ἡ Comp. Stade, Gesch. i. 636; Holzinger, Einl. 248. Many of these laws seem to fall into groups of ten, which L. B. Paton has endeavoured recently to restore in their (supposed) original completeness ; see / BL, 1893, p. 70 if. (an abstract in LOT® p. 40), and cf. Briggs, Lc. p. 311 f
LAW (IN OLD TESTAMENT)
burnt until the following morning; firstfruits to be brought to ‘the house of J’; a kid not to be boiled in its mother’s milk).
The ceremonial provisions contained in 23!” are repeated in 34!°°—a section sometimes called the * Little Book of the Covenant,’ and sometimes also (from 34%) the ‘Words of the Covenant ’—with changes of order, and slight verbal variations, and with the addition in 34'*-"7 of more specific injunc- tions against idolatry.*
The * Book of the Covenant’ is the oldest Code of Hebrew law with which we are acquainted—older, no doubt, than the narrative (E) in which it was incorporated ; it embodies, to use Cornill’s expres- sion, the ‘consuetudinary law of the early mon- archy,’ and embraces (in accordance with the sense of téradh and mishpdt, explained above) the formulated decisions which had accumulated gradu- ally up to that age. That the community for whose use it was designed had made some progress in civilization is evident from the many restrictions imposed on the arbitrary action of the individual ; on the other hand, that it was still in a relatively archaic condition appears from such regulations as 218% and 21%-* (the dex talionis), or the conception of God as the immediate source of judgment (21° 228°; cf. 1S 2%). The stage of society for which the Code was designed, and the characteristics of the Code itself, are well indicated by W. R. Smith (OT JC? 3401f.). ‘The society contemplated in it is of very simple structure. The basis of life is agricultural. Cattle and agricultural produce are the main elements of wealth; and the laws of property deal almost exclusively with them. The principles of criminal and civil justice are those still current among the Arabs of the desert, viz. retaliation and pecuniary compensation. Murder is dealt with by the law of blood revenge; but’ the distinction—which in Greece was still not recognized in the age of Homer—is drawn between murder and manslangnter, and ‘the innocent man-slayer may seek asylum at God’s altar (21, comp. with v.™: ef. 1 Καὶ 2%). With murder are ranked man-stealing, offences against parents, and witcheraft. Othe. injuries are occasions of self- help, or of private suits to be adjusted at the sanctuary (22° [cf. 210]. Personal injuries fall τ under the law of retaliation, just as murder does. Blow for blow is still the law of the Arabs; and in Canaan, no doubt as in the desert, the retaliation was usually sought in the way of self-help. Except in this form, there is no punishment, but only compensation, which in some cases is at the will of the injured party (who has the alternative of direct revenge), but in general is defined by law. De- grading punishments are unknown, and loss of liberty is inflicted only on the thief who cannot pay a fine (22%), Definite rights are secured for the slave. He recovers his freedom after 7 years, unless he prefers to remain a bondman, and seals solemnly his determination at the door of the sanctuary. His right of blood revenge against his master is, however, limited (21%); though, in- stead of the /ex talionis for minor injuries, he can claim his liberty (217+), Women do not enjoy full social equality with men. Women slaves were slaves for life, but were often, it may be inferred, married to members or servants of the family (21*7*), The daughter was her father’s property (217), who received a price for surrendering her to a husband ; and so a daughter’s dishonour is com- pensated by law as a pecuniary loss to her father (2216!- Ve +
* 3418—0315a ; 3419-20,—1312 13; 3420h—9315b; 849] --9915. 3492 =2316; 343=2317; 3425=2318; 3425—9319 (in most cases, with alight verbal differences). For attempts to recover from these laws a ‘Decalogue of J,’ see (briefly) LOT’ 37 (ὃ 39), more fully, Briggs, 1.6. p. 189 ff.
Ἐ See, further, art. ΟΕΙΜῈΒ AND PuNIsHMENTs in vol. i.
LAW (IN OLD PESTAMENT)
To many of the laws there are interesting paral- lels in the early codes of other nations (e.g. in Solon’s Code at Athens): these are pointed out in the commentary of Dillmann. Some of the pro- visions seem to us harsh (21 2215), but account must be taken of the age for which they were prescribed ; and a humane regard for the unpro-
| tected and the helpless is unquestionably the domi-
nant spirit of the Code. ᾿
‘Turning now to the more distinctively moral and religious aspects of the Code, we observe firstly the regard paid to the claims of humanity and justice. An emphatic voice is raised against those erying vices of Oriental government, the maladministration of justice and the oppression of the poor. The gér, or foreigner living in Israel under the protection of a family or a community, has no legal status, but he is not to be oppressed. The Sabbath is enjoined as a day of rest for men and cattle ; and the pro- duce of every field or vineyard is to be left to the poor one year in seven. Religious institutions are in a simple, undeveloped stage. He who sacrifices to any god but Jehovah falls under the ban. The only ordinance of ceremonial sanctity is to abstain from the flesh of animals torn by wild beasts. Altars are to be of simple, almost rudimentary, structure. The sacred dues are firstlings and firstfruits; and the former must be presented at a sanctuary on the eighth day. This regulation of itself presupposes a plurality of sanctuaries, which also agrees with the terms of 20%. The three pilgrimages, at which every male is to appear before J”, mark three periods of the agricultural year—the beginning and the close of harvest, and the end of the vintage. The only points of sacri- ficial ritual insisted on are abstinence from leaven in connexion with the blood of the sacrifice, and the rule that the fat must be burnt the same night. The only sacrifices named are burnt-offerings and peace- (or thank-) offerings (20).