0 Are the Mosaic Laws a Copy of the Code of Hammurabi?

By : Richard Deem

Are the Mosaic Laws a Copy of the Code of Hammurabi?

"Code of Hamurabbi" Credit : howstuffworks

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)