Covenant Code
Encyclopedia
The Covenant Code, or alternatively Book of the Covenant, is the name given by academics to a text appearing in the Torah
at Exodus - . Biblically, the text is the second of the law codes given to Moses
by God
at Mount Sinai
. This legal text provides a small, but substantive proportion of the mitzvot
within the torah, and hence is a source of Jewish Law.
, the text was originally independent, but later embedded by the Elohist
("E") in their writings. In biblical criticism
, the code is understood to be the Elohist's version of the legal code which the Jahwist
("J") presents as the Ritual Decalogue
. In the combined JE
source, supposed by such critical scholarship, these two texts appear together, with the Ritual Decalogue appearing to be a summary version. Such academic study also supposes that the Elohist version had the Covenant Code being written on the two tablets of the law, whereas in JE, it is only the Ritual Decalogue which has this feature.
The original Priestly Source
, according to the documentary hypothesis, then rewrote this to support their own ideas of law, replacing the Ritual Decalogue with the Ethical Decalogue (or the Ten Commandments
), and the Covenant Code with the Holiness Code
. After accretion of much extra legal material over a course of time, the resulting version of the Priestly source was combined with the JE source, its law code consequently appearing, in the torah, to be God's replacement, and expansion, of the earlier two codes after the incident of the Golden Calf
, in which the first pair of the tablets of law were destroyed.
The form and content of the code is similar to many of the other codes from the near east of the early first millennium
BC, in particular the Hammurabi code
of Babylon
. According to many scholars, such as Martin Noth
and Albrecht Alt
, the covenant code probably originated as a civil code with the Canaanites, and was altered to add Hebrew religious practices. Other scholars such as Michael Coogan
see a noticeable difference between the Covenant Code and the non-biblical codes like the Code of Hammurabi. The Covenant Code consists largely of case or Casuistic Law (case law, often in the form of a conditional sentence, which specific situations are addressed) which deals with particularly with Exodus 21:33-36. The Apodictic laws (a type of law characterized by absolute or general commands or prohibitions, as in the Ten Commandments) on the other hand are more general and the Covenant Code contains some of these as well, for example in Exodus 21:17. The Covenant Code, like other biblical codes, differs from these by including among the laws dealing with criminal and civil matters various regulations concerning worship. Both, however, set the laws in an explicitly religious context.
, but conversely, the Ritual Decalogue resembles a summarizing of the Covenant Code. Nevertheless, it is equally possible that both of these codes were independently constructed, based on shared, or at least similar, underlying actual laws, or religious ideals.
With the ancient cultural view of women as property of men, the casuistic law regarding the seduced virgin in Exodus 22:16-17 portrays a woman who, as the property of her father, has had her value diminished by the loss of her virginity. However, this law still calls for restitution to be paid by the man who seduced her. A second example comes from Exodus 21:20-21, which describes the punishment required for a slave owner who strikes his slave with a rod. If the slave survives his or her injuries there is no punishment required because he or she does not have the same rights as Israelite males.
In some instances, the values represented in the Covenant Code are more similar to present-day, Western values. Two examples include the placing of mothers on the same level as fathers in Exodus 21:15,17, and providing for special care of members of lesser social classes, including aliens, widows and orphans (Exodus 22:21-22).
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...
at Exodus - . Biblically, the text is the second of the law codes given to Moses
Moses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
by God
Names of God in Judaism
In Judaism, the name of God is more than a distinguishing title; it represents the Jewish conception of the divine nature, and of the relationship of God to the Jewish people and to the world. To demonstrate the sacredness of the names of God, and as a means of showing respect and reverence for...
at Mount Sinai
Mount Sinai
Mount Sinai , also known as Mount Horeb, Mount Musa, Gabal Musa , Jabal Musa meaning "Moses' Mountain", is a mountain near Saint Catherine in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. A mountain called Mount Sinai is mentioned many times in the Book of Exodus in the Torah and the Bible as well as the Quran...
. This legal text provides a small, but substantive proportion of the mitzvot
Mitzvah
The primary meaning of the Hebrew word refers to precepts and commandments as commanded by God...
within the torah, and hence is a source of Jewish Law.
Academic context
According to the modern documentary hypothesisDocumentary hypothesis
The documentary hypothesis , holds that the Pentateuch was derived from originally independent, parallel and complete narratives, which were subsequently combined into the current form by a series of redactors...
, the text was originally independent, but later embedded by the Elohist
Elohist
The Elohist is one of four sources of the Torah described by the Documentary Hypothesis. Its name comes from the term it uses for God: Elohim; it is characterised by, among other things, an abstract view of God, using "Horeb" instead of "Sinai" for the mountain where Moses received the laws of...
("E") in their writings. In biblical criticism
Biblical criticism
Biblical criticism is the scholarly "study and investigation of Biblical writings that seeks to make discerning judgments about these writings." It asks when and where a particular text originated; how, why, by whom, for whom, and in what circumstances it was produced; what influences were at work...
, the code is understood to be the Elohist's version of the legal code which the Jahwist
Jahwist
The Jahwist, also referred to as the Jehovist, Yahwist, or simply as J, is one of the sources of the Torah. It gets its name from the fact that it characteristically uses the term Yahweh for God in the book of Genesis...
