19
Viewed in the light of the later laws, this admonition asked the Israelite men, in effect, to avoid
contracting ceremonial impurity before coming into the presence of Yahweh.
b. The Creation Accounts (Genesis 1-4). Calum Carmichael in his book The Origins of
Biblical Law argues that the Decalogue has been structured on the basis of the creation
narratives. The command to honor parents and its prohibitions against murder, adultery theft,
and false witness were given, he says, to elaborate on matters found in the narratives of Genesis
2-4: the coveting and theft of the forbidden fruit by Eve, the false witness in trying to pass off the
blame to others by Adam and Eve after the partaking of the fruit, the teaching about marriage in
the creation narrative, and how Cain dishonored Adam and Eve by murdering his brother Abel.
38
Exodus version of the Sabbath (Exod 20:8-11) refers explicitly to the narration of Gods six
days of creation followed by his rest on the seventh day (Gen 1:1-2:4), as well as being a
response to Aarons improper declaration of a special day in the Golden Calf narrative (Exod
32:5).
39
I am unconvinced by Carmichaels thesis that these laws or their structuring are derived
from the narratives, but I do think that he shows adequately that these narratives are better
understood when read in the light of the laws. This can be justified because the narratives were
written by an author who was already is familiar with the Mosaic laws and so can assume them
in his narrative, and writes for an audience who would also have prior acquaintance with the
laws, and therefore could be expected to have such laws in the back of their minds as the narrator
presents to them his stories.
c. The Golden Calf Narrative (Exodus 32). The prohibition against making "a god of
38
Calum M. Carmichael, The Origins of Biblical Law: The Decalogues and the Book of the
Covenant (Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1992), 37-45.
39
Carmichael, The Origins of Biblical Law, 45-46.