In scholarly circles, it is customary to refer to an author
by using the title of his/her books. Thus, for example, I am known among my
colleagues as “Motive Clauses,” because I wrote my doctoral dissertation on the
topic of Motive Clauses in Hebrew Law (Scholars Press, 45, 1975).
What are, in fact, “motive clauses”? Instead of giving a
technical analysis of my doctoral dissertation, here is a popularized version
of my thesis: “Motive clauses” are statements attached to laws, which justify
or clarify a legal norm. “Do this, do that, because….” In reality, laws do not
need a clause of this kind. They simply state, “The speed limit is 30 miles an
hour,” or, “Do not murder” and then they identify the penalty in case of
transgression. Yet, in the Bible, many laws are accompanied by motivational
clauses. Why?
I was drawn to study this phenomenon more than 40 years
ago, while I was a graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania (1969-75),
when I read an article by two biblical scholars claiming that these clauses are
unique to the Bible. Yet, being familiar with other ancient Near Eastern texts,
I knew that this was not correct. Even though Babylonian or Assyrian laws are
not usually accompanied by such clauses, many indeed are. So, I decided to
study in greater detail this literary phenomenon.
Motivational clauses appear in different forms. Some
biblical laws are accompanied by explanatory statements, appealing to the
common sense of its time, such as: When a master hits a slave and the slave
survives, “he [the master] is not to be avenged, since he [the slave] is the
man’s property” (Ex. 21: 21). In other texts, the clause justifies the law by
appealing to God’s authority, like, “You shall be holy, because I, the Lord
your God, am holy” (Lev. 19: 2). Others, instill a fear of punishment. For
example, priests are prohibited from drinking liquor when entering a tent of
Meeting, “lest they die” (Lev. 10:9). Yet, others promise well-being after the
law is implemented: honor your parents, “so that you may long endure on the
land that the Lord your God is assigning you” (Ex. 20: 12). Here are two examples from the ancient Near
Eastern texts: According to the Laws of Hammurabi the builder, who sets up a
shaky structure that collapses, is responsible for the damage, “because he did
not make strong the house he built and it fell down” (LH 232). According to
Middle Assyrian laws, in case of divorce, the husband can take back his gifts
but not what she brought into the marriage, “it being reserved for the woman”
(MAL A 38).
Where does the literary influence come from to provide legal
statements with motivational clauses? I argue that the source is the wisdom
literature. An analysis of proverbs, maxims or words of the sages in the
ancient Near East, including the Bible, shows that laws and proverbs are very often
formulated with motivational clauses. Examples: “Keep your feet from their (the
sinners) path, for their feet run to evil” (Prov. 1: 16); or, “Do not crush the
needy in the public court, for the Lord will take up their cause” (Prov.
22:22-23). Or, in extra biblical wisdom texts: a popular saying in Byblos, “My
field is like a woman without a husband, because it lacks a cultivator”. Or, “Do
not reproach someone older than you, for he has seen the Sun before you”
(Proverbs of Amenemope, Ch. 27:1, Egypt).
If motivational clauses are found both in sapiental
literature and laws, it is very tempting to argue that biblical laws were not
laws per se, carried out by the courts, but wisdom sayings that encouraged
people to do the right thing. That changes the entire perspective of the way in
which we read and study the so-called biblical laws, which, I maintain, are only
guiding principles, recommendations, encouraging statements or customary
practices, but not laws.
It is also important to note that of the thousands of legal
cases we have available in the Babylonian literature, not a single case has
been resolved by saying that it was “according to the laws in Hammurabi.”
Similarly, we do not have any court case in the Bible that was clearly adjudicated
according to a prescribed law. Indeed, the shoftim (“officials,” in biblical Hebrew this word does not mean
“judges”) who functioned as leaders in ancient Israel (e.g., Deut. 16: 18) were
most likely guided by customary practices of their time. Law emerged later on
in Jewish history, when Rabbis began to codify the teachings of the Bible (e.g.
the Mishnah and Talmud) and transformed them into norms that could be enforced
by religious courts.
Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, Ph.D.
Framingham State University
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Books by Rifat Sonsino:
FINDING GOD (URJ; Behrman House)
THE MANY FACES OF GOD (URJ; Behrman
House)
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I DIE? (URJ; Behrman
House)
DID MOSES REALLY HAVE HORNS? (URJ;
Behrman House)
SIX JEWISH SPIRITUAL PATHS (Jewish
Lights; Turner)
THE MANY FACES OF GOD (URJ; Behrman
House)
AND GOD SPOKE THESE WORDS (Commentary
on the Decalogue; URJ; Behrman House)
VIVIR COMO JUDIO (Palibrio)
MODERN JUDAISM (Cognella)
MOTIVE CLAUSES IN HEBREW LAW (Scholars
Press)
