Law of Moses

The Law of Moses (Hebrew: תֹּורַת מֹשֶׁה Torat Moshe), also called the Mosaic Law, is the law said to have been revealed to Moses by God. The term primarily refers to the Torah or the first five books of the Hebrew Bible.

Terminology

The Law of Moses or Torah of Moses (Hebrew: תֹּורַת מֹשֶׁה‎, Torat Moshe, Septuagint Ancient Greek: νόμος Μωυσῆ, nómos Mōusē, or in some translations the "Teachings of Moses"^[1]) is a biblical term first found in the Book of Joshua 8:31–32, where Joshua writes the Hebrew words of "Torat Moshe תֹּורַת מֹשֶׁה‎" on an altar of stones at Mount Ebal. The text continues:

And afterward he read all the words of the teachings, the blessings and cursings, according to all that is written in the book of the Torah.
— Joshua 8:34^[2]

The term occurs 15 times in the Hebrew Bible, a further 7 times^[3] in the New Testament, and repeatedly in Second Temple period, intertestamental, rabbinical and patristic literature.

The Hebrew word for the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, Torah (which means "law" and was translated into Greek as "nomos" or "Law") refers to the same five books termed in English "Pentateuch" (from Latinised Greek "five books", implying the five books of Moses). According to some scholars, use of the name "Torah" to designate the "Five Books of Moses" of the Hebrew Bible is clearly documented only from the 2nd century BCE.^[4]

In modern usage, Torah can refer to the first five books of the Tanakh, as the Hebrew Bible is commonly called, to the instructions and commandments found in the 2nd to 5th books of the Hebrew Bible, and also to the entire Tanakh and even all of the Oral Law as well. Among English-speaking Christians the term "The Law" can refer to the whole Pentateuch including Genesis, but this is generally in relation to the New Testament where nomos "the Law" sometimes refers to all five books, including Genesis. This use of the Hebrew term "Torah" (law), for the first five books is considered misleading by 21st-century Christian bible scholar John Van Seters, because the Pentateuch "consists of about one half law and the other half narrative".^[5]

Law in the Ancient Near East

The "Law of Moses" in ancient Israel was different from other legal codes in the ancient Near East because transgressions were seen as offences against God rather than solely as offences against society (civil law).^[6] This contrasts with the Sumerian Code of Ur-Nammu (c. 2100–2050 BCE), and the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi (c. 1760 BCE, of which almost half concerns contract law).

However, the influence of the ancient Near Eastern legal tradition on the Law of ancient Israel is recognised and well documented,^[7] for example, in principles such as lex talionis ("eye for an eye"), and in the content of the provisions. Some similarities are striking, such as in the provisions concerning a man-goring ox (Code of Hammurabi laws 250–252, Exodus 21:28–32). Some writers have posited direct influence: David P. Wright, for example, asserts that the Covenant Code is "directly, primarily, and throughout dependent upon the Laws of Hammurabi", "a creative rewriting of Mesopotamian sources ... to be viewed as an academic abstraction rather than a digest of laws".^[8] Others posit indirect influence, such as via Aramaic or Phoenician intermediaries.^[9] There is consensus that the similarities are a result of inheriting common oral traditions. Another example, the Israelite Sabbatical Year has antecedents in the Akkadian mesharum edicts granting periodic relief to the poor.^[10] An important distinction, however, is that in ancient Near East legal codes, as in more recently unearthed Ugaritic texts, an important, and ultimate, role in the legal process was assigned to the king. Ancient Israel, before the monarchical period beginning with David, was set up as a theocracy, rather than a monarchy, although God is most commonly portrayed like a king.^[11]

Hebrew Bible

Moses and authorship of the Law

According to the Hebrew Bible, Moses was the leader of early Israel out of Egypt; and traditionally the first five books of the Hebrew Bible are attributed to him, though most modern scholars believe there were multiple authors. The law attributed to Moses, specifically the laws set out in the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy, as a consequence came to be considered supreme over all other sources of authority (any king and/or his officials), and the Levites were the guardians and interpreters of the law.^[12]

