BREAKFAST BIBLE STUDY

Moses Plagiarized the Hamburger Guy

EXODUS 21: 22-25 (EXB)

12/7/25

“Christian nationalism is about power, nothing more.” – Christian Pecker

This week, I had a bunch of time to look up the Code of Hamburger guy and compare it to the Bible. Since I did not think Moses copied from him, I found a Bible with all sorts of notes that explained the Hebrew and compared it to the laws of other ancient texts. Usually, the Bible has longer laws with fairer punishments, but not always.

“I know all about it now,” I told Christian and Grace when I came to breakfast. “Moses writes longer laws and talks way more about God, so I bet the Hamburger man was copying off Moses, even if the Hamburger law was earlier. See, if you’re cheating off somebody else, like in school, you can’t always copy all of it down as fast as you should and get everything right.”

“I’m not sure your logic holds,” Christian said.

“Why not?”

“Isn’t it more likely that the Bible expanded on older laws?” Grace said.

“I don’t know.”

“Do you have an example of laws that are longer or different?” Christian asked.

“Yep,” I said and read, “‘Suppose two men are fighting and hit [injure] a pregnant woman, causing the baby to come out [or a miscarriage; the Hebrew is not clear whether dead or alive]. If there is no further injury [harm], the man who caused the accident must pay money—whatever amount the woman’s husband says and the court allows. But if there is further injury [harm], then the punishment that must be paid is [L you shall give] life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,  burn for burn, wound for wound, and bruise for bruise [to guard against excessive punishment].’Exodus 21: 22-25 from the Expanded Bible.”

“Okay,” Christian said. “And what law does that compare to in the Hammurabi Code.”

I read from the law I had printed as a Bible bookmark, “‘ If a man strikes a daughter of a man (mārat awīlim) and he causes her to miscarry her fetus, he shall weigh out ten shekels of silver for her fetus. If that woman dies, they shall kill his daughter.’”

“That is different,” Grace said.

“So, both instances involve a woman miscarrying during a fight?” Christian said.

“Yep, but it’s not clear if the Hebrew means the baby dies,” I said.

“What happens if a woman is struck in the belly when she’s pregnant?” Grace said.

“The baby could come out,” I said.

“What if the baby was premature?” Grace said.

“Take her and the baby to the hospital?” I asked.

“Think about that, Cole,” Christian said.

“Oh, they didn’t have hospitals in the Bible times,” I said. “So the baby died?”

“Having babies was dangerous enough back then and is only getting worse in this country,” Grace said. “Chances are a baby born of trauma would likely die. I can’t say for sure, but I think that can be presumed.”

“See, the Bible calls for an eye for an eye,” I said. “That means fair punishment.”

“It does,” Grace said. “What about Hammurabi?”

“It’s worse,” I said. “If the woman dies, they kill the daughter of the man who did the first killing of the daughter…even though the second daughter didn’t do anything wrong. It’s eye for an eye, but it’s not fair because neither of the daughters did anything wrong.”

“It’s only fair if you view the daughters as property,” Grace said.

“What about the baby who dies?” Christian asked.

“They have to pay a fine for that,” I said.

“Really?!” Grace said.

“Why, what?” I asked.

“If a baby dies, shouldn’t somebody be killed? That’s the principle of an eye for an eye,” Grace said.

“Wait,” I said. “Is it because that Hamburger man didn’t consider unborn babies real human beings?”

“It sure doesn’t seem like Moses thought fetuses were fully human, either,” Christian said. “It sure seems like the lost child was only worth the payment of a fine to the husband of the woman.”

“Oh,” I said. “How come they thought that? Copyist errors or something?”

“When did Adam come to life?” Grace said.

“When God gave him breath?” I asked.

“That’s when ancient people believed people came to life—with the breath,” Grace said, “which is a little inconvenient for people who say life begins at conception.”

“But doesn’t it?” I asked.

“Scientifically, that argument has a sound basis, but in the biblical sense, not so much,” Christian said.

“Cole, did you know most conceptions end right after they begin?” Grace asked.

“Does that mean the babies die?” I asked.

“The fetus hasn’t formed, but yes, countless pregnancies end very early,” Grace said.

 “Which makes God the greatest abortionist of them all,” Christian said.

In state legislatures across the country, Christian fundamentalists are passing laws meant to force the teaching of the Christian Bible in public schools. From the posting of textually inaccurate iterations of the Ten Commandments on the walls of classrooms to the incorporation of the “Trump Bible” across multiple pedagogical disciplines, these laws and mandates are sweeping the reddest parts of this nation.

The height of hypocrisy is banning books in the name of “protecting children” while mandating one particular book rife with numerous acts of sexual violence and scenes of graphic violence and genocide.

Book bans are dangerous. The Bible is worth reading and exists online and in public school libraries across the country, but proponents of mandating its formal teaching in public schools need to know what it actually says.

Some themes in my books below might not be appropriate for children.