Moses Part 2
This is an excerpt from my book, Government and Its People. I’m sharing this chapter in two parts. Understanding how the laws were formulated in the Old Testament is essential. This chapter is simplified to understand that law codes were already in effect before Moses laid down the laws. I’m sending this so when I continue the social justice series, there will be some basic understanding of Ancient Near East laws. You can find my book here: Amazon.com: Mary Salamon: books, biography, latest update, or email me for more information.
Being raised as a prince in Egypt meant that Moses understood the world in which he lived. He knew Egypt’s culture, politics, and history and was trained as a leader and military warrior. Ironically, while the Egyptians intended his education to be put to their use, it was really ordained by God in preparation for his role in delivering people from slavery and beginning a new nation, much to the detriment of Egypt. The new nation would be no ordinary nation but one set apart to serve and honor the living God.
Of course, challenges abounded. The people of Israel would have to be taught to conduct their lives as free people. A new government would have to be established. God, through Moses, would have to establish new laws, rules, and ordinances. This was a monumental task, but not one given to Moses in a void of knowledge. Laws and ordinances that Moses could rely upon were established as far back as Abraham. With God’s leading, Moses was able to improve upon them. When Moses wrote the biblical law, several cuneiform codes were practiced throughout the Near East.
According to Westbrook and Wells in their book Everyday Law in Biblical Israel, six law codes have been recovered to date:
1. The Laws of Ur-Namma (LU), from the city of Ur in southern Mesopotamia, written in Sumerian and dating to around 2100 BC.
2. The Laws of Lipit-Ishtar (LL), from the city of Isin in southern Mesopotamia, were written in Sumerian and date to around 1900 BC.
3. The Laws of Eshnunna (LE), from a city of that name in northern Mesopotamia, written in Akkadian and dating to around 1800 BC.
4. The Laws of Hammurabi (LH), from the city of Babylon, were written in Arcadian and date to around 1750 BC.
5. The Middle Assyrian Laws (NBL), from the city of Sippar in central Mesopotamia, written in Akkadian and dating to the seventh century BC.
6. The Hittite Laws (HL), from Anatolia, were written in cuneiform script in Hittite and dated between the sixteenth and twelfth centuries. BC. 9
All of these codes have similar laws and precepts. They extend through thousands of years and multiple cultures, yet the underlying principles of these laws remain the same. Everyday Law states, “The biblical laws fit into this pattern. Mostly, they are casuistic in form and contain many cases found in other codes. The parallels between the biblical and cuneiform laws are the closest that any literary genre in the Bible has with an external source. They demonstrate that the clusters of everyday law are not modern constructions but must have had some independent existence in antiquity.”
What does this tell us about the laws of Moses? When Moses brought the people out of bondage, Moses issued laws and decrees that they were to live by. Some laws were already established and didn’t need to be altered. Others were given by divine inspiration, mandated by God through Moses.
For example, consider this law of Hammurabi from the city of Babylon:
If a man destroy the eye of another man, they shall destroy his eye. If one break a man bone, they shall break his bone. If one destroy the eye of a freeman or break the bone of a freeman he shall pay one mana of silver. If one destroy the eye of aslave or break a bone of a slave he shall pay one-half his price. If a man knock out a tooth of a man of his own rank, they shall knock out his tooth. If one knock out a tooth of a freeman,he shall pay one-third mana of silver.
This is the same law from Moses in Exodus 21:24(ESV), which states, “eye for eye, tooth for tooth.” Some say that Moses just copied the Hammurabi law. Others say that Moses wasn’t even aware of the Hammurabi law. What is the truth? With the education and training that Moses had as a prince of Egypt, he must have been fully aware of these other law codes, but to say he just copied them with no contemplation cannot be true either. In everything he did, he sought the wisdom of God. Most likely, he decided that some established laws could be kept and that others required change.
Further, the people he led were likely familiar with some of the laws. Would it not be prudent to rule them with codes that they knew? Of course, other laws of Moses represented a radical change. The first two commandments of the famous Ten Commandments display the fact that God was separating His people for Himself by demanding they worship Him and Him alone, having no other gods before Him. The people of Israel had just come out of severe bondage in Egypt. They had difficulty grasping that God alone needed to be worshiped. Indeed, if that weren’t the case, they wouldn’t have made a golden calf to worship while Moses was away to receive the very laws they were breaking. Obviously, they needed the additional laws.
As a lawgiver, Moses possessed godly wisdom to lead the people. As such, he used some existing laws—those based on universal principles—that the people of Israel already knew. He skillfully integrated these with a new order of laws God gave him. These laws established a holy and consecrated relationship with God. The law code compiled by Moses included laws pertaining to people’s daily lives. It covered damage to property, loss of property, injury, homicide, family law, hygiene, and sexual offenses. In forming this code, Moses faced the same challenges that lawgivers face today: Possessed of a deep sense of justice and understanding of their culture, how do they create laws that benefit society as a whole while preserving individual liberty?
Today, thousands of laws exist in the United States. Most are good laws, though some lack common sense, and a few border on lunacy. Those who desire to be in government, particularly in the legislative branch, must apply prayer and sound principles to change unjust laws and create good laws that allow us to live in peace and worship God in freedom.