Exodus (Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible) by Thomas Joseph White OP

Author:Thomas Joseph White OP [White OP, Thomas Joseph]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: REL067000, REL006060, REL006090, Bible book of Exodus—Commentaries
ISBN: 9781493402588
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2016-07-04T16:00:00+00:00

Juridical Law: The Book of the Covenant (Exod. 20:22–23:33)

This section of Exodus contains a code of law that is traditionally termed the “Book of the Covenant.” The title comes from Exod. 24:7, where Moses reads the book to the people, communicating the terms of the covenant that they are about to seal with the Lord. “Then he took the book of the covenant, and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, ‘All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.’” Significantly, in 24:3, we are told that “Moses told the people all the words of the LORD and all the ordinances” (emphasis added). Traditionally it is thought that the “words” (debarim) here denote the Decalogue (the words of God) while the “ordinances” (mishpatim) denote the laws present in this section of the text.

The Book of the Covenant is generally thought to be one of the oldest bodies of law in the Bible, predating the Deuteronomical reform but not necessarily the settlement. It may well have laws within it dating back to the time of the wilderness. Much of it seems to presuppose an agricultural society and a stable domestic settlement, most likely dating from a period just after the occupation of the land of Israel, perhaps with some expansion from the monarchic period.125 The inner structure of the book seems to reflect an internal history of development, based upon ongoing cases that arose after settlement in Israel. In its edited form, the Book of the Covenant interrupts the Sinai narrative. A closing phrase of the Book of the Covenant in 24:3 refers to “all the words” Moses read. This may have originally referred to the ten “words” of the Decalogue, but the verse has been situated by the redactor to refer to the Book of the Covenant as well.126

The Theological Significance of the Juridical Laws

Various theological issues arise at this juncture. One may begin by asking about the relationship between the Decalogue and the Book of the Covenant. In 20:18–22, the Torah refers again to Moses as the mediator between the Lord and Israel, prior to the giving of the ordinances of the covenant. It is Moses who stands in thick darkness and receives the divine revelation, while the people tremble with fear before the epiphany. He is the archetypal prophet and mediator between God and humanity. The teachings that are then given in 20:23–23:33 are placed under his auspices as divinely revealed teachings. Why, then, are they separated intentionally from the Decalogue? According to the sacred text, do they have a subordinate status of some kind to the Ten Commandments?

I have noted above that the Decalogue has a universal moral character that has been understood more and more perfectly through time, in the light of the New Testament revelation. By contrast, the Christian tradition rightly emphasizes the temporal and historical setting of much that is found in the Book of the Covenant. This law is primarily “juridical.” It is not

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