Was the Bible's legal tradition already present in Canaan before Moses? The answer is far more fascinating than you think.

Dr. Mark Chavalas traces the ancient scribal tradition that carried Mesopotamian law codes westward through Syria and into Canaan itself — and in 2010, archaeologists found the proof. Cuneiform law tablets discovered at Hazor, written on local clay, show that Canaanite scribes were actively transmitting Hammurabi-style legal collections right at the doorstep of Israel.

This isn't Moses copying Hammurabi. It's something far more complex — and far more interesting.

In this episode:

- How the cuneiform scribal tradition spread from Mesopotamia through Syria into Canaan

- The 2010 Hazor discovery — ancient law tablets found in Israel that look like Hammurabi

- Why the biblical scribes weren't copying Hammurabi, but drawing from a shared legal world

- Samuel Greengus's research linking ancient Babylonian law to the Mishnah

- Why biblical law is unique not in its content but in its context

- What these discoveries mean for divine inspiration, and why they shouldn't shake your faith

📚 Sources & Scholars Mentioned

⬩ Raymond Westbrook — "Biblical and Cuneiform Law Codes" (Revue Biblique, 1985)

⬩Victor Hurowitz et al. — "Two Fragments of a Traditional Cuneiform Law Collection" (Israel Exploration Journal 62, 2012)

⬩ Samuel Greengus — "Filling Gaps: Laws Found in Babylonia and in the Mishnah but Absent in the Hebrew Bible" (Maarav)

⬩Samuel Greengus — Laws in the Bible and Early Rabbinic Collections

⬩Roy Gane — Old Testament Law for Christians: Original Context and Enduring Application

⬩Richard Averbeck — Old Testament Law for the Life of the Church: Reading the Torah in the Light of Christ

This episode reframes everything. Once you understand that Israel was not living in a legal vacuum — and that the scribal tradition connecting Mesopotamia to the Bible ran right through Canaan — the biblical laws stop looking like borrowed content and start looking like a deliberate, covenantal declaration of allegiance to the one true God.

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Did Moses copy Hammurabi Code? The answer is far more fascinating than you think.

Dr. Mark Chavalas dives deep into the Code of Hammurabi — the most famous ancient law collection ever discovered. But here's what most people don't know: it probably wasn't a "code" at all. We talk about what the Hammurabi code actually was, how it functioned in the ancient world, and why its similarities to biblical law have sparked debate for over a century.

In this episode:

- What the Code of Hammurabi actually is

- The stunning similarities between Hammurabi's laws and biblical law

- The role of scribes and legal traditions in the ancient world

- How this changes the way Christians should read Old Testament law

📚 Sources & Scholars Mentioned

- Jean Bottéro — Mesopotamia: Writing, Reasoning, and the Gods

- Martha T. Roth — Law Collections from Mesopotamia and Asia Minor- Pamela Barmash — The Laws of Hammurabi: At the Confluence of Royal and Scribal Traditions

- Raymond Westbrook — Ancient Near Eastern legal theory and biblical law studies- Samuel Greengus — “Filling Gaps: Laws Found in Babylonia and in the Mishnah but Absent in the Hebrew Bible” (Maarav, 1991)

- John Walton — The Lost World of the Torah- Chicago Assyrian Dictionary (CAD) — entries on judges, verdicts, and legal terminology

- Old Babylonian legal texts and letters related to the Code of Hammurabi

- Comparative studies on biblical law, Mesopotamian law collections, and scribal traditions

This episode will transform the way you look at biblical law. Rather than treating these laws as simple “dos and don’ts,” this episode uncovers how ancient people viewed law, justice, wisdom, kingship, and cosmic order.

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Ancient Near Eastern Law Codes as Background to Biblical Law

Dr. Mark Chavalas argues that the biblical legal tradition didn't emerge in a vacuum — it fits squarely within a broader ancient Near Eastern scribal and legal tradition. Understanding what these law codes actually were and how they functioned helps reframe how we should read the biblical law.

