Most scholars believe that the numerous similarities between the Covenant Code (Exodus 20:23-23:19) and Mesopotamian law collections, especially the Laws of Hammurabi, which date to around 1750 BCE, are due to oral tradition that extended from the second to the first millennium. This book offers a fundamentally new understanding of the Covenant Code, arguing that it depends directly and primarily upon the Laws of Hammurabi and that the use of this source text occurred during the Neo-Assyrian period, sometime between 740-640 BCE, when Mesopotamia exerted strong and continuous political and cultural influence over the kingdoms of Israel and Judah and a time when the Laws of Hammurabi were actively copied in Mesopotamia as a literary-canonical text. The study offers significant new evidence demonstrating that a model of literary dependence is the only viable explanation for the work. It further examines the compositional logic used in transforming the source text to produce the Covenant Code, thus providing a commentary to the biblical composition from the new theoretical perspective. This analysis shows that the Covenant Code is primarily a creative academic work rather than a repository of laws practiced by Israelites or Judeans over the course of their history. The Covenant Code, too, is an ideological work, which transformed a paradigmatic and prestigious legal text of Israel's and Judah's imperial overlords into a statement symbolically countering foreign hegemony. The study goes further to study the relationship of the Covenant Code to the narrative of the book of Exodus and explores how this may relate to the development of the Pentateuch as a whole.

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Wright, David P.

IRL Press at Oxford University Press

Oxford Institute for Energy Studies

German Historical Institute London

United Kingdom and Ireland, United Kingdom

New York, New York State, 2009

Illustrated, 1, US, 2009

Oxford, 2012, ©2009

lg208572

{"isbns":["0195304756","9780195304756"],"last_page":604,"publisher":"Oxford University Press"}

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Contents......Page 12
Abbreviations and Special Terminology......Page 14
1. Introduction: The Basic Thesis and Background......Page 18
Part I: Primary Evidence for Dependence: Sequential Correspondences and Date......Page 44
2. The Casuistic Laws......Page 46
3. The Apodictic Laws......Page 66
4. Opportunity and Date for the Use of Hammurabi's and Other Cuneiform Laws......Page 106
Part II: The Compositional Logic of the Covenant Code......Page 136
5. Debt-Slavery and the Seduction of a Maiden (Exodus 21:2–11; 22:15–16)......Page 138
6. Homicide, Injury, Miscarriage, and Talion (Exodus 21:12–14, 18–27)......Page 169
7. Child Rebellion, Kidnapping, Sorcery, Bestiality, and Illicit Sacrifice (Exodus 21:15–17; 22:17–19)......Page 207
8. The Goring Ox and Negligence (Exodus 21:28–36)......Page 220
9. Animal Theft, Crop Destruction, Deposit, and Burglary (Exodus 21:37–22:8)......Page 245
10. Animal Injury, Death, and Rental (Exodus 22:9–14)......Page 280
11. The Themes and Ideology of the Apodictic Laws (Exodus 20:23–26; 21:1; 22:20–23:19)......Page 301
12. Redactional Growth in the Apodictic Laws and the Covenant Code's Relationship to the Exodus Narrative......Page 337
13. Conclusions......Page 361
Notes......Page 380
Bibliography......Page 526
B......Page 568
F......Page 569
K......Page 570
M......Page 571
S......Page 572
W......Page 573
Z......Page 574
B......Page 576
D......Page 577
I......Page 578
N......Page 579
R......Page 580
T......Page 581
Z......Page 582
Text Reference Index......Page 584

Contents 12
Abbreviations and Special Terminology 14
1. Introduction: The Basic Thesis and Background 18
Part I: Primary Evidence for Dependence: Sequential Correspondences and Date 44
2. The Casuistic Laws 46
3. The Apodictic Laws 66
4. Opportunity and Date for the Use of Hammurabi's and Other Cuneiform Laws 106
Part II: The Compositional Logic of the Covenant Code 136
5. Debt-Slavery and the Seduction of a Maiden (Exodus 21:2–11; 22:15–16) 138
6. Homicide, Injury, Miscarriage, and Talion (Exodus 21:12–14, 18–27) 169
7. Child Rebellion, Kidnapping, Sorcery, Bestiality, and Illicit Sacrifice (Exodus 21:15–17; 22:17–19) 207
8. The Goring Ox and Negligence (Exodus 21:28–36) 220
9. Animal Theft, Crop Destruction, Deposit, and Burglary (Exodus 21:37–22:8) 245
10. Animal Injury, Death, and Rental (Exodus 22:9–14) 280
11. The Themes and Ideology of the Apodictic Laws (Exodus 20:23–26; 21:1; 22:20–23:19) 301
12. Redactional Growth in the Apodictic Laws and the Covenant Code's Relationship to the Exodus Narrative 337
13. Conclusions 361
Notes 380
Bibliography 526
Author Index 568
A 568
B 568
C 569
D 569
E 569
F 569
G 570
H 570
I 570
J 570
K 570
L 571
M 571
N 572
O 572
P 572
R 572
S 572
T 573
U 573
V 573
W 573
Y 574
Z 574
Subject Index 576
A 576
B 576
C 577
D 577
E 578
F 578
G 578
H 578
I 578
J 579
K 579
L 579
M 579
N 579
O 580
P 580
Q 580
R 580
S 581
T 581
U 582
V 582
W 582
Y 582
Z 582
Text Reference Index 584

