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I will, however, present in the following manner: I will describe the characteristics of the Old Testament, then contrast the Old Testament to the Code of Hammurabi and then discuss the encompassing similarities. The Old Testament is a narrative giving the history and laws of the small Jewish nation of Israel. It presents the theme of monotheism, the Jewish belief in one God, and strengthens their belief in a close relationship between their God and “his” people. (Johnson 31) The relationship between God and the Jewish people is portrayed in every book of the Old Testament. In every book of the Old Testament prophets communicated directly with God, and received the laws presented in the Old Testament. These laws are given rather subtly and are presented in a way that the reader discovers the laws through some thought and pondering. The examples of real characters bring to life the laws of the Old Testament and how they apply to daily life. The reader is to read the story or experiences of the different characters presented in the different books and ask him or herself how it applies and what God wants to be learned. Though these laws are presented somewhat vaguely in the text that Johnson gives; Johnson did not present all the text of the Old Testament, and having studied the Old Testament myself, I know that in the book of Leviticus Mosaic laws are given in much more detail and clarity, than in the texts that Johnson includes. The laws of the Old Testament are philosophical in nature. The stories and laws give answers to the general questions of humanity: Where did we come from and how were we created? What is the goal of life? How are we to act? Who is control of the universe? Etc… This is the reason the Old Testament has survived as a religious and historical document throughout the ages. The first thing anyone will notice with the Code of Hammurabi is the detail presented in all of the laws given. In contrast to the laws of the Old Testament, the Code of Hammurabi covers ever aspect of life in great detail without any storyline. Which coincidently leads to the idea that Hammurabi didn’t just receive the Law as explained, but that the laws were written as situations arose by many authors. The Code presents its laws with clarity and authority. There is no ambiguity to exactly what is the punishment or what is the procedure in any situation. Unlike the Old Testament, the Code of Hammurabi gives us a clear look at the civilization in which Hammurabi lived. I was amazed at the sophistication level of this early civilization presented in the laws. The Amorites are talked about as a tribe, yet the word “tribe” denotes some kind of uncivilized group of people, which is not the case. In reading between the lines we can find that the people of Hammurabi (the Amorites) had judges that were appointed by the people (v. 5), they had temples (v. 6), they ran many businesses including beer shops (v. 104), they had adoption procedures and laws concerning adoption situations (v. 186), and finally they had surgeons both for humans and animals (v. 215 & 224). By contrast the Old Testament didn’t give as much detail, although we know that Noah had some amazing technology to build a huge ark. Despite this high level of civilization the Code of Hammurabi is very harsh and violent. Capitol punishment was the punishment of choice for almost any crime of serious nature. Though not spelled out in the Old Testament, the law of the Jews were similar, but perhaps more lenient. The tie in for both the Old Testament and the Code of Hammurabi is what is known as the Lex Talionis, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. It is thought that the Old Testament borrowed this and other laws from the Code, but it isn’t a given. Other similarities between the two sources of law is, as mentioned before, the possibilities of many authors. This shows that the concept of record keeping and other forms of writing were prevalent in these early civilizations. The last similarity is the idea of Law itself. Both laws demonstrate some form of order and centralized rule, whether religious or secular. It may be said that the two texts have some things in common, but the differences are most apparent, one being a narrative, the other giving great detail, one being religious, the other secular, one philosophical the other direct. Bibliography: Word Count: 826
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