SSttuuddiiaa AAnnttiiqquuaa Volume 3 Number 2 Article 8 November 2003 WWoommeenn,, tthhee BBooookk ooff MMoorrmmoonn,, aanndd tthhee LLaaww ooff MMoosseess Carol Pratt Bradley Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/studiaantiqua Part of the History Commons, and the Near Eastern Languages and Societies Commons BBYYUU SScchhoollaarrssAArrcchhiivvee CCiittaattiioonn Bradley, Carol P. "Women, the Book of Mormon, and the Law of Moses." Studia Antiqua 3, no. 2 (2003). https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/studiaantiqua/vol3/iss2/8 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Studia Antiqua by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Women, the Book of Mormon, and the Law of Moses Carol Pratt Bradley The intent of this study is to provide a more complete understanding of the position and status of women in ancient Jewish law. This is intended to be a study of eternal principles, not of worldly practice, in an effort to show that the same eternal principles are at work now as in ancient times-to show that there is no inconsistency from one dispensation to another, but that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever (see Hebrews 13:8; 1 Nephi 10:18,19; 2 Nephi 2:4; 27:23; 29:9; Alma 7:20; Mormon 9:9-11; Moroni 8:18; 10:7, 19; D&C 20:12; 35:1; 38:1-2; 39:1-2; 76:1-4). The Old Testament and the Book of Mormon uphold the original integrity of the law of Moses. In Deuteronomy Moses testifies to Israel of the completeness of the divinely revealed law: "And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?" (Deuteronomy 4:8). His instructions to the people were that they should "not add unto the word which I com mand you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God" (Deuteronomy 4:2; see also Mosiah 29:25, Alma 31:9). Despite its divine origin, the law of Moses as found in the Old Testament is incomplete, and scholars have found evidence of scribal error and alteration.' In the Book of Mormon Nephi explained that when the Bible was first written, it contained "the covenants of the Lord" and "the fulness of the CAROL PRATT BRADLEY will graduate from BYU in 2004 with a degree in Marriage, Family, and Human Development and a minor in Ancient Near Eastern Studies. 126 FARMS AND STUDIA ANTIQUA • SUMMER 2003 gospel" (1 Nephi 13:23-24). But through time, many "parts which are plain and most precious; and ... many covenants of the Lord [did] they [take] away," with the intent to "blind the eyes and harden the hearts of the children of men" (1 Nephi 13:26-27). After this loss occurred, the Bible went to the gentile nations (see 1 Nephi 13:29; see also Moses 1:40-41). It is this version that is the record we now have. The accuracy of the biblical record can be evaluated by comparing it to other ancient records. Some of the laws in Deuteronomy and Exodus are very similar to other ancient Near Eastern laws. For example, Deuteronomy 22:28-29 resembles a twelfth-century B.C. Middle Assyrian law, and Deuteronomy 22:23-27 is similar to instruction found in the eighteenth-century B.C. Code of Hammurabi. These "parallels between Israelite marriage laws and those found in other ancient Near Eastern law codes" suggest "cultural borrowing during the monarchy period."2 Ze'ev Falk addresses this factor: "It is possible to show that many changes in particular rules were derived from the evolution of society. We know also that the weakening of the clan system and the urbanization under the monarchy resulted in a far-reaching assimilation of surrounding culture. This may have been the occasion for the reception of foreign ideas by Hebrew law."3 Falk brings up another point crucial to a factual study of the place of women in ancient Hebrew society: Hebrew society, like others, cannot be defined by legal concepts only, since religious, moral, and other social norms played an important role. The law, for instance, treated women harshly, whereas custom operated in her favor. The legal rule, in such cases, preserves the more ancient attitude, which was no longer applied in practice. Juridical sources, unless corroborated by other evidence, must there fore be used with caution for an historical investigation.4 We as Latter-day Saints have modern revelation to aid our understanding of the Old Testament. To gain a more BRADLEY: WOMEN, THE BOOK OF MORMON, AND THE LAW 127 accurate perspective, biblical laws must be studied side by side with the teachings of the New Testament, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. The writings of the apostle Paul are invaluable because he understood both Jewish law (Acts 22:3) and Christian beliefs. The perspective of the restored gospel saves a study of the laws contained in the five books of Moses from becoming mired in semantics and conjecture. Within the pages of the Book of Mormon, we find clarification of the law of Moses, not in its particulars, but in its purpose and vision-there we can find the original meaning of Old Testament law. For example, the prophet Alma states clearly that sexual immorality is an offense for both man and woman (Alma 39:3-5), while in the Old Testament that fact is not clear. It is impossible for us to understand the purpose or prin ciples of the law of Moses without placing Christ at the center, as the Book of Mormon makes clear through the words of its prophets Abinadi (Mosiah 13:28-31), King Benjamin (Mosiah 3:14-15),Jacob Gacob 4:5), and Nephi (2 Nephi 25:24-25). As Andrew Jukes, in his study of the Mosaic offerings, states, "All Scripture [has] one great thought stamped on it, ... every act, every history shews it,-that thought is the grace of the Redeemer .... Christ is throughout the key to Scripture."5 A basic premise of this study is that the laws given by Moses are not based on the relationship between man and woman. Instead, these laws concern human beings, both male and female, in relation to Jesus Christ, and teach the effects