21:1–23:19 Context · Covenant Stipulations: These specific stipulations interweave civil torah, social rules, moral injunctions, and prescriptions for worship, and none is privileged above the others. The initial civil-social instructions are presented as case law, specific for their ancient Near Eastern culture; about halfway through, the tone changes to imperatives addressing issues of justice, mercy, and proper worship. The bulk of the material establishes procedures to administer justice in this newly forming social entity and is designed for their life together in the land. In order to deal with some of the seemingly less-than-ideal stipulations included in the book of the covenant, some scholars have proposed applying trajectory theology. This interpretive model sees the laws articul…