![]() ![]() What the similarities do show is that murder, theft, adultery, and kidnapping are problems in every society and must be addressed. There are other examples, but in all truth, such resemblances do not demonstrate that Moses plagiarized Hammurabi’s Code. Statute 206 of the Hammurabian Code says, “If during a quarrel one man strike another and wound him, then he shall swear, ‘I did not injure him wittingly,’ and pay the physicians.” The Law of Moses is comparable: “If people quarrel and one person hits another with a stone or with their fist and the victim does not die but is confined to bed, the one who struck the blow will not be held liable if the other can get up and walk around outside with a staff however, the guilty party must pay the injured person for any loss of time and see that the victim is completely healed” (Exodus 21:18-19). ![]() Also, there are similarities in the law of retaliation, such as “an eye for an eye” (Leviticus 21:23-25 cf. If they’re right, and Moses simply stole from the Babylonians, then the whole episode at Mount Sinai is false (Exodus 34), and the inspiration of Scripture is suspect.īoth Levitical law and Hammurabi’s Code impose the death penalty in cases of adultery and kidnapping (Leviticus 20:10 Exodus 21:16 cf. Because the Mosaic Law contains some similarities to Hammurabi’s Code, some critics of the Bible believe that Moses copied from the Hammurabian Code. The complexity of the laws and their subject matter reveal much about ancient Babylonian culture.Ībout 300 years after Hammurabi, in 1440 B.C., Moses recorded the Law for the Israelites. The Code is primarily a case-by-case formula of customary law covering administrative, civil, and criminal issues. The Hammurabian Code is divided into 12 sections and consists of 282 laws, 34 of which are unreadable. The Code of Hammurabi, discovered on a stele in 1901, is one of the best preserved and comprehensive of ancient writings of significant length ever found. He is remembered today for promoting and enforcing an organized code of laws. Why then, might the biblical text, illustrate capitol punishment? It’s for each of us to answer.Hammurabi was a Babylonian king who reigned from 1795 to 1750 B.C. ” Rabbi Tarfon and Rabbi Akiva state: “If we had been members of the Sanhedrin, no defendant would ever have been executed.” Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya states: “ one person in 70 years. If one can be certain of anything in a discussion of Judaism’s views regarding capital punishment, especially those held in a public forum, it is that the following statement in the Mishna (Makkot 1:10) will be quoted:Ī Sanhedrin that executed one person in a week is called a “murderous”. While capitol punishment is a concept illustrated in the Hebrew Bible, we learn from our sages that it really didn’t happen-at least in rabbinic times. Did the Israelites misread God’s mixed message? Does God attempt to retract God’s anger and wrath in verses 17-21? If anyone kills any human being, that person shall be put to death…If anyone maims another: what was done shall be done in return-fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth…one who kills a human being shall be put to death” (Leviticus 24:17-21).Īren’t the Israelites, who stone the man to death at the end of the parashah, committing murder? God commands an act of capitol punishment but then immediately goes on to talk about the ramifications of killing another human being. The text continues with a seemingly contradictory message from God: Parashat Emor ends with the story of a half-Israelite man who pronounces God’s name in blasphemy while engaged in a fight with another Israelite.Īnd Adonai spoke to Moses, saying: Take the blasphemer outside the camp and let all who were within hearing lay their hands upon his head, and let the community leadership stone him (Leviticus 24: 13-14).ĭid stoning really take place during the times of the Hebrew Bible and would a merciful God really have commanded humans to take the life of another as punishment for disrespect of the Divine? Is God trying to sternly warn the people or does God really want the Israelites to stone the man to death? By Temple Beth Sholom on Apin D’var TorahĪn eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth-what does Judaism really have to say about crime and punishment? ![]()
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