Biblical Ethics: Tensions Between Justice and Mercy, Law and Love 9781463239459, 1463239459

Table of contents :
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
Love in both Testaments
LOVE IN THE BIBLE, AND LAW, JUSTICE, AND MERCY: SOME OBSERVATIONS ON THE SEMANTIC PROFILE OF THE MAIN HEBREW AND GREEK TERMS DENOTING ‘LOVE’, WITH A SPECIAL VIEW ON THE INTERSECTION WITH TERMS DENOTING ‘LAW’, ‘JUSTICE’ AND ‘MERCY’
LOVE: THE FULFILLMENT OF THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS
Love and Justice in the Old Testament
WHY LOVE MATTERS FOR JUSTICE: POLITICAL EMOTIONS BETWEEN NARRATIVE AND LAW IN THE HOLINESS CODE
THE CONCEPT OF LOVE AS “ETHICAL EMOTION” IN DEUTERONOMY
JUSTICE AND MERCY IN PROVERBS: CAN IT BE?
Law and Love at the Intersection of the Old and New Testament
HOSPITALITY: THE NEXUS BETWEEN LAW AND LOVE
THE UNITY OF LAW AND LOVE IN PSALM 119: A CHRISTIAN READING
A MARRIAGE OF LAW AND LOVE: AN EXPLORATION OF A DIALOGUE BETWEEN RUTH AND PAUL
Justice and Mercy in the Connection between the Two Testaments
FORGIVENESS AS THE IMAGE OF THE MERCIFUL AND JUST GOD
THE DYNAMIC POLARITY BETWEEN JUSTICE AND MERCY IN THE OLD TESTAMENT FORMULA OF GRACE (EX 34:6) AND THE PARABLE OF THE UNFORGIVING SERVANT (MT 18:23–35)
Law and Love in the New Testament
PAUL’S ETHICS AND PAUL’S EXPERIENCE: LAW AND LOVE IN GALATIANS
Justice and Mercy in the New Testament
‘REVENGE IS MINE, I WILL PAY BACK’– HAS MERCY NOT THE LAST WORD, AFTER ALL? READING ROMANS 12:19 AS PART OF AN IMPLICIT DISCOURSE OF JUSTICE AND MERCY
LOVE FOR ENEMIES, JUSTICE AND THE CONCEPT OF RECIPROCITY IN PAUL (ROM 12:17–21) AND MATTHEW (MT 5:43–48)
MERCY AND JUSTICE OR MERCY WITHOUT JUSTICE? COMPARING JAMES AND 1 PETER
BETWEEN PARTIALITY AND MERCY. TENSIONS IN THE ETHICS OF THE LETTER OF JAMES

Citation preview

Biblical Ethics

Gorgias Biblical Studies

70

In this series Gorgias publishes monographs and edited volumes on the history, theology, redaction and literary criticism of the biblical texts. Gorgias particularly welcomes proposals from younger scholars whose dissertations have made an important contribution to the field of Biblical Studies.}

Biblical Ethics

Tensions Between Justice and Mercy, Law andLove

Edited by

Markus ZehnderDQGPeter Wick :LWKWKHDVVLVWDQFHRI &U\VWDO0HODUDDQG1DWDVFKD2WWH

gp 2019

Gorgias Press LLC, 954 River Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA www.gorgiaspress.com Copyright © 2019 by Gorgias Press LLC All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise without the prior written permission of Gorgias Press LLC. ~

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2019

ISBN 978-1-4632-3945-9

ISSN 1935-6870

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A Cataloging-in-Publication Record is available from the Library of Congress. Printed in the United States of America

TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents ..................................................................................... v Introduction .............................................................................................. 1 MARKUS ZEHNDER AND PETER WICK Love in both Testaments Love in the Bible, and Law, Justice, and Mercy: Some Observations on the Semantic Profile of the Main Hebrew and Greek terms denoting ‘Love’, with a Special View on the Intersection with Terms Denoting ‘Law’, ‘Justice’ and ‘Mercy’ ...................................................................... 15 MARKUS ZEHNDER Love: The Fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets ........................ 67 CAROL J. DEMPSEY Love and Justice in the Old Testament Why Love Matters for Justice: Political Emotions Between Narrative and Law in the Holiness Code .................................. 83 PAAVO N. TUCKER The Concept of Love as “Ethical Emotion” in Deuteronomy ....105 DOROTHEA ERBELE-KÜSTER Justice and Mercy in Proverbs: Can It Be? .......................................121 GLENN PEMBERTON Law and Love at the Intersection of the Old and New Testament Hospitality: The Nexus between Law and Love .............................145 MARY J. MARSHALL The Unity of Law and Love in Psalm 119: A Christian Reading ....................................................................169 REBECCA BURGESS v

