Law of Moses
Encyclopedia
The Law of Moses is a term first found in Joshua 8:31-32 where Joshua writes the words of "the Law of Moses" on the altar at Mount Ebal. The text continues "And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessings and cursings, according to all that is written in the book of the law." (Joshua 8:34). The term occurs 15 times in the Hebrew Bible
, another 7 times in the New Testament
, and repeatedly in Second Temple period
, rabbinical and patristic
literature.
"Law" as equivalent to the English term "Pentateuch" (from Latinised Greek), meaning the "Five Books of Moses" of the Hebrew Bible
, is clearly documented only from the 2nd Century BCE, In modern Hebrew the term Torah
refers to both to the "Law of Moses" itself, the actual regulations and commandments found among the 2nd to 5th books of the Hebrew Bible
. Rarely in English "the Law" can also refer to the whole Pentateuch including Genesis, but this is generally in relation to New Testament uses where nomos "the Law" sometimes refers all five books, including Genesis. This use of the term Torah for the first five books is considered misleading by some scholars since the Pentateuch consists of about one half law and one half narrative. The adjective "mosaic" meaning "of Moses" is also found in the description "mosaic law" in which case only the actual law, not the five books is intended.
by its reference to offense against a deity rather than against society. This compares with the Sumer
ian Code of Ur-Nammu
(c. 2100-2050 BCE), then the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi
(c. 1760 BCE), of which almost half concerns contract law. Though the influence of the ancient Near Eastern legal tradition on the Law of Ancient Israel is recognised and well documented. For example the Israelite Sabbatical Year
has antedents in the Akkadian mesharum edicts granting periodical relief to the poor. Another important distinction is that in ancient Near East legal codes, or in more recently unearthed Ugaritic texts, an important, and ultimate, role was assigned to the king, whereas in the Law of Ancient Israel, Israel was intended to be a theocracy
, not a monarchy
.
are attributed to him, though Mosaic authorship
is disputed. The law attributed to Moses, specifically the laws set out in Deuteronomy, as a consequence came to be considered supreme over all other sources of authority (the king and his officials), and the Levite priests were the guardians and interpreters of the law.
The Book of Deuteronomy ( and ) records Moses saying "Take this book of the law, and put it by the side of the ark of the covenant of the ." Similar passages include, for example, Exodus 17:14, "And the said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua
, that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek
from under heaven;" Exodus 24:4, "And Moses wrote all the words of the , and rose up early in the morning, and built an altar under the mount, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel;" Exodus 34:27, "And the said unto Moses, Write thou these words, for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel;" and "These are the decrees, the laws and the regulations that the established on Mount Sinai between himself and the Israelites through Moses."
relates how a "law of Moses" was discovered in the Temple
during the reign of king Josiah
(r. 641–609 BCE).
This book is mostly identified as an early version of the Book of Deuteronomy, perhaps chapters 5-26 and chapter 28 of the extant text. This text contains a number of laws, dated to the 8th century BC kingdom of Judah
, a time when a minority Yahwist
faction was actively attacking mainstream polytheism, succeeding in establishing official monolatry of the God of Israel under Josiah by the late 7th century BC.
, and Numbers
, and then reiterated and added to in Deuteronomy
(deutero-nomy is Latinised Greek for "Second reading of the Law"). This includes:
, was excerpted and codified in Rabbinical Judaism, and in the Talmud were numbered as the 613 commandments
. The Halakha (not Torah) given to Moses at Sinai is a halakhic distinction in the Law.
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible is a term used by biblical scholars outside of Judaism to refer to the Tanakh , a canonical collection of Jewish texts, and the common textual antecedent of the several canonical editions of the Christian Old Testament...
, another 7 times in the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
, and repeatedly in Second Temple period
Second Temple period
The Second Temple period , in Jewish history, is the period between 530 BCE and 70 CE, when the Second Temple of Jerusalem existed. It ended with the First Jewish–Roman War and the Temple's destruction....
, rabbinical and patristic
Church Fathers
The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were early and influential theologians, eminent Christian teachers and great bishops. Their scholarly works were used as a precedent for centuries to come...
literature.