Law Codes Covered:

1. Ur-Namma (~2100 BC) — oldest extant code, written in Sumerian

2. Lipit-Ishtar (~1930 BC) — also Sumerian, 50 laws from the city of Isin.

3. Laws of Eshnunna — written in Akkadian, roughly contemporary with Hammurabi but earlier.

4. Code of Hammurabi (~1750 BC) — the most complete, 280 laws (220 fully intact). Found in Susa

5. Neo-Babylonian Laws — 1,000 years after Hammurabi

6. Middle Assyrian Laws (~1300–1075 BC) — written in Assyrian Akkadian

7. Hittite Laws (~1400–1200 BC) — 200 laws in Indo-European Hittite

Resources Mentioned:

- Law Collections from Mesopotamia and Asia Minor — Martha Roth

- A History of Ancient Near Eastern Law — Raymond Westbrook (ed.)

- Early Ancient Near Eastern Law — Klaus Wilke

- The Laws of Hammurabi — Pamela Barmash- Mesopotamia — Jean Bottéro

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What if the “laws” in the Bible weren’t meant to function like modern legal systems at all?

This episode launches a brand new series diving into ancient Near Eastern law—and why understanding this world is essential to understanding Scripture. Instead of jumping straight into the Bible, we step back into history to explore how law actually worked in the ancient world.

Dr. Mark Chavalas breaks down a surprising idea: what we call “law codes” may not have been codes at all—but collections of wisdom, verdicts, and case-based decisions used by judges.

➡️ Why ancient “law codes” weren’t comprehensive legal systems

➡️ The meaning behind “if/then” laws in Scripture

➡️ How judges made decisions without citing written laws

➡️ The role of wisdom in ancient legal thinking

➡️ Real ancient trial records (including a shocking murder case)

➡️ Royal reforms, edicts, and how kings shaped justice

➡️ Why this changes how we read passages like Exodus 21

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Is the Book of Daniel really about predicting the future… or is it revealing something even bigger?

Daniel Commentary:

https://www.amazon.com/Daniel-Chapters-International-Commentary-Testament/dp/0802875998

The conversation dives deep into one of the most debated books in the Bible—Daniel. With Dr. Aubrey Buster joining Dr. Mark Chavalas, the discussion explores authorship, prophecy, and how ancient readers would have actually understood this text.

➡️ Why Daniel may not be primarily about predicting the future

➡️ The difference between prophecy and apocalyptic literature

➡️ How ancient audiences understood authorship and authority

➡️ Why the debate over who wrote Daniel is more complex than you think

➡️ How understanding the ancient world strengthens—not weakens—faith

Instead of reading Daniel through a modern lens, this episode challenges us to step into the ancient world—where genre, symbolism, and cultural context completely reshape what the book is claiming.

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#BuriedBible #BookOfDaniel #BibleContext #AncientNearEast #BiblicalInterpretation #ChristianPodcast #faithandhistory

What if you’ve been reading the Bible the wrong way your entire life?

Rico Cortes joins us to share his journey from traditional teaching into his deep study of ancient cultures, covenants, and biblical backgrounds — and how that shift completely transformed his understanding and appreciation of Scripture.

Together we explore how Western assumptions often distort the Bible's meaning, leading to confusion, division, and surface-level faith. Drawing on the work of scholars like John Walton, Jacob Milgrom, and Mark Chavalas, Rico unpacks the complexities of biblical interpretation — with a particular focus on the book of Leviticus — and why reading the Bible through an ancient Near Eastern lens changes everything.

In This Episode:

➡️ Why modern readers misunderstand the Bible

➡️ The difference between Western vs. ancient thinking

➡️ How studying the ancient Near East changes everything

➡️ Why Leviticus is one of the most misunderstood books

Ultimately, the episode emphasizes that studying the Bible in its original context doesn’t weaken faith—it strengthens it—by revealing a deeper, more relational picture of God rooted in holiness, justice, and covenant relationship.

More From Rico:

💻 https://wisdomintorah.com

📧 [email protected]

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Why didn’t God just abolish slavery?

This episode tackles one of the hardest and most uncomfortable questions in the Bible—why slavery continues to appear in the New Testament without being directly abolished.

