Comments on: The Life of the Body in this World http://theophiliacs.com/2009/12/17/the-life-of-the-body-in-this-world/ amiable. anglican. awesome. Sat, 11 Feb 2012 01:48:32 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: reed http://theophiliacs.com/2009/12/17/the-life-of-the-body-in-this-world/#comment-4296 Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:01:57 +0000 http://theophiliacs.com/?p=4133#comment-4296 Shawn, I think you raise a good point. Since I’ve started spending more with time OT stuff, I’ve enjoyed reading it against other ANE lit. Not just the law but narratives especially are intentional echoes and subversions of many prevalent conceptions about the makeup of the world, the divine and what it means to be human.

As for a comparison between Hammurabi and OT law, I can’t point to any specifically. Not because there aren’t any (I’m sure there is a lot) but I just don’t know enough yet.

]]> By: Shawn Wamsley http://theophiliacs.com/2009/12/17/the-life-of-the-body-in-this-world/#comment-4294 Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:57:28 +0000 http://theophiliacs.com/?p=4133#comment-4294 Reed,

I think there is an interesting study (and it is something that has been well published, so it should be easily done) to be had in comparing the Code of Hammurabi and the Mosaic Law. It is fairly obvious that large portions of the Mosaic Law are lifted straight out of Hammurabi’s code, BUT with some very important differences.

It is a worthwhile study to evaluate how those differences constitute the ancient Jewish worldview; they bring, in some cases, a startling contrast to the way the rest of the world was living out morality. Consequently, some scholars have argued that the real significance of the Mosaic law was not to be found in the layers of “do’s and don’ts,” rather it is to be found in the drastically different way that the LORD was calling the Israelites to live their life (which, thematically, seems to fit the overall effect of the Judeo-Christian Scriptures).

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