THE LAW OF THE COVENANT THE LAW OF THE COVENANT An Exposition of Exodus 21-23 James B. Jordan Institute for Christian Economics Tyler, Texas Copyright 01984 Institute for Christian Economics Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 84-080954 ISBN 0-930464-02-8 Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations in the body of the com- mentary are either the author’s own, or are from the New American Standard Bible, copyright 1971 by the Lockman Foundation, and used by permission. Published by Institute for Christian Economics P.O. BOX 8000 Tyler, Texas 75711 TO my wt~e, Brenda, with love. PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The style of this work is different from that of some other modern Bible commentaries. This is because I have written it as a Christian addressing other Christians, rather than as a scholar addressing other scholars. There is no true conflict between scholarship and faith, but my primary purpose is to edify the Church of Jesus Christ, and thus my scholarship is subordinate to that end. The passage with which I am concerned has been the object of much higher critical analysis, and could become the subject of a lengthy scholarly discussion. 1 This is not my purpose. While I do not despise the place of sound conservative scholarship, my pur- pose in this book is to give a theological and useable exposition of the first extended law code of the Bible. To this end I have brought to bear in my discussion as much as seemed useful from the work of modern scholars, while leaving much of the apparatus of scholarship behind. There is no extensive commentary on this passage of the Bible, written from an orthodox, evangelical standpoint. Thus, at 1. The interested reader might procure Edward J. Young, An Introduction to the Old Tatanwnt (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1960 [revised edition]); also, in ascending order of scholarly detail and precision, Roland K. Harrison, In- troduction to the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1969); Oswald T. Allis, The Old Testament: Its Claims and its Critics (Phillipsburg, NJ: The Presbyterian and Reformed Pub. Co., 1972); G. Ch. Aalders, A Short Zniroduction to the %- tateuch (London: The Tyndale Press, 1949); and Oswald T. Allis, The Five Books of Moses (Phillipsburg, NJ: The Presbyterian and Reformed Pub. Co., 1949 [2nd edition]). vii . Vlll The Law of the Couen.ant numerous points I have been put in a position of either saying very little, or else breaking new ground. The reader may well find peculiar or strained, for instance, my interpretation of the stipula- tion that the owner of a slaughtered beast be compensated five-fold for an ox and four-fold for a sheep (Ex. 22:1), or my dis- cussion of the meaning of “thou shalt not boil a kid in its mother’s milk” (Ex. 23:19), to take two examples. I only ask the reader’s in- dulgence, that he or she carefully consider my suggestions. I may be wrong at one place or another, but then again, I maybe right. What seems strange to us might not have seemed strange to an ancient Israelite. I have tried to place modal qualifiers at relevant places in the book (“maybe,“ ‘it seems to me,” etc. ). Perhaps this book needs more such sprinkled throughout. Let me say here that I do not offer these studies as the)nal word on any subject, but only as a hopefully helpjid word. These studies are dated: 1984 A.D. It is my hope that they will assist others to study these por{ions of Scrip- ture more carefully, so that by the year 2084 A. D., someone can write a far more definitive work than this can hope to be. These studies in Exodus 21-23 were originally prepared in outline form for a Bible class at St. Paul Presbyterian Church, Jackson, Mississippi. I should like to thank the members of that class for their support and encouragement. A grant from the Chalcedon Foundation of Vallecito, Califor- nia, enabled me to work on this book extensively while finishing my seminary training. A grant from the Institute for Christian Economics of Tyler, Texas, enabled me to finish it. I wish to thank Rev. Rousas J. Rushdoony and Dr. Gary North, respectively the presidents of these two foundations, for their encouragement and help. A gift from Mr. R. E. McMaster enabled the Institute for Christian Economics to publish this book, and I thank Mr. McMaster for his support. I wish to thank Rev. Ray R. Sutton for valuable interaction over these studies, and Prof. John M. Frame for reading the manuscript and making valuable suggestions, as well as for writing the introduction. Much of what is of value in this book Preface and Acknowledgments ix comes from others, but its infelicities are mine alone. The translation of Holy Scripture used in this work is at many points my own, For the