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times to the present, he reports that the writings of early church fathers are clearly against

the state’s taking of human life, whether by capital punishment or in war (100-300 AD).

They base their stand upon the ministry and teachings of Jesus.

Megivern says that the change in Western history came after Constantine in the

fourth century and climaxed in the crusades and wars against the “heretics.”He reports

that a decisive change in teaching happens with the medieval theologian, Thomas

Aquinas, in the 12thcentury AD. Then, retribution rather than forgivenessand

rehabilitation becomes central in Christian thought on crime and punishment.

But, says Megivern, earlier Christian thought on this subject is recovered by the

so-called “heretics” of early modern times—the Waldensians, Wycliffites, Anabaptists,

Quakers, early Wesleyans, and others. Furthermore, Megivern claims that the secular

thinkers of the Enlightenment are not at all original in their stand against capital

punishment, but borrow their thought from the early church fathers via these“heretics.”

In the present Catholic church, the turnaround on capital punishment begins with pope

John XXIIIand the second Vatican Council (1962 AD). The Catholic bishops, he says,

are now united consistently against abortion, capital punishment, and war. Today we

can celebrate that Catholic, Quaker, Mennonite and other churches are united in

opposition to the death penalty, at a time when America’s death row grows longer, and

when such a witness is not politically popular.

In biblical thought, this communal stand against the death penalty—the

reinterpretation of law from the concept of retribution to that of covenant love and

rehabilitation—was won by an act of God’s grace, beginning with Moses and Sinai.

There was an arduous struggle of that grace with Israel’s humanity over a millenium, a

struggle climaxing in Jesus’ statement to the woman, Neither do I condemn you. Go your

way, and from now on do not sin again” (John 8:10).

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It is the purpose of this series to examine three events in this revaluation of law,

events associated with Moses, the prophet Elijah, and Jesus in their respective meetings

on the law-mountain (Exod. 19—24; 1 Kings 19; Matt. 5—7). It is significant that the

first two, Moses and Elijah, appear with the transfigured Jesus on “a high mountain” to

talk about Jesus’ imminent death. This death, like God’s gift of law, becomes a life-

giving event for all who have violated the intention of the law. (Matt. 17:1-20; Luke

9:28-36). From the beginning, it is the intention of this gift of law to give life and

rehabilitation to the offender, and to reconcile victim and offender to one another and to

God.

A SERIES OF THREE

ON THE MOUNTAIN WITH MOSES, Exodus 19-24
From Law Based on Retribution to Covenant Love as Basis for Law

The Sinai Law Code within the Context of Other Near Eastern Law Codes

At the beginning of the 20thcentury of our era, the discovery of the Hammurabi

Law Code initiated a new valuation of Sinai law, indeed, of biblical law as a whole. This

discovery was just one of many law collections dug out of the ancient sands of the Near

East (NE). These discoveries pushed the history of Western law back for more than a

millennium—from Greek-Roman times in the Mediterranean basin to the times of ancient

Sumer in the lower Tigris-Euphrates valley. It took many years for NE students to

translate and collate that law. It took even longer for Bible students to understand Sinai

law within that ancient legal context.

The first segment of Sinai law in the Bible is made up of four parts: 1) an

introduction which anticipates covenant (Exod. 19; esp. vv. 3-6), 2) the Decalogue and its

aftermath (20:1-21), 3) the Covenant Law Code and promise (20:22-23:33), 4) and a

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conclusion of covenant-making (24:1-8). Like other NE law collections, Sinai law deals

with mundane communal life—property rights (Exod. 20:15; 21:35--22:14), human life

(Exod. 20:13), and the family (Exod. 20:12, 17); laws concerning justice (Exod. 20:16),

and respect for authority (Exod. 20:12; 22:28; cf. The Code of Hammurabi, # 6, 8; 230;

130; 1, 3; 169, ANET:166-282).

Both Sinai and Hammurabi law include the death penalty. Here are examples:

∑

Whoever strikes a person mortally shall be put to death (Exod. 21:12).

∑

Whoever kidnaps a person. . . shall be put to death (Exod. 21:16).

∑

Whoever curses father or mother shall be put to death (Exod. 21:17).

∑

If a seignior [a member of highest class] has helped either a male slave of the state

or a female slave of the state or a male slave of a private citizen or a female slave of a

private citizen to escape through the city-gate, he shall be put to death (Hamm. #15).

∑

If a seignior stole the property of church or state, that seignior shall be put to

death; also the one who received the stolen goods from his hand shall be put to

death (Hamm. #6).

∑

If a seignior accused a(nother) seignior and brought a charge of murder against

him, but has not proved it, his accuser shall be put to death (Hamm. #1).

In the Sinai covenant code the range of crimes whichmay result in the death

penalty are: sacrifices to a god other than Yahweh, female sorcery, murder, kidnapping,

striking or cursing father or mother, and sexual intercourse with an animal.

The Radical Revolution of Covenant Law

Because of these and other similarities, it has taken some time to note radical

differences in Sinai law, and their implications for future Western law. These

implications are relevant even to the present day. A first major difference is that

Hammurabi law, like other Near East (NE) empire law, is within the structure of power