But as religious leaders, the priests created laws with a very different purpose and character from those of the Greek and Roman citizens and, indeed, from those of the Mesopotamian lawmakers who had inspired them. Like the Hindu brahmins, they had a religious authority quite independent of the political power of Saul, David, and the other early kings. But the Israelite lawmakers were working in a very different social and political context to their Hindu counterparts and it was not their object to insist on a social hierarchy.
