By : Richard Deem
Are the Mosaic Laws a Copy of the Code of Hammurabi?
Introduction
I
received an article from a skeptic that claimed the Mosaic Law came from the
code of Hammurabi. Although I didn't know a lot about the code of Hammurabi at
the time, I did know that the laws written before the Mosaic Law were quite
severe, so I expressed some doubt about the premise of the article. So, let's
examine the code of Hammurabi and see how it compares to the Mosaic Law. The
entire code of Hammurabi is reproduced below.
Death penalty
The
death penalty has been around for thousands of years. However, the code of
Hammurabi uses it quite extensively. Execution is called for if one man ensnare
another,1 false accusation,2, 3 stealing temple property,6 receiving stolen temple property,6 receiving illegally purchased
slave,7 inability to pay back stolen
property,8 merchant selling stolen property,9 stealing merchandise,10 false accusation of stealing,11 kidnap minor son,14 taking another's slave beyond city
gates,15 receiving a runaway slave,16, 19 breaking into a house,21 robbery,22 looting,25 hiring a personal mercenary and
not paying him,26, 33 tavern owner who allows
conspirators to meet in his tavern,109 "sister of a god" drink
alcohol in a tavern,110 merchant imprisons debtor and
dies due to mistreatment—son of merchant is executed,116 sex with virgin betrothed or
child-wife of another,130 sex with son's wife,152 murder,153 incest with mother,157 if a man causes a miscarriage by
hitting a woman and the woman dies—daughter of man is executed,210 have a slave marked deceitfully,227 if builders house collapses and
kills owner, builder executed,229 and if builders house collapses
and kills owner's son—builder's son executed.230
Obviously,
it is unfair to execute the son or daughter of a person convicted of a capital
offense. The Old Testament specifically repudiates these kinds of unfair laws:
"Fathers shall not be put to death for their sons, nor shall sons be put to death for their fathers; everyone shall be put to death for his own sin." (Deuteronomy 24:16)
"The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father's iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son's iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself. (Ezekiel 18:20)