C>liapter 4 x\uthonty and Myth l.aw ret|iiircs authorirv. At rimes the authorit\' is brute force, hut usually something more uplifting is required. NUth is important for authority in law. M\ th and other kinds of authorit\’ are not the same thing hut are often intertwined, and give law high prestige. \ah\eh ga\e Moses the I'en Ca)mmandments on Mount Sinai.' We are gi\en more detail about this CiodK’ law than of any other ancient law making, and the detail is striking, (iod told Moses that he would come to him in a thick cloud "so that the people may hear when 1 speak with \-ou" (Ivxodus 19.9). So the people were to hear hut not see, cwcluded from communion with (iod. Indeed, Moses was instructed to tell the people not to go up the mountain or touch the edge of it: ".\n\ who touch the mountain shall he put to death" (I'i.xodus 19.12). .\nd Ciod had e\en more detailed instructions. Ciod 1 Exodus 20; Deuteronomy 5. 87
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