The Origin and History of Hebrew Law

Smith examines the history of Hebrew law from its beginning in the Decalogue to its close in the Priestly Code, considers its relation to contemporary social history and compares it to the Hittite, Assyrian and Babylonian codes. Originally published: Chicago: University of Chicago Press, [1931]. ix, 285 pp.

The extensive appendices contain complete translations of the Code of Hammurabi and the Assyrian and Hittite codes, providing a background to the study of Hebrew law.

Recommended by Roscoe Pound in the Outlines of Lectures on Jurisprudence (5th. Ed.) 233.

"Professor Smith traces the history of the Hebrew law as it is found in the Pentateuch. He repudiates the Mosaic origin of the contents of the Old Testament with the exception of the primitive Decalogue, the authorship of which he does ascribe to Moses. He discusses the Covenant Code, the Deuteronomic Code, Ezekiel's Code, the Holiness Code, and the Priestly Code; and he presents a new translation of the Code of Hammurabi, the Assyrian Code and the Hittite Code, thus bringing together in one body the records of the legislation of all the great peoples of Western Asia. A vivid background is thus afforded for the study of Hebrew law." --Louis E. Levinthal, 7 Temp. L. Q. 126 1932-1933

J[ohn]. M[erlin]. Powis Smith [1866-1932] was a professor of Old Testament language and literature at the University of Chicago. In The Bible: An American Translation (1935), the Old Testament was translated by a group of scholars under his editorship. He was the author of The Moral Life of the Hebrews (1923) and other works.