Exodus: Chapters 19 to 23

Picking up where we left off, the Israelites make it to Mount Sinai, where they keep 10 big commandments, and a ton of other laws.

CHAPTER 19

The Israelites go the Sinai.  From what I know, we have no idea what mountain that is.  We found the tallest one and called it Sinai, but it’s not clear if that’s the same one.  According to the footnotes, the Israelis will stay at the base of the camp here until Numbers, Chapter 10, verse 10, so this really is a key spot.

And here’s where you first get the imagery of Moses going up to the mountain to speak to the Lord.  The people say they’ll listen to the Lord (but – spoiler – they won’t always).  A rule is created – all who touch the mountain must be put to death.  Yeah, that’s sacred land alright.  Obviously, it doesn’t apply to Moses. 

He goes to the mountain.  Lightning and thunder.  Peals of smoke and fire.  The mountain trembles violently.  All the things you’d think of with the Lord talking – it begins here. And it’s made extra clear not to talk to God, unless you’re Moses.  “Go down and warn the people not to break through to the LORD in order to see him; otherwise many of them will be struck down.

He’s a distant figure that God. It’s not like the old days where he’d be in the Garden of Eden, and making clothing for Adam and Eve. Early on we were told that God would go walking with Enoch before “God took him.”  Sure, that was way back in Generation 7, but by my counting Enoch died 987 years after creation.  Well, Moses gets the burning bush 1,002 years after the flood.  And given how much longer people lived back then, you’d think they might have an even bigger population.  But God has decided its better to be more removed from the people now. 

CHAPTER 20

Here it is – the Ten Commandments.  It’s actually difficult to count them, as they aren’t numbered nice and easy for us.  In fact, looking it up, there are 13 rules different Jewish and Christian sects declare commandments.  They disagree on what are subpoints of others.  These are the most common ones as commandments: 1) No other gods before me, 2) No graven images, 3) don’t take the Lord’s name in vain, 4) remember the Sabbath, 5) honor your parents, 6) don’t kill, 7) no adultery, 8) no theft, 9) no false witness bearing, 10) don’t go coveting stuff.  Yeah, but breaking it down a bit further – that last one is broken into two parts by some groups – covet thy neighbor’s house/possessions, thy neighbor’s wife. On the other end, graven images and one God get combined. 

It’s a combination of two things – 1) good ethics and moral behavior, and 2) worship the Lord.  When he says “You shall not have other gods beside me” that’s typically taken as a statement that no other gods exist, but it could just mean that he’s the only god you should listen to.  That second approach would also explain his statement “For I, the LORD, your God, am a jealous God.”  If the other gods don’t exist, why be jealous?  Jealous of what?  My own take is that the Hebrew began thinking there was one god for them that they had a personal relationship with, and it later expanded into he’s the only one out there ever.  Maybe the whole thing began when a group of people running out of Egypt so quickly that they didn’t have time to leaven their bread were lucky enough to see their pursuers drown in the Sea of Reeds. 

There’s a nice bit of minor comedy after the Commandments.  “Now as all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the blast of the shofar and the mountain smoking, they became afraid and trembled.  So they took up a position further away.”  Heh.  I just like them all kinda casually creeping away from the mountain like that. 

God has simple tastes. No alter of gold or silver – just earth.  If you use one of stone, make it uncut stone “for by putting a chisel to it you profane it.”  Odd.  Random thought – maybe the main temples had a simple alter, and when people tried to set up altars on their own, they did it with more bling?  I know a lot of the Torah is written by priests trying to solidify their theological take and position. 

CHAPTER 21

You know how Leviticus gets a bad reputation as an unreadable chapter?  Well, the back half of Exodus is pretty much the same thing.  Almost all the stuff you can think of in Exodus has already happened – meet Moses, burning bush, 10 plagues, parted waters, 10 Commandments – and we’ve still got 20 of the 40 chapters to go. The only big cultural touchstone left is the Golden Calf.  I remember as a kid, maybe 10 years old, trying to read the Bible.  It was very interesting and full of good stories all through around this point, and then it got really dull, and didn’t un-dull until Joshua.

Laws, laws, and more laws. Get used to it people.  The footnotes tell me that most of the laws here can be found in other groups in the Near East, so – not surprisingly – they’re getting their ideas from a common culture. 

A lot of laws about slaves.  Apparently, if you have a Hebrew as a slave, he’s more an indentured servant, but if he chooses to stay a slave, he’ll be a slave for life.  And there’s pressure on him to do that – because if he gets married or has any kids while a slave, those don’t become free with him.  Ouch.  It looks like most female slaves are women purchased from their dads as secondary wives.  They can’t be sold to foreigners and if they’re denied, food, clothing of sex, they can leave. 

