(Leviticus 19:1 - 19:37)
Jehovah spoke to Moses and told him to give the following instructions to the entire community of Israel, "Be holy because I, your god Jehovah is holy."
"You all must show respect to your mother and father, and you must observe the Sabbath. Thus says your god Jehovah.
"Do not fall back into worshiping idols or casting brazen images of gods for yourself. Thus says your god Jehovah.
"When you make a peace offering to Jehovah make sure you that you carry it out with proper procedures so that it may be accepted on your behalf. The sacrifice should be eaten on the day that it is offered -- or the next day, but by the third day, anything left over should be burned up. If it is eaten on the third day, it is spoiled and, therefore, I will not accept it. Because they have desecrated what is sacred to Jehovah, those who eat it will be subject to punishment and should be banished from the community.
"When you harvest your crops, do not reap to the edges of your fields or gather up the remains. And in regard to your vineyards, do not pick them entirely clean or collect all the grapes that have fallen to the ground. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigners living among you. Thus says your god Jehovah.
"Do not steal. Do not deceive or lie to one another. And do not swear falsely in my name, profaning the name of your god. Thus says Jehovah.
"Do not defraud your neighbor or steal from him. Do not make those who work for you wait until the next day to receive their wages.
"Don't mock the deaf or trip up the blind.
"You must respect your god. Thus says Jehovah.
"In legal matters do not pervert justice either by favoring the poor or by deferring to the rich and powerful, but judge all your people with equal fairness.
"Do not spread slanderous gossip among your neighbors.
"Do not take advantage of your neighbor's death. Thus says Jehovah.
"Do not bear resentment in your heart against any of your tribe. Reprove your neighbor when he is in the wrong so that you will not share his guilt. Nor should you seek vengeance against your neighbor, or bear a grudge against him, but respect him as yourself. Thus says Jehovah.
“Keep my statutes!
"Do not permit your livestock to breed with other species. Do not plant a field of yours with more than one kind of crop. And do not wear garments composed of two different kinds of materials.
"If a man has sexual relations with a female slave that has been promised to another man but the transfer of ownership has not taken place and she has not been given her freedom, there should be legal sanction. However, since she is not a free woman, but still a slave, the death penalty is not appropriate. Instead, the male offender should make a guilt offering to Jehovah, bringing a ram to the Sacrificial Altar. There, before the entrance to the Sanctum, the priest will make atonement for him with the sacrificed ram, and the sin he has committed will be forgiven.
"When you cultivate the land and plant fruit trees, refrain from harvesting the fruit for three years. You are prohibited from eating the fruit for those three years. On the fourth year, the entire harvest is to be consecrated to Jehovah as an offering of thanksgiving. But, on the fifth year, the fruit may then be eaten. Following this practice, and your harvests will increase. Thus says your god Jehovah.
"Do not eat any food with blood in it.
"Do not practice fortune telling or augury.
"You should not shave the hair off the sides of your head or shape the edges of your beard.
"Do not cut or scourge yourself during mourning, or put any mark on your body. Thus says Jehovah.
"Do not disgrace your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the country will be filled with whores and promiscuity.
"Keep the Sabbath as a day of rest and regard with reverence my Tabernacle. Thus says Jehovah.
"Do not consult mediums or necromancers or defile yourself by association with them. Thus says your god Jehovah.
"Stand in the presence of your elders and honor the aged, for, by doing so, you show respect to your god. Thus says Jehovah.
"When a foreigner lives among you, do not abuse him; he should be treated as if he were a native-born inhabitant. Respect him as you would yourself. Remember that you were once foreigners living in Egypt. Thus says your god Jehovah.
"Do not be dishonest when making measurements of length, width, and volume. You should employ accurate scales with true weights -- an honest ephah and an honest hin.
"I am Jehovah your god, the one who brought you out of Egypt. You must not only honor my statutes and ordinances, but put them into practice. Thus says Jehovah."
Notes
1. Jehovah, who has already laid out the Ten Commandments and other lists of statutes he demands the Israelites observe, has another go at listing do's and don't's, reiterating what he has already discussed, but also broaching new areas. Some, like not stealing, or refraining from selling your daughter into prostitution (which seems like a moral no-brainer), are of consequence, while others, like restrictions on trimming your beard, seem like mere tribal customs, significant only in that they may serve to distinguish the Israelites from other peoples. (Maintaining a unique ethnic identity was always a high priority for the Israelite and, later, Jewish people.)
