 pyrotechnic
display 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
arbiter of humanity, the central focus of the rest of Scripture.








In Lesson #11, we learn that the ten covenant stipulations dictated by
God must be applied in 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 teaching on all aspects of
life.


























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.]
.














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 applied
to specific cases.

The Book of the Covenant
illustrates how to do so.














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: 22 23: 19)
draws extensively on the Code of
Hammurabi as both a source and
a controlling template for the
Book of the Covenants
composition.

David P. Wright, The Laws of Hammurabi as a Source for
the Covenant Collection (Exodus 20: 23 23: 19), Maarav
10 (2003): 11-87.
The Book of the Covenant spans Exodus 20: 22 23: 33,
and it may be divided into four parts:

1. Cultic ordinances (20: 22-26);
2. Legal prescriptions (21: 1 22: 16);
3. Religious, moral and cultic instructions (22: 17 23: 19); and
4. Epilogue (23: 20-33)

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




























If you look very closely you will
also find that the Book of the
Covenant begins (20: 22-26) and
ends (23: 10-19)immediately
preceding the epiloguewith
instructions on correct ritual
procedure.

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).















Drop that into the
conversation at
your next dinner
party and you will
dazzle your guests
with your stunning
esoteric knowledge
of Scripture!
The Book of the Covenant


1. Cultic ordinances (20: 22-26);
2. Legal prescriptions (21: 1 22: 16);
3. Religious, moral and cultic instructions (22: 17 23: 19); and
4. Epilogue (23: 20-33)






























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
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 2
nd
base! 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!




























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)
The Book of the Covenant


1. Cultic ordinances (20: 22-26);
2. Legal prescriptions (21: 1 22: 16);
3. Religious, moral and cultic instructions (22: 17 23: 19); and
4. Epilogue (23: 20-33)
















Legal prescriptions regarding slaves (21: 2-11)

As we observed at the start of our Scripture study, the world of
the 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 regulate
it, as do most other ancient Near Eastern legal codes.














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 Hebrew
slave, 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 debt
and 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 the
fourth year they shall be set free.
(Code of Hammurabi, #117)
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 6
th
commandment refers
specifically to the premeditated, unlawful taking of another persons life.
In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus addresses the inner dynamics of the
6
th
commandment 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 in
premeditated 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.
















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

In a similar way the laws regarding personal injury emerge from the 6
th

commandment, 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 6
th

commandment to a wide spectrum of homicides and associated behaviors:

Premeditated Accidents
Murder




























Now these are the cities
you will give to the
Levites: the six cities of
asylum which you must
establish for the homicide
to 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

Cities of refuge are not places to escape justice,
but places to ensure justice.


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)





























When the news came to Joab,
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
Legal prescriptions regarding property damage (21: 33 22: 5)
















Legal prescriptions regarding property damage (21: 33 22: 5)

















1. How do the laws in the Book of the Covenant differ from the
Ten 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 the
Covenant and other ancient Near Eastern legal codes, what
does that say about Scripture?
4. Slavery is commonplace throughout the Bible. Why does
Scripture not condemn slavery outright?
5. In Exodus 21: 33-34 we read: When someone uncovers or digs
a cistern and does not cover it over again, should an ox or a
donkey fall into it, the owner of the cistern must make good . .
.. How might this law apply today in an urban residential
environment?




Copyright 2014 by William C. Creasy
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