326 Paul Heger Although Hammurapi, in the Prologue to his Laws (LH), speaks in the name of the gods, he emphasizes that they entrusted him with the duty “to make justice prevail in the land” (LH i 27-49) (7). It is he, the king, “who proclaims truth, who guides the population properly” (iv 53-58), and whom “the god Marduk commanded to provide just ways for the people of the land” (v 14-24) (8). In the Epilogue this reality is yet more explicit. The king praises the excellence of his laws, emphasizing his role: “My pronouncements are choice, my ability is unrivaled” (xlvii 79 – xlviii 2) (9). Law in Mesopotamia was a strictly secular institution (10). In contrast, the biblical laws are, in most occurrences, pronounced directly by God. Whatever their real origin, they are attributed absolutely to the Deity, and not to wisdom. The Israelites believed that God’s laws are based on reason, and “rationality is an aspect of God” (11). Even when we do encounter a record of a king promulgating a law, as for example in 1 Sam 30,23-25, the law is not presented as his creation (12). Thus laws in the Book of the Covenant are spoken by God in the first person. Wording such as that in Exod 22,23-24, “ …and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry, my anger will be aroused”, indicates not only the divine source of the law, but also God’s direct involvement and intervention to ensure its implementation. Such divine involvement is particularly apparent in the (7) All references to and translations of cuneiform laws are from M. ROTH, Law Collections from Mesopotamia and Asia Minor (SBL Writings from the Ancient World Series 6; Atlanta 1995). (8) See also the prologue of the Laws of Ur-Namma: “[by the might] of the god Nanna, my lord, [by the true command of the god Utu (?)] I established [justice in the land (?)]”(LU A iii 104-113). In the Prologue of the Laws of Lipit- Ishtar, we read: “the gods An and Enlil called Lipit-Ishtar …to establish justice in the land” ( LI I 20-37) and: “With a …decree (?) I made the father support his children” (LI ii 16-24). (9) See PAUL, Studies in the Book of the Covenant, 5-10, and ALBERTZ, Religion, 115-116. (10) See PAUL, Studies in the Book of the Covenant, 8, and M. WEINFELD, “Israelite and Non-Israelite Concepts of Law”, Beth Mikra 17 (1964) 58-63. (11) M.J. BASS, “Legal Science and Legislation”, Theory and Method in Biblical and Cuneiform Law. Revision, Interpolation and Development (ed. B.M. LEVINSON) (JSOTSS 181; Sheffield 1994) 90. (12) As noted by B.S. JACKSON, Essays in Jewish and Comparative Legal History (Leiden 1975) 53, n. 156.