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The Code of Hammurabi ends with escalating curses against anyone who destroys or ignores its laws. Leviticus 26 follows a similar pattern, warning of disease, famine, and exile for those who break God’s covenant.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Code of Hammurabi
Babylonian Legal Text
Ancient Near East
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. If this ruler does not value my words, despises my curses, does not fear the curse of the gods, abolishes the law I have given, corrupts my words, alters my monument, erases my name and writes his own name there, or because of the curses orders someone else to do so, then may the great god Anu, the father of the gods, who ordained my rule, take from that man the glory of royalty, whether he is a king, a lord, a governor, or a commoner, break his scepter, and curse his destiny. May Bel, the lord who fixes destiny, whose command cannot be altered, who has made my kingdom great, stir up against him a rebellion that his hand cannot control. May he let the wind of the overthrow of his dwelling blow; may he decree for him years of groaning in his rule, years of scarcity, years of famine, darkness without light, and death with seeing eyes. May Bel order with his mighty mouth the destruction of his city, the scattering of his subjects, the cutting off of his rule, and the complete erasure of his name and memory from the land.
Leviticus 26:15
Hebrew Bible
13 I am the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, from being their slaves, and I broke the bars of your yoke and caused you to walk upright. 14 “‘If, however, you do not obey me and keep all these commandments— 15 if you reject my statutes and abhor my regulations so that you do not keep all my commandments and you break my covenant— 16 I for my part will do this to you: I will inflict horror on you, consumption and fever, which diminish eyesight and drain away the vitality of life. You will sow your seed in vain because your enemies will eat it. 17 I will set my face against you. You will be struck down before your enemies; those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee when there is no one pursuing you.
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Notes and References
“... Deuteronomy 28:1–48 and our Epilogue resemble in their composition the epilogue to the Code of Hammurabi. King Hammurabi adjures his successors to uphold the laws he has promulgated, to honor his name, and so on. He poses the same alternatives as we find in the Epilogues of the Torah: “If that man (i.e., the king who shall be raised up in the land) has heeded my words, which I have inscribed on my monument, has not made light of my commandments … may Shamash enlarge that man’s empire like mine, the just king, may he lead his people in justice. If that man has not heeded my words … may the great god, Anum, father of the gods, deprive that man … of royal splendor, break his scepter, curse his destiny.…” There are, of course, basic differences between our Epilogue and that of the Code of Hammurabi, but the similarities are nonetheless striking ...”
Levine, Baruch A.
Leviticus: The Traditional Hebrew Text with the New JPS Translation
(pp. 583-584) Jewish Publication Society, 1989
* 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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