Supreme Regard for the Value of Human Life

In the Sabbath School lesson titled “Living the Law,” Jiřί Moskala states that “respect for God, for each other, and for life’s values were the basis of His [God’s] legislative system.”[1] The following reflection engages with that claim by examining the Covenant Code (Ex. 20:23-23:33), the key legal text in this lesson, to understand how the worship of God and the sanctity and dignity of human life serve as foundational principles of biblical law. I argue that the Covenant Code reflects a supreme regard for the value of human life, rooted in the worship of YHWH, and therefore demands compassion and justice toward each other.

I begin by outlining the structure and providing a summary of the legal material. Next I examine the concern for the value of human life, with a special focus on the issue of slavery, since the presence of laws regarding slaves in the Bible understandably raises questions about its high regard for human dignity. In the end I address how these laws are relevant to the Christian church today.

Structure of the Covenant Code

The laws within the Covenant Code (Ex. 20:23-23:19) are framed by religious laws concerning worship, beginning with the prohibition of idols and the altar law (Ex. 20:23-26), and ending with regulations regarding religious festivals (Ex. 23:14-19). Thus, obedience to the laws in the Covenant Code arises from a covenantal relationship with YHWH and the worship of Him, thereby creating a holy people (Ex. 22:31). The Covenant Code acts as a practical exposition of what true worship of YHWH involves.

The legal material between these religious laws can be grouped into two parts, considering the difference in style: The laws in Exodus 21:2-22:20 are mostly casuistic (“if . . . then”) and impersonal (third-person).[2] In contrast, the commands in Exodus 22:21-23:13 are personally directed at the people (second-person), very similar to the style of the Ten Commandments.[3] The impersonal section also includes, however, a few personal addresses (Ex. 21:2, 14, 23; 22:18), reminding the reader that the Covenant Code is YHWH’s covenantal address, mediated through Moses at the people’s request (Ex. 20:19). The following provides a brief overview of the contents of the Covenant Code.

Content of the Covenant Code

The first part of the Covenant Code, following the religious framing section on idols and altars, begins with laws regarding slavery (Ex. 21:2-11) and is followed by a list of capital crimes, such as killing, kidnapping, and cursing parents (verses 12-17). In cases of accidental killing, the Covenant Code, for the first time in ancient law, considers the situation from the perpetrator’s perspective, asking whether the killing was premeditated or accidental, placing great value on intentions.[4] Then there are laws concerning injuries (Ex. 21:18-27), in which culprits of bodily injury must arrange for full recovery (verse 19). This is followed by cases involving the death of humans caused by animals (verses 28-32) and instances of theft and property disputes (Ex. 21:33-22:15). Finally, the laws concerning premarital sex (Ex. 22:16, 17) and capital crimes against religious and moral order (verses 18-20), such as sorcery, bestiality, and the worship of other gods, conclude the first part.

In the second part God personally addresses the Israelites, beginning by proclaiming the rights of the vulnerable in society (Ex. 22:21-27). It is noteworthy that this second part begins and ends with the immigrant or alien (Ex. 22:21; 23:9).[5] According to Dale Patrick: “The test of any legal system’s respect for rights is its respect for the rights of its weakest members.”[6] Here God becomes their patron, guaranteeing them their rights: “And if your neighbor cries out to me, I will listen, for I am compassionate” (Ex. 22:27, NRSV). The worship of this God involves caring for and protecting the vulnerable. Perhaps that is why the prohibition against worshipping false deities (verse 20), which concludes the first part, and the ban on oppressing immigrants or aliens, which begins the second part (verse 21), are juxtaposed, linking false worship with the oppression of vulnerable individuals. God further outlines religious duties (verse 28), provides instructions for the court to ensure just verdicts so that neither the poor nor the wealthy are favored (Ex. 23:1-3, 6-8), and establishes laws of empathy (verses 4, 5).

The laws in the Covenant Code affirm the sanctity of life, requiring equal treatment of all as bearers of God’s image.

The instructions for the sabbatical year and the weekly Sabbath (verses 10-13) transition well between the second part and the religious framing section on pilgrimage festivals (verses 14-19). On the one hand, the proximity of the Sabbath laws to the rights of the vulnerable highlights the social concern of the Israelite religion, allowing the son of a maidservant and the immigrant or alien to “breathe freely” (verse 12).[7] On the other hand, the Sabbath commands anticipate the exclusive devotion to YHWH celebrated during Israel’s major pilgrimage festivals (verse 13).

Finally, after the various judgments and commandments, there is an epilogue to the Covenant Code, which focuses on God’s promise concerning the land and the exclusive worship of YHWH (verses 20-33).

