The Ceremonial and Moral aspects of the Torah

“Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.” – Genesis 26:5

Have you ever wondered why God felt it necessary to include so many synonyms for law, to express the simple sentiment that Abraham was obedient to his requirements? Why the redundant use of “commandments” “statutes” and “laws” in one sentence? Searching through the variety of available English translations, it becomes clear that if these “synonyms” had any significance in the Hebrew – during the translation process into English they have lost all meaning:

• The NIV translates it as: commands, decrees and instructions.
• The ESV translates it as: charge, commandments, statutes, laws
• The CSB translates it as: mandate, commands, statutes and instructions

It seems the CEV (Contemporary English Version) decided to skip the headache entirely:

• “because Abraham did everything I told him to do.” – Genesis 26:5

It makes sense why the chosen English words appear random; it’s because in English they all mean the same thing and we lack the education of tradition reaching back since time immemorial to tell us how to discern the meaning, or that there is even meaning at all.

The truth is, the apparent synonyms are actually not synonyms, but represent different aspects and categories of God’s law.

The Old Testament directs us to two main categories of law within the Torah:

• And this is the law (TORAH) which Moses set before the children of Israel. These are the testimonies, and the statutes (CHUKKIM – 2706), and the judgments (MISHPAT – 4941), which Moses spake unto the children of Israel, after they came forth out of Egypt. – Deut 4:44-45

The word “Testimonies” is the English translation of the Hebrew word “Edot” which represents a balance and meeting point between the two extremes of Statutes and Judgements. However for this writing I would like to focus on the two other forms of law mentioned. “Statutes” is the English translation of the Hebrew word “Chukkot” or “Chukkim” and “Judgements” is the English translation of “Mishpat”.

CHUKKOT

The Hebrew language expresses concepts according to gender – leading to many words that can be expressed in one of two ways depending on the gender used. Chukkot can be expressed through its feminine form and is classified and found in a Concordance as Strongs 2708. The Masculine form is classified and found in a concordance as Strongs 2706.

Strongs 2708 (Feminine form) Strongs 2706 (Masculine Form). Here is a small list of Old Testament references to both forms of the word:

• This is a day you are to commemorate[Passover]; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord—a lasting ordinance (2708 – CHUKKOT). – Exodus 12:14 (KJV)
• Command the Israelites to bring you clear oil of pressed olives for the light so that the lamps may be kept burning. 21 In the tent of meeting,outside the curtain that shields the ark of the covenant law, Aaron and his sons are to keep the lamps burning before the Lord from evening till morning. This is to be a lasting ordinance (2708 – CHUKKOT) among the Israelites for the generations to come. – Exodus 27:20-21
• It shall be a perpetual statute (2708 – CHUKKOT) for your generations throughout all your dwellings, that ye eat neither fat nor blood. – Leviticus 3:17
• This is the portion of the anointing of Aaron, and of the anointing of his sons, out of the offerings of the Lord made by fire, in the day when he presented them to minister unto the Lord in the priest’s office;Which the Lord commanded to be given them of the children of Israel, in the day that he anointed them, by a statute (2708 – CHUKKOT) for ever throughout their generations. – Leviticus 7:35-36
• And this shall be a statute (2708 – CHUKKOT) for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month[Day of Atonemnent], ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you: – Leviticus 16:29

There are 105 occurrences of the feminine form Strongs 2708, and 126 occurrences of the Masculine form Strongs 2706 in scripture.

This Hebrew word is translated the following ways (in the KJV) as found in these scriptural references listed: ordinance(s), statute(s), manners, customs

Laws under the category of “Chukkot” or “Chukkim” (plural) therefore include, but are not limited to the following:

Passover, the blood on the doorposts on Passover, prohibited sexual practices (sex with animals, etc.), fruit on the land shall not be eaten for three years, lamps in the Temple are to be kept burning, Afflicting ones soul on Yom Kippur, to make atonement for the sins of Israel on Yom Kippur, not to eat blood, not to mingle seed, etc.

The “Chukkot” consist of regulations relating to ritual and ceremony. They are symbolic of spiritual principles, higher concepts or a foreshadowing of events – for example: the sacrificial system representing the death of the Messiah for atonement.

This matches perfectly with the Christian understanding of the “Ceremonial” aspects of the Law.

Mishpat (Strongs – 4941)

• Ye shall have one manner of law (4941 – Mishpat), as well for the stranger, as for one of your own country: for I am the Lord your God. And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a man die, and have no son, then ye shall cause his inheritance to pass unto his daughter.9 And if he have no daughter, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his brethren.10 And if he have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his father’s brethren.11 And if his father have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his kinsman that is next to him of his family, and he shall possess it: and it shall be unto the children of Israel a statute of judgment (4941 – mishpat), as the Lord commanded Moses. – Numbers 27:8-11
• Then the congregation shall judge between the slayer and the revenger of blood according to these judgments (4941 – Mishpat)… So these things shall be for a statute of judgment (4941 – Mishpat) unto you throughout your generations in all your dwellings. – Numbers 35:24-32
• Neither shall the inheritance remove from one tribe to another tribe; but every one of the tribes of the children of Israel shall keep himself to his own inheritance.10 Even as the Lord commanded Moses, so did the daughters of Zelophehad:11 For Mahlah, Tirzah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married unto their fathers brothers’ sons:12 And they were married into the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of the family of their father.13 These are the commandments and the judgments (4941 – Mishpat), which the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses unto the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho. – Numbers 36:9-13

There are 421 occurrences of this reference to law in the Old Testament.

