Covenant Laws I: Debt Slaves and Capital Offenses: Israel’s law codes have a unique context. Other ancient Near Eastern cultures had laws that were similar in form and content, but none were integrated into an account of deliverance. Israel’s law is unique in that it is embedded in the story of the Lord’s salvation and desire to ensure the well-being of the people. In Exodus, narrative sections both precede and follow the Ten Commandments and the book of the covenant. Later, the biblical text interweaves the story of God’s people with distinctive priestly law in Leviticus–Numbers and Deuteronomic law. The narrative setting provides an important interpretive context for the more difficult laws.

The preamble (20:22–26) and postscript (23:20–33) of the book of the covenant contain warnings aga…