Did Moses steal the Ten Commandments from the Code of Hammurabi?

Medicine*Woman

Jesus: Mythstory--Not History!
Valued Senior Member
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M*W: This question has come up before. The Code of Hammurabi contains some 282 laws or rules of common behavior. Interestingly, the Ten Commandments contain only 10 of those laws (as given to Moses blah blah blah). Why only ten? Why not the full letter of the law? Why Moses, and why did he lie about how he got them on a journey that never took place?
 
Yes.

Like a lot of things with the conversion to a monotheistic system - everything was "dumbed down", so people could more easily remember it.

You have to admit it worked from a longevity standpoint...
 
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M*W: This question has come up before. The Code of Hammurabi contains some 282 laws or rules of common behavior. Interestingly, the Ten Commandments contain only 10 of those laws (as given to Moses blah blah blah). Why only ten? Why not the full letter of the law? Why Moses, and why did he lie about how he got them on a journey that never took place?


:roflmao:

Must be nice to be able to make stuff up, then call it truth. God's law was never meant to be a burden, but you don't want to hear about that. You just want do some fun hate speak about stupid theists. Otherwise, you should have put these questions in history.
 
:roflmao:

Must be nice to be able to make stuff up, then call it truth. God's law was never meant to be a burden, but you don't want to hear about that. You just want do some fun hate speak about stupid theists. Otherwise, you should have put these questions in history.

What makes you think that all that Christianity/Judiasm/Islam, etc. crap isn't made up?

Because the Bible/Koran tells you so? LOL
 
What makes you think that all that Christianity/Judiasm/Islam, etc. crap isn't made up?

Because the Bible/Koran tells you so? LOL
Egypt is a real place and the Pharaohs were real. So too Moses, Israel, and the Bible.

If you don't believe me go take an Egyptology class sometime or visit the Holy Land.

akhenatenhat.jpg
 
Why would he have to "steal" it? Knowledge can come to all people. Sometimes merely by mixing with different people. All people have had some form of religion. For them to seek it out, adopt it and live their lives around it, is sufficient evidence that its an intrinsic element of society. Like language, religion has a common root, but evolves enough that it gets distinctive without being exclusive.
 
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M*W: This question has come up before. The Code of Hammurabi contains some 282 laws or rules of common behavior. Interestingly, the Ten Commandments contain only 10 of those laws (as given to Moses blah blah blah). Why only ten? Why not the full letter of the law? Why Moses, and why did he lie about how he got them on a journey that never took place?

The Code of Hammurabi has a few similarities with the books of Leviticus, Exodus, and Deuteronomy, but to say Moses stole Hammurabi's laws and deceitfully made them his own is simply a myth. There are many explanations for the similarities, the main one being, they revolved around common issues and the punishments they warranted. The similarities, by the way, are not too extensive. Either way, I cannot envision Moses having stolen Hammurabi's laws, for a variety of reasons. According to the Bible, Moses received the Ten Commandments in the deserts after he escaped from Egypt with his people. Hammurabi, on the other hand, revealed his laws during the Old Babylonian period, which mainly encompassed the lower Euphrates and Tigris rivers. The possibility of Moses stealing Hammurabi's code is astronomically low.


Kadark
 
The possibility of Moses stealing Hammurabi's code is astronomically low.


Kadark

How about the probability of stealing Hammerabi's code, the flood myth, the epic of Gilgamesh, the creation myth and the incorporation of 3 major Sumerian deities into one God?

Can you calculate that one?
 
They actually happened, everyone saw it...some turned it into mythology and some made it a living book.

There you go.
 
How about the probability of stealing Hammerabi's code, the flood myth, the epic of Gilgamesh, the creation myth and the incorporation of 3 major Sumerian deities into one God?

Can you calculate that one?

Abraham got his mythologies from the SUmerians. That much is obvious. All you have to do is read them both.
 
Egypt is a real place and the Pharaohs were real. So too Moses, Israel, and the Bible.

If you don't believe me go take an Egyptology class sometime or visit the Holy Land.

akhenatenhat.jpg
Los Angeles is a real place and Ron Hubbard was real. So too San Fransisco, USA, and the Constitution.

If you don't believe me go take an Scientology class sometime or visit the Holy Land of Los Angeles.

5378_344x344.jpg
 
That reminds me...who wants to help me start a religion? I know Hubbard already beat me to it, but I want to see just how easy it is to reel people in.
 
You know what I always liked about Moses and the Pentateuch - is how is writes about his own death!

Deuteronomy 34:
And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. And the LORD shewed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan, and all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, unto the utmost sea, And the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar. And the LORD said unto him, This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither. So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the




You guys really are wedged in their deep, grab with both hands and PULL... PULLL.... PULLLLLL!!!!!

Nope, head's still stuck up there....
 
The Code of Hammurabi has a few similarities with the books of Leviticus, Exodus, and Deuteronomy, but to say Moses stole Hammurabi's laws and deceitfully made them his own is simply a myth. There are many explanations for the similarities, the main one being, they revolved around common issues and the punishments they warranted. The similarities, by the way, are not too extensive. Either way, I cannot envision Moses having stolen Hammurabi's laws, for a variety of reasons. According to the Bible, Moses received the Ten Commandments in the deserts after he escaped from Egypt with his people. Hammurabi, on the other hand, revealed his laws during the Old Babylonian period, which mainly encompassed the lower Euphrates and Tigris rivers. The possibility of Moses stealing Hammurabi's code is astronomically low.
Kadark
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M*W: You are correct, but I have found that giving a thread a sensational title reaps more posts.
 
You know what I always liked about Moses and the Pentateuch - is how is writes about his own death!

Deuteronomy 34:
And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. And the LORD shewed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan, and all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, unto the utmost sea, And the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar. And the LORD said unto him, This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither. So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the
...

You did notice how it's all in third person, right? Maybe Moses didn't write the whole thing?
 
You did notice how it's all in third person, right? Maybe Moses didn't write the whole thing?
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M*W: It's been well-documented by current biblical scholars that the Pentateuch was written by some 5 different authors, Moses probably was not one of them.

According to A.E. Salmon, PhD, the Old Testament took form around 399 BCE, a few thousand years later than when it was allegedly penned.

References:

Salmon, A.E.: A Time-Line Approach to Issues in Critical Thinking, Florida, USA. (No date given).

Friedman, Richard E.: The Bible With Sources Revealed: A New View Into the Books of Moses, (No date given).

Friedman, Richard E.: Who Wrote the Bible?, (No date given).

Finkelstein, I. and Silverman, Neil A.: The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts, (No date given).

Alter, Robert.: The Five Books of Moses: A Translation with Commentary, (No date given).

Armstrong, Karen.: A History of God, 1993.
 
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