This one Hebrew word Mishpat, is translated the following ways (in the KJV) as found in these scriptural references listed: ordinances, judgement(s), law.

Mishpat or “Mishpatim” (plural) therefore include but are not limited to laws pertaining to:

Consequences for murder, blaspheming the name, reparations for harming another, laws for inheritance, how to handle a case of accidental man-slaughter, etc.

An analysis of this list yields the conclusion that Mishpat identifies the category of law mostly dealing with preserving order within a society. These are laws that, in contrast with Chukkim, have rational explanation and would benefit any secular society to use them (although there are a few exceptions). Although the Torah does not clearly define the “Moral” laws through a distinct category, since God himself is moral, the Mishpat necessarily have Moral lessons found within it. The consequences outlined by the Mishpat for murder, adultery, harming others, etc. serve to discourage immoral behavior.

This matches perfectly with the Christian understanding of the “Civil/Moral” aspects of the law.

Chukkim and Mishpat

Here are a few passages, mentioning the imperative to obey both the statutes (chukkot) and Judgments (Mishpat). This shows God’s emphasis on the importance of obeying both the Ceremonial AND Civil/Moral aspects of the law. God intends for Israel to honor both while residing on the Land!

• Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgements, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth you. – Deut 4:1
• Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. – Deut 4:5
• And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it. – Deut 4:14
• But as for thee, stand thou here by me, and I will speak unto thee all the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which thou shalt teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess it. – Deut 5:31
• Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the Lord your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it: – Deut 6:1

For more information on the connection between the Torah and the land: The New Covenant, the land inheritance, and the inheritance of “Heavenly Jerusalem”

New Covenant

Old Testament prophecy regarding the purpose of the New Covenant very clearly and definitely shows, that the New Covenant causes Israel to obey both the Chukkot (Ceremonial) and the Mishpat (Civil/Moral)!

• “And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes (2708 – CHUKKOT), and you shall keep My judgments (4941 – MISHPAT), and do them” – Ezekiel 36:27
• “And Twill put a new spirit within them…that they may walk in My statutes (2708 -CHUKKOT ) and keep My ordinances (4941 – MISHPAT), and do them. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God” – Ezekiel 11:19

Jeremiah 31:33 is different in that it only mentions the law (TORAH) in general, being written in their hearts:

• “But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law (Torah 8451) in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.” – Jeremiah 31:33

How does God break down his Torah? Again, The Torah is made of two main categories of law – the Mishpat and the Chukkim:

• And this is the law (TORAH) which Moses set before the children of Israel: These are the testimonies, and the statutes (2706), and the judgments (4941), which Moses spake unto the children of Israel, after they came forth out of Egypt. – Deut 4:44-45

The Torah that will be written in the hearts of Israel in the New Covenant consists of both the Ceremonial and Civil/moral laws.

For more information on the Torah and the New Covenant: The New Covenant in context: What do the prophets say?

Rabbinic discussions on the matter of Chukkim and Mishpat

The Torah (Vayikra 19:37) states:  “You shall keep all My chukkot and all My mishpatim and perform them.”  The Sages (Sifra, Kedoshim 3) point out that we find that the verse equates “keeping” and “performing” for both the chukkim and the mishpatim.  “Performing” is obvious: it means doing the chukkim.  “Keeping” means caring about [the chukkim] and not perceiving them as less important than the mishpatim. Mishpatim are the commandments with a clear explanation and value evident in the world (i.e., prohibiting theft, honoring parents).  Chukkim are the commandments with explanations that are less clear, about which the Sages state, “It is a decree that I have made for you; you must not challenge it,” such as the prohibition against eating meat and milk together… and the commandment of para adumma.

(Hilkhot Me’ila 8:8)

Our Rabbis taught: “You shall keep my judgments” (Vayikra 18:4) – matters that had they not been written should have been written: idolatry, illicit sexual relations, murder, theft, and blasphemy; “and you shall keep my statutes [chukkim]” – matters that Satan argues against [and the nations of the world argue against], such as: eating pig, wearing garments made of a mixture of wool and linen, chalitza, a leper’s purification, and the sent-away goat. You might say they are meaningless acts. Therefore the verse states: “I am the Lord” … I am the Lord who enacted them, you have no right to criticize them.

(Babylonian Talmud, Yoma 67b)

“This is the chukka (law) of the Torah” – the Satan and the nations ridicule the Jewish people, saying, “What is the meaning of this mitzva? What sense does it make?” Therefore, the Torah defines it as a chukka: “It is an absolute decree from Me, and you have no right to challenge it.”

(Rashi, 19:2)