<P> Julius Morgenstern argued that Exodus 34 is distinct from the Jahwist document, identifying it with king Asa's reforms in 899 BCE . Bright, however, believes that like the Decalogue this text has its origins in the time of the tribal alliance . The book of the covenant, he notes, bears a greater similarity to Mesopotamian law codes (e.g. the Code of Hammurabi which was inscribed on a stone stele). He argues that the function of this "book" is to move from the realm of treaty to the realm of law: "The Book of the Covenant (Ex., chs. 21 to 23; cf . ch. 34), which is no official state law, but a description of normative Israelite judicial procedure in the days of the Judges, is the best example of this process ." According to Bright, then, this body of law too predates the monarchy . </P> <P> Hilton J. Blik writes that the phrasing in the Decalogue's instructions suggests that it was conceived in a mainly polytheistic milieu, evident especially in the formulation of the henotheistic "no - other - gods - before - me" commandment . </P> <P> If the Ten Commandments are based on Hittite forms, it would date them to somewhere between the 14th - 12th century BCE . Archaeologists Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman argue that "the astonishing composition came together...in the seventh century BCE". Critical scholar Yehezkel Kaufmann (1960) dates the oral form of the covenant to the time of Josiah . An even later date (after 586 BCE) is suggested by David H. Aaron . </P> <P> Some proponents of the Documentary hypothesis have argued that the biblical text in Exodus 34: 28 identifies a different list as the ten commandments, that of Exodus 34: 11--27 . Since this passage does not prohibit murder, adultery, theft, etc., but instead deals with the proper worship of Yahweh, some scholars call it the "Ritual Decalogue", and disambiguate the ten commandments of traditional understanding as the "Ethical Decalogue". </P>

When were the 10 commandments given to the israelites
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