Unity in Diversity: The Literary Function of the Formula of Retaliation in Leviticus 24.15-22 (original) (raw)
Related papers
A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Department of Hebrew and Jewish Studies, New York University, September 2018 [Advisor Lawrence H. Schiffman], 2018
This dissertation examines the use of Leviticus 26 in four Second Temple-era Jewish texts: Chronicles, Jubilees, Words of the Luminaries, and the Damascus Document. Prevailing scholarship will cite the fact that these texts review the history of how Israel’s disobedience provoked the covenant chastisements epitomized by exile as proof that Second Temple Jews believed that they had fallen under the curses. The Chronicler’s views on chastisement have been attributed to extreme (Deuteronomic) doctrines of immediate retribution and human initiated repentance. A contrasting belief that true repentance, bringing salvation, was only possible through a divinely initiated recreation of the human spirit has been increasingly imputed to the latter three texts. However, this dissertation argues that Chronicles, Jubilees, Words of the Luminaries, and the Damascus Document texts are all fundamentally oriented to the Leviticus 26 teleological paradigm of chastisement-induced repentance, more than the concept of tit-for-tat retributive cursing generally associated with Deuteronomy 28-29. All four texts read and reference Leviticus 26 for an optimistic, reassuring understanding that the covenant chastisements epitomized by exile are a God-guided experiential process whose telos is their repentance. Israel’s suffering serves a purpose, bringing about a reversal of deliberately-committed ancestral trespass (ma‘al; Lev 26:40-41). In conceptualizing repentance in these texts as a divinely initiated process of inner transformation, this study moves beyond the dichotomy of “human-initiated” and “divine-initiated” repentance assumed by earlier scholarship. The latter three texts draw overt—but by scholars unappreciated and/or actively denied—references to the simple meaning of Lev 26:44-45 promising that God will preserve the people and the covenant he struck with them at Sinai no matter what the people do.
Journal of Law and Religion, 2014
Each of the nine chapters of Law and the Bible is cowritten by a legal scholar and a theologian. The goal of these pairings is "to integrate different areas of human learning" and to ensure that the work addresses concerns that "legal scholars alone or theologians alone might miss" (15). With rare exceptions, the contents of each of the chapters should be fully accessible to the educated lay reader. Prior legal training is not required because, for all of the authors, the level of applicability of the biblical text stops well short of an agenda for the sorts of policies to which many Christians of varying political persuasions often put it. Each of the essays presumes facility with the biblical text and at least some awareness of hermeneutics and the history of biblical interpretation. Coming from the leading publisher in American Evangelicalism, these presumptions will generally be met among the readership of Law and the Bible. Drawing from the book of Genesis, the rst chapter of Law and the Bible, "The Biblical Foundations of Law: Creation, Fall and the Patriarchs," shows the strong inuence of the Reformed "two-kingdoms" approach of coauthor David VanDrunen, whose book Natural Law and the Two Kingdoms: A Study in the Development of Reformed Social Thought was previously reviewed in the Journal. 1 Whatever reservations might be had about some aspects of two-kingdoms theology need not keep one from drawing valuable insights from this chapter. Questions of authority (distinguished from power), the nature of "the good" (distinguished from desires), and the place of law both before and after the fall into sin are well displayed. The chapter is worth reading for its careful parsing of the creation account, analysis of the implications of sin, exegesis of the Noahic covenant, and attention to the contemporary signicance of patterns of patriarchal life. Chapter 2, "Law and Political Order: Israel's Constitutional History," largely follows the pattern of analysis seen in the rst chapter. Relying signicantly on the political-theological work of Oliver O'Donovan, law professor William Brewbaker and theologian V. Philips Long review topics such as holy war, Israel as a nation among the nations, the contemporary signicance of the mixed nature of its government, and the theo-political import of Israel's eventual exile. Brewbaker and Long accept the traditional dating and authorship of what Christians identify as the "historical books" of the Hebrew Scriptures. They do not, however, read them without nuance. The historical and cultural distance of the modern reader from the circumstances of ancient Israel is taken seriously. Thus, they caution that "the Old Testament has proven susceptible to misuse as a political sourcebook" if only because "Israel [had], during this period, a wide variety of political institutions and practices, none of which seem[ed] to have been adequate" (50). They ultimately argue that the questions of modern political theory-the relationships of individuals, associations, and the state-are simply absent from the biblical text, and that to derive specic answers to those questions from that text is therefore misguided. Instead, they conclude that the contemporary political signicance of these historical accounts lies in their fundamental teachings about a God whose providential control extends to the weal and woe of human activity generally and not the details of political or legal rules. The three subsequent chapters address specic application of the Torah, Wisdom literature, and the prophetic writings to contemporary state law. Here, one can observe an increasing variety of 1 C.
