Epilogue: Mutual Commitments between God and Israel

Deuteronomy 26:16–19|29:9–13

ca. 1200–332 BCE

Chapter 26

16The Lord your God commands you this day to observe these laws and rules; observe them faithfully with all your heart and soul. 17You have affirmed this day that the Lord is your God, that you will walk in His ways, that you will observe His laws and commandments and rules, and that you will obey Him. 18And the Lord has affirmed this…
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Law in the Hebrew Bible

Biblical Period

Biblical law, including a focus on social justice, is essential to the relationship between God and the people of Israel.

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The Term "Torah" and Its Meaning

Biblical Period

The Hebrew Bible has many terms for law, including torah, which came to mean not just biblical law but all authoritative Jewish teaching.

The top of Hammurabi's Stela; Hammurabi stands with a hand to his nose in submission to the seated god Shamash.
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The Ancient Near Eastern Background of Biblical Law

Biblical Period

Biblical law was influenced by the legal collections of its powerful neighbors, especially the Babylonians and Assyrians.

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Civil and Domestic Life

Deuteronomy 22–25 (selections)
A woman must not put on man’s apparel, nor shall a man wear woman’s clothing; for whoever does these things is abhorrent to the Lord your God. If, along the road, you chance upon a bird…
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City Gate, Gezer

City gate, Gezer, Early Iron Age (1200–980 BCE). This gatehouse complex had benches for participants in legal procedures and other public affairs. In the book of Ruth, Boaz goes to the city gate in…
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The Firstfruits Ceremony

Deuteronomy 26:1–2, 5–10

When you enter the land that the Lord your God is giving you as a heritage, and you possess it and settle in it, you shall take some of every first fruit of the soil, which you harvest from the land…
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Israel’s Choices

Deuteronomy 30:1–5, 11–20
When all these things befall you—the blessing and the curse that I have set before you—and you take them to heart amidst the various nations to which the Lord your God has banished you, and you…
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Transmitting and Preserving the Teaching

Deuteronomy 31:9–13|24–26
Moses wrote down this Teaching and gave it to the priests, sons of Levi, who carried the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant, and to all the elders of Israel. And Moses instructed them as follows: Every…
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