A Law Book for the Diaspora

Abstract

Abstract The foundation for all scholarly study in biblical law is the shared assumption that the Covenant Code, as contained in Exodus 20:23–23:33, is the oldest code of laws in the Hebrew Bible and that all other laws are later revisions of that code. This book strikes at that foundation by arguing that those laws in the Covenant Code that are similar to Deuteronomy and the Holiness Code are in fact later than both of these, dependent upon them as sources, and therefore do not constitute the oldest code and cannot be taken as the foundation of Hebrew law. The first chapter reviews the history of research on the Covenant Code that led to the conviction that it was the oldest code and why that view is called into question. In successive chapters, Van Seters defends his radical hypothesis with a systematic comparison of the Covenant Code with the other legal codes and the broader ethical traditions of the Hebrew Bible. The book first examines the legal framework of the Covenant Code, its opening laws and closing epilogue, and the code's place within the narrative of the Sinai pericope. The author next considers the corpus of the code's civil laws in comparison with both the Babylonian law codes and the parallel laws in the other biblical codes. Finally, the laws consisting mostly of humanitarian demands, general religious obligations, and the regulations for Sabbath and festivals are those containing the most parallels with the other biblical codes. From this detailed comparison of laws, Van Seters concludes that the Covenant Code must be placed in the time of the Jews’ Babylonian exile as a code for the diaspora with minimal cultic requirements, strong humanitarian concerns that include social contact with non‐Jews, and laws for a semiautonomous community within the larger imperial rule. The Covenant Code was never an independent legal corpus but was an integral part of the literary work known as the Yahwist. The effect of this reading is to challenge not only the traditional dating of law codes in the Hebrew Bible but also the conventional understanding of the history of ancient Israel.