[...]... signal the coming end of the collection and to emphasize the final topic of festivals and cult (23:14–19) The placement of sections of apodictic law around the casuistic laws of 21:2–22:19 was done in imitation of the overall A-B-A structure of LH (prologue/casuistic laws/ epilogue) The theme of cultic activity that pervades the prologue helped determine the cultic theme of the initial apodictic laws, ... casuistic laws have close associations with the central casuistic laws of LH (LH 1–282), and CC’s outer apodictic laws have close thematic associations with the outer sections of LH, its prologue and epilogue, especially one particular section of the epilogue The casuistic laws of CC for their part display the same or nearly the same topical order as the laws in the last half of Hammurabi s collection.18 They... Abbreviations and Special Terminology xiii 1 Introduction: The Basic Thesis and Background 3 Part I: Primary Evidence for Dependence: Sequential Correspondences and Date 29 2 The Casuistic Laws 31 3 The Apodictic Laws 51 4 Opportunity and Date for the Use of Hammurabi s and Other Cuneiform Laws 91 Part II: The Compositional Logic of the Covenant Code 121 5 Debt-Slavery and the Seduction of a Maiden (Exodus... of the Great Books library of Akkadian scribes, but that this text had no influence on the Covenant Code? A more parsimonious and compelling explanation of the Covenant Code s origins recommends itself, and that is what this study presents The Evidence in Brief The argument of this book requires detailed textual examination of the whole of the Covenant Code in connection with the Laws of Hammurabi and. .. small groups of casuistic laws on specific topics were created A third stage brought together these small groups of laws into intermediate collections, and these were later brought together into the first and basic edition of CC, consisting of casuistic laws Finally, the collection was expanded with the apodictic laws and incorporated into the narrative According to Jackson’s model, the laws grew up... early dating of the Covenant Code is also supported by a relatively early dating of the laws of Deuteronomy If the latter date to the eighth century, for example, then the Covenant Code may be from the ninth or even tenth century BCE In addition, several scholars believe that the Covenant Code was included as part of the Elohist—a few say the Yahwist—source of the Pentateuch An early dating of these sources... Mediterranean law collections For example, the Covenant Code, the Laws of Hammurabi, the Laws of Eshnunna, and the Roman Twelve Tables all have burglary laws that speak of killing a burglar (see chapter 9) These cannot all be related by literary influence They are either all the result of coincidence (independent genesis) or the result of broad but indefinable oral tradition This explanation is then brought... texts.17 But the similarities with LH are much broader than what are observable between individual laws here or there and are found throughout its two genres of casuistic and apodictic laws The casuistic laws, with the style “if then ,” occupy the central portion of the text (21:2–22:19) These laws are surrounded by bookends of apodictic laws, with the style “do this/don’t do that” (20:23–26 and 22:20–23:19)... necessary for the text’s composition, and its temporal proximity to the basic laws of Deuteronomy, which depend on the Covenant Code s laws and date not much later, probably to the latter half of the seventh century Moreover, because the Covenant Code is largely a creative rewriting of Mesopotamian sources, it is to be viewed as 3 4 Inventing God’s Law an academic abstraction rather than a digest of laws practiced... use of the essence of this later transitional introduction in the formulation of 21:1 In the broader context of similarities with LH, the correspondences between the CC’s final apodictic laws and Hammurabi s exhortatory block continue the sequential correlation between the two collections Both collections change genre at basically the same point and specifically at the end of the casuistic laws of LH Their . h0" alt="" INVENTING GOD’S LAW This page intentionally left blank INVENTING GOD’S LAW How the Covenant Code of the Bible Used and Revised the Laws of Hammurabi David P. Wright 1 2009 9 8. 31 3. The Apodictic Laws 51 4. Opportunity and Date for the Use of Hammurabi s and Other Cuneiform Laws 91 Part II: The Compositional Logic of the Covenant Code 121 5. Debt-Slavery and the Seduction. or Mediterranean law collections. For example, the Covenant Code, the Laws of Hammurabi, the Laws of Eshnunna, and the Roman Twelve Tables all have burglary laws that speak of killing a burglar