Thomas -

Quote:
An unbeliever could say that the giving of the Ten Commandments is a copy of Hammurabi engraving commandments on stone. He could also claim that the blood sacrifices were take-offs of pagan practices and that the Torah, written by Moses, invented the story of Noah offering on an altar.


Not if they were serious about the legitimacy of the claims they were making. It has never been claimed that none of the Ten Commandments - or some of the other laws - did not exist on earth prior to them being commanded the nation of Israel by G-d. There are some laws which are just common sense as it regards human decency.

However, people often examine the similarities without also analyzing the vast differences between the laws. So any such claim of one taking from the other is lazy scholarship. We received and practiced our law in the desert, before we inherited a single city. The Cody of Hammurabi was made to administer over cities already in their possession.

The Israelites came from a huge kingdom in Egypt which itself had numerous laws for protecting the status of the ruling classes, and perpetuating their forms of justice amongst the population. It would be ignorant to claim the Israelites never lived by any laws until they were given their own. However, when they were given the Torah they were given the laws of THEIR Nation. This included laws that did not exist in the societies they dwelled amongst before (Egypt) and after (Assyria, Bavel).

There are a number of commentaries out there which outline the differences between the laws of the nation of Israel, and ancient laws of other cities and kingdoms. The fact is that the Ten Commandments are binding on all Jews regardless of status (King, Kohen, Levite, Israelite), class, or gender.