How did the Hebrews differ from the Greeks and Romans with respect to their view on the dignity of individuals?

Answer 1

The concept of universal human dignity and morality is a Hebrew tradition as spelled out in the Torah and Prophets. This tradition has percolated out into our Western world and may now seem obvious. But in the ancient world it was revolutionary; and the ancient Jews were alternately admired as well as scorned for their Torah-concepts.

In contrast to the Israelites, Greek and Roman idolatry had tended to go hand in hand with cruelty and licentiousness, since the caprices which were claimed concerning the idols were adopted as an excuse to imitate those types of behavior.

Under Israelite law, everyone had recourse to the courts. A child, widow, wife, etc., could seek legal action against any citizen to redress perpetrated harm. Compare this to those societies in which only mature, land-owning males had any legal status.

Infants are to be protected and cared for, whether or not they turned out to be the gender you were hoping for. Compare this to societies in which unhealthy babies, or females, were killed. Aristotle, who was among the greatest of the Greeks, and Seneca, the famous Roman statesman, both write that killing one's young babies is perfectly acceptable. Professor and former President of the American Historical Association, William L. Langer writes (in The History of Childhood): "Children, being physically unable to resist aggression, were the victims of forces over which they had no control, and they were abused in almost unimaginable ways."

Government, among the Israelites, is accountable to a higher authority. In other ancient societies, the monarch was all-powerful. Among the Israelites, however, the king was under the constant scrutiny of the Divinely-informed prophets, who didn't hesitate to castigate him publicly for any misstep in the sight of God. And, other than for the crime of rebellion, the king couldn't punish any citizen by his own decision. He was obligated by the Torah-procedures like everyone else (Talmud, Sanhedrin 19a).

A robber repays double to his victim, or works it off. Cutting off the hand of a robber is a punishable crime. Debtors are not imprisoned or harmed. They are made to sell property and/or work to repay what they owe. Compare this to the Roman practice by which anyone could accuse a man of owing them money and the debtor could be dismembered and killed (Roman "Twelve Tables of Law" code, 3:10).

Under Israelite law, "an eye for an eye" has always meant the monetary value placed upon it by the court (Talmud, Bava Kama 83b). Roman law, however, included literal retaliation (Twelve Tables, 7:9).

A Roman father could kill his son for any reason, without trial (Twelve Tables, 4:1).

Romans were killed for the crime of slander (Twelve Tables, 7:8).

A Roman could be killed for assembling a noisy crowd at night and disturbing the town (Twelve Tables, 9:6).