The Code of Hammurabi—Light on Mosaic Laws

Great Discoveries of the 20th Century

Although such discoveries as the Rosetta Stone, the Behistun Inscription, and the Moabite Stone are important for their time and laid the foundations of scientific archaeology in the 19th century, it remained for the 20th century to produce the most thrilling and outstanding archaeological finds. During this period biblical archaeology came to be a refined and precise science, adding to the frontiers of biblical knowledge on the human plane and making tremendous contributions to the background, historical and cultural, of the written Word of God.

The Code of Hammurabi—Light on Mosaic Laws

Hammurabi (actually named Hammurapi), the sixth king of the first dynasty of Babylon who ruled in Babylon from 1728 to 1676 b.c., was not always the great world power as we think of him today. Instead, according to the Mari Documents (see Mari Texts under a separate heading in this article), he was somewhat of a minor power when compared to other kings of his day in the early years of his reign. Yet, he is memorialized for eternity with the discovery of the Code of Hammurabi, discovered in 1901. The code, a copy of which was discovered by Jacques de Morgan at Susa in Elam, where it had been carried off by the Elamites from Babylon, is inscribed on a stele of black diorite over seven feet tall and approximately six feet wide. On the stele the code contains some 250 laws or stipulations. At the top of the stele is a bas-relief showing the king receiving the law code from the god Shamash, the god of justice and law.

The code, which is not actually a code per se, but more of a collection of laws, written near the end of Hammurabi’s reign, is important in furnishing background material for comparison with other ancient bodies of law. It is natural that it should offer comparative data for the study of the law of the Torah or Pentateuch. This type of code contains a form of laws known as casuistic law or case law, based on specific cases of human conduct. The formula for this type of law is: “If someone does this to another human being (and the infraction is defined), then the penalty is (whatever is prescribed in the code).” James West, in his book Introduction to the Old Testament (Macmillan, 1981, page 180), states, “The social, civil, and criminal laws in the Pentateuch are cast in this form. The subjects covered include the various facets of a complex society, but, as compared with Hebrew laws, the extra-biblical codes exhibit a greater concern with property rights, a less rigorous attention to persons, and scarcely any regulation at all of religion and cult.”

It is believed by some scholars that the Code of Hammurabi was not actually written to be used in the practice of law, but is more of an expression of philosophical, intellectual, or literary ideas and ideals to demonstrate the ethical and legal thinking of the day. Furthermore, the code was certainly not written by Hammurabi himself, but most likely by scribes in his employment who penned his name to the document.

For Jewish and Christian tradition the code has value because it enables us to better understand some of the legal writings found in the Pentateuch, such as the Covenant Code (from Exodus 21–23). But the law found in the Torah (Pentateuch) is also very different in places. For example, much of the law found in the Torah is known as apodictic law, which take the form of imperatives such as “You shall . . . , or You shall not . . . .” A good example of apodictic law is found in the Ten Commandment