" In Israel the sections of the Pentateuch that have in the past been considered as laws could now be considered as not carrying the obligatory force of legislation (if it is true that in conjunction with the literature from the ancient Near East these are not laws or legislation). They nevertheless do carry obligatory force for Israel as stipulations of the covenant.[1] "

― , Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament: Introducing the Conceptual World of the Hebrew Bible