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We are not endeavouring to prove anything directly connected with Abraham, but the
link with Amraphel is noteworthy, as also the clear light of the Scripture on these ancient
times. In Gen. 10: 25 we are told that "unto Eber were born two sons; the name of one
was Peleg . . . . . his brother's name was Joktan," and from Joktan came the various tribes
of Arabia. Peleg's descendants remained nearer their ancestral home, and when Abram
was born are found in the Babylonian city Ur. Documents written in the days of
Abraham, and in the land in which he lived, have brought to light his very name! In the
Assyrian Eponym Canon we find the name Abu-ramu, or Abram, a name of one of the
inhabitants of Abraham's land in Abraham's day.
The ancient records of Arabia, moreover, make it plain that Khammurabi was from
that same region, and that his language is closely allied with the Hebrew. Professor
Sayce says that Khammurabi, like the rest of his dynasty, is not Babylonian, but South
Arabian. The words of which they are compounded, and the divine names which they
contain, do not belong to the Babylonian and Assyrian language, and there is cuneiform
tablet in which they are given with their Assyrian translation. We may be able to deal
more fully with this line of things when considering various passages of Scripture in the
light of Archaeology. We pass on to consider the Code of Khammurabi itself.
The existence of this stone, with its codified laws eight hundred years before Moses,
disposes of the fiction which we sometimes still hear that it was not possible in the time
of Moses for a stone to be engraved with laws as is definitely set forth in Exodus.
"These laws of Khammurabi governed the peoples from the Persian Gulf to the
Caspian Sea, and from Persia to the Mediterranean, and were in force throughout
Canaan." (Companion Bible, Appendix No. 15).
This same appendix tabulates nine of the laws of Khammurabi operating in Genesis.
We give a condensed summary for the sake of any who may not possess a copy of this
invaluable work.
1.
The law of Adoption. Gen. 15: Code 191.
2.
The giving of Hagar to Abraham. Gen. 16: Code 146.
3.
Commercial enactments. Gen. 23: Code 146.
4.
Taking of life of stealing. Gen. 31: 32. Code 6.
5.
Taking of life by burning. Gen. 38: 24. Code 110.
6.
Death for theft from palace. Gen. 44: 9. Code 6.
7.
Special portion to favourite son. Gen. 48: 22. Code 165.
8.
Reuben's punishment. Gen. 49: 4. Code 158.
9.
Inability of Abram to sell Hagar. Gen. 16: 6. Code 119.
The laws of Khammurabi include other interesting items. If a surgeon kills a patient
he must lose both his hands. If a house falls and kills anyone, the jerry-builder must be
put to death. If a wife be not economical, but is a goer-about, she must be thrown in the
river!