of the Fall and the necessity of the Atonement for each individual. With this perspective, we can proceed to study the role of women in the law of Moses. Parents Exodus 20: 12 reads: "Honour thy father and thy mother" (see also Deuteronomy 5:16). In the Book of Mormon, this requirement was recited by Abinadi when he listed the Ten 128 FARMS AND STUDIA ANTIQUA • SUMMER 2003 Commandments in his discourse to King Noah (see Mosiah 13:20). Nephi recorded that he was born of goodly parents (see 1 Nephi 1:1). Referring to Lehi and Sariah, Jacob spoke of laboring diligently so that Nephite children "[might] learn with joy and not with sorrow, neither with contempt, concerning their first parents" (see Jacob 4:3). Helaman told his sons Nephi and Lehi that he gave them the names "of our first parents who came out of the land of Jerusalem" so that his sons would remember their works (see Helaman 5:6). In the law of Moses, mothers and fathers were to be re spected equally. The punishment was death for smiting or cursing either parent (see Exodus 21:15, 17; Leviticus 20:9). Deuteronomy 21:18-21 goes into further detail: If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them: Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place; And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard. And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die; so shalt thou put evil away from among you. However, Anthony Phillips clarifies: "Even though repu diation of parental authority carried the death penalty ... , the parents themselves could not take the law into their own hands, but had to secure a criminal conviction in the courts. . . . Parents had no power of life or death over their children."6 Commentary by Adam Clarke on the commandment to honor father and mother gives this insight: "For a considerable time parents stand as it were in the place of God to their children, and therefore rebellion against their lawful commands has been considered as rebellion against God."7 BRADLEY: WOMEN, THE BooK OF MORMON, AND THE LAW 129 Laman and Lemuel "murmured against their father," saying he had "led them out of the land . . . of their inheri tance . . . because of the foolish imaginations of his heart" (1 Nephi 2: 11-12). They sought to murder their father and brother Nephi (see 1 Nephi 16:37). No harsh action was ever taken against them by their father Lehi, but he spoke to them "with power," confounding them until they "shook before him, and durst not utter against him; wherefore they did as he commanded them," until the next time they disagreed (1 Nephi 2:14). When Nephi began to build a ship, Laman and Lemuel opposed him. Nephi rebuked them and accused them of inwardly being murderers for seeking their father's life. After administering a physical demonstration of God's power, Nephi told his brothers to worship God and to honor their parents (see 1 Nephi 17:44, 55). The law was also specific in the obligations of parents to their children. King Benjamin instructed his people to "not suffer your children that they go hungry, or naked; neither will ye suffer that they transgress the laws of God, and fight and quarrel one with another, and serve the devil. ... But ye will teach them to walk in the ways of truth and soberness; ye will teach them to love one another, and to serve one an other" (Mosiah 4:14-15). Deuteronomy contains the instructions of Moses to parents to teach the statutes, judgments, and commandments of God diligently to their children: "Talk of them ... in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up" (Deuteronomy 6:7; see also 4:10; 11:19-21). Parents were to command their children to obey "the words of this law" (Deuteronomy 32:46). Nephi recorded that he taught his children of Christ, "that they might know to what source they may look" (2 Nephi 25:26). Jacob admonished his erring people to remember their children and the effect of the parents' bad examples (Jacob 3:10; see also Alma 39: 16). 130 FARMS AND STUDIA ANTIQUA • SUMMER 2003 Mothers played a significant role in the teaching of their children. From birth to age three the mother was the primary teacher of a child; after that age the father was responsible for teaching his sons. Thus we read Nephi's words: "I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father" (1 Nephi 1:1); also Enos spoke of his father Jacob as "a just man" who taught him "in his language, and also in the nurture and admonition of the Lord" (Enos 1: 1). King Benjamin also taught his three sons (see Mosiah 1:2). In his address to his people he commanded them to teach their children to "walk in the ways of truth and soberness," and to love and serve each other (Mosiah 4: 15). The Book of Mormon is dear that mothers also taught their children, as we see in the account of the sons of the converted Lamanites, the Anti-Lehi-Nephies, who served under Helaman. Helaman recorded that these valiant young men remembered and rehearsed the teachings of their mothers to him. They "had been taught by their mothers that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them" (Alma 56:47-48). The power of their teachings upon these sons is evident in the words "we do not doubt our mothers knew it" (Alma 56:47-48). Moses 5:12 states that Adam and Eve "made all things known unto their sons and their daughters." According to a legend of the Jews, like Rebekah, all "mothers are endowed with the gift of prophecy," and fathers and mothers are "endowed with the prophetic spirit."8 Women in a Patriarchal Society In ancient Israelite society, the father stood at the head of the family, holding broad powers over his wife and children.9 Under ancient family law, they were considered his property, as the wording in Exodus 20:17 clearly shows: "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house ... thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's" (see also Deuteronomy 5:21). BRADLEY: WOMEN, THE BooK OF MORMON, AND THE LAW 131 This raises many questions in our modern minds. What does it mean to possess something or someone? In the context of God's law, is this possession demeaning? Does it indicate automatic unrighteous dominion? It is important that we study this concept within the proper context, and even more important, within the proper spiritual context. Legally, a man's possessing his family meant he was re quired by the law of Moses to provide his wife with the things she needed-food and clothing (see Exodus 21:10)-and to provide similarly for his children. Failure to do so was grounds for divorce.10 The husband was duty bound to work for, honor, support, and maintain his wife.11 After his death, the widow was entitled to residence and maintenance in her deceased husband's house. The firstborn son was then responsible for the care of his mother and unmarried sisters. 