The Bible as Literature
The Ephesus School
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Why is There Violence in Deuteronomy?
Why is there violence in the Bible? Why did the authors of Deuteronomy present parables of genocide? Why did the gospel writers posit a story about tribal, religious, and political betrayals, acts of treason, and violent acts by the hand of God? Why do both Testaments deal with war, cruelty, violence, and the threat of God's wrath? The New Testament is not new in its content. It is the same old content directed at a new audience. The Bible is not a bunch of broken fragments from different writers patched together arbitrarily. This is a boring orientalist theory invented by German colonial scholars that nobody who knows what they are talking about takes seriously anymore. J,E,D,P,Q. The last one is my favorite. If you can't find the source, there must be an all-powerful imaginary source called “Q.” It was such an excellent idea that Gene Roddenberry named an entire race of fictional narcissistic deities “Q.” Good job, biblical scholarship! You're so “mystical.” For heaven's sake, pick up a copy of Tarazi and catch up. As inconvenient as it is for Westernized (Hellenized) Christians, Paul's teaching of grace—his repurposing of Roman gratia in submission to the teaching of the Cross—was a reapplication of Deuteronomy's literary wrath against Israel's sense of self-entitlement and self-importance. A redirection of God's judgment against the latest monsters to invade and occupy Mesopotamia. Deuteronomy was something like a “directed conversation” held indirectly with all parties in which God himself warns everyone, beginning with Israel: “The land belongs to me. It put you in, and I can talk you out. ”The New Testament repeats this warning to a new audience: “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.” (Deuteronomy 21:22-23; Galatians 3:13) This verse or “sign” is the novelty of the prophetic self-destruction of the Temple and of the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, and its sign is clear: the Emperor has no clothes. I wish Congress understood Deuteronomy. But how could they? Even Western scholars, let alone the clergy, don’t get it. “Yet to this day the Lord has not given you a heart to know, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear.” (Deuteronomy 29:4)Remember, the writers of the Torah, who wrote under the pen name “Moses,” were something akin to disillusioned and disaffected State Department employees. So why did Scripture deal with violence head-on, placing all violence in the hands of the unseen and indepictable God? Let me count the ways for you. For all of you “evolved” and “enlightened” Westerners. The following are notable genocides and massacres committed by invaders against occupied populations, starting from the Mesopotamian era through the Greek and Roman periods. Conquest of Sumerian City-States by Sargon of Akkad (2334–2279 BC)Gutian Invasion and Destruction of Akkad (2150 BC)Destruction of Ur by the Elamites and Amorites (2004 BC)Destruction of Mari by Hammurabi (1761 BC)Destruction of Babylon by the Hittites (1595 BC)Elamite Conquest of Babylon (1155 BC)Assyrian Destruction of Susa (647 BC)Destruction of Babylon by Assyrians (689 BC)Persian Conquest of Elam (540 BC)Destruction of Thebes (335 BC)Siege of Tyre (332 BC)Destruction of Carthage (146 BC)Massacre of the Lusitanians (150 BC)Gallic Wars (58–50 BC)If you want to get a sense of the cruelty and horror of each of these events, read Deuteronomy! “NOTHING CHANGES UNDER THE SUN.” 🍉 This week, I discuss Luke 6:38.Show Notes The triliteral root for the Hebrew word מִדָּה (middah) is מ-ד-ד (mem-dalet-dalet), which generally relates to the concept of measuring or measuring out. It corresponds to μέτρον in Luke 6:38. Its various uses can function as measures, portions, or the act of measuring something. The corresponding root in Arabic is م-د-د (mīm-dāl-dāl). This root generally relates to extension, lengthening, or spreading. Words derived from this function can include مدّ (madda),
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