Law Codes
Along
with literary writings, many of the political writings uncovered from the
ancient world have proven relevant to our understanding of the Old
Testament. Among these, law codes in
particular have provided links between the Bible and the ancient Near Eastern
world. Two of the more well-known
examples are the Nuzi texts and the Code of Hammurabi which bear special
relevance to the Patriarchal and Mosaic periods of Israelite history
respectively.
The
Nuzi texts consist of about 20,000 clay tablets inscribed by a people called
the Hurrians who lived in the Zagros mountains around the 15th
century BC. The texts consist primarily
of private and public legal documents which, while not particularly interesting
to read, are very helpful for understanding the social customs of the
period. In many cases, the social
conditions and customs described in the Nuzi tablets parallel those described
in the Patriarchal period of the Old Testament (i.e., the period of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob). For example, the laws
of inheritance at Nuzi held that a double-portion of a father’s estate was to
be given to the eldest son. In addition,
the eldest son held the right to sell his double-portion if he so chose (cf. Jacob
and Esau, Gen. 25:29-34). The laws of
inheritance at Nuzi also indicate that if a man had no son to be his heir he
could adopt an heir of his choice (cf. Abraham and Eliezer, Gen. 15:1-3) or
produce an heir through his wife’s maidservant (cf. Abraham and Hagar,
Gen:16:1-4). The Nuzi texts also contain regulations concerning the possession
of household gods (Gen. 31:19) as well as the practice of conferring oral
blessings on others (cf. the blessing of Isaac, Gen. 27:1-40; the blessing of
Jacob, Gen. 49:1-28). Parallels such as
these have provoked a good deal of speculation and debate among scholars with
regard to the historical setting of the Patriarchal narratives.
Another
ancient Near Eastern law code called the Code of Hammurabi was inscribed on a
pillar by the great Babylonian king Hammurabi sometime around the 18th
century BC. As with the Nuzi texts,
there are various parallels between the Code of Hammurabi and the Old
Testament. The first and, perhaps, most
striking of these is Hammurabi’s claim to have been given the code by Shamash
(i.e. the sun-god) on a mountaintop (cf. Exodus 19:20). The Code of Hammurabi also contains various
structural similarities to the Law of Moses as contained in Exodus 20-23,
although nothing resembling the Ten Commandments is found in either the Code of
Hammurabi or any other ancient Near Eastern law code for that matter. In both codes, the principle of Lex Talionis (i.e. “an eye for and eye,
a tooth for a tooth”, cf. Ex. 21:24; Lv. 24:20; Dt. 19:21) provides the basic
framework for the concept of justice and, in addition, many of the specific
case laws are remarkably similar. These include punishments for striking one’s
parents (cf. Exodus 21:15), assaulting a pregnant woman (Exodus 21:22), failing
to restrain a goring ox (Exodus 21:28-32), theft (Exodus 22:1), and adultery
(Exodus 22:16). As with other ancient
Near Eastern texts, the significance of these similarities is debated among
scholars who arrive at different conclusions.
Summary
While
this brief introduction to ancient Near Eastern texts is far from exhaustive,
it does provide a taste of what scholars are doing when comparing the Bible to
other ancient Near Eastern texts. The
four texts dealt with above constitute only a small portion of what ancient
Near Eastern literature has to offer the field of Biblical studies, but they
are certainly among the most complete and relevant in the field. Some other texts frequently addressed in
relation to the Bible include: the
Sumerian King List (describes ten rulers from before the flood with reigns
lasting from 18,000-40,000 years), the
Legend of Adapa (Mesopotamian legend mentioning the tree of life), the Amarna Letters (letters written from
Palestine requesting Egypt’s aid against a group of people called the
Hapiru—possibly Hebrews), the Baal Cycle
of Myths (Canaanite mythology about the god Baal), the Ur-Nammu Law Code, the
Lipit-Ishtar Law Code, the Hittite
Law Code, and the Eshnunna Law Code.
The
relationship between these ancient Near Eastern texts and the text of the Bible
have intrigued scholars for many years. One thing generally agreed upon is that
of these ancient texts, the biblical texts were composed later than the
Mesopotamian texts by even the earliest possible date for the exodus. Hence,
one cannot argue that the Mesopotamians borrowed from the Bible. The inverse is
possible, of course. The authors of the Bible may have borrowed ideas from the
Mesopotamian texts, and in fact, most historical-critical scholars arrive at
such a conclusion. Still, at least two other reasonable possibilities exist.
One is that there was a common stock of ancient oral tradition that was older
than and lay behind both the biblical and Mesopotamian materials. The other is
that the Genesis accounts of the creation and flood may be apologetic material
aimed at correcting the false cosmogonies of Mesopotamia. Either of these
hypotheses would account for the linguistic links and literary parallels
between the various texts.
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