Texts in Conversation
The court rules in Exodus parallel Hammurabi's instructions to future rulers to preserve just judgments. The shared concern limits those entrusted with the law, preventing personal interests from changing the justice owed to people seeking a hearing.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Code of Hammurabi 1:302
Babylonian Legal Text
Ancient Near East
Let him rule his subjects by these words, speak justice to them, give right decisions, root out criminals and wrongdoers from his land, and give his people prosperity. I am Hammurabi, the king of righteousness, on whom Shamash has conferred the law. My words are well considered; my deeds have no equal; they bring down the high, humble the proud, and drive out arrogance. If a future ruler heeds my words, which I have written on my inscription, and does not annul my law, corrupt my words, or alter my monument, then may Shamash lengthen that king's reign as he has lengthened mine, the king of righteousness, so that he may rule his subjects in righteousness.
Exodus 23:6
Hebrew Bible
4 “If you encounter your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering off, you must by all means return it to him. 5 If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen under its load, you must not ignore him, but be sure to help him with it. 6 “You must not turn away justice for your poor people in their lawsuits. 7 Keep your distance from a false charge—do not kill the innocent and the righteous, for I will not justify the wicked. 8 “You must not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and subverts the words of the righteous. 9 “You must not oppress a resident foreigner, since you know the life of a foreigner, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
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Notes and References
“... Exodus 23:1–8 shares this same general theme and seeks to ensure judicial propriety. This theme appears only here in the broad context of CC. In addition to the correlation in general theme and prescriptive tenor, CC’s laws on justice and judgment correlate with the exhortations of the future-king passage at various points. The future-king passage is mainly concerned that the king does not alter Hammurabi’s stela and ordinances. This is reiterated with different verbs and nouns in the exhortatory and descriptive sections: Exhortation: May he not alter the law of the land that I have set down or the verdicts of the land that I have rendered (dīn mātim ša adīnu purussē mātim ša aprusu ay unakkir). May he not remove my ordinances (uuratīya ay ušassik; col. 48:68–74). Description of Obedience: If . . . he does not remove my law (šumma . . . dīnī lā ušassik), he does not overthrow my words (awātīya lā uštepīl), he does not alter my ordinances (uuratīya lā unakkir; col. 49:6–10). Description of Disobedience: If . . . he erases the law that I set down (šumma . . . dīn adīnu uptassis), he overthrows my words (awātīya uštepīl), he alters my ordinances (uuratīya uttakkir; col. 49:27–32). ...”
Wright, David P.
Inventing God's Law: How the Covenant Code of the Bible Used and Revised the Laws of Hammurabi
(p. 63) Oxford University Press, 2009
* 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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