In exploring the Decalogue, I did not feel that I would have any true revelations since it details the Ten Commandments; however, it happened right away with the first commandment: “I am the Lord your God,…you shall have no other gods before me” (Ex. 20:2-3). I always believed this signified the existence of one true God and was a staple of the monotheistic groundings of Judaism and Christianity. However, Collins correctly points out the exact opposite, explaining that “the existence of other gods is not denied” (82), allowing me to see the struggles with the Israelites and other gods in a different light.
Within the Book of the Covenant, my view of the popular “eye for eye, tooth for tooth” (Ex. 21:24) shifted noticeably. From studying Dr. Martin Luther King, his quotation that “an eye for an eye leaves everybody blind” (huffpost.com) shaped my contextual depiction of a downward spiral of violence that consumes society. So, I was surprised when Collins fashions this casuistic law as “not vengefulness, but moderation” (86). I never considered that it was about fairness and not escalation.
Finally, with the Holiness Code in Leviticus, I learned about the context for the frequently quoted law referencing homosexuality: “If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both have committed an abomination” (Lev. 20:13). Collins sets this alongside a passage from Lev. 19:19 which details “combinations of pairs of different materials” (98). Furthermore. I was intrigued that the “biblical prohibition of male homosexual intercourse is unique in the ancient world” (97). I assumed that other religions and cultures had similar provisions and was shocked that the Hebrew Bible was singular with this attitude.