Usage of the term
The usage of the Hebrew term TorahTorah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
"Law" as equivalent to the English term "Pentateuch" (from Latinised Greek), meaning the "Five Books of Moses" of the Hebrew Bible
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible is a term used by biblical scholars outside of Judaism to refer to the Tanakh , a canonical collection of Jewish texts, and the common textual antecedent of the several canonical editions of the Christian Old Testament...
, is clearly documented only from the 2nd Century BCE, In modern Hebrew the term Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
refers to both to the "Law of Moses" itself, the actual regulations and commandments found among the 2nd to 5th books of the Hebrew Bible
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible is a term used by biblical scholars outside of Judaism to refer to the Tanakh , a canonical collection of Jewish texts, and the common textual antecedent of the several canonical editions of the Christian Old Testament...
. Rarely in English "the Law" can also refer to the whole Pentateuch including Genesis, but this is generally in relation to New Testament uses where nomos "the Law" sometimes refers all five books, including Genesis. This use of the term Torah for the first five books is considered misleading by some scholars since the Pentateuch consists of about one half law and one half narrative. The adjective "mosaic" meaning "of Moses" is also found in the description "mosaic law" in which case only the actual law, not the five books is intended.
Law in the Ancient Near East
The "Law of Moses" in Ancient Israel is distinguished from other legal codes in the ancient Near EastAncient Near East
The ancient Near East was the home of early civilizations within a region roughly corresponding to the modern Middle East: Mesopotamia , ancient Egypt, ancient Iran The ancient Near East was the home of early civilizations within a region roughly corresponding to the modern Middle East: Mesopotamia...
by its reference to offense against a deity rather than against society. This compares with the Sumer
Sumer
Sumer was a civilization and historical region in southern Mesopotamia, modern Iraq during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age....
ian Code of Ur-Nammu
Code of Ur-Nammu
The Code of Ur-Nammu is the oldest known tablet containing a law code surviving today. It was written in the Sumerian language circa 2100 BC-2050 BC...
(c. 2100-2050 BCE), then the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi
Code of Hammurabi
The Code of Hammurabi is a well-preserved Babylonian law code, dating to ca. 1780 BC . It is one of the oldest deciphered writings of significant length in the world. The sixth Babylonian king, Hammurabi, enacted the code, and partial copies exist on a human-sized stone stele and various clay...
(c. 1760 BCE), of which almost half concerns contract law. Though the influence of the ancient Near Eastern legal tradition on the Law of Ancient Israel is recognised and well documented. For example the Israelite Sabbatical Year
Sabbatical year
Sabbatical or a sabbatical is a rest from work, or a hiatus, often lasting from two months to a year. The concept of sabbatical has a source in shmita, described several places in the Bible...
has antedents in the Akkadian mesharum edicts granting periodical relief to the poor. Another important distinction is that in ancient Near East legal codes, or in more recently unearthed Ugaritic texts, an important, and ultimate, role was assigned to the king, whereas in the Law of Ancient Israel, Israel was intended to be a theocracy
Theocracy
Theocracy is a form of organization in which the official policy is to be governed by immediate divine guidance or by officials who are regarded as divinely guided, or simply pursuant to the doctrine of a particular religious sect or religion....
, not a monarchy
Monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...
.
Moses and authorship of the Law
According to the Hebrew Bible Moses was the leader of early Israel out of Egypt in Exodus and traditionally the first five books of the Hebrew BibleHebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible is a term used by biblical scholars outside of Judaism to refer to the Tanakh , a canonical collection of Jewish texts, and the common textual antecedent of the several canonical editions of the Christian Old Testament...
are attributed to him, though Mosaic authorship
Mosaic authorship
Mosaic authorship is the traditional attribution of the first five books of the Old Testament to Moses. The tradition is first definitively stated in the Babylonian Talmud, an encyclopedia of traditional Jewish learning compiled around the middle of the 1st millennium CE...
is disputed. The law attributed to Moses, specifically the laws set out in Deuteronomy, as a consequence came to be considered supreme over all other sources of authority (the king and his officials), and the Levite priests were the guardians and interpreters of the law.
The Book of Deuteronomy ( and ) records Moses saying "Take this book of the law, and put it by the side of the ark of the covenant of the ." Similar passages include, for example, Exodus 17:14, "And the said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua
Joshua
Joshua , is a minor figure in the Torah, being one of the spies for Israel and in few passages as Moses's assistant. He turns to be the central character in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Joshua...
