| A NATIONAL LAW LIBRARY |
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| Some of the remarkable features: - People were more important than property. For instance, there was never a death penalty for a crime against someone's property. Also, slaves were treated as human beings, not property. This was not true of many other legal codes of that time. - There was no class system. In many ancient countries, a noble was treated far differently from a commoner. Not so in Israel: everybody stood on the same level before the law. Even a foreigner had defined rights. - The punishment fit the crime. No "cruel and unusual punishment" was allowed. "An eye for an eye" (Leviticus 24:20) ensured that no privileged character was "let off" for a crime, while at the same time it limited revenge. - Sexuality mattered. In most countries, the law little cared whether you slept with your neighbor's wife. In Israel, sexual immorality got stern treatment. - The poor and weak had protection. Specific provisions protected their rights from the powerful and wealthy. "Welfare" offered them a way to keep alive, such as the right to "glean the fields." In Leviticus chapter 19, verses, 9, 13, 14, 15, 32, and 33 gave protection to various groups that could not defend themselves. - Attitudes, as well as actions, mattered. For instance, Leviticus 19:18 contains the famous law to "love your neighbor as yourself." Living up to the letter of the law was not enough. The law aimed to develop loving relationships. Designed to be Different While we do not understand the reasons for some of the laws (many may have been designed simply to keep the Israelites "different" from their pagan neighbors), their overall impact is clear. These rules were intended to form a nation of compassionate, consistent, fair-minded people. They insisted that each person act positively and lovingly |
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