The Book of Deuteronomy (Deuteronomy 31:24–26) records Moses saying, "Take this book of the law, and put it by the side of the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD." Similar passages referring to the Law include, for example, Exodus 17:14, "And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven"; Exodus 24:4, "And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD, and rose up early in the morning, and built an altar under the mount, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel"; Exodus 34:27, "And the LORD said unto Moses, Write thou these words, for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel"; and Leviticus 26:46 "These are the decrees, the laws and the regulations that the LORD established on Mount Sinai between himself and the Israelites through Moses."

Later references to the Law in the Hebrew Bible

The Book of Kings relates how a "law of Moses" was discovered in the Temple during the reign of king Josiah (r. 641–609 BCE).

Another mention of the "Book of the Law of Moses" is found in Joshua 8:30–31.

Content

The content of the Law is spread among the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers, and then reiterated and added to in Deuteronomy. This includes:

The Ten Commandments
Moral laws – on murder, theft, honesty, adultery, homosexuality, etc.
Social laws – on property, inheritance, marriage and divorce.
Food laws – on what is clean and unclean, on cooking and storing food.
Purity laws – on menstruation, seminal emissions, skin disease and mildew, etc.
Feasts – the Day of Atonement, Passover, Feast of Tabernacles, Feast of Unleavened Bread, Feast of Weeks etc.
Sacrifices and offerings – the sin offering, burnt offering, whole offering, heave offering, Passover sacrifice, meal offering, wave offering, peace offering, drink offering, thank offering, dough offering, incense offering, red heifer, scapegoat, first fruits, etc.
Instructions for the priesthood and the high priest, including tithes.
Instructions regarding the Tabernacle, and which were later applied to the Temple in Jerusalem, including those concerning the Holy of Holies containing the Ark of the Covenant (in which were the tablets of the law, Aaron's rod, the manna). Instructions and for the construction of various altars.
Forward looking instructions for time when Israel would demand a king.

Rabbinical Interpretation

The content of the instructions and its interpretations, the Oral Torah, was passed down orally, excerpted and codified in Rabbinical Judaism, and in the Talmud were numbered as the 613 commandments. The law given to Moses at Sinai (Hebrew Halakhah le-Moshe mi-Sinai הלכה למשה מסיני) is a halakhic distinction.

Rabbinic Judaism^[13] asserts that Moses presented the laws to the Jewish people, and that the laws do not apply to Gentiles (including Christians), with the exception of the Seven Laws of Noah, which (it teaches) apply to all people.

Christian interpretation

Orthodox Christians^[who?] regard the Law of Moses as still fully in effect but transformed and fulfilled in a number of ways. Other Christians believe that only parts dealing with the moral law (as opposed to ceremonial law) are still applicable, others believe that none apply, dual-covenant theologians believe that the Old Covenant remains valid only for Jews, and a minority have the view that all parts still apply to believers in Jesus and in the New Covenant without any transformation in their character. Hebrew Catholics believe that the Law of Moses is not obligatory for Christians, but yet beneficial to preserve the Jewish identity of those Jews who have become Catholic, and as a devotional.^{[citation needed]}

During the Enlightenment, European society transitioned from the religious traditional social order of the Middle Ages into the modern Age of Reason. Anti-semitism, once driven by religious conviction and the persistent belief that Jews should be blamed for the death of Jesus, was reconfigured. The influence of Hebrew scripture and authoritarian ritual practice on Christian orthodoxy (including the Catholic Church) became the basis for attacks on Church authority. Anti-Semitic polemic against the Mosaic Law became a common theme for many well-known Enlightenment philosophers. Pierre Bayle, a deist, criticized the biblical figures from the Old Testament and their adherence to religious law which he said operated in an authoritarian manner to regulate social and community behavior instead of a personal conscience that requires agency.