2. The Ten Commandments prohibits the making and worshiping of idols. This prohibition is restated, but with the implication that the Israelites used to be idol worshipers and are here warned against falling back into their former bad habits. It is not made clear if this pertained to the adoration of household spirits, some other god, or Jehovah himself.
3. There are some interesting references to charitable practices, most notably the provision that farmers and fruit growers leave some of their crop for the poor and destitute. It was a widespread and common practice, though, up until modern times, for the poor to be allowed to glean harvested fields and not be chased off the land as trespassers by angry farmers.
4. Considering that the Israelites were anything if not xenophobic, it is surprising how accommodating they were expected to be of foreigners and resident aliens. The laws of hospitality, however, are ancient, if not prehistoric.
5. In addition to many sound precepts, such as equal justice under the law, honest sales practices, and a prohibition against vengeance seeking, there are some more sophisticated moral concepts that involve attitudes rather than actions. This is the first biblical exhortation to "love your neighbor as yourself." (Since the word love is used in so many different ways and often ambiguously, I have used what I believe to be the more accurate "respect.") There is also a prohibition against nurturing grudges and harboring resentments that foreshadows the Christian view that one should forgive one's enemies. Here, though, it seems the proscription against resentment, grudges, and revenge applies only to fellow Israelites and maybe neighbors, not enemies. At this early point in history the tribalistic mentality and conditional morality was universal: one treats members of the tribe, the in group, differently than the out group.
6. One should not allow your livestock to breed with other animals. Why was this a matter of concern to Jehovah? One would think that mating cows with rams would be unproductive in any case. Is this a prohibition against selective breeding, perhaps seen as unnatural? Was it wrong, for instance, to mate different breeds of cattle? The prohibition, perhaps of more symbolic than practical significance, reinforces Jehovah’s preference for and insistence upon homogeneity and uniformity. And a distaste for man tampering with the natural world.
7. Planting a field with only one crop might make agronomic sense, but wearing clothes made of different materials, where's the harm in that? (The cotton-nylon blend, the fur collar, the leather arm patches are sadly, but emphatically non-Levitical.) Clothes at that time were made primarily of wool, linen, leather or animal skins. What was the reference here? Was there some connotation of sinful luxury or abnormality in clothes of more than one fabric, such as wool and linen?
8. The provision on the cutting of the hair and the beard is anything but clear. It is hard to figure out precisely what is being prohibited. I believe Jehovah meant to outlaw Egyptian and Canaanite styles, specifically square-cut beards, shaven heads with side locks (which Egyptian youths wore), and “round” haircuts. That the hair on the sides of the head be not cut, which is probably not what is meant at all, is followed today by ultra-orthodox Jews, resulting in what most people regard as an extremely unbecoming hair style. That the beard be not shaped makes a little more sense. Many ancient peoples sported highly dressed beards, sometimes braided or artfully sculpted. Jehovah probably did not want his people to imitate styles that suggested cultures he regarded as decadent. It should be mentioned that this provision did not mean that the beard should not be cut at all, only that the edges of it not be so evenly trimmed that it gave the appearance of being artificial and dressed. Jehovah, ever eschewing the artifices of civilization, wanted his people to be not only simple and obedient, but natural, down-to-earth, folksy, and shaggy-bearded, and not like the sophisticated Egyptians.
9. Jehovah specifically prohibits two types of mystical activity, fortune-telling and communication with the dead. There is no suggestion that either of these activities are bogus, only that they should not be practiced. This is mere protection of turf: the proclamations of dead might compete with Jehovah's message and fortune tellers would surely be rivals for his prophets. Moreover, mediums of any sort would infringe upon the prerogatives of his priests who must maintain their monopoly on communing with the divine. (Of course, one may safely conclude that these statutes were likely devised not by Jehovah, but by his priests, to safeguard their professional interests, to further their own agenda, and to enhance their influence and control over the people.)
