Hammurabi Code

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1. "A Man Shall Be Put To Death Only For His Own Crime"

   Prof. Jonathan Grossman

   The Torah states that each man shall die for his own sin. This statement seems redundant - why would anyone think otherwise? This article raises a number of solutions to this question, and offers an explanation based on the cultural background of the biblical era.

2. "A Man Shall be Put to Death Only for his Own Crime"- Audio

   Prof. Jonathan Grossman

   תאריך פרסום: August 5773 (2013) | | 9 minutes

   This parasha, which deals with laws relating to courts, death penalties, and runaway slaves, contains phrases quoted and related to in later books of Tanakh, as well. But some of the ideas related to these laws also appear - in similar and yet very different form - in the Code of Hammurabi. Comparing laws in our parasha with those in other Near Eastern societies demonstrates an extreme contrast between the Torah’s values and those of other societies.

3. Tanakh and Archaeology

   Part 4 - The Era of the Forefathers (continued)

   Rabbi Amnon Bazak

   Many social and legal phenomena described in Sefer Bereishit conform to what we know today about the laws and practices of various peoples in the ancient Near East – even though the Torah, given at a later time, explicitly forbade some of these practices. The presentation of the forefathers as people who were active within a socio-legal framework that partly contravened the Torah, proves the familiarity of Sefer Bereishit with the world within which its characters functioned. It is also testimony to the authenticity and honesty of the biblical account, which makes no pretense of presenting the forefathers as operating in accordance with the laws of the Torah, which came later.

4. Tanakh and Literature of the Ancient Near East

   Part 1 - The Torah and Legal Systems of the Ancient Near East

   Rabbi Amnon Bazak

   The discoveries in the study of the Ancient Near East, that included certain similarities between the laws of the Torah and other legal systems among the nations of the Ancient Near East, produced two opposite reactions. Some viewed these data as confirmation of the validity of the biblical account and a blow to Biblical Criticism. Others claimed that if the laws of the Torah were in fact based on these other laws, it offers support for the view that the Torah laws are of human origin. However, the existence of systems of law that preceded the Torah is a fact that the Torah itself mentions explicitly. Moreover, the formulation of some of the commandments of the Torah indicates that these laws are based on previous knowledge assumed to be familiar to those receiving the Torah. The Torah is not formulated as a book that builds an entire system of laws and judgments from the very foundations up; rather, it is a book that adds layers onto an existing basis.

5. Tanakh and Literature of the Ancient Near East

   Part 2 - The Torah and Legal Systems of the Ancient Near East (continued)

   Rabbi Amnon Bazak

   On this basis of some of the major features that distinguish the law of the Torah from the laws of the Ancient Near East we may conclude that the Torah does indeed display awareness of the existence of other ancient codes of law, and perhaps even specific laws. However, even in instances where there is a clear connection between the two systems, the Torah is not a replica of existing laws. On the contrary, the Torah adopts those laws that conform with the dictates of morality and uprightness, while altering radically some of the basic principles upon which those laws are based and their foundation in limited human perceptions of justice. From the Divine point of view of the Torah, there is an emphasis on the value of life, on individual responsibility, etc., in contrast to the principles arising from the other systems of laws. The Torah represents, even in the social sphere, a wondrous legal structure based on social justice, supporting and illustrating Moshe's declaration, "What  nation is there so great, that has statutes and judgments so righteous as all this Torah, which I set before you today?"