Ancient Near Eastern Texts On Justice (supplement 2)

Extra-Biblical Texts (ANET) for the Topic. “Mishpat and Zedaqah in Amos” (Supplement 2 to Handouts on AMOS) BRUCE V. MALCHOW, Social Justice in the Hebrew Bible: What is New and What is Old (Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 1996), pp. 1-4.

1.1 Mesopotamia, 2850 – 2360 B.C. – The text shows that the care of the weak and the poor begins with the gods and goddesses as in this Hymn to Shamash: You create justice for the weak, Give judgment to the orphan girl. The weak you make a hero, The insignificant you make rich.

1.2 Monarchs represent the gods and goddesses in carrying out this duty on a daily basis as the Code of Hammurabi states: Anum and Enlil named me To promote the welfare of the people, Me, Hammurabi, the devout, god-fearing prince, To cause justice to prevail in the land, To destroy the wicked and the evil. That the strong might not oppress the weak.

1.3 Similarly in the Ugaritic texts (the civilization nearest to Israel), the Canaanite kings were expected to execute justice. In this text (from The Story of Keret), the king is condemned for neglecting this responsibility: You don’t pursue the widow’s case, You don’t take up the wretched’s claim You don’t expel the poor’s oppressor. You don’t feed the orphan who faces you, Nor the widow who stands at your back.

1.4 This responsibly extends from the king to the ordinary people as in The Counsels of Wisdom from Mesopotamia: Unto your opponent do no evil; Your evildoer recompense with good; Unto your enemy let justice be done. Give Good to eat, give date wine to drink; The one begging for alms and clothe, honor.

1.5 In the same way, this wisdom Instruction of Amenempoet (Egyptian) counsels the ordinary person to practice justice: Do not carry off the landmark at the boundaries of arable land… Do not be greedy for the property of a poor person, Nor hunger for his bread… If you find a large debt against a poor person, Make it into three parts, Forgive two, and let one stand… Do not lean on the scales nor falsify the weights… Do not accept the bribe of a powerful man, Nor oppress for him the disabled.

1.6 Also in a Ugaritic text (Story of Aqhat), the hero named Danel (cf. biblical Daniel), before his prayer is answered, is found administering justice: Is upright, sitting before the gate, Beneath a mighty tree on the threshing floor, Judging the cause of the widow, |Adjudicating the case of the fatherless.