Value of Human Life

The laws in the Covenant Code affirm the sanctity of life, requiring equal treatment of all as bearers of God’s image (cf. Gen 9:6 with Ex. 21:12-14). The Assyriologist Jacob J. Finkelstein has famously analyzed the law of the goring ox, observing that the cases in which the victims are humans (Ex. 21:28-32) stand in “sharpest contrast” to the ones in which the victims are animals (verses 35, 36).[8] In the case of a human victim, there are serious consequences: the ox must be stoned, and if the owner is found negligent, he faces capital punishment unless he pays a ransom. When the victim is an animal, however, “no one is to be condemned.”[9] The legal focus shifts to restitution rather than punishment.

Furthermore, the legal sequence of the goring ox cases is interrupted by a discussion of cases involving an animal falling into a cistern (Ex. 21:33, 34). This break signals to the reader that the two goring ox laws—one involving a human victim and the other an animal—belong to entirely different legal categories. Finkelstein notes that unlike the ancient Mesopotamian Laws of Eshnunna, in which no such distinction is made, biblical law separates these into what he terms the “law of persons” (Ex. 21:2-32, including such issues as slavery and murder) and the “law of things” (Ex. 21:33-22:16, covering theft, property disputes, and similar matters).[10] According to Finkelstein, this division highlights that in the biblical worldview, anything concerning human life belongs to a qualitatively distinct and superior realm.[11]

This life-affirming principle extends even into the “law of things.” For example, if a thief is caught stealing during daylight and killed, the person who killed him is guilty of bloodshed (Ex. 22:2), emphasizing that human life is of more value than property—which, according to the Old Testament scholar Gordon J. Wenham, stands out among other ancient Near Eastern laws.[12]

Slavery in the Covenant Code

At first glance the Covenant Code’s opening focus on regulations concerning slaves and their masters (Ex. 21:2-11) appears to undercut the high value it otherwise places on human life. Slavery, by its very nature, implies the treatment of people as property. Yet, significantly, the laws in the Covenant Code concerning slavery begin the section that Finkelstein refers to as the “law of persons.” Even within the goring ox cases, the case of an ox killing a slave falls under the “law of persons,” not property law, subtly countering the notion of slaves as mere possessions (verse 32). Furthermore, in at least one instance the covenant code explicitly sides with the slave, affirming the supreme value of their life: While instances of capital offenses, including murder, typically conclude with the formula that the perpetrator “shall be put to death” (Ex. 21:12, 15, 16, 17; 22:19), it is said that the slave must be avenged (Ex. 21:20). This distinct wording approaches the offense from the perspective of the victim, the slave.[13]

God’s justice and compassion go hand in hand.

Quobna Ottobah Cugoano, from modern-day Ghana, who was enslaved as a child but gained his freedom in England, became an abolitionist and published an influential book entitled Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil of Slavery (1787).[14] Cugoano passionately denounced the misuse of the Bible (in his day) to justify colonial slavery.[15] For him, biblical slavery was a temporary, debt-based servitude that could serve as a means of deliverance and restoration.[16] William S. Morrow, an Old Testament scholar, has recently made four observations that support Cugoano’s understanding by emphasizing the humanitarian perspective within the laws in the Covenant Code regarding Hebrew slaves:[17]

1. The 6/7 motif: The six-year service and seventh-year release pattern of Israelite slaves thematically connects to the Sabbath laws, in which the seventh year serves as a kind of “welfare system” (Ex. 23:10, 11) and the seventh day is said to benefit domestic animals and disadvantaged persons (verse 12).[18]

2. Recognition of Rights: By beginning the first part of the Covenant Code with the laws concerning slaves, substantial attention is given to their rights.[19] “Primary rights and duties” are designed to protect slaves, who, apparently, could bring a lawsuit against their master (cf. Job 31:13).[20]

3. Debt Prevention Laws: Laws such as Exodus 22:25 (prohibiting interest on loans) and Exodus 22:26, 27 (limiting foreclosure on essential items) are aimed at preventing Israelites from falling “into a situation where [he or she] has no choice but to sell [himself or herself] into slavery for nonpayment of a loan.”[21]

4. Motifs of Freedom and Exodus: The verb “to go out,” which describes, in Exodus 21:2-6, 11, the slaves being released, echoes the “going out” of Egypt (Ex. 23:15).[22] Thus, the Israelites’ and their slaves’ experiences are bound together. Furthermore, since participating in the pilgrim festivals in Exodus 23:14-17 required participants to have something to offer and to be free to travel, the ideal was that everyone in Israel would be free.[23]

Despite these mitigating factors, slavery remains a symptom of the brokenness of this world. The Covenant Code, by outlining the rights of slaves, provided Hebrew slaves with greater human dignity, and the repeated admonition to treat immigrants or aliens well arguably extended these rights to foreign slaves as well (cf. Ex. 22:21; 23:9, 12). This can be seen as progressive revelation, in which God, amid human brokenness, gradually but not instantly offers a better way.

