drags the wrongdoer with it, irrespective of his inner relation to his deed, becomes a matter of personal and conscious responsibility.”24 While the legal presupposition “Thou shalt not” still frames the Ten Commandments, the ḥeseḏ love of the Lord remains the underlying and strongest appeal for being a moral agent. Motivation based on relationships is more effective than brute legal power. All of Israel’s history was to be interpreted as undeserved “gift”: from the gift of life first breathed upon