David Wright Argues That The So-called Covenant Collection Of The Torah (exodus 20:23-23:19) Is Chiefly The Work Of A Single Author, Is The Result Of Intellectual Interaction With The Author's Sources And It May Have Had A Politically Ideological Purpose, Somewhat Similar To That Of The Laws Of Hammurabi. Introduction: The Basic Thesis And Background -- Pt. 1. Primary Evidence For Dependence : Sequential Correspondences And Date -- The Casuistic Laws -- The Apodictic Laws -- Opportunity And Date For The Use Of Hammurabi's And Other Cuneiform Laws -- Pt. 2. Compositional Logic Of The Covenant Code -- Debt-slavery And The Seduction Of A Maiden (exodus 21:2-11; 22:15-16) -- Homicide, Injury, Miscarriage, And Talion (exodus 21:12-14, 18-27) -- Child Rebellion, Kidnapping, Sorcery, Bestiality, Illicit Sacrifice (exodus 21:15-17; 22:17-19) -- The Goring Ox And Negligence (exodus 21:28-36) -- Animal Theft, Crop Destruction, Deposit, And Burglary (exodus 21:37-22:8) -- Animal Injury, Death, And Rental (exodus 22:9-14) -- The Themes And Ideology Of The Apodictic Laws (exodus 20:23-26; 21:1; 22:20-23:19) -- Redactional Growth In The Apodictic Laws And The Covenant Code's Relationship To The Exodus Narrative -- Conclusions. David P. Wright. Includes Bibliographical References And Indexes.

Most scholars believe that the numerous similarities between the Covenant Code (Exodus 20:23-23:19) and Mesopotamian law collections, especially the Laws of Hammurabi (c. 1750 BCE), are due to oral traditions that extended from the second to the first millennium. David Wright offers a fundamentally new understanding of the Covenant Code, arguing that it depends directly and primarily upon the Laws of Hammurabi and that the use of this source text occurred during the Ned-Assyrian period (740-640 BCE), when Mesopotamia exerted strong political and cultural influence over Israel and Judah and when the Laws of Hammurabi were actively copied in Mesopotamia as a literary-canonical text. Inventing God's Law demonstrates that the Covenant Code is primarily a creative academic work rather than a repository of everyday legal practices, and that it transformed a paradigmatic and prestigious legal text of Israel's and Judah's imperial overlords into a symbolic rejection of foreign hegemony. Finally, Wright examines the relationship of the Covenant Code to the narrative of the book of Exodus in context of the development of the Pentateuch as a whole

Introduction: The basic thesis and background
Pt. 1. Primary evidence for dependence : sequential correspondences and date
The casuistic laws
The apodictic laws
Date and opportunity for the use of Hammurabi's and other cuneiform laws
Pt. 2. Compositional logic of the covenant code
Debt-slavery and the seduction of a maiden (Exodus 21:2-11; 22:15-16)
Homicide, injury, miscarriage, talion (Exodus 21:12, 18-27)
Child rebellion, kidnapping, sorcery, bestiality, illicit sacrifice (Exodus 21:12-17; 22:17-19)
The goring ox and negligence (Exodus 21:28-36)
Animal theft, crop destruction, deposit, and burglary (Exodus 21:37-22:8)
Animal injury, death, and rental (Exodus 22:9-14)
The themes and ideology of the apodictic laws (Exodus 20:23-26; 21:1; 22:20-23:19)
Redactional growth in the apodictic laws and the covenant code's relationship to the Exodus narrative
Conclusions.

2010-02-18