One of the most celebrated kings of the First Dynasty of Babylon, Hammurapi (or Hammurabi) ruled c,1728-1686 BC, about three centuries after the time of Abraham. His reign was famous for the advancements made in many fields of science (astronomy, agriculture and mathematics) as well architecture and literature. Of all these he is probably best remembered for his codification of a set of laws that is today referred to as the Code of Hammurabi. Discovered by archaeologists in the very early years of the 20th Cent, they shed very informative light on and parallels to the Mosiac law codes we find in the Old Testament. Hammurabi, though famously associated with what was found, was probably not the first Babylonian king to have promulgated such laws; his codification of them happens to be the most significant example that have been found. Inscribed in cuneiform on a stone column found in the library of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal (r.668-628 BC) in Susa (it has probably been looted from Babylon where it was originally erected). It now resides in the Louuvre in Paris. The Hammurabi Code is important because it provides us with a window into a world near contemporary with the Old Testament patriachs, helping us to better appreciate the social-cultural background against which the OT narratives are to be read.
The Code is divided into twelve divisions of text on legal procedure, beginning with an introduction:
I. Basic Principles of Legal Process.
II. On Crimes involving Disenfrenchisement of Personal Properties (theft, robbery, burglary, etc).
III. On Vassalage (the rights, privileges, and obligations of vassals, and the use of the military in case of transgression).
IV. On Immovables (laws relating to items such as land and houses).
V. On Trade and Trading (laws relating to traders and their agents and clients).
VI. On Taverns and Boarding Houses.
VII. On Deposits (laws relating to loans, repayment, and breach of trust in financial matters).
VIII. Regarding the Family (laws relating to matrimony, polygamy, infidelity, inhertance, adoption, etc.).
IX. On Injury Caused or Suffered (laws relating to what may be claimed in the event of injuries incurred or caused, the obligations and safeguards of healers and doctors).
X. Regarding the Building of Houses and Ships (responsibility of the builders towards the safety of their clients and public and the conduct of the ship's captain on the waterways, etc.)>
XI. On Hiring, Wages, as well as Safety Measures involving Animals employed in the Work Place.
XII. On Slaves (laws regarding the sales, care of an provisions for them, and recovery of runaways).
As noted above, scholars have found many parallels between the Code (HC) and the Mosaic instrutions (MC). Here are a few examples:
HC: "If a man become involved in debt, and give his wife, his son or his daughter for silver or for labor, they shall serve three years in the house of their purchaser or bondmaster: in the fourth year they shall regain their freedom."
MC: " "If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything."(Exod. 21:2-3 NIV)
HC: "If a man strike another man in a noisy dispute and wound him, that man shall swear, `I did not strike him knowingly'; and he shall pay for the physician."
MC: " "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. (Exod. 21:18-19 NIV)"
HC: "If a man destroy the eye of a free man, his eye shall be destroyed." "If he break the bone of a free man, his bone shall be broken." "If a man knock out the teeth of a man of the same rank, his teeth shall be knocked out."
MC: "But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise."" (Exod. 21:23-25 NIV)
In the early days of his discovery by archaeologists, it was suggested that Hammurabi was to be identified with the Amraphel of Gen 14. This is now recognize as highly improbable.
©ALBERITH
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