10. The provision against cutting or marking the body is misunderstood. Most translations say "cut for the dead," which seems senseless. The reference is to cutting or scourging oneself while grieving the death of a love one. This was the custom among some ancient peoples, certainly the Amorites and the Scythians and perhaps even the Egyptians and the Canaanites. “Tattooing” is often used in most translations, but this not the correct term, since tattooing, as we know it, a Polynesian custom, was unknown in the ancient Middle East. The reference is to the practice of marking the body, perhaps with paint or a hot iron. The marks on the skin, symbols or pictures, may have had religious significance. This was the custom among some ancient tribes, but our knowledge of the matter is sparse.
11. The prohibition against fathers inducing their daughters to become prostitutes probably references the custom of among many peoples, the Babylonians, the Greeks, the Phoenicians, and the Canaanites to operate temple brothels and to attach religious sanction to such promiscuous sex.
12. An ephah was a dry measure equal to .6 bushels. The hin, a liquid measure, was approximate to a gallon.
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
Prohibited Sexual Relations
(Leviticus 18:1 - 18:30)
Jehovah told Moses to instruct the people of Israel: "Thus says Jehovah, who is your god. You should not behave like the people of Egypt, where you formerly resided, nor like the people of Canaan, into whose land I am bringing you. Do not adopt their customs! Obey my laws and follow my decrees, for I am Jehovah, your god. By keeping my laws and decrees you will preserve your life. Thus says Jehovah!
"No one should engage in sexual intercourse with any close relation. Thus says Jehovah.
"Do not dishonor your father by having sexual relations with your mother. She is your mother, you must not have sex with her! Nor should you have sexual relations with any of his wives. for that, too, would dishonor your father.
"Do not have sexual relations with a sister -- nor with a half sister, your father's or mother's daughter, regardless of whether she grew up with you in your household or not.
"Do not have sexual relations with your granddaughter, whether she be your son's child or that of your daughter, for that would dishonor you.
"Do not have sexual relations with a stepsister, a daughter of any of your father's wives, for she is still a sister to you.
"Do not have sexual relations with your father's sister: she is your aunt. Nor should you have sexual relations with your mother's sister: she is an aunt. Do not disgrace your father's brother by having sexual relations with his wife, for she is also an aunt.
"Do have sexual relations with both a woman and her daughter, nor should you marry or have sexual relations with her granddaughter, whether the child of a son or daughter. They are of her family and to have sexual relations with them would be an act of violation.
"Do not marry your wife's sister or engage in sexual relations with her while your wife is still living, for that would make them rivals.
"Do not seek to have sexual intercourse with a woman during the ritually impure part of her menstrual period.
"Do not dishonor yourself by having sexual relations with a wife who belongs to a member of your tribe.
"Do not permit any of your children to be offered as a human sacrifice upon the fiery altars of the god Moloch, for that would bring discredit upon the name of your god -- who is I, Jehovah.
"Do not have sexual relations with a man as one would with a woman, for homosexuality is an abomination.
"You must not defile yourself by having sexual intercourse with an animal, nor should a woman seek to have sex with an animal -- it is a perversion!
"Do not defile yourself by any of these acts -- which are practiced by the peoples I am going to drive out of the land before your arrival. Even the land has become so completely defiled that I will punish it for its sins and make it eject its inhabitants as if they were vomit. You must obey all my laws and decrees! You must not commit any of these detestable acts: that applies to foreigners residing among you as well as native-born Israelites. All of these acts are practiced by the inhabitants of the land where I am taking you, so much so that they have defiled the land. And if you similarly defile the land, it will eject you as if you were vomit, just like the peoples who lived there before you.
"Anyone who commits these detestable acts can no longer belong to the community of Israel. Therefore, observe my prohibitions against engaging in any of these practices that were done by the people who preceded you. Do not defile yourselves with them! Thus says Jehovah, your god."
Notes
1. The people of Egypt, the land that the Israelites have left, and the people of Canaan, where they are to settled, are more or less demonized by Jehovah. By painting your enemy as morally degraded or perverse, you lend greater justification for killing him. It has always been done to justify war or invasion. Even in America the Germans were portrayed as blood-thirsty, barbaric Huns during World War I, and in World War II the Japanese were dismissed as puny, subhuman Orientals with buck teeth and glasses. Here, the Canaanites are depicted as indulging in immoral and unnatural sexual practices. This furnishes a moral rationale for Jehovah's plan to drive them out of their country and give their land to the "virtuous" Israelites.