Application to the Christian Church

There is little doubt that the Christian church should embody the key principles outlined in the Covenant Code—such as the call to worship God, a supreme regard for human life, care for the vulnerable (especially immigrants and aliens), and the pursuit of justice—since the classic Christian tradition has affirmed theological continuity between the Old and New Testaments. This is especially true of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, which emphasizes the ongoing relevance of Old Testament law and ethics.

It is crucial to consider the legal limitations of implementing these principles. The church is rightly separated from the state in most Western countries today—a safeguard learned from the suffering of religious minorities in times when no such separation existed. In ancient Israel, however, the situation was different. The “state” and “church” were closely connected because God governed Israel directly.

Nevertheless, the concern for legal detail, attributed to God Himself, who could even be called upon in everyday matters, should inspire believers today to pursue justice with the resources available to them. Furthermore, the way God views Himself as the patron of the vulnerable, emphasizing His compassion, should likewise inspire believers today to be compassionate. God’s justice and compassion go hand in hand, as shown in Exodus 22:23, 24, 27. When the poor cry out to God, God’s execution of judgment against the oppressors is seen as an act of compassion toward the oppressed.[24]

Justice and compassion can indeed be applied within the Christian church. While the church cannot execute judgment in any legal sense, it can still promote or withhold justice. For example, when the church conceals abuse and refuses to take responsibility, it denies justice to the oppressed. Social justice, humanitarian aid, and the fight against abuse are issues in which the church has the responsibility to imitate the God it worships.

As the church is called to advocate for the rights of the vulnerable, likewise, every believer is called to stand up for the rights and protection of the vulnerable, even if it means challenging their church or their country. Jesus has shown the way that must be followed without violence, with great patience, and with love. In doing so, the church today follows the spirit of the Covenant Code, in which worship of God and the supreme value of human life are inseparably bound together.

[1] Jiřί Moskala, Exodus, Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide, Third Quarter, 2025, p. 180.

[2] Dale Patrick, Old Testament Law (Atlanta: John Knox, 1985), pp. 65, 66.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Klaus Bieberstein and Lukas Bormann, “Asyl,” Sozialgeschichtliches Wörterbuch zur Bibel (Gütersloh: Gütersloher Verlagshaus, 2019), p. 28.

[5] I chose to translate the Hebrew גֵּר (ger) as “immigrant or alien.” The word “immigrant” resonates with modern readers and conveys the idea of someone who, because of social and political reasons, has chosen to settle down in a foreign country, whereas an alien may still be on the move, and not necessarily settled, as Christiana van Houten, in The Alien in Israelite Law, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series (Sheffield, Eng.: Sheffield Academic Press, 1991), vol. 107, p. 19, has helpfully pointed out.

[6] Patrick, p. 86.

[7] The Hebrew verb וַיִּנָּפֵשׁ (weyinnapesh) can be translated “that he may breathe freely,” according to Ludwig Koehler et al., “נפשׁ,” in The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (Leiden, Netherlands: Brill, 1994-2000), p. 711.

[8] J. J. Finkelstein, “The Ox That Gored,” Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 71, no. 2 (1981): 37.

[9] Ibid.

[10] Ibid., pp. 25, 37. The “Law of Persons” and the “Law of Things” can be seen as further subdividing part one of the Covenant Code.

[11] Ibid., p. 37.

[12] Gordon J. Wenham, The Book of Leviticus, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1979), p. 282.

[13] Christoph Dohmen, Exodus 19-40, 2nd rev. and corr. ed., Herders Theologischer Kommentar zum Alten Testament (Freiburg, Germany: Herder, 2012), p. 165.

[14] Emmanuel Y. Lartey, “African Theology,” in The Dictionary of Historical Theology (Carlisle, Cumbria, U.K.: Paternoster Press, 2000), p. 3.

[15] Quobna Ottobah Cugoano, Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil of Slavery (orig. pub. London, 1787; East Rutherford, N.J.: Penguin Publishing Group, 1999), p.118.

[16] Ibid., p. 125.

[17] William S. Morrow, An Introduction to Biblical Law (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2017), pp. 99-102.

[18] Ibid., pp. 99, 100.

[19] Ibid., pp. 97, 98.

[20] Ibid., p. 100.

[21] Ibid., p. 101.

[22] Ibid., p. 102.

[23] Ibid., pp. 101, 102.

[24] Patrick, p. 87.