, that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek
Amalek
The Amalekites are a people mentioned a number of times in the Hebrew Bible. They are considered to be descended from an ancestor Amalek....
from under heaven;" Exodus 24:4, "And Moses wrote all the words of the , and rose up early in the morning, and built an altar under the mount, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel;" Exodus 34:27, "And the said unto Moses, Write thou these words, for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel;" and "These are the decrees, the laws and the regulations that the established on Mount Sinai between himself and the Israelites through Moses."
Later references to the Law in the Hebrew Bible
The Book of KingsBooks of Kings
The Book of Kings presents a narrative history of ancient Israel and Judah from the death of David to the release of his successor Jehoiachin from imprisonment in Babylon, a period of some 400 years...
relates how a "law of Moses" was discovered in the Temple
Solomon's Temple
Solomon's Temple, also known as the First Temple, was the main temple in ancient Jerusalem, on the Temple Mount , before its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar II after the Siege of Jerusalem of 587 BCE....
during the reign of king Josiah
Josiah
Josiah or Yoshiyahu or Joshua was a king of Judah who instituted major reforms. Josiah is credited by most historians with having established or compiled important Jewish scriptures during the Deuteronomic reform that occurred during his rule.Josiah became king of Judah at the age of eight, after...
(r. 641–609 BCE).
This book is mostly identified as an early version of the Book of Deuteronomy, perhaps chapters 5-26 and chapter 28 of the extant text. This text contains a number of laws, dated to the 8th century BC kingdom of Judah
Kingdom of Judah
The Kingdom of Judah was a Jewish state established in the Southern Levant during the Iron Age. It is often referred to as the "Southern Kingdom" to distinguish it from the northern Kingdom of Israel....
, a time when a minority Yahwist
Yahweh
Yahweh is the name of God in the Bible, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Jews and Christians.The word Yahweh is a modern scholarly convention for the Hebrew , transcribed into Roman letters as YHWH and known as the Tetragrammaton, for which the original pronunciation is unknown...
faction was actively attacking mainstream polytheism, succeeding in establishing official monolatry of the God of Israel under Josiah by the late 7th century BC.
Content of the Law
The content of the Law is spread among the books of Exodus, LeviticusLeviticus
The Book of Leviticus is the third book of the Hebrew Bible, and the third of five books of the Torah ....
, and Numbers
Book of Numbers
The Book of Numbers is the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible, and the fourth of five books of the Jewish Torah/Pentateuch....
, and then reiterated and added to in Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy
The Book of Deuteronomy is the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible, and of the Jewish Torah/Pentateuch...
(deutero-nomy is Latinised Greek for "Second reading of the Law"). This includes:
- the Ten CommandmentsTen CommandmentsThe Ten Commandments, also known as the Decalogue , are a set of biblical principles relating to ethics and worship, which play a fundamental role in Judaism and most forms of Christianity. They include instructions to worship only God and to keep the Sabbath, and prohibitions against idolatry,...
- Moral laws - on murder, theft, honesty, adultery, etc.
- Social laws - on property, inheritance, marriage and divorce,
- Food laws - on what is clean and unclean, on cooking and storing food.
- Purity laws - on menstruationNiddahNiddah is a Hebrew term describing a woman during menstruation, or a woman who has menstruated and not yet completed the associated requirement of immersion in a mikveh ....
, seminal emissions, skin disease and mildewTzaraathThe Hebrew noun tzaraath describes a disfigurative condition mainly referred to in chapters 13-14 of Leviticus, as well as conditions equivalent to be "mildew" on clothes and houses.Tzaraath affects both animate...
, etc. - Feasts - the Day of AtonementDay of AtonementDay of Atonement may refer to:*Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement* Day of Atonement , a national day established in 1995 by the Nation of Islam...
, PassoverPassoverPassover is a Jewish holiday and festival. It commemorates the story of the Exodus, in which the ancient Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt...
, Feast of Tabernacles, Feast of Unleavened Bread, Feast of Weeks etc. - Sacrifices and offerings - the sin offering, burnt offeringBurnt OfferingBurnt Offering was a punk fanzine based in and around Northampton, England, from 1979 to 1980.In keeping with the DIY style of the time, Burnt Offerings house style was a mixture of badly-typed articles, ransom note effect lettering and cartoon drawings...
