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• Mosaic Law
  Mosaic Law

  noun

  the ancient law of the Hebrews, ascribed to Moses.
• Mosaic law
  Mosaic law

  noun

  Old Testament the laws of the Hebrews ascribed to Moses and contained in the Pentateuch

Mosaic Law

American  

noun

1. the ancient law of the Hebrews, ascribed to Moses.

2. the part of the Scripture containing this law; the Pentateuch.

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Mosaic law British  

/ məʊˈzeɪɪk /

noun

1. Old Testament the laws of the Hebrews ascribed to Moses and contained in the Pentateuch

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Mosaic law Cultural  

1. The law that, according to the Old Testament, God gave to the Israelites through Moses. The Mosaic law begins with the Ten Commandments and includes the many rules of religious observance given in the first five books of the Old Testament. In Judaism, these books are called the Torah, or “the Law.”

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Etymology

Origin of Mosaic Law

First recorded in 1695–1705

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Mosaic Law Mosaic law

The Pharisees ask Jesus whether the woman should be released or killed, hoping to force him to choose between honoring Mosaic Law and his teachings of forgiveness.

From Newsweek

The Mosaic Law shows almost as clear evidences of Babylonian influence as do the earlier chapters of Genesis.

From The Religions of Ancient Egypt and Babylonia by A. H. (Archibald Henry) Sayce

Paul they abhorred; and they strove with all their might to combine the full observance of the Mosaic Law, as they understood it, with the principles of the “new covenant,” again as they understood it.

From The Covenanters of Damascus; A Hitherto Unknown Jewish Sect by George Foot Moore

The Mosaic Law must have drawn its first inspiration from the Abrahamic age, modified and developed though it may have been in the later centuries of Israelitish history.

From The Religions of Ancient Egypt and Babylonia by A. H. (Archibald Henry) Sayce

More elaborate phylacteries consisted of tiny leathern boxes, cubical in form, and containing four sections of the Mosaic Law, written on parchment and folded in the skin of a clean beast.

From Primitive Psycho-Therapy and Quackery by Robert Means Lawrence

We cannot return to Mosaic law, but there’s evident wisdom here: People’s futures should not be foreclosed forever because of past injustice.

From Salon ● Apr. 12, 2025

Christian reconstructionism, Tabachnick explained, is "about bringing government in all areas of life under biblical law, a continuation of the Mosaic law in the Old Testament, with some exceptions."

From Salon ● Oct. 31, 2021

Different Christian traditions take different approaches to Mosaic law, but in general they view it as the “Old Covenant,” superseded by the arrival of Jesus.

From Slate ● May 15, 2017

The idea that the Bible and Mosaic law provided foundations for American law has taken root in Christian teaching about American history.

From New York Times ● Feb. 11, 2010

The Mosaic law was severe against usury and increase, forbidding it under heavy threatenings among the faithful Israelites, but allowing it in lending to strangers.

From Letters to the Clergy On The Lord's Prayer and the Church by John Ruskin