("J") presents as the Ritual Decalogue
Ritual Decalogue
The Ritual Decalogue is a list of laws in the Book of Exodus, . These laws are similar to the Covenant Code and are followed by the phrase ten commandments...
. In the combined JE
JE
JE is a hypothetical intermediate source text of the Torah postulated by the DH. It is a combination and redaction of the Jahwist and Elohist source texts. According to this hypothesis, J was composed c. 950 BC, E was composed c. 850 BC, and the two were combined into JE c. 750 BC. JE was...
source, supposed by such critical scholarship, these two texts appear together, with the Ritual Decalogue appearing to be a summary version. Such academic study also supposes that the Elohist version had the Covenant Code being written on the two tablets of the law, whereas in JE, it is only the Ritual Decalogue which has this feature.
The original Priestly Source
Priestly source
The Priestly Source is one of the sources of the Torah/Pentateuch in the bible. Primarily a product of the post-Exilic period when Judah was a province of the Persian empire , P was written to show that even when all seemed lost, God remained present with Israel...
, according to the documentary hypothesis, then rewrote this to support their own ideas of law, replacing the Ritual Decalogue with the Ethical Decalogue (or the Ten Commandments
Ten Commandments
The 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,...
), and the Covenant Code with the Holiness Code
Holiness code
The Holiness Code is a term used in biblical criticism to refer to Leviticus 17-26, and is so called due to its highly repeated use of the word Holy. It has no special traditional religious significance and traditional Jews and Christians do not regard it as having any distinction from any other...
. After accretion of much extra legal material over a course of time, the resulting version of the Priestly source was combined with the JE source, its law code consequently appearing, in the torah, to be God's replacement, and expansion, of the earlier two codes after the incident of the Golden Calf
Golden calf
According to the Hebrew Bible, the golden calf was an idol made by Aaron to satisfy the Israelites during Moses' absence, when he went up to Mount Sinai...
, in which the first pair of the tablets of law were destroyed.
The form and content of the code is similar to many of the other codes from the near east of the early first millennium
Millennium
A millennium is a period of time equal to one thousand years —from the Latin phrase , thousand, and , year—often but not necessarily related numerically to a particular dating system....
BC, in particular the Hammurabi code
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...
of Babylon
Babylon
Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
. According to many scholars, such as Martin Noth
Martin Noth
Martin Noth was a German scholar of the Hebrew Bible who specialized in the pre-Exilic history of the Hebrews. With Gerhard von Rad he pioneered the traditional-historical approach to biblical studies, emphasising the role of oral traditions in the formation of the biblical texts.-Life:Noth was...
and Albrecht Alt
Albrecht Alt
Albrecht Alt , was a leading German Protestant theologian.Eldest son of a Lutheran minister, he completed high school in Ansbach and studied theology at the Friedrich-Alexander-University in Erlangen and the University of Leipzig...
, the covenant code probably originated as a civil code with the Canaanites, and was altered to add Hebrew religious practices. Other scholars such as Michael Coogan
Michael Coogan
Michael D. Coogan is a Professor of Religious Studies at Stonehill College, a private Roman Catholic institution located in Easton, Massachusetts. He is also Director of Publications for the Harvard Semitic Museum. Coogan has taught at Stonehill College since 1985...
see a noticeable difference between the Covenant Code and the non-biblical codes like the Code of Hammurabi. The Covenant Code consists largely of case or Casuistic Law (case law, often in the form of a conditional sentence, which specific situations are addressed) which deals with particularly with Exodus 21:33-36. The Apodictic laws (a type of law characterized by absolute or general commands or prohibitions, as in the Ten Commandments) on the other hand are more general and the Covenant Code contains some of these as well, for example in Exodus 21:17. The Covenant Code, like other biblical codes, differs from these by including among the laws dealing with criminal and civil matters various regulations concerning worship. Both, however, set the laws in an explicitly religious context.
Provenance
It is much debated within academic circles whether the Ritual Decalogue, or the Covenant Code, was the original form, as they have a strong resemblance to one another. It is certainly the case that the Covenant Code resembles an expansion of the Ritual DecalogueRitual Decalogue
The Ritual Decalogue is a list of laws in the Book of Exodus, . These laws are similar to the Covenant Code and are followed by the phrase ten commandments...
, but conversely, the Ritual Decalogue resembles a summarizing of the Covenant Code. Nevertheless, it is equally possible that both of these codes were independently constructed, based on shared, or at least similar, underlying actual laws, or religious ideals.
Evident Values
The Covenant Code portrays the values of the society in which it was produced, some of which are different from Western twentieth-century values.With the ancient cultural view of women as property of men, the casuistic law regarding the seduced virgin in Exodus 22:16-17 portrays a woman who, as the property of her father, has had her value diminished by the loss of her virginity. However, this law still calls for restitution to be paid by the man who seduced her. A second example comes from Exodus 21:20-21, which describes the punishment required for a slave owner who strikes his slave with a rod. If the slave survives his or her injuries there is no punishment required because he or she does not have the same rights as Israelite males.
In some instances, the values represented in the Covenant Code are more similar to present-day, Western values. Two examples include the placing of mothers on the same level as fathers in Exodus 21:15,17, and providing for special care of members of lesser social classes, including aliens, widows and orphans (Exodus 22:21-22).