The Book of the Covenant (20:18-23:33)

2. The Book of the Covenant (20:18-23:33)The Book of the Covenant (Exodus 20:22-23:19), also called the Covenant Code, is the earliest biblical collection of covenant laws. Probably going back to premonarchic traditions, it seems to have been an independent collection predating the Elohist, but preserved by the Elohist. The observation that the setting of this law code reflects a livestock economy rather than a settled agricultural or urbanized economy supports a premonarchic setting.
    The Book of the Covenant is introduced with a narrative describing the theophany and the people's reaction to it.

¹⁸ Now when all the people witnessed the thunder and the lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled; and they stood far away, ¹⁹ They said to Moses, "You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let Elohim speak to us, otherwise we will die." ²⁰ Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid. Elohim has come to test you, and so that you may be aware of his fearfulness. Then maybe you will not sin." (20:18-20)

    Following the giving of the Ten Commandments God again appeared in a storm theophany heralded by a trumpet. The people were terrified of God's appearing. Fear of Elohim is very important in this narrative, as in the Elohist source as a whole. Out of fear of getting too close to God the people enlisted Moses as their intermediary. Moses assumed the role of the prophet and explained that God was putting them through this experience so that they would be impressed with his power and think twice before sinning.

²¹ The people stood far away, while Moses drew near to the thick cloud where Elohim was. ²² And YHWH said to Moses, "This is what you should tell the people of Israel: 'You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken with all of you from heaven. ²³ You must not make me into a god of silver, and you must not make for yourselves gods of gold.'" (20:21-23)

    Moses approached God who was in the form of a thick dark cloud. The cloud was the visible evidence of God's presence. The Book of the Covenant proper begins with verse 22. Note that a change from the preceding verse is evident; the divine name changes from Elohim to Yahweh.
    Yahweh impressed upon them that they were encountering the God of heaven. Their prime directive was the absolute prohibition of making statuary representations of God. The Israelites must not represent the God of heaven with metal images, as the Canaanites did of their gods.
    This general prohibition of idols and the prescription concerning the type of altar they could use (20:23-26) precedes the main body of laws which is introduced with the preface: "These are the ordinances which you must place in front of them" (21:1). The typical form of these ordinances in the Book of the Covenant differs from the form of the Ethical Decalogue. The Book of the Covenant contains case law, also called casuistic law. This type of law takes the form "If . . . then." An example of case law is the law of the goring ox.

²⁸ "If an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox must be stoned, and its flesh may not be eaten; but the owner of the ox will not be liable. ²⁹ But if the ox has had the habit of goring in the past, and its owner had been warned but had not kept it restricted, and it kills a man or a woman, then the ox must be stoned, and its owner also must be put to death." (21:28-29)

    Typical of case law, first a condition is specified, in this case an ox which gores a person. The consequence is then specified: the ox must be killed, but the owner may not benefit from it by eating the meat. In this instance the owner is not held responsible. This particular statute specifies a subcategory that results in a much harsher punishment. If the ox had been in the habit of terrorizing the community and the owner had done nothing to prevent it, and then it kills someone, the owner will be held directly responsible and must be put to death along with the animal. Biblical law obviously distinguished degrees of responsibility.
    In addition to injury laws, the Book of the Covenant also contains laws regarding slaves, death sentences, bodily injuries, a calendar of feasts, and other religious duties.

 For a summary of the contents of the Book of the Covenant see Table 3.T.