Constitutional Law
Part 2: “What Were They Thinking?”
Digression: “A History of Government in 6 Revolutions: From the Paleolithic to Philadelphia”
106. Learning from the Law Codes: Jews in Exile
Panel 1: A map of the Levant, with the region once known as Judah in brown, with a brown arrow pointing to it. Jerusalem is marked by a black dot, with a red arrow pointing to it.
NARRATION:
“Back home” was Yehud—a province of the Neo-Babylonian Empire—and its main city Uru-Shalayim.
Or, as they later came to be known:
Judah
and
Jerusalem.
-=-
Panel 2: A view of part of the globe looking west from Jerusalem across the Dead Sea. A great arrow curves from Judah across the distant horizon to Babylon.
NARRATION: Yehud had rebelled against the empire and lost. The Babylonians had responded in the time-honored way, by marching the ruling elites off to Babylon—exiling every man, woman, and child in the king’s lineage… the aristocratic lineages…the priesthood… the whole power structure.
BABYLONIAN VOICE 1:
It’s really quite civilized.
BABYLONIAN VOICE 2:
This way, we sever their ties to family gods and ancestral lands.
BABYLONIAN VOICE 3:
We sever the authority that came from local and civic gods.
BABYLONIAN VOICE 4:
And thus we neutralize any future threat—without severing all their heads!
-=-
Panel 3: A group of finely-dressed Jewish exiles, standing and seated in a room filled with cushions of rich fabric. Bronze shields hang on a wall. Ornate open-air floor-to-ceiling windows look out on a deep-blue night sky.
NARRATION: The exile only lasted about 50 years, though. Then in 539 BC the Persian Empire conquered the Neo-Babylonian Empire, and told all the captive peoples they were free to return home. Most stayed put.
JEWISH EXILE MAN 1:
Leave civilization? Go back to the sticks?
JEWISH EXILE MAN 2:
Are you nuts?
JEWISH EXILE MAN 3:
I’m a captain of the imperial chariots.
JEWISH EXILE WOMAN 1:
My family is all respected scribes and officials.
JEWISH EXILE MAN 4:
I’m making a fortune importing gold and spices and fabrics!
JEWISH EXILE WOMAN 2:
Life is good here!
-=-
Panel 4: A man and a woman work on a small farm in ancient Judah. In the distance are their adobe house, a palm tree, and new arrivals cresting the hill. The man wipes his brow as he notices the new arrivals.
NARRATION: But some did repatriate to the (now Persian) province of Yehud. This was not popular with the locals.
RETURNING EXILE:
Ah, home again in Zion, and-
OI!
Get off the land of my forefathers!
FARMER:
Your forefathers?
-=-
Panel 5: Narration box.
NARRATION:
They had learned many things in Babylon that would help them re-assert political authority.
One was the bygone practice of law codes that had legitimized the rule of ancient kings.
Borrowing heavily from the Code of Hammurabi (and some older Mesopotamian codes, plus a few local traditions) they wrote down the “Covenant Code” found in Exodus 20:23-23:19.
-=-
Panel 6: Bearded Yahweh, seated on a throne, robed, and wearing an Egyptian-style Shmoo-shaped crown, holds out his hands in benediction.
NARRATION:
But this time, instead of exalting a king as the right ruler…
The Covenant Code exalted a god as sovereign!
And an upstart local god, at that—a god called Yahweh.
JEWISH EXILE MAN 3 (from the panel below):
Sounds like crazy talk to me.
-=-
Panel 7: The group of finely-dressed Jewish exiles from panel 3. Jewish Exile Man 3 is spinning his finger by his temple in a “that’s crazy” gesture.
JEWISH EXILE MAN 1:
Gods may hint, or advise, but they never command.
JEWISH EXILE MAN 2:
Gods don’t rule over people.
JEWISH EXILE WOMAN 1:
So who is this “Yahweh” fellow?
JEWISH EXILE WOMAN 2:
And how come he gets to be sovereign?
-=-
Panel 8: Average Joe, as a talking head, flanked by ancient Hebrew-type scrolls.
JOE:
Let’s find out!
Along the way, we’re going to see how these people of Yehud invented monotheism…
And law as we know it…
…both entirely by accident!