INTRODUCTION
Parasha Mishpatim (Judgements) follows immediately after the giving of the ten words, which amounts to specific applications of the Torah as a whole. Over the years I have never heard this parasha emphasized as significant in any exposition or teaching. This is unfortunate and short sighted. The people had just received the ten words annunciated verbally by YHWH from heaven, but they had no objective instructions on how to do these commandments within their culture or their previous life experience. These people had been slaves for at least 120 years, and they had never been a self-governing society. Parasha Mishpatim provides three full chapters of instructions on how to fulfil the commandments for circumstances in which the appropriate action is not immediately obvious. It also explicates the scope of the peoples’ obligation toward God, and it also describes the means by which individuals could have a personal relation with YHWH, something which none of them had ever experienced. These matters will become areas of specific testing for both the people in general and for Moses throughout the years of the exodus and beyond.
ANALYSIS
At the time the Israelites left Egypt, they had been immersed in the Egyptian culture for 430 years. As a result, they had become like the Egyptians in cultural expectations and in their perceptions of the divine. They would have considered large temples with many idols to be normative, and any memory of YHWH would have seemed like a myth from antiquity. For the people of Israel to become anything like YHWH’s special treasure among the nations, the people would need to change dramatically, but they had no road map for doing so.
Ex 21:1 Topic sentence -- Mishpatim
According to Jewish tradition, Parasha Mishpatim begins with Ex 21:1, but the first two judgments are actually in Ex 20:22-26. The first of these (vs 22,23) constitutes an expansion or clarification of the prohibition against making idols (vs 20:4-6). The NASB translation reads as follows:
Then YHWH said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘You yourselves have seen (perceived) that I have spoken to you from heaven. You shall not make other gods besides Me; gods of silver or gods of gold, you shall not make for yourselves.
There is a textual problem in the second verse that has caused every translation ancient and modern to emend the Hebrew text in some way. My preferred emendation consists of changing a single vowel point only, and this results in the translation: You shall not make Me: you shall not make for yourselves a God of silver or a God of gold. Unders5oodas such, this command is a prohibition against making any material representation of YHWH. (See my blog post ‘You shall not make Me’ for a detailed analysis of both modern and ancient translations.)
The second command (vs 24-26) provides instructions on how to build dirt or stone altars acceptable to YHWH. These general instructions for altars will be augmented and altered somewhat by the detailed instructions for building the altar of burnt offering.
Ex 21:2-6 Treatment of male slaves purchased with money
At this point the Israelites had been slaves for over 120 years, so they did not have any tradition concerning obtaining or keeping slaves. This passage limits the duration of servitude for an Israelite slave to 6 years, and it provides specific instructions concerning a slave with a wife and a family. Contrary to the perception of some, these instructions did not condone slavery; rather, they served to protect people in a condition of servitude against abuse from their master.
Ex 21:7-11 Treatment of female slaves purchased with money
The passage begins with, “If a man sells his daughter as a slave …” This seems exceptionally harsh from our perspective, but the subsequent verses indicate that the man is obtaining the woman as a concubine for himself or for his son. The payment is actually little different than a dowery for a wife, but the treatment of a concubine is somewhat different from that of a wife. The mishpat really provides protection for such a woman and her children by limiting the man’s conduct toward her.
Ex 21:12-17 Regulation and limitations on death penalty
The ten words specifically forbids murder (לא תרצח), yet a broad range of ambiguity exists with this single commandment. The passage distinguishes between 1st degree murder, 2nd degree murder, manslaughter, kidnapping, assault of a parent, and injury not resulting in death. The text mandates death for a specific combination of these and limits the scope of penalty for the rest. The significant factor is that the Torah does not leave the penalty for such conduct up to the particular whim of the judge; additionally, nowhere does Torah mandate imprisonment for any offense. Throughout the Torah the scope of judicial penalties is limited to death, flogging up to 40 lashes, and proportionate restitution.
Ex 21:18-27 Regulation and limitations on penalty for personal injury
The passage lists several circumstances in which the action of one person causes injury to another. In each case the scope of punishment (or restitution) is proportional to the injury caused. However, the NASB translation of verse 22 is misleading:
If men struggle with each other and strike a woman with child so that she has a miscarriage, yet there is no further injury ….
The Hebrew text reads as follows: ..וכי ינצו אנשים ונגפו אישה הרה ויצאו ילדיה
ולא יהיה אסון.
