Texts in Conversation
The praise of Israel's just laws in Deuteronomy may challenge the prestige of Hammurabi's law collection. Attributing wisdom to the whole people rather than only the king makes good law a mark of the community's standing among other nations.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Code of Hammurabi 1:298
Babylonian Legal Text
Ancient Near East
So that the strong might not wrong the weak, and so that the widow and the orphan might be protected, I have set up these my precious words in Babylon, the city where Anu and Bel raise high their heads, in E-Sagil, the temple whose foundations stand firm like heaven and earth, to declare justice in the land, to settle all disputes, and to heal all injuries; I have written them on my memorial stone, before my image as king of righteousness. I am the king who rules among the kings of the cities. My words are well considered; there is no wisdom like mine. By the command of Shamash, the great judge of heaven and earth, let righteousness go out over the land; by the order of Marduk, my lord, let no destruction come to my monument.
Deuteronomy 4:8
Hebrew Bible
5 Look! I have taught you statutes and ordinances just as the Lord my God told me to do, so that you might carry them out in the land you are about to enter and possess. 6 So be sure to do them, because this will testify of your wise understanding to the people who will learn of all these statutes and say, “Indeed, this great nation is a very wise people.” 7 In fact, what other great nation has a god so near to them like the Lord our God whenever we call on him? 8 And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances as just as this whole law that I am about to share with you today?
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Notes and References
“... We do, indeed, find in this passage a pronounced competitive tone challenging the supremacy of the laws of the other peoples: ‘For that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who when they hear all these laws will say ‘surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people’ (4: 6). It may be surmised, then, that the expression ‘righteous laws’ was employed as a polemic note against the Hammurabi Code, which at that time was widely studied in the ancient Near East. ...”
* 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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