In Islam

Muslims believe Moses was one of the major prophets (and apostles) of God and the Law was one of the three major revealed scriptures known by name beside the Quran, which mentions the Law or Torah a total of eighteen times, and repeats commandments from it:

How do they (the Jews) make you (Muhammad) judge when [they have] the Law ("Torah") with them, wherein are the commandments of God? Even then they turn away [from God], after all that. They are no believers. Indeed have We sent down the Law ("Torah"), wherein was guidance and light, by which the prophets, who submitted to God, used to govern ("judge") those who [now] are of the Jewish folk. So did the Rabbis and religious scribes by what of the Scripture of God they were entrusted with and were witnesses to. So fear not the men but fear Me and trade not My verses (commandments) for a petty price [of this worldly life]. Whoever governs ("judges") not by what God has sent down: they are those [who are] the unbelievers. We ordained for them therein: life for life, eye for eye, nose for nose, ear for ear, tooth for tooth and an [equal] retribution [for] wounds. But whoever is charitable with it, then be it [counted as] his atonement. And whoever governs not by what God has sent down: they are those [who are] the wrong-doers. And We followed up upon their footsteps Jesus the son of Mary verifying what was before him of the Law. And We gave him the Gospel ("Evangel"), wherein was guidance and light, verifying what was before him of the Law, a guidance and an admonition for the pious.
— Quran 5:43-46

References

^ e.g. New Century Version, Joshua 8:32
^ Kristin De Troyer, Armin Lange Reading the present in the Qumran library 2005 p158: "Both at the beginning and at the ending of the Gibeonites' story there is now a reference to the law of Moses and to the fact that ... The building of the altar happens on Mount Ebal, not in Gilgal — Joshua gets to Gilgal only in 9:6."
^ 'the Law of Moses' - John 7:23; Luke 2:22; 22:44; Acts 15:5, 21; 24:14; 28:23
^ Frank Crüsemann, Allan W. Mahnke (1996). The Torah: theology and social history of Old Testament law, p. 331. "... there is only clear evidence for the use of the term Torah to describe the Pentateuch as a ..."
^ John Van Seters (2004). The Pentateuch: a social-science commentary, p. 16 "Furthermore, the Hebrew term Torah, 'Law', is a little misleading as a description of the content of the Pentateuch, since it consists of about one half law and the other half narrative."
^ John H. Walton (1994). Ancient Israelite Literature in Its Cultural Context, p. 233. "The ancient Near Eastern collections do not include cultic law; rather, their focus is on civil law. As a generalization, in the ancient Near East violation of law is an offense against society. In Israel a violation of law is an ..."
^ Andrew E. Hill, John H. Walton (2000). A survey of the Old Testament, p. 52. "The influence of the ancient Near Eastern legal tradition on the form and function of Hebrew law is undeniable and widely documented. Along with this contemporary cultural influence, the Old Testament affirms the divine origin of ..."
^ David P. Wright (2009). Inventing God's Law: How the Covenant Code of the Bible Used and Revised the Laws of Hammurabi. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195304756
^ Marc Van De Mieroop (2016). Philosophy before the Greeks: The Pursuit of Truth in Ancient Babylonia. Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691176352
^ Jimmy Jack McBee Roberts (2002). The Bible and the ancient Near East: collected essays, p. 46. "The Israelite Sabbatical Year, which seems to have the same purpose and recurs at about the same interval, appears to be an Israelite adaptation of this mesharum-edict tradition."
^ Curtis, Adrian (1988). "Chapter 1. God as 'judge' in Ugaritic and Hebrew thought". In Lindars, Barnabas (ed.). Law and religion: essays on the place of the law in Israel. p. 3. The many legal texts discovered at Ugarit make it clear that the king played an important legal role; although legal transactions could be carried out before witnesses, ...
^ McKenzie, Steven L.; Graham, Matt Patrick (January 1998). The Hebrew Bible Today: An Introduction to Critical Issues. p. 19ff. ISBN 9780664256524.
^ Jewish Encyclopedia: Gentiles: Gentiles May Not Be Taught the Torah