The Negative Confession was written primarily for an elite audience, which is evident in the numerous transgressions that could only be committed by someone in a position of authority. The primary sources of conflict fall into several categories, including:
• Causing suffering to others
• Stealing from kinsfolk and the less fortunate
• Wronging the gods or people
• Allowing wrongs to take place without interfering
• Causing pain to the multitude
• Stealing from temples or doing things that are ritually impure
A variety of more specific offenses that a government official might be guilty of, like obstructing water when it should run, driving beasts from their pastures, or adding to a weight of the balance
These concerns do correlate with some of the social concerns of Hammurabi’s law code, in particular Hammurabi’s stated intention that his code should protect the weak and promote righteousness. However, here these goals are presented as signs of virtue in an individual, whereas in Hammurabi’s code these virtues are expressed in terms of laws and punishments for transgressions.