2. It is well known that the Egyptians, the royal family at any rate, engaged in incestuous practices; marriages between close family members were preferred in order to preserve the purity of the royal line. (The Pharaohs believed themselves to be descended from the gods. Perhaps they were, perhaps they were the descendants of extraterrestrial hybrids and claimed kingship and divine devotion on that account.)
3. The continuing theme of Jehovah's pronouncements is that his people, the Israelites, should zealously preserve their customs and the resist any pressure to alter them. Assimilation, adaptation, these are an anathema. The upside of this attitude is that a people is able to survive as a unique ethnic identity; the downside is that it tends to regard other peoples as alien, inferior, or evil.
4. The prohibition against sexual relations within the family seem very natural and are consistent with modern norms and with modern law. (These were probably needed since their early history, recounted in Genesis, shows a marked tendency on the part of Hebrews to be severely inbred.) There are a few prohibitions, however, that we today would find unnecessary. While few might chose to have sexual relations with both a mother and a daughter, I'm not sure many would find that morally offensive in itself. One is reminded that the actor Rod Cameron, a man who rode tall in the saddle, divorced his wife to marry his mother-in-law. When he did so (in 1960), eyebrows were probably raised, but not moral indignation. And as far as Americans today are concerned, the prohibition against sexual relations with in-laws, those related by affinity rather than by consanguinity, probably fits into the category of "nice people don't do it," but is not a matter for legal proscription. England, though, has always been stricter on such matters, in accordance with levitical tradition. For instance, rules of the Anglican Church long prevented a man from marrying his deceased wife’s sister. (Although a few courageous souls, such as Jane Austen’s brother Charles, managed to get away with it.) An English law of 1835 expressly forbade such unions until it was repealed in the early 20th Century. Legal prohibitions against marrying an in-law of a living ex-spouse remained in effect there until 1960! --- Moderns can be still be strict regarding sexual unions between those of close consanguinity -- in America cousin marriages are still illegal in about half of the states of the union. Surprisingly, Leviticus makes no mention of cousins.
5. Jehovah takes for granted the existence of polygamy, from which there arises some unique moral problems. One is prohibited, for instance, from marrying the sister of a current wife (and disturbing the harem with sibling rivalry). Such problems and the legality of marrying sisters, would again arise among polygamist Mormons of the late 19th Century.
6. Several Hebrew patriarchs seemed to have violated the sexual prohibitions stated here, for instance, Abraham was married to his half-sister Sarah. Are these laws meant to apply to Israelites from this point onward, or are past offenders, who would have been unaware of the laws, subject to moral sanction? Also, there is no suggestion by Jehovah that these laws are meant to apply to any people other than Israelites, his people. He expressly states that other peoples live by their own laws, which, of course, are inferior to his.
7. Nearly all the prohibitions here are directed towards men, and one gets the impression that woman are not considered morally conscious beings. The sole law directed toward the female of the species is that she should refrain from seducing any animals and engaging in bestiality -- most flattering! The honor and reputation of the woman does not seem to be a consideration in sexual relations, for instance, if you have sex with your dishy auntie, she is not the one who is disgraced, but the uncle. Everything is from the male perspective. Even though there is presented throughout the Old Testament a large number of influential and powerful women, it must be remembered that women were at that time the property of males. And improper sexual relations with them often seem to be merely a violation of property rights.
8. A provision that one would think would be easy to follow is not allowing your child to be sacrificed to Moloch, a Canaanite god who demanded human sacrifices. At this point, the Israelites are still camped out in the desert of Sinai. They hadn't seen Canaan yet and wouldn't for a very long time. Why this prohibition should be inserted here is not obvious, since it has nothing to do with sexual conduct. At any rate, the cult of Moloch was pervasive in the region. Moloch was represented by a human figure with a bull’s head. Statues would feature a hole in the belly and a ramp leading to it. Inside the hole a fire would consume sacrifices of babies and children, offered to ensure good fortune for the family.