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BIBLICAL ETHICS

A Marriage of Law and Love: An Exploration of a Dialogue Between Ruth and Paul ..............................................................193 MEGHAN D. MUSY Justice and Mercy in the Connection between the Two Testaments Forgiveness as the Image of the Merciful and Just God ................215 LUKE BEN TALLON The Dynamic Polarity between Justice and Mercy in the Old Testament Formula of Grace (Ex 34:6) and the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant (Mt 18:23–35) ...................................235 JENS-CHRISTIAN MASCHMEIER Law and Love in the New Testament Paul’s Ethics and Paul’s Experience: Law and Love in Galatians ........................................................251 SEAN WINTER Justice and Mercy in the New Testament ‘Revenge is Mine, I will Pay Back’– Has Mercy not the Last Word, after All? Reading Romans 12:19 as Part of an Implicit Discourse of Justice and Mercy..................................273 DOROTHEA H. BERTSCHMANN Love for Enemies, Justice and the Concept of Reciprocity in Paul (Rom 12:17–21) and Matthew (Mt 5:43–48) ..................301 JENS-CHRISTIAN MASCHMEIER Mercy and Justice or Mercy without Justice? Comparing James and 1 Peter ....................................................................................321 MARTIN I. WEBBER Between Partiality and Mercy. Tensions in the Ethics of the Letter of James .............................................................................335 PETER WICK

INTRODUCTION Justice and love, especially love for the enemy, seem to be in tension with one another. Although the command to love appears as an imperative in both Testaments and is related explicitly to Torah in the New Testament, it is often seen as standing in opposition to the law. Mercy, in its turn, is seen as standing close to love and in tension to justice. In his essay ‘Amour et justice’, Paul Ricoeur has described these tensions in their radical dimensions and searched for a solution to the problem posed by these tensions. He observes a particularity in Luke 6:27–35. The command to love the enemy is the most radical form of the love command. This command, found in verses 27 and 35, together with the specific instructions related to it, frame the Golden Rule in verse 31. While love of the enemy is a kind of ‘super-ethical’ demand, the Golden Rule is clearly distinct from this by embodying the principle of reciprocity. Here is the passage (Luke 6:27–35) in the NRS translation: But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 27

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bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.

If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. 29

Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. 30

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Do to others as you would have them do to you.

If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 32

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MARKUS ZEHNDER AND PETER WICK If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 33

If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. 34

But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. 35

Reciprocal response is an important element of the Golden Rule in terms of the motivation for one’s own behavior. This is opposed to other instructions that call for deeds of love without the expectation of a reciprocal response, even in cases where reciprocity cannot be expected at all. With this analysis, Ricoeur demonstrates the tension between justice and love in a short, self-contained text. He understands this tension as intentional and productive. The ‘super-ethical’ command to love the enemy corrects all applications of the Golden Rule that are based on an economic do ut des-attitude. The Golden Rule is interpreted in the sense of magnanimity. At the same time, the reciprocal character of the Golden Rule prevents the love command from being played out against justice. Without this boundary, the ‘super-ethical’ demand of love for the enemy would slip into amorality in which justice is negated, because without reciprocity there is no justice. Biblical theology, and theology more generally, is confronted with such tensions in many ways. There are sometimes attempts to avoid these tensions by dissolving one side of the opposing concept. One such attempt is to identify love and mercy as the essence of Christian theology, overcoming law and reciprocal justice. However, such a dissolution is irresponsible not only ethically, but also theologically—as the discussion in a number of the studies collected in the present volume will demonstrate. In the papers presented at the Biblical Ethics section at the SBL Annual Meetings of 2014 and 2015, a selection of which is

INTRODUCTION

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published here, 1 several aspects of these tensions were investigated. The first group deals with the tension between Law and Love, while the second is devoted to issues concerning the tension Justice and Mercy.

LAW AND LOVE The commandment to love the neighbor is itself part of the Torah (Lev 19:34; see also Deut 11:1). In passages such as Matthew 22:39–40 and James 2:8, the commandment to love the neighbor is depicted as a specifically salient part of the Torah which influences and interprets the other commandments. It has a leading role in connection with the other commandments. On the other hand, it is possible to understand Paul as saying that the commandment to love the neighbor relativizes the validity of all the other commandments and even abolishes them by fulfilling them. The one who loves has fulfilled all the other commandments or their intention (Rom 13:8–9; Gal 5:14). At the same time, love is said to surpass the law (1 Cor 13:13). Thus, the commandment to love the neighbor can be a part of the law that stands on equal footing with other commandments (Leviticus), or it can claim a primary position with respect to the other commandments (Matthew and James), or it can be put in opposition to the rest of the law or be seen as surpassing it. It is, however, a matter of dispute whether Romans and Galatians really can be interpreted in the way just described. In any case, the Bible exhibits the following tension: Love as a commandment is a part of the law; at the same time, love can be identified with the law as a whole, or it can be seen as surpassing the law.

JUSTICE AND MERCY Justice implies an order that applies to everyone equally. Everyone can be held responsible to the terms of justice in the same way. In the Bible, people complain when they do not experience justice. The opening study, offered by Zehnder, was not presented at SBL but added later to add a general lexical overview on one of the key terms, ‘love’. 1

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MARKUS ZEHNDER AND PETER WICK

God is praised because of his justice. Sometimes, God demands or executes justice by way of judgment. There is no life in shalom without justice. Shalom describes a state in which things are ‘at peace’. The verb shillem (pi) expresses the bringing about of this state; it means to replace, compensate, and repay. It is part of a state of peace in which everyone has received justice. Mercy, on the other hand, is not part of justice in the strict sense of the term. Mercy cannot be claimed in a judicial sense. One person may experience mercy, another person may not—and yet, this is not unjust. ‘I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious’ (Exod 33:19; Rom 9:15). Mercy is rooted in the free will of God or of human agents, and cannot be imposed through any order in an egalitarian way. Thus, mercy exceeds the order / the bounds of justice. There is an aspect of randomness in mercy. Therefore, mercy can also become partiality (cf. the meanings of -'16