Joseph's brothers were certain that none of them had stolen his divining cup. When confronted, they answered,
God forbid that thy servants should do according to this thing: Behold, the money, which we found in our sacks' mouths, we brought again unto thee out of the land of Canaan: how then should we steal out of thy lord's house silver or gold? With whomsoever of thy servants it be found, both let him die, and we also will be my lord's bondmen. (Genesis 44:7-9)
To us, death for such an offense would be a cruel and unusual punishment. However, The Dake Annotated Reference Bible explains why this was consistent with the cultural context, on page 44 of the Old Testament:
Such rashness was in accordance with the Code of Hammurabi, which was known in both Canaan and Egypt. It ordered the death penalty for trivial offenses in some cases; robbing a palace was a serious crime.
Death penalties were carried out with burning, drowning, and the sword. Other penalties in this code included cutting out the tongue for lying or denying parents; plucking out eyes for hatred of foster parents; cutting off the breast of a nurse who had caused a child to die; cutting off fingers of those who smote parents; cutting off the ears of slaves who struck the master's children; cutting off the fingers of a physician who used brass lancets to open abscesses if the patient died; and the scourging a man with sixty stripes who struck a superior.
In accordance with this code women could be consecrated as the bride of an idol god and used in prostitution for devotees of the idol. In marriage the father had the final say as to whom his daughter should marry. A man desiring a wife was free to make choices, but a woman was not. An unsatisfactory wife could be divorced by her husband simply saying, "I have divorced her," and she would be given nothing when she departed from his house. On the other hand, if he said, "I have not put her away," he could take another wife and the first woman would remain in his house as a maid. If a wife wanted a divorce she had to prove that her husband had injured her reputation; then she could go free.
If a man was in debt he could sell his wife or children, or bind them to work in the house of the purchaser for three years, and then go free. The relation of sonship could be dissolved if there were grounds for such.
The Code of Hammurabi was civil, not ceremonial. There were no admonitions to worship; no directions concerning altars, offerings, and sacrifices; and no doctrines taught. It was the civil law in Babylon, Assyria, and in much of Canaan and Egypt in the days of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It gives the Bible reader an insight into the laws of that period before the law of Moses.