9. The condemnation of homosexuality is not surprising; only recently has it found any level of acceptance in Judeo-Christian culture. It should be noted that while homosexuality has been disparaged as a perversion and a moral degradation, the disapproval of it also arises from the belief that it undermines procreation; societies in the past have usually had a strong interest in increasing their populations -- the Israelites certainly did. (The author of Exodus brags about the tremendous growth in the Israelite slave population and inflates exponentially the number of people who could have participated in the Exodus.) Homosexuality, however, was probably accepted, if not honored by many, if not most ancient peoples, although our knowledge on the subject is limited. We do know the Greeks were famous advocates of the practice. (Plato, who apparently disapproved, was a rare outlier in his views.) These opposing attitudes toward homosexuality highlight clearly the disparity between Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian mores.
Jehovah told Moses to instruct the people of Israel: "Thus says Jehovah, who is your god. You should not behave like the people of Egypt, where you formerly resided, nor like the people of Canaan, into whose land I am bringing you. Do not adopt their customs! Obey my laws and follow my decrees, for I am Jehovah, your god. By keeping my laws and decrees you will preserve your life. Thus says Jehovah!
"No one should engage in sexual intercourse with any close relation. Thus says Jehovah.
"Do not dishonor your father by having sexual relations with your mother. She is your mother, you must not have sex with her! Nor should you have sexual relations with any of his wives. for that, too, would dishonor your father.
"Do not have sexual relations with a sister -- nor with a half sister, your father's or mother's daughter, regardless of whether she grew up with you in your household or not.
"Do not have sexual relations with your granddaughter, whether she be your son's child or that of your daughter, for that would dishonor you.
"Do not have sexual relations with a stepsister, a daughter of any of your father's wives, for she is still a sister to you.
"Do not have sexual relations with your father's sister: she is your aunt. Nor should you have sexual relations with your mother's sister: she is an aunt. Do not disgrace your father's brother by having sexual relations with his wife, for she is also an aunt.
"Do have sexual relations with both a woman and her daughter, nor should you marry or have sexual relations with her granddaughter, whether the child of a son or daughter. They are of her family and to have sexual relations with them would be an act of violation.
"Do not marry your wife's sister or engage in sexual relations with her while your wife is still living, for that would make them rivals.
"Do not seek to have sexual intercourse with a woman during the ritually impure part of her menstrual period.
"Do not dishonor yourself by having sexual relations with a wife who belongs to a member of your tribe.
"Do not permit any of your children to be offered as a human sacrifice upon the fiery altars of the god Moloch, for that would bring discredit upon the name of your god -- who is I, Jehovah.
"Do not have sexual relations with a man as one would with a woman, for homosexuality is an abomination.
"You must not defile yourself by having sexual intercourse with an animal, nor should a woman seek to have sex with an animal -- it is a perversion!
"Do not defile yourself by any of these acts -- which are practiced by the peoples I am going to drive out of the land before your arrival. Even the land has become so completely defiled that I will punish it for its sins and make it eject its inhabitants as if they were vomit. You must obey all my laws and decrees! You must not commit any of these detestable acts: that applies to foreigners residing among you as well as native-born Israelites. All of these acts are practiced by the inhabitants of the land where I am taking you, so much so that they have defiled the land. And if you similarly defile the land, it will eject you as if you were vomit, just like the peoples who lived there before you.
"Anyone who commits these detestable acts can no longer belong to the community of Israel. Therefore, observe my prohibitions against engaging in any of these practices that were done by the people who preceded you. Do not defile yourselves with them! Thus says Jehovah, your god."
Notes
1. The people of Egypt, the land that the Israelites have left, and the people of Canaan, where they are to settled, are more or less demonized by Jehovah. By painting your enemy as morally degraded or perverse, you lend greater justification for killing him. It has always been done to justify war or invasion. Even in America the Germans were portrayed as blood-thirsty, barbaric Huns during World War I, and in World War II the Japanese were dismissed as puny, subhuman Orientals with buck teeth and glasses. Here, the Canaanites are depicted as indulging in immoral and unnatural sexual practices. This furnishes a moral rationale for Jehovah's plan to drive them out of their country and give their land to the "virtuous" Israelites.
2. It is well known that the Egyptians, the royal family at any rate, engaged in incestuous practices; marriages between close family members were preferred in order to preserve the purity of the royal line. (The Pharaohs believed themselves to be descended from the gods. Perhaps they were, perhaps they were the descendants of extraterrestrial hybrids and claimed kingship and divine devotion on that account.)