, whole offering, heave offeringHeave offeringA heave offering, or terumah is a kind of offering. The word is generally used in the positive sense of an offering to God, though rarely it may also be used in a negative sense, such as of a dishonest "judge who loves gifts."...
, Passover sacrifice, meal offering, wave offeringWave offeringThe wave offering was an offering made by the Jewish priests in token of a solemn special presentation to God...
, peace offering, drink offeringDrink offeringThe drink offering was a form of libation forming one of the sacrifices and offerings of the Law of Moses.-Etymology:The Hebrew noun nesek is formed from the Qal form of the verb nasak, "to pour," hence "thing poured." The verb and the noun frequently come together, such as nasak et-nesek,...
, thank offeringThank offeringThe thank offering or sacrifice of thanksgiving was an optional offering under the Law of Moses...
, dough offering, incense offering, red heiferRed heiferThe red heifer or red cow was a sacrifice in the Hebrew Bible the ashes of which are used for the ritual purification of an ancient Israelite who had come into contact with a corpse.- Hebrew Bible :...
, scapegoatScapegoatScapegoating is the practice of singling out any party for unmerited negative treatment or blame. Scapegoating may be conducted by individuals against individuals , individuals against groups , groups against individuals , and groups against groups Scapegoating is the practice of singling out any...
, first fruitsFirst FruitsFirst Fruits are a religious offering of the first agricultural produce of the harvest. In classical Greek, Roman, Hebrew and Christian religions, the first fruits were offered to the temple or church. First Fruits were often a primary source of income to maintain the religious leaders and the...
, etc. - Instructions for the priesthoodPriesthood (Ancient Israel)The priesthood of Ancient Israel was the class of male individuals, whom, according to the Hebrew Bible, are patrilineal descendants from Aaron , who served in the Tabernacle, Solomon's Temple and Second Temple until the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE. Their temple role included animal sacrifice...
and the high priest including titheTitheA tithe is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash, cheques, or stocks, whereas historically tithes were required and paid in kind, such as agricultural products...
s. - Instructions regarding the TabernacleTabernacleThe Tabernacle , according to the Hebrew Torah/Old Testament, was the portable dwelling place for the divine presence from the time of the Exodus from Egypt through the conquering of the land of Canaan. Built to specifications revealed by God to Moses at Mount Sinai, it accompanied the Israelites...
, and which were later applied to the Temple in JerusalemTemple in JerusalemThe Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to one of a series of structures which were historically located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, the current site of the Dome of the Rock. Historically, these successive temples stood at this location and functioned as the centre of...
, including those concerning the Holy of HoliesHoly of HoliesThe Holy of Holies is a term in the Hebrew Bible which refers to the inner sanctuary of the Tabernacle and later the Temple in Jerusalem where the Ark of the Covenant was kept during the First Temple, which could be entered only by the High Priest on Yom Kippur...
containing the Ark of the CovenantArk of the CovenantThe Ark of the Covenant , also known as the Ark of the Testimony, is a chest described in Book of Exodus as solely containing the Tablets of Stone on which the Ten Commandments were inscribed...
(in which were the tablets of the law, Aaron's rodAaron's rodAaron's rod refers to any of the staves carried by Moses' brother, Aaron, in the Old Testament of the Bible. The Bible tells how, along with Moses' rod, Aaron's rod was endowed with miraculous power during the Plagues of Egypt which preceded the Exodus...
, the mannaMannaManna or Manna wa Salwa , sometimes or archaically spelled mana, is the name of an edible substance that God provided for the Israelites during their travels in the desert according to the Bible.It was said to be sweet to the taste, like honey....
). Instructions and for the construction of various altarsAltar (Judaism)Altars in the Hebrew Bible were typically made of earth or unwrought stone . Altars were generally erected in conspicuous places The first altar recorded in the Hebrew Bible is that erected by Noah...
. - Forward looking instructions for time when Israel would demand a king.
Rabbinical interpretation
The content of this law, or in Hebrew TorahTorah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
, was excerpted and codified in Rabbinical Judaism, and in the Talmud were numbered as the 613 commandments
613 mitzvot
The 613 commandments is a numbering of the statements and principles of law, ethics, and spiritual practice contained in the Torah or Five Books of Moses...
. The Halakha (not Torah) given to Moses at Sinai is a halakhic distinction in the Law.