remainder, the New American Standard Version has been used (usually taking the literal marginal reading rather than the text reading). I am grateful to the Lockman Foun- dation, holders of the copyright on the NASV, for granting per- mission for its use. Last but by no means least, this book is dedicated to my wife, Brenda, without whose encouragement and support I could not have accomplished this task. James B. Jordan, Th. M. March, 1984 TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface and Acknowledgments.. ..vii Introduction, By John M. Frame . ..xvii I. The Bible and the Laws of God . ...1 The Law is God-Centered 1 The Bible is Covenantal 3 The Bible is a Book of Life 8 The Lawof God is Unchanging 11 Old and New Testaments 17 The Laws of God Have Multiple Equity 18 The Law of God is General and Particular 19 The Uses of the Law 24 God Gives Laws to the State 26 The Binding Nature of the Law 28 II. The Law and the Redemption of Israel . ...30 The History of the Seed People 31 Redemption and Vengeance 36 God and Pharaoh 39 III. The Book of the Covenant: Its Context . ...46 Redemption and Covenant 46 The Law Before Sinai 50 Godly Civilization 52 A Renewed Creation-Covenant and Fall 55 IV. The Ordinances: Structure and Characteristics . ...61 The Arrangement of the Ordinances 63 I. Laws Concerning Slavery 64 II. Laws Concerning Violence 64 xi xii The Law of the Covenant III. Laws Concerning Property and Stewardship 65 IV. Laws Concerning Marriage and Faithfulness 65 V. Laws Concerning Witness-Bearing 66 VI. Laws Regulating Time and Rest 66 VII. Epilogue: Exhortations to Obey God and Conquer Canaan 66 Characteristics of the Case Laws 68 V. Slavery . ...75 Male Slaves 76 The Circumcision of the Ear 78 Female Slaves 84 Slavery in the Bible 87 Practical Observations 90 VI. Violence . ...93 The Nature of Violence 93 Capital Offenses 96 I. Premeditated Murder 97 II. Accidental Manslaughter 97 III Striking Parents 103 IV. Kidnapping and Slave Trading 104 V. Repudiating Parents 105 Assault 109 I. Fighting or Dueling 100 II. Slave Beating 112 III. Bystanders 113 IV. Retaliation and Recompense (The Law of Equivalence) 115 V. Equivalence for Slaves 121 The Goring Ox 121 I. The Rebellious Beast 122 II. The Incorrigible Beast 124 III. Ransom 125 IV. Appropriate Punishment 125 V. The Price of a Slave 127 Hazardous Property 128 I. The Open Pit 129 II. Ox Gores Ox 130 . Table of Contents xiii VII. Property . ...131 The Importance of Property 132 Theft 134 I. Restitution 134 II. Self-Defense 136 Pollution 137 Safekeeping 140 Borrowing, Neighborliness, and Rent 142 VIII. Faithfulness . ...145 Seduction 146 Spiritual Adultery 152 The Defenseless and the Poor 155 1. The Foreigner 156 II. The Helpless 156 III. Interest 158 IV. Pledges 159 Loyalty to God 161 I. Cursing God 161 II. Cursing Rulers 162 III. Tithes 163 IV. The Firstborn 163 V. Holiness 165 IX. Justice . ...167 Justice and the Witnesses 168 Personal Adversaries 169 Justice and the Judges 171 The Sojourner 175 Judicial Procedure 176 X. Sabbaths and Festivals . ...181 Sabbaths 182 Festivals 184 I. The Feast of Unleavened Bread 186 II. The Feast of the Harvest 189 III. The Feast of the Ingathering 190 The New Covenant 192 XI. Conclusion . ...194 xiv The Law of the Covenant Appendix A: Old and New Covenant . ...196 Appendix B: The Case Laws Correlated with the Ten Commandments . ..I99 Appendix C: Tithing: Financing Christian Reconstruction . ...207 The Melchizedekal Tithe 208 The Levitical Tithe 209 Education 213 Medicine 216 Advisors to the State 216 Worship 217 The Foundation of Society 217 Should the Tithe Always Go to the Church? 219 How to Tithe 221 Appendix D: State Financing in the Bible . ...225 The Mosaic Head Tax 225 The Meaning of the “Atonement” 226 The Circumstances of Collection 227 Use of the Tax 230 The Temple Tax in the New Testament 233 The Prince’s Tax in Ezekiel 235 Nehemiah’s Head Tax 237 Implicit Teaching 238 Appendix E: Salvation and Statism . ...240 Appendix F: Proleptic Passover: Exodus 4:22-26.........243 A Survey of Interpretations 243 A Suggested Interpretation 251 Addendum on the Circumcision of Abram and Sarai 260 Appendix G: Four and Five-Fold Restitution . ...261 Four-fold and Five-fold 263 Sheep and Oxen 266 Oppressing the Poor 268 Revolution 269 Conclusion 270 Table of Contents xv Appendix H: On Boiling a Kid in Its Mother’s Milk . ...272 Index of Hebrew Terms Discussed . ...279 Index of Persons Cited or Referenced . ...281 Scripture Index . ...283 Subject Index . ...299 Introduction John M. Frame Jim Jordan, though by years only a babe in the household of the theological profession, has already published an extraordinary amount of material — articles (both scholarly and popular), news- letters, reviews of literature, music, and films.