This text should be translated, “And if men struggle with each other and strike a pregnant woman so that her child comes out undamaged….” This is clearly describing a premature birth of a healthy child, not a miscarriage. There is, in any case, another Hebrew word, נפל, that refers specifically to a stillbirth.
Ex 21:28-36 Regulation for injury/damage caused by a domestic animal
Owners are automatically responsible for damage or harm caused by their animals. Scope of damage can range from physical injury usually caused by goring or by property damage. In the case of physical injury causing death, the animal must be destroyed. If the animal was known to be dangerous, but the owner did nothing to restrain the animal; the animal will be destroyed and the owner put to death. In cases of property damage, the owner will provide proportional restitution.
Ex 22:1-4 Regulation on penalties for theft
Theft is specifically forbidden by the ten words (לא תגנב). In most cases the penalty for theft is full restitution plus a penalty based on the value of the thing stolen. However, if a thief is caught in the act and killed by the owner, there is no blood guiltiness on that owner.
Ex 22:5-15 Penalties for damage due to carelessness or breach of trust
All of these judgments assess penalties for property damage due to carelessness or breach of trust. In each case the individual responsible will pay full restitution.
Ex 22:16-17 Penalty for seduction of a virgin
If a man seduces a virgin who is not betrothed, he must pay her father the full dowry. Unless her father objects, he must marry the woman.
Ex 22:18-20 Conduct requiring an automatic death penalty
·
Sorcery – the word used in the text is
feminine, but I am sure it would apply equally for men or women. Sorcery inherently appeals to other ‘gods’
for power.
·
Bestiality
· Sacrificing to any god other than YHWH
Ex 22:21-27 Conduct toward those in a position of weakness
Throughout the Torah and the Prophets, YHWH forbids those in positions of authority as well as private citizens to oppress those in positions of weakness. This is the first expression for that category offense:
·
Strangers in the land
· Widows and orphans
The penalty for such action is that YHWH most certainly will hear the cries of the oppressed, and he will bring invaders who will kill them with the sword. This was one of the major themes of the latter prophets, and ultimately it became one of the reasons for the exile of both Israel and Judah.
·
If you lend money to the poor, you shall
not charge interest.
·
If you take a poor man’s cloak as a pledge,
you shall return it before nightfall.
Ex 22:28-31 Obligations toward God and human authorities
The first four commandments relate specifically to the peoples’ obligations and conduct with respect to YHWH. The people had been among a highly religious people for 430 years, so they would have been programmed by the Egyptian’s practices. The utterly unique aspect of these commands is that they demanded total commitment to YHWH as their one and only God.
·
You shall not impugn YHWH (לא תקלל), and you shall not curse your rulers (לא תאר). Note
that this command couples YHWH with the rulers as a group. This combination is present because when their
society is operation correctly the rulers are direct representatives of God and
they are responsible to YHWH for their conduct in office.
·
The people must not delay paying their
first fruits. This constituted part of
the source of payment to the priest for their service.
· “You shall be holy, because I am holy.” This is a theme that crops up with some frequency. In this case it relate to choices of food: Do not eat what we would call road kill. One of the persistent faults of the ancient Israelites is that they sought to be like the nations.
Ex 23:1-3 Injunctions against mob violence and oppression of the poor
The ten words specifically forbids answering your neighbor with עד שקר. The term שקר has a variety of uses — deceptive, deceitful, and fraudulent. These verses expand and clarify the kinds of conduct included under the topic עד שקר.
Ex 23:4-5 Merciful conduct for animals
The commandment of the ten words are specifically directed at human interactions with God and with other humans. However, the Israelite were both agrarian and herdsmen. A person’ fields and domestic animals had a direct connection with his wellbeing. Thus, a person’s treatment of another person’s livestock had a direct connection with lying, coveting, or murder. Additionally, animals are God’s creatures as well, and they should be treated from that perspective.
Ex 23:6-9 Injunction against perverting justice and harming the innocent
This passage is the kernel of all commands directed at those appointed as judges in the land. All judgment belongs to YHWH, so a corrupt judge diminishes and impugns the name of YHWH in the society.
Ex 23:10-33 Obligations specifically toward YHWH
The first four commandments summarize the Israelites’ obligations to YHWH. They state what not to do, but they give little practical information about what to do that is pleasing to YHWH. The previous passages were mostly negative commands – What you must not do – but the following are mostly positive – What you must do habitually.
