The Law and Life / Part II

Posted by Bronwen Manning on April 1, 2009 under History | Be the First to Comment

“Blessed is the man [whose]…delight is in the law of the Lord” Psalm 1
Part Two: Israelite Law
Religion is Law
Essentially Israelite religion is following a set of codes. The legal precedent is set at Mount Sinai with Moses and the laws given by God, then we begin to learn the legal parameters of life in the Israelite camp as they live with the tabernacle, and we see the growth and establishment of judges as they settle in the Promised Land, and finally we see responsibility given to the Kings of Israel to uphold and establish law in their kingdoms. Ultimately though through the legal laws seen in narratives, wisdom literature and poetry it is the God of Israel who is the highest judge and protector of the Israelites. In fact in Psalm 82 the God of Israel is pictured in a divine council ruling and showing his ultimate authority even over the other “gods” that the world believed in.

Abusing the weak is Abusing God
Since the God of Israel is the watchman for the poor- anyone who abuses the poor is acting against God himself for he is the one who “maintains the widow’s boundaries” when others would use her poverty and weakness to encroach (Prov 15:25). In the same vein of thought those who choose to help and be a friend to the friendless are blessing and maintaining the Kingdom of God- those who give bread to the hungry will be blessed (Prov 22:7) and those who lend to the poor will be repaid (Prov 19:17); God himself is the guarantor of these promises.

The Plan Gone Wrong
A story is recounted in the times of King Zedekiah of Judah and the prophet Jeremiah when the land came under a great threat and the people of Jerusalem were besieged within their own city. After much time the food ran out and those who had slaves released them from their service. It was done in such a way that it looked like everyone was following the commandments of the Lord- following the law of Liberty that says after a specific time you must release your slave from service. But why did Zedekiah cause for all the slaves of Jerusalem to be released at the same time? The simplest answer is that it was in the best interests of the Masters; by releasing the slaves they no longer had the heavy responsibility to feed and protect them in that terrible time of siege. The prophet Jeremiah records this event in Jeremiah 34- he initially commends the initiative to release slaves, because it seems to follow the law- but then he realizes evil was at the root of the action when the Masters take back their servants into slavery when the siege is lifted. Through the mouth of Jeremiah God says, “You have not obeyed me by proclaiming Liberty” but rather by using the law in an abusive way they had transgressed the covenant that God made with them when he rescued a nation of slaves from Egypt (Jeremiah 34:17).
The law is the foundation code to life but this story illustrates that even the law can be used as an evil tool when applied against the spirit of the law. Releasing all the slaves in Jerusalem in a time of siege is not an act of charity, it is a death sentence. Those who proclaimed "Liberty" knew that it was really death and not life that they set into motion- and as Proverbs recalls true law brings only light and life (Proverbs 6: 23)

The Law and Life

Posted by Bronwen Manning on March 4, 2009 under Biblical Hebrew, History | Read the First Comment

“Blessed is the man [whose]…delight is in the law of the Lord” Psalm 1

Part One: The Roots of Law

In the beginning…there was law
In the oldest traditions known from ancient Mesopotamia and thereby the whole world, we learn that the Sumerian people were concerned about the abuse by the mighty of the poor in their society. Just as Justice is considered the foundation stones and highest virtues of our modern age, so too was it central to ancient Mesopotamians. It is without a doubt that the major law-code that preceded the birth of the Israelites and doubtless held an influence over them- was the great and detailed law code of King Hammurabi, the sixth King from the first dynasty of Babylon (18th-17th century BCE). This law code that reveals a king keenly interested in the execution of justice amongst his people set the standard by which all following law codes are heavily indebted.

Justice 4000 Years Ago
Hammurabi’s Code which is a compilation of what is believed to be originally two hundred and eighty five laws ranges from legal dealings from Animal Rentals to issues of Alimony. The law is written in case form (a pattern continued by Israelite Law) where a situation is described and a verdict given- the example of such a situation provides for additional clarity.
In a financial crisis- If any one owe a debt for a loan, and a storm prostrates the grain, or the harvest fail, or the grain does not grow for lack of water; in that year he need not give his creditor any grain, he washes his debt-tablet in water and pays no rent for this year. Law 48
The section on family law regulates family conflicts and defines the status of women in all their various roles. It also pays attention to the legal precedents of personal injury and Law 196 is well-known among all of us today who have heard of “An eye for an eye” law. But what does it actually mean?
Law 196- If a man put out the eye of another man, his eye shall be put out
This law may sound vicious and extreme however its importance in Babylonian society cannot be underestimate. This law which also is found in Exodus 21:23-27, is a way to appease the offended party and to stop a family or clan feud from developing. The one responsible for the injury must repay in likeness thus restricting feuding and also to an extent protect the aggressor from an even severer punishment. Considering this law some of our societies today follow this same theme in its extreme. A murderer is in some places, after a trail, placed on death row and executed.

