The polytheistic law-code of Hammurabi was assembled by human beings, while the Torah which includes the Ten Commandments (Exodus ch.20) was, according to tradition, given by God (Exodus 24:12). The code of Hammurabi, and those of Eshnuna, Lipit-Ishtar and the Hittites (etc.), were subject to occasional revision, reversal, and eventual abandonment, while the Torah’s commands were not. Many law codes limit themselves to legal matters, whereas the Torah intersperses its laws with moral exhortations and subjects of belief, behavior and attitudes. The Jews, by and large, adhered to the practices of the Torah, which calls for kindness, charity, scholarliness, the value of human life, equal treatment, and the abhorrence of promiscuity. The code of Hammurabi, on the other hand, calls for literal retaliation. Robbers are killed. Women are not considered legally equal to men; and landless men are not judged equally to landowners.
See also the Related Link.
See also the Related Link.