Restorative Justice as a concept in the Day of Atonement, Lev. 16.
This paper focusses on the concept of restorative justice at the pre-exilic Jewish festival of Day of Atonement in Leviticus 16. The concept of restorative justice is explored in §4 by means of the book ‘Changing lenses’ by Zehr, a pioneer in the field of restorative justice, and the 2004 paper by Braithwaite on the same topic. From this exploration a distillate is made about groundlines and goals of restorative justice in §4.2 and §4.3. The goal of restorative justice is threefold: 1) healing of the victim, 2) healing of the relationship between victim and offender and 3) healing of the offender. Also, the main groundline is therefore directed toward restoration of damaged or broken relationships between victim and offender. The events of the Day of Atonement are explored within the limits of the description of Leviticus in §5.1. Further, in §5.2, a reflection is given on the different actors and their respective roles on the Day of Atonement and, in §5.3 on the interactions between those actors. Again, a distillate is made from underlying groundlines and goals of the Day of Atonement. YHWH as victim is the one who restores on the Day of Atonement the relationship with the people of Israel as offenders and therefore YHWH and Israel cease to be respectively victim and offender. Concluded is that in the events of atonement and justification on the Day of Atonement the concept of restorative justice is apparent long before that term was developed.
An Exegetical and Canonical Analysis of Leviticus 26: Laws, Covenants, Promises, and Warnings
2009
The Introduction of this work provided background, historical, and textual information about Leviticus 26 as well as a detailed outline of this text. This Bible chapter revealed the corporate human responsibility of the chosen nation to obey Yahweh’s covenant and the plan of a Sovereign God in response to their obedience and disobedience. Chapter 1 provided an exegesis of Lev 26:1–3, 14–15, 34–35, 43, and 46. It also examined the usage of the Hebrew term for the “Sabbath(s)” and the four Hebrew legal terms found in Leviticus 26 throughout the Hebrew Bible. Chapter 2 presented an exegesis of Lev 26:9–13, 40–45. It also analyzed the conceptual usage of the Hebrew term for “covenant” in the Hebrew Bible. It concluded that covenants always formalize and deepen relationships. Chapter 3 offered an exegesis of Lev 26:3–13 which stated that the blessings promised to Israel for obedience to the Mosaic covenantal stipulations included life, vitality, fruitfulness, many descendants, a powerful national defense, and extremely prosperous agricultural endeavors. This chapter concluded by comparing the blessings promised in Leviticus 26 with those in Deuteronomy 28. Chapter 4 provided an exegesis of Lev 26:14–39 which delineated the coming chastisements for Israel’s disloyalty to Yahweh and their violations of the Mosaic covenant. These corrective measures are in five intensifying levels of curses designed to bring Israel to repentance. This chapter compared the curses listed in Leviticus 26 with those in Deuteronomy 28. Chapter 5 gave an exegesis of Lev 26:40–45 which revealed the future hope for the ethnic people of Israel. This chapter also compared the coming restoration promised in Leviticus 26 with the expanded promises of Deuteronomy 30. Chapter 6 discussed the use of Historical Theology and analyzed the Baptist tradition regarding the moral law. It also summarized the importance of familiarity with Leviticus 26 for exegeting other Old Testament canonical books. It outlined the dependence of the book of Amos on Leviticus 26. Leviticus 26 should be studies because it is a critical background text for many of the Former and Latter Prophets who used this text in their inspired writings as covenant enforcers. Therefore, effort should be made to be aware of this prior text when studying later biblical authors who are quoting or alluding to Leviticus 26.