12 In New Testament times as well, men were commanded to provide for their wives. Paul wrote: "But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel" (1 Timothy 5:8). The later revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants contain the same law: "Women have claim on their husbands for their maintenance. . . . All children have claim upon their parents for their maintenance until they are of age" (D&C 83:2, 4). The ideas of possession and duty are illuminated by doctrine found in the Book of Mormon. Abinadi, quoting the Ten Commandments to King Noah, uses wording identical to that found in Exodus 20:17 (see Mosiah 13:24). Nephi includes Lehi's family in the list of his father's possessions: "he left his house, and the land of his inheritance, and his gold, and his silver, and his precious things, and took nothing with him, save it were his family, and provisions, and tents" (1 Nephi 2:4). When Alma the Elder and his people fled Lamanite oppression, the record states: "Therefore they took their tents and their families and departed into the wilderness" 132 FARMS AND STUDIA ANTIQUA • SUMMER 2003 (Mosiah 18:34). Alma the Younger also categorized women and children with possessions when he pronounced a blessing upon the people: "May the peace of God rest upon you, and upon your houses and lands, and upon your flocks and herds, and all that you possess, your women and your children." (Alma 7:27). In A.D. 26, when the Nephites returned to their lands after a war with the Gadianton robbers, they went "every man, with his family, his flocks and his herds, his horses and his cattle" (3 Nephi 6:1). Throughout the scriptures the word possess also has im plications of inheritance, treasure, stewardship, accountability, and responsibility. In fact, the scriptures suggest that a man's possession of his wife and children does not grant a right to control, but rather bestows a collection of duties and responsi bilities. In the Book of Mormon, we find references similar to this concept as expressed by Captain Moroni concerning "the sacred support which we owe to our wives and our children" (Alma 44:5; see also Alma 58:12). He taught his people that it was a commandment of God to defend their families "even unto bloodshed" (Alma 43:47). On his title of liberty were the words "In memory of our God, our religion, and free dom, and our peace, our wives, and our children" (Alma 46: 12). Mormon also exhorted his people to "fight for their wives, and their children, and their houses, and their homes" (Mormon 2:23). Although an Israelite father stood as head of the family, each family member could approach God independently. Gender was not a factor in access to God. This is seen in the Old Testament account of the ancient marriage of Isaac and Rebekah. God did not make himself known exclusively through the father. He communicated with "young and old, men and women, and all to whom he appeared were com fortable in his presence."13 Nephi also teaches that God "inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond BRADLEY: WOMEN, THE BOOK OF MORMON, AND THE LAW 133 and free, male and female . . . and all are alike unto God" (2 Nephi 26:33). Jan Joosten explains that the laws are impressed upon every man, in order that they be obeyed by all the Israelites .... every man represents his own household. The laws of YHWH are entrusted to the family .... The Israelite men, as heads of their families, repre sent the whole people .... The Israelite men are addressed, not so much as individuals, but in their quality as head of the family .... Holiness is the charge of every single Israelite, but the responsibility for this assignment is entrusted to the families, of which the men are the head.14 The Book of Mormon gives us an example of a righteous father in Lehi. No evidence within the record suggests that he used his place at the head of his family in any but a righteous manner; we learn only that he deeply loved his wife and children and was concerned for their welfare. At the end of his life he told his children and grandchildren, "I have none other object save it be the everlasting welfare of your souls" (2 Nephi 2:30). Essential to an accurate view of women in ancient Jewish society is an understanding of patriarchy. In the minds of many modern scholars, patriarchy is synonymous with male dominance over females. One scholar questions this popular view of patriarchy and warns against judging ancient societies by modern standards: "Patriarchy is related to ideas of male dominance, but what does male dominance mean? ... Male dominance cannot be equated with female passivity or lack of autonomy. Nor does the existence of some dominant males mean that all males dominate all females." Indeed, "at best it is a risky business to apply these distinct spheres and attendant values known from modern experience to societies that are smaller and less complex than our own. At worst, doing so means failing to grasp the important position of women in such societies." Furthermore, there is no evidence that ancient