A Masterpiece
The code is an organized masterpiece that was generated by a rich nation involved in agriculture and commerce and who where highly sensitive to the rights of its people. The opening laws of the code show their ultimate concern for justice as they lay laws down against insidious judges and false witnesses operating within their courts. This code reveals itself as a humane document ever-conscious of a need to govern its multifaceted bodies and to protect the marginalized of its society. As the earliest collection of laws in the world it sets a high standard of which only the law code of the Israelites, can be argued to be its natural successor.
In Part Two of the Law and Life we shall look at Israelite Law as it attempts to protect the marginalized in its society. We shall investigate to what extent the laws were successful and to whose role it fell to protect the people.

Standing Stones: A Blessing and a Curse

Posted by Bronwen Manning on December 21, 2008 under Historical Geography, History | Be the First to Comment

The Multifaceted functions of Standing stones

Standing stones (massebot plural. masseba singular. coming from the root nsb to ‘set up’) were used in a variety of cultic and non-cultic functions in the Ancient Near East. They were used to witness legal matters or covenants such as Joshua when renewing the Lord’s covenant with the people- he took a large stone and set it up saying “this stone shall be a witness against us; for it hath heard all the words of the Lord which he spoke to us: it shall be therefore a witness against you, lest ye deny your God” (Joshua 24:26-27). Standing stones also functioned as memorials, a practice that continues today. We erect stone monuments to our brave men who died in the wars, we memorialize the place of a tragic accident where life was lost. In an effort not to be forgotten, Absalom the son of David erected a monument to himself knowing he had no son to carry on his name and memory into the future 2 Sam 18:18. Other standing stones that were placed in public areas were those that commemorated an important victory over the enemy- Israel’s Moabite aneighbor had a victory stone that recalls the military achievements of King Mesha over King Omri of Israel. The Standing stone was in general, an attention-grabber, much like our modern-day billboards and advertisements.

The Religious Stone

They had one further function that was very strong throughout the world- and that was a religious stone. In the early days of Israel, Syria and Phoenicia these kingdoms shared a tradition of using “plain” stones in their sanctuaries and holy places. A standing stone could represent a person in perpetual worship, it could also, instead of a statue, represent the divine presence. The use of standing stones to actualize the presence of the God of Israel was very useful to the early Israelites because it focused the worshippers attention while simultaneously avoided any representation of the divine in any particular form. This tradition of Israel, the dislike to represent their God in the form of a man or, half-man half-beast, became stronger and more programmatic over time. This anionic tradition (against the use of icons) became a distinctive element in Israel’s religious character, and separated them out from other religions that used standing stones as icons of gods, and not symbolic of the indescribable God of Israel.

The Potential for Problems

Because of the potential for misuse and misunderstanding the religious community of Israel decided to give up the use of standing stones altogether. To this end the stones that had served only symbolically and were plain un-inscribed stones, were prohibited and treated as though they were images. Leviticus 26 declares, You shall not make idols for yourselves, or set up for yourselves carved images or standing stones, or place figured stones in your land to worship upon, for I the Lord am your God. This was not because the stones themselves went against the tradition of representing God in iconic forms, but rather because the potential for misuse existed.

The Town of Bethsaida

An example of this potential danger is seen in a town in the Galilee that once was the center of a small Aramaeankingdom called Geshur. When it was later annexed into the kingdom of Israel it still contained a mixed pedigree of peoples and religions as seen in the public plaza. In the plaza two religious stones were found, one a plain standing stone and the other a stone with the icon of a bull-headed figure with a dagger; probably the Moon god! Here side by side we see the different types and approaches to the use of religious standing stones. The Israelites decided that in order not to be confused with the other nations, and to avoid potential confusion by Israelite worshippers, they stopped using standing stones altogether. This effort retained their integrity as the nation who refused to reduce the indescribable God into an image made by man.

Good King–Bad King Tactics in the Bible

Posted by Bronwen Manning on December 3, 2008 under Biblical Hebrew, History | Be the First to Comment

Biblically speaking the Judean King Hezekiah (along with his grandson Josiah) are the most written about Kings in biblical scholarship and referred to as the “Good King(s)” of Judah. The reason for their infamy is the bible’s account of their great religious works that spurred on the belief of one God. Sandwiched between these pillars of the religious righteous stands a man often forgotten and most definitely black-listed by the biblical writers. This man was Manasseh the “bad king”.

I wish to display in a table the difference between Manasseh and his father and allow you the reader to make your own assumptions as to whom the title “Bad King” truly belongs.

The graph demonstrates that though King Manasseh ruled over the landscape sculpted by his father- a land devastated by military campaigns; burdened with heavy taxes; displaced populations; and no major sources of food- he restored much of what was lost through hard work! This work consisted of opening up agriculture in the Negev areas to replace what was lost in the Shephelah, resettling his population in the Judean hills and opening more trade with the East trade networks.

Turning our attention now to the biblical comments of Manasseh as a bad king (2 Kings 21) we see that these are reports of Manasseh from the perspective of religion alone. He reversed the activities of his father and championed the traditional worship of the common people that involved a great mix of “Canaanite” traditions. It is this reason that he carries, perhaps undeservedly, the characterization of a “Bad King”. I think that if I had been living in Lachish during the reign of Hezekiah and Manasseh- I would have cursed the former and blessed the latter. For he truly was “the Repairer of the Breach, the Restorer of ways to dwell in” (Isaiah 58:12).