You and I share similar views. But there are a few very valuable lessons to take from it too. The dietary laws for instance. Very advanced for that age... and if more people kept kosher, they'd lose weight and be a lot healthier. Not mixing dairy with meat = instant weight loss, as all those rich sauces, cheese, etc are out of bounds. And if more people waited 5 hours after the big steak dinner to have their slab of cheesecake or mixing bowl sized ice cream dessert, this would would be a good thing. In many ways actually, the kosher way of eating is similar to a bodybuilding diet. Without all the matzah of course. I personally never found much more to take from it. Endless violence and bloodshed ad infinitum.
Good point about the diet, Deedee, but that's too bad, that you personally never found much more to take from the OT. I personally found much to take from the OT. I won't flood the thread with text, but here is just a few things:
Exodus"Honor thy father and thy mother." 20:12
"Thou shalt not kill." 20:13
"Thou shalt not commit adultery." 20:14
"Thou shalt not steal." 20:15
"Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour." 20:16
Be kind to strangers, widows, and fatherless children. 22:21-22
Value the truth; don't lie. 23:1
Don't do what everyone else does, if what they do is wrong. 23:2
Be kind to your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. 23:4-5
Treat the poor fairly. 23:6
Be honest. Don't kill the innocent. 23:7
Don't mistreat strangers. 23:9
Every seventh year the Israelites were to leave their fields unharvested, so that the poor would have something to eat. 23:11
LeviticusWhat is stolen or wrongfully acquired should be returned to the owner. 6:2-5
Leave some grapes on the vine for travelers and the poor. 19:10
Don't steal or lie 19:11, 13
"Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind." 19:14
Don't gossip. 19:16
Don't hate people. 19:17
"Love thy neighbor as thyself." 19:18
Respect your elders. 19:32
Be kind to strangers. 19:33-34
Treat others fairly. Don't cheat. 19:35-36
To help feed the poor and strangers, farmers should not harvest the corners of their fields. 23:22
"Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof." 25:10
Do not oppress one another. 25:17
Deuteronomy"Honor thy father and thy mother." 5:16
"Thou shalt not kill." 5:17
Don't commit adultery. 5:18
Don't steal. 5:19
Don't lie. 5:20
"Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt." 10:19
Help the poor. 15:7-8
"Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy." 15:11
Judges and officers should strive to be impartial and should never take a bribe. 16:18-19
Look out for your neighbor's animals and protect them from harm. 22:1-4
Be careful when making a roof to ensure that no one falls off the edge. 22:8
Don't return runaway slaves to their masters. Let them live with you in peace and freedom. 23:15-16
Do not oppress the poor, whether they be slaves, neighbors, or strangers. 24:14-15
"It shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow."
Be kind to widows, orphans, fatherless children and strangers. Share whatever you have with them. 24:17-21
"Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn." Let the animal eat while it works. 25:4
"Thou shalt have a perfect and just weight."
Be honest when you deal with others. Don't cheat. 25:13-15
Take care of those who need help. 26:12-13
Proverbs"My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother." 1:8
A beautiful proverb about mercy and truth. 3:3
Wisdom and understanding lead to happiness. 3:13
"Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it." 3:27
Help your neighbor, if you can. 3:28
Don't devise plots against your neighbor, fight without cause, or imitate an oppressor. 3:29-31
"Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding." 4:7
Speak plainly and honestly to others. 4:24
"Rejoice with the wife of thy youth.... Let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love." 5:18-19
Wisdom is better than wealth. Nothing else compares with it. 8:11
"A wise son maketh a glad father." 10:1, 23:24, 29:3
"Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins." 10:12
"When pride cometh, then cometh shame." 11:2
"The merciful man doeth good to his own soul: but he that is cruel troubleth his own flesh." 11:17
"He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind." 11:29
"Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge." 12:1
Be kind to animals. 12:10
"The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise." 12:15
"The lip of truth shall be established for ever: but a lying tongue is but for a moment." 12:19
"A wise son heareth his father's instruction." 13:1
"A righteous man hateth lying." 13:5
"Every prudent man dealeth with knowledge: but a fool layeth open his folly." 13:16
Some nice proverbs about wisdom, anger, mercy and folly. 14:7-8, 14:16-18, 14:21-22, 29, 16:21-22
"A soft answer turneth away wrath." 15:1
Some good remarks about wisdom. 15:2, 7
"Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall." 16:18
Don't gossip about others. Avoid saying hurtful things. 16:28
"He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city." 16:32
"A merry heart doeth good like a medicine." 17:22
"Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding." 17:28
"A fool hath no delight in understanding" and his "mouth is his destruction." 18:2, 7
"He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him." 18:13
Be careful how you speak; words can do great damage. 21:23
"A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches." 22:1
"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." 22:6
"He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor." 22:9
Don't rob the poor or oppress the afflicted. 22:22
"Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words." 23:9
"Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge." 23:12
"Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old." 23:22
Find the truth and hang on to it; Value wisdom, instruction, and understanding 23:23
"Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth." 24:17
"Be not a witness against thy neighbour without cause; and deceive not with thy lips." 24:28
"Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me: I will render to the man according to his work." 24:29
"If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink." 25:21
"Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? there is more hope of a fool than of him." 26:12
"Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth." 27:1
"Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips." 27:2
"Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds." Take care of your animals. 27:23
"A man that flattereth his neighbour spreadeth a net for his feet." 29:5
"The righteous considereth the cause of the poor: but the wicked regardeth not to know it." 29:7
"A man's pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit." 29:23