Law

Abstract

Abstract In this chapter I complement the emancipatory focus of the preceding chapter by attending to that other narrative pole in the book of Exodus: law. The advent of law in a people’s history—the historical moment when a culture first establishes its identifying tradition of law—often coincides with a “wilderness” experience: a transition from relative anarchy to relative order. Thus the figure of Wilderness arises as a prominent feature in the biblical narrative of ancient Israel. Indeed the law-wilderness connection can become a pronounced feature for postbiblical cultures that identify with ancient Israel. Before turning to such instances I will state the case first for biblical narrative. Recall that the book of Exodus features not only the miraculous liberation from Egypt but also the promulgation of the first Mosaic law code—the ten commandments delivered by the prophet at Mount Sinai. Moses-the-lawgiver, and the divine origination of his law at Sinai, are narrative elements just as central to the book of Exodus as the character of Moses-the-liberator and his miraculous deliverance of the people at the Red Sea.