Human rights in Deuteronomy: With special focus on slave laws

This study presents a new approach to comparative legal study between the biblical and the ANE slave laws. It adopts a multidimensional examination that compares not only analogous laws with similar subject matter of slavery, but also their rhetorical techniques, methods of law grouping, arrangements of law collections, and the rationale of legal philosophy behind the law books. By this examination, one is able to compare degrees of similarity and dissimilarities between the biblical and the ANE slave laws.;The examined biblical laws present two diverse rationales of legal philosophy in contrast to the ANE ones: (1) all agents (e.g., slaves, captives, and criminals) are regarded as persons and should be treated accordingly, and (2) all legal subjects are seen as free, dignified, and self-determining human beings. In addition to these two extraordinary legal philosophies, the biblical laws often distinguish an offender's "criminal intent," by which a criminal's rights are also considered. Based on these two distinctive legal philosophies and also the distinction of criminal intent, the biblical laws are able to articulate YHWH's humanitarian concerns and the basic concepts of human rights presented in Deuteronomy.;Via these approaches, Deuteronomy is found to be purposefully constructed to reflect the legal position that laws should carry the function of morality shaping. YHWH is identified as that personal monarch that establishes a covenantal relationship so that he can interact with his legal subjects relationally to shape their peoplehood and promote the ethical values of his humanitarian concerns. Deuteronomy proclaims that the one who reveres YHWH by obeying his words under his covenantal relationship could assume moral strength and convictions, because YHWH and his words are the universal origins and norms of righteousness and justice. In this way, by obeying his words and laws, Israel would also learn of God's character and in turn be shaped not only in their moral development and betterment of interpersonal relationships with the slaves in Israelite society, but as to function as whole moral persons in spirit and in deed.