Dr. Mark Chavalas explores key passages from Paul and Peter, examining how early Christians understood slavery within the Greco-Roman world and what the biblical authors were actually trying to do.Rather than offering easy answers, this conversation dives into the tension between justice, theology, and history—revealing a deeper perspective on how the gospel transforms people from the inside out.

📚 Sources & References

- The Anchor Bible Dictionary (Article on Slavery – Scott Bartchy)

- The Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon

- The Letters to Timothy and TitusThe First Epistle of Peter

- The First Epistle to the Corinthians

- Ancient Slavery and Its New Testament Contexts

- Letters of Pliny the Younger (Epistles 9.21, 9.24)

📖 Primary Biblical Texts Referenced:

Galatians 3–4

Colossians 3–41

Peter 2

1 Corinthians 7

1 Timothy 6

Titus 2

Philemon

💬 Let’s Talk....What do you think—should God have abolished slavery immediately? Or is there something deeper going on in the biblical story?

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What was slavery in the New Testament world?

This episode shifts the conversation onto the Greco-Roman world and New Testament slavery, examining how slavery actually functioned in that cultural context.

Dr. Mark Chavalas critiques modern claims—like those in God's Ghostwriters by Candida Moss—that enslaved individuals played a major role in writing the New Testament, arguing that these ideas are largely speculative and lack solid evidence.

The discussion then explores how widespread and complex slavery was in the Roman world, where enslaved people could hold skilled positions, gain education, and even achieve freedom—making it very different from modern assumptions shaped by more recent history. Ultimately, the episode challenges listeners to rethink their definitions of slavery and recognize how deeply cultural context shapes the way we interpret the Bible.

📚 Sources:

Candida Moss — God’s Ghostwriters

Benjamin Laird — Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society

Anchor Bible Dictionary (Greco-Roman Slavery)

Moses Finley — Ancient Slavery and Modern Ideology

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Does Exodus 21 really give permission to beat a slave—as long as they survive?

One of the most controversial texts in the Old Testament is Exodus 21—but does it actually say what many people claim it says?

In this episode, Dr. Mark Chavalas examines how Exodus 21 functions in context, why biblical law may work more like case verdicts than a modern code, and how the passage fits into the Bible’s larger concern for vulnerable people.

The discussion explores how personal injury laws, compensation, legal protection for vulnerable people, and the wider theological framework of Israel’s anthropology all shape how this passage should be read—and raises bigger questions about how biblical law works, how vulnerable people are protected, and why slavery remains such a difficult tension in the Old Testament.

The result is not an attempt to explain slavery away, but to wrestle honestly with the ambiguity, difficulty, and moral tension in the text.

📚 Primary Sources:

- Gregory Chirichigno, Debt-Slavery in Israel and the Ancient Near East (1993)

- Jacob Milgrom, Leviticus (Anchor Bible Commentary)

- Mendelsohn, Slavery in the Ancient Near East (1949)

- John Walton, The Lost World of the Torah; Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament

Biblical Passages Discussed:

- Exodus 21–22

- Leviticus 25

- Deuteronomy 12, 16, 24

- Genesis 1; 16–21

- Numbers 27; 36

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When the Old Testament talks about slavery, is the Bible approving it—or addressing a broken reality with legal remedies?

This episode continues our series on slavery in the Old Testament by turning to some of the Bible’s hardest passages in Genesis, Deuteronomy, and Exodus 21.

Dr. Mark Chavalas explores the world behind these laws, asking whether the “if…then” structure of biblical case law should always be read as permission—or whether many of these laws are actually responses to situations that were already unjust, messy, and morally broken.

Rather than offering easy answers, this conversation wrestles with the tension head-on. From Hagar and Sarah to Deuteronomy’s runaway slave law to the controversial “slave wife” passage in Exodus 21, this episode asks what biblical law is trying to do inside an ancient world shaped by hierarchy, poverty, patriarchy, and survival.

Sources and themes discussed:

Genesis 16; Genesis 21; Genesis 29–30

Deuteronomy 21; Deuteronomy 23

Exodus 21

Leviticus 25

Joseph Fleishman on Exodus 21:7–11

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