3. The continuing theme of Jehovah's pronouncements is that his people, the Israelites, should zealously preserve their customs and the resist any pressure to alter them. Assimilation, adaptation, these are an anathema. The upside of this attitude is that a people is able to survive as a unique ethnic identity; the downside is that it tends to regard other peoples as alien, inferior, or evil.
4. The prohibition against sexual relations within the family seem very natural and are consistent with modern norms and with modern law. (These were probably needed since their early history, recounted in Genesis, shows a marked tendency on the part of Hebrews to be severely inbred.) There are a few prohibitions, however, that we today would find unnecessary. While few might chose to have sexual relations with both a mother and a daughter, I'm not sure many would find that morally offensive in itself. One is reminded that the actor Rod Cameron, a man who rode tall in the saddle, divorced his wife to marry his mother-in-law. When he did so (in 1960), eyebrows were probably raised, but not moral indignation. And as far as Americans today are concerned, the prohibition against sexual relations with in-laws, those related by affinity rather than by consanguinity, probably fits into the category of "nice people don't do it," but is not a matter for legal proscription. England, though, has always been stricter on such matters, in accordance with levitical tradition. For instance, rules of the Anglican Church long prevented a man from marrying his deceased wife’s sister. (Although a few courageous souls, such as Jane Austen’s brother Charles, managed to get away with it.) An English law of 1835 expressly forbade such unions until it was repealed in the early 20th Century. Legal prohibitions against marrying an in-law of a living ex-spouse remained in effect there until 1960! --- Moderns can be still be strict regarding sexual unions between those of close consanguinity -- in America cousin marriages are still illegal in about half of the states of the union. Surprisingly, Leviticus makes no mention of cousins.
5. Jehovah takes for granted the existence of polygamy, from which there arises some unique moral problems. One is prohibited, for instance, from marrying the sister of a current wife (and disturbing the harem with sibling rivalry). Such problems and the legality of marrying sisters, would again arise among polygamist Mormons of the late 19th Century.
6. Several Hebrew patriarchs seemed to have violated the sexual prohibitions stated here, for instance, Abraham was married to his half-sister Sarah. Are these laws meant to apply to Israelites from this point onward, or are past offenders, who would have been unaware of the laws, subject to moral sanction? Also, there is no suggestion by Jehovah that these laws are meant to apply to any people other than Israelites, his people. He expressly states that other peoples live by their own laws, which, of course, are inferior to his.
7. Nearly all the prohibitions here are directed towards men, and one gets the impression that woman are not considered morally conscious beings. The sole law directed toward the female of the species is that she should refrain from seducing any animals and engaging in bestiality -- most flattering! The honor and reputation of the woman does not seem to be a consideration in sexual relations, for instance, if you have sex with your dishy auntie, she is not the one who is disgraced, but the uncle. Everything is from the male perspective. Even though there is presented throughout the Old Testament a large number of influential and powerful women, it must be remembered that women were at that time the property of males. And improper sexual relations with them often seem to be merely a violation of property rights.
8. A provision that one would think would be easy to follow is not allowing your child to be sacrificed to Moloch, a Canaanite god who demanded human sacrifices. At this point, the Israelites are still camped out in the desert of Sinai. They hadn't seen Canaan yet and wouldn't for a very long time. Why this prohibition should be inserted here is not obvious, since it has nothing to do with sexual conduct. At any rate, the cult of Moloch was pervasive in the region. Moloch was represented by a human figure with a bull’s head. Statues would feature a hole in the belly and a ramp leading to it. Inside the hole a fire would consume sacrifices of babies and children, offered to ensure good fortune for the family.
9. The condemnation of homosexuality is not surprising; only recently has it found any level of acceptance in Judeo-Christian culture. It should be noted that while homosexuality has been disparaged as a perversion and a moral degradation, the disapproval of it also arises from the belief that it undermines procreation; societies in the past have usually had a strong interest in increasing their populations -- the Israelites certainly did. (The author of Exodus brags about the tremendous growth in the Israelite slave population and inflates exponentially the number of people who could have participated in the Exodus.) Homosexuality, however, was probably accepted, if not honored by many, if not most ancient peoples, although our knowledge on the subject is limited. We do know the Greeks were famous advocates of the practice. (Plato, who apparently disapproved, was a rare outlier in his views.) These opposing attitudes toward homosexuality highlight clearly the disparity between Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian mores.
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