ABSTRACT
This chapter clarifies the conception of law as a fundamental component of the ancient cosmos. In this context the biblical commandments functioned as stipulations of a formal covenant initiated by God, yet were by no means fixed, or consistent, in the early versions of the Pentateuch. The fluid, textual, panorama from which these laws emerged sheds light on the historical and socio-economic diversity of the Bible’s scribal authorities prior to the Second Temple period, and is of profound importance for understanding the development of human rights, slavery, gender discrimination, philosophy, and moral ethics, aside from the role of law in the Abrahamic religions.