Restorative Justice: Revisiting Punitive Interpretations of the Bible
This paper will take an historical and narrative approach to address the restorative justice movement and its resonance with overarching biblical themes of justice and community. It will do so bycomparing the histories and assumptions of both the restorative justice movement and the criminal justice system. Finally, early Anabaptist experience will be examined as a way to see how thebeginnings of the restorative justice movement may have been conceivable centuries later.
Law and the Bible: justice, mercy, and legal institutions
Choice Reviews Online, 2014
Each of the nine chapters of Law and the Bible is cowritten by a legal scholar and a theologian. The goal of these pairings is "to integrate different areas of human learning" and to ensure that the work addresses concerns that "legal scholars alone or theologians alone might miss" (15). With rare exceptions, the contents of each of the chapters should be fully accessible to the educated lay reader. Prior legal training is not required because, for all of the authors, the level of applicability of the biblical text stops well short of an agenda for the sorts of policies to which many Christians of varying political persuasions often put it. Each of the essays presumes facility with the biblical text and at least some awareness of hermeneutics and the history of biblical interpretation. Coming from the leading publisher in American Evangelicalism, these presumptions will generally be met among the readership of Law and the Bible. Drawing from the book of Genesis, the rst chapter of Law and the Bible, "The Biblical Foundations of Law: Creation, Fall and the Patriarchs," shows the strong inuence of the Reformed "two-kingdoms" approach of coauthor David VanDrunen, whose book Natural Law and the Two Kingdoms: A Study in the Development of Reformed Social Thought was previously reviewed in the Journal. 1 Whatever reservations might be had about some aspects of two-kingdoms theology need not keep one from drawing valuable insights from this chapter. Questions of authority (distinguished from power), the nature of "the good" (distinguished from desires), and the place of law both before and after the fall into sin are well displayed. The chapter is worth reading for its careful parsing of the creation account, analysis of the implications of sin, exegesis of the Noahic covenant, and attention to the contemporary signicance of patterns of patriarchal life. Chapter 2, "Law and Political Order: Israel's Constitutional History," largely follows the pattern of analysis seen in the rst chapter. Relying signicantly on the political-theological work of Oliver O'Donovan, law professor William Brewbaker and theologian V. Philips Long review topics such as holy war, Israel as a nation among the nations, the contemporary signicance of the mixed nature of its government, and the theo-political import of Israel's eventual exile. Brewbaker and Long accept the traditional dating and authorship of what Christians identify as the "historical books" of the Hebrew Scriptures. They do not, however, read them without nuance. The historical and cultural distance of the modern reader from the circumstances of ancient Israel is taken seriously. Thus, they caution that "the Old Testament has proven susceptible to misuse as a political sourcebook" if only because "Israel [had], during this period, a wide variety of political institutions and practices, none of which seem[ed] to have been adequate" (50). They ultimately argue that the questions of modern political theory-the relationships of individuals, associations, and the state-are simply absent from the biblical text, and that to derive specic answers to those questions from that text is therefore misguided. Instead, they conclude that the contemporary political signicance of these historical accounts lies in their fundamental teachings about a God whose providential control extends to the weal and woe of human activity generally and not the details of political or legal rules. The three subsequent chapters address specic application of the Torah, Wisdom literature, and the prophetic writings to contemporary state law. Here, one can observe an increasing variety of 1 C.
Would You Impugn My Justice? A Nuanced Approach to the Hebrew Bible’s Theology of Divine Recompense
Recent scholarship has tended to see the book of Job as sweeping away an earlier, mechanistic theology of divine recompense. This essay argues that the widespread biblical notion that God rewards the righteous and punishes the wicked is more complex than generally recognized and that recovering its nuances not only helps one better understand the theological outlook of books like Deuteronomy, Proverbs, and Psalms, but also helps one better grasp the debates within Job. The essay is framed by some reflections on why our contemporary culture regularly misreads the Bible’s language of divine retribution in spite of the fact that many contemporary readers affirm analogous ideas of reward and punishment.