·
Keep the sabbatical year for the land and
the weekly shabbat for yourselves.
·
Keep pilgrimage feast three times a year. Except for Passover these had not yet been
described. The material here provides a
very limited description of each, but they are covered in minute detail
later. Their significance is that each
Israelite will have the opportunity for direct mystic communion with their God.
·
I will send a spirit messenger (מלאך) to guard you along the way and to guide
you. Be careful to obey him, because he
will not pardon transgressions. (Note
that Moses did not object to the מלאך
until after the event of the golden calf.)
·
If you are obedient, I will drive out all
the resident nations and establish your borders.
· Make no covenant with the resident nations or their gods.
24:1 Then he said to Moses, “Come up to YHWH, you, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and 70 elders of Israel, and you shall worship at a distance.
This almost repeats the command of Ex 19:24. In Ex 20:21 after the giving of the ten words the people were so afraid that none of them accompanied Moses when he went into the thick cloud where God was. This verse did not say that he went up the mountain, just that he went into the cloud. Verse 24:1 translated as shown above results in a problem of continuity within the narrative. I would recommend the translation, “Now, he had said to Moses….” The second real problem with the common translation is that Moses delayed compliance for at least one day, during which time Moses wrote down all of the mishpatim and then conducted a covenant ceremony between YHWH and the people.
An additional conflict is that Ex 19:24 commands Moses to bring just Aaron with him, and this verse lists Aaron, his sons, and 70 elders. However, verse 24:1 indicates that Joshua, who was not an elder, was also present. The clear resolution of this inconsistency is that the text does not repeat every detail when parallel passages refer to a particular event but just enough to establish concordance.
Ex 24:3-8 Moses conducted a covenant inauguration ceremony
Moses first recounted all of the mishpatim in the presence of the people, and then he wrote them in a document. The following day Moses built an altar at the foot of the mountain, presented offerings based on the mishpatim, and conducted a covenant inauguration ceremony. The people said, “All that YHWH has spoken, we will do.”
Ex 24:9-11 Table fellowship with YHWH
Moses took Aaron, his sons, and 70 elders as representative of the people part way up the mountain in order to have a communal mean with their God. Up to this point, no Israelite of this generation had ever had direct fellowship with YHWH or with any Egyptian god. The concept of direct fellowship with God was alien to all of them.
Ex 24:12-18 YHWH commanded Moses to come up the mountain
After the communal meal, YHWH commanded Moses to come up the mountain where he would receive the tablets inscribed with the ten words as well as the pattern for the tabernacle. Before leaving, he commanded the elders to remain here (presumably in the vicinity of the mountain), and he designated Aaron and Hur as his representatives to deal with any problems. Now, Joshua was not an elder, but he was clearly there at the meal (24:13). He went with Moses at least part way up the mountain, and he was the first person he met on the way down. According to Ex 32:17, 18, he was high enough up the mountain that he had no idea what was going on in the camp.
CONCLUSIONS
There are admittedly several difficult passages in this parasha. Several of these are simply the result of how the Hebrew text has been translated without regard to wider context, and others arise because the text is directed at a 3500-year old culture that is essentially alien to our experience today. The major items of instruction that I have noted are as follows:
·
The three chapters of mishpatim spell out
circumstances that are either ambiguous or not obviously covered by the ten
words. These mishpatim spell out how both
private individuals and judges/rulers are to conduct themselves when such
circumstances arise.
·
The text absolutely forbids making idols
for any god, and this prohibition includes all material representations of
YHWH. The reason for the latter
prohibition is that a material representation of YHWH would support the idea that
he is just a bigger, more powerful version of the other gods.
·
The text provides a summary description of
how the Israelites were to express their love and devotion to YHWH. Abraham, Isaak, and Jacob all had developed
intimate personal relationships with God, but none of the Israelites except
Moses, and perhaps Joshua, had done so at this point.
·
YHWH said that he would send his messenger
to guide and protect them on the way. Moses
did not protest this provision until after the golden calf incident. Then the visible presence of YHWH served as a
validation of Moses’ position both with himself and with the people.
·
Moses wrote down the first component of
what would become the Torah, and the people all said, “What YHWH has said we
will do.” The people had done this
previously (Ex 19:8), but neither profession proved to be durable.
·
Moses conducted a covenant ceremony between
the people and YHWH. The above points
plus the covenant ceremony constitutes the basis for God's burning wrath
following the golden calf incident.
