Texts in Conversation
Pointing a finger in Isaiah carries the sense of accusation found in Hammurabi's laws. Removing the gesture therefore concerns speech that can bring judgment against a neighbor, making the demand more serious than a rule against rudeness.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Code of Hammurabi 1:137
Babylonian Legal Text
Ancient Near East
127 If anyone points the finger at a sister of a god or at another man's wife and cannot prove the charge, that man shall be taken before the judges, and his brow shall be marked. 128 If a man takes a woman as his wife but has no intercourse with her, this woman is no wife to him. 129 If a man's wife is caught lying with another man, both shall be bound and thrown into the water, but the husband may spare his wife, and the king may spare his servant. 130 If a man rapes the betrothed wife of another man, who has never known a man and still lives in her father's house, and he is caught lying with her, that man shall be put to death, but the woman is blameless.
Isaiah 58:9
Hebrew Bible
7 I want you to share your food with the hungry and to provide shelter for homeless, oppressed people. When you see someone naked, clothe them! Don’t turn your back on your own flesh and blood. 8 Then your light will shine like the sunrise; your restoration will quickly arrive; your godly behavior will go before you, and the Lord’s splendor will be your rear guard. 9 Then you will call out, and the Lord will respond; you will cry out, and he will reply, ‘Here I am.’ You must remove the burdensome yoke from among you and stop pointing fingers and speaking sinfully. 10 You must actively help the hungry and feed the oppressed. Then your light will dispel the darkness, and your darkness will be transformed into noonday.
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Notes and References
“... 58:9. pointing the finger. In the ancient world pointing the finger was involved in a formal accusation (as in Hammurabi’s laws). The omen literature attaches to the gesture the power of a curse. Here it is indicative of malevolent slander. ...”
Walton, John H.
The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament
(p. 638) InterVarsity Press, 2000
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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