252 THEOPHILUS G. PINCHES, ESQ., LL.D., M.R.A.S., ON 



comparatively modern, is completely destroyed. I do not think 

 that even the most eminent Assyriologist would dispute that. It is 

 thought that decisions were served out by the Judges by mere 

 precedent. Now it is evident the Code of Hammurabi shows 

 something considerably more in advance of that and, as Sir Henry 

 Howorth well said, it indicates a long period of civilization before 

 this code could have been drawn up. I think the temerity of that 

 form of criticism which desires to show that all Mosaic legislation is 

 so modern is completely knocked on the head. It ought to be 

 remembered that Abraham's nationality was Babylonian. He was 

 a wealthy and cultivated man, no doubt, and would hand on to 

 succeeding generations all the enlightenment he possessed, and when 

 Moses came to legislate for the children of Israel, as I take it, we 

 may go back to the belief, notwithstanding criticism to the contrary, 

 that he wrote the Pentateuch. When, therefore, we find Moses 

 legislating, it is natural that he should incorporate the most en- 

 lightened and advanced views of national government that he could 

 obtain from any source whatever, whether from experience or divine 

 revelation. I confess I am surprised that anyone should think that 

 this code does, in the slightest degree, affect the stability of any 

 portion of Holy Scripture. In the New Testament, where you find 

 our Lord referring to some of these enactments, He does not say 

 that they were the enactments of Moses especially. It will be in 

 the recollection of those who are familiar with the New Testament, 

 as I hope we all are, that our Lord uses the words : — " It has been 

 said by those of old time " (Matt. Y,21et seq.), and that phrase occurs 

 over and over again in the course of His Sermon on the Mount. So 

 He does not commit us or Himself, or the legislation, especially to 

 Moses — that enactment, for instance, "An eye for an eye and a 

 tooth for a tooth." I think, therefore, the conclusion we may come 

 to is one of satisfaction, that enables us more fully to understand 

 that Bible that has been the light and comfort of our parents and 

 grandparents before and I suppose is the joy of many of our hearts 

 to-day. (Applause.) 



The Secretary. — I hold in my hand the very paper that 

 Mr. Tuckwell has referred to by Dr. Pinches entitled " Hammu- 

 rabi's Code of Laws," printed from the Proceedings of the Society 

 of Biblical Archceologij, November, 1902, showing that he was the 

 first in the field. 