They ancient Hebrew distinguish between premeditated murder and manslaughter.  If you kill someone accidentally, you’re allowed to flee.  But if you intentionally killed someone, you’re put to death. That’s a hell of a difference – but keep in mind, there are no prisons.  That explains a lot of death penalties back in the day.

Death offenses: planned murder, kidnapping, striking your parents, or cursing your parents.  The footnotes says cursing means more than just swearing at.  Either way, that’s an eye-catcher. 

Injuring someone?  There’s a notion of a punishment that fits the crime.  And it goes into all sorts of ways that this can happen – just in general, by an ox, to an eye or tooth, etc. 

Here’s the most interesting one: “When men have a fight and hurt a pregnant woman, so that she suffers a miscarriage, but no further injury, the guilty one shall be fined as much as the woman’s husband demands of him, and he shall pay in the presence of judges.  But if the injury ensues, you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.” As written, “if the injury ensues” can only refer to the pregnant lady, not the fetus.  Both versions are predicated on a miscarriage, but a fetus is just a fine.  The pregnant lady herself?  That’s different.  The Bible treats the unborn as not the same as the born. 

So Exodus, Chapter 21, verses 22-25 are rather problematic for pro-life folks. 

CHAPTER 22

The first half of this chapter is just general law dealing with property.  Apparently, animals were a key source of property, which makes sense given their background as herdsmen.  That’s been the case going back to Abraham (even back when he was Abram). 

The second half is more interesting, as it delves into social laws. They wanted to make sure their women were virgins and anyone who seduced a virgin would have to pay a fine. But if you sleep with an animal, you die.  Yup, they had a death penalty for bestiality. 

Oh, and a female sorceress shall not be allowed to live.  No word on male sorcerers; I assume it was one of those professions associated just with women.  Also, the fact that they had his prohibition means some must’ve existed, and that goes against the First Commandment.  Later on, Saul will consult one to speak with the late Samuel. 

Oh, and you must treat resident aliens kindly, because you yourself were once resident aliens in Egypt.  Also treat widows and orphans well, or the Lord’s wrath will be upon you.  So there is a concern for social justice here. 

But there isn’t a concern for bankers.  The practice of giving out interest rates on loans is strictly prohibited.  Oddly enough, in Medieval Europe, Jews were often involved in banking.  Well, the language here says “If you lend money to my people” so I guess interest rates are OK to someone who isn’t a descendent of Jacob. 

Also, you should sacrifice firstborn oxen and sheep to the Lord.  I wonder if this is where the notion of the 10^th plague began.  First you had the sacrifice, and then later that plague story emerged to help explain/sanctify it. 

CHAPTER 23

This is another grab bag of laws.  Some of this just reads like good advise.  Don’t follow the crowd.  Don’t repeat a false report. Again they’re told to treat resident aliens properly. 

Oh, this one strikes me as odd, “You shall not favor the poor in a lawsuit.”  So far when the poor have been brought up, it’s been about social justice – do what you can to help out the poor.  Maybe this means you shouldn’t bend over backwards in a lawsuit involving the poor.  Or maybe it means you help the poor on your own time, not in the courts.  Wait – a little later it says “You shall not pervert justice for the needy among you in a lawsuit.”  So it is about not bending over backwards. (Oddly enough, between those two quotes is a pair of verses on handling oxen. Not sure why the ox stuff was put there, seems like it doesn’t belong).

Actually, there’s something I like in the ox talk: “When you noticed the donkey of one ho hates you lying down under its burden, you should not desert him; you must help him with it.”  It sounds like something allegorical.  I assume it’s meant literally, but it’s the sort of law you can draw a lot out of by way of analogy.  If you say your enemy having a problem, help solve the problem and don’t worry about it being your enemy.

Speaking of laws you can draw a lot out of, there’s a big one later on in this chapter: “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.”  That’s a rather strange, enigmatic statement, but so much Jewish dietary customs have been teased out of that one statement – mostly about not eating diary and meat products at the same time. I guess because it’s such an enigmatic statement people have spent more time trying to figure out what it means, making its importance explode over time.

Toward the end, the Hebrew are promised the land of Canaan again.  Oh, and the Lord promises them “I will remove sickness from your midst; no woman in your land will be barren or miscarry; and I will give you a full span of life.”  Lord – don’t make promises that you won’t keep.

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