What does the Bible say about the Law of Moses?
Retrieved texts include Leviticus 26:46, Romans 10:5, John 7:19, Malachi 4:4.
The texts do not directly address broader modern formulations; NO DIRECT REFERENCE IN SOURCE TEXTS and INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE apply beyond retrieved passages.
THEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS
1. QUESTION
What does the Bible say about the Law of Moses?
2. PRIMARY TEXTUAL EVIDENCE
The retrieved texts provide the following direct statements concerning the Law of Moses:
On its Divine Origin and Mosaic Mediation:
"These are the statutes and judgments and laws, which the LORD made between him and the children of Israel in mount Sinai by the hand of Moses." — Leviticus 26:46 (KJV)
"These are the commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses for the children of Israel in mount Sinai." — Leviticus 27:34 (KJV)
"Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments." — Malachi 4:4 (KJV)
"And the LORD said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them." — Exodus 24:12 (KJV)
"For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." — John 1:17 (KJV)
On Moses Writing and Delivering the Law:
"And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and unto all the elders of Israel." — Deuteronomy 31:9 (KJV)
On its Contents (Statutes, Judgments, Commandments, Testimonies):
"These are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which Moses spake unto the children of Israel, after they came forth out of Egypt." — Deuteronomy 4:45 (KJV)
"These are the commandments and the judgments, which the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses unto the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho." — Numbers 36:13 (KJV)
"And madest known unto them thy holy sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant." — Nehemiah 9:14 (KJV)
On Human Inability to Keep the Law:
"Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me?" — John 7:19 (KJV)
On the Law's Demand for Obedience:
"For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them." — Romans 10:5 (KJV)
"And the LORD said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?" — Exodus 16:28 (KJV)
On the Law's Structure and Summary:
"On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." — Matthew 22:40 (KJV)
2. LINGUISTIC/HISTORICAL DATA
From the texts provided:
- The Law is associated with specific geographic locations: Mount Sinai (Leviticus 26:46; 27:34), Horeb (Malachi 4:4), and the plains of Moab (Numbers 36:13).
- Multiple terms are used in parallel: statutes, judgments, laws, commandments, testimonies, precepts — suggesting the Law encompasses various categories of instruction.
- The phrase "by the hand of Moses" appears repeatedly (Leviticus 26:46; Numbers 36:13; Nehemiah 9:14), indicating Moses as the human instrument of transmission.
3. SCHOLARLY POSITIONS
The retrieved texts themselves do not contain scholarly commentary. However, the textual data supports two observations that interpreters commonly note:
- The Law is presented as both divine in origin (commanded by the LORD) and mediated through Moses.
- John 1:17 draws a contrast between the Law given through Moses and "grace and truth" through Jesus Christ — though the nature of this contrast (antithetical, progressive, complementary) is not elaborated in the text itself.
4. SOURCES
- Leviticus 26:46
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE: retrieved texts do not resolve this question explicitly.