The
fifth commandment (Exodus 20: 12 and Deuteronomy 5:16) is to honor father and
mother, so that their days may be long in the land the Lord is giving them.
The
Torah and the theological history of Israel show that Israel broke this command
as well.
Deuteronomy 21:18-20 (NRSV)
18 If someone has a stubborn
and rebellious son who will not obey his father and mother, who does not heed
them when they discipline him, 19 then his father and his mother shall
take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his town at the gate of
that place. 20 They shall say to the elders of his town, “This son
of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a glutton and a
drunkard.”
It
receives attention in several places.[1] The
theory that the Decalogue arose from clan support has its biggest support
here. Parents are the visible
representation of God for the exerting of God’s authority. Antiquity organized
itself around the extended family. They lived in settled community with their
wives and children. In that setting, one could slight the authority of parents,
especially of the aged ones. Antiquity considered filial responsibilities
important for maintaining social order. The positive formulation encompasses
all the possible filial duties. It refers to reverence and to physical care. The
positive framing of the commandment expands the meaning. It receives a promise.
In Deuteronomy, the promise in this commandment becomes the promise that
follows the obedience of all the commands.
The
powerful story of Absalom in II Samuel 13-19 relates his disobedience to his
father, David. It also shows the inability of David to parent Absalom. It has
terrible ramifications for the kingdom of David.
Jesus
honored his parents. Yet, he also talked of hating parents, leaving them, in
order to follow him in Luke 14:26. He says his family is those who do the will
of God in Luke 8:19-21. In Luke 9:57-62, the rule of God is to have priority
over family relationships. However, in saying this, Jesus was only saying what
his Scripture taught him, that God is the final arbiter of life. Yet, Paul
seems to extend this notion of honoring parents into the Hellenistic social
network of the household. We see this in Colossians 3:18-4:1 and Ephesians
5:21-6:9. We need to remember that in the missionary situation of these first
Christians, they often had to urge people to place priority on the rule of God
rather than their obedience to their family. Sadly, people in our time often
must do so as well. This commandment finds itself relativized, we would say
today, when we give the rule of God priority.
Generally,
however, the honor due to parents is not in conflict with the first commandment
to have no other gods. In fact, this commandment receives its proper place
because of the first commandment.[2] It
can relate to receiving the promise and life promised by God. It can also lead
us to respect elders in general. The Reformation also reflected upon this
commandment as respect for human authority in general.[3]
The
sixth commandment (Exodus 20: 13 and Deuteronomy 5:17) is that they shall not
murder. Stated negatively, the commandment establishes a limit. Do not cross
this line. However, let us consider putting the commandment in the form of the
fifth commandment, had been “Honor life.” The effect is different, for now, it
stimulates some creative thought as to how we will do that in our lives and
culture. It frees us for valuing life. Respect for life is freeing, connecting
us to the living God who values life.
We
must not tire of life. We must battle sickness as a messenger of death. We must
have joy in life, for joy is the simplest form of gratitude. To value life is
to develop a life of character. It suggests the need for the protection of
life. Human life is not absolute. In general, abortion would be wrong, but it
may be allowable in narrow circumstances. Euthanasia would fall under the same
restriction. We have the right to self-defense for the same reason. We ought to
question capital punishment for the same reason. As with the Old Testament, war
is an exception to the command to protect life.
The life God has given is only for God to take away.[4]
In any case, by
the 8th century BC, the verb carried the meaning of intentional killing,
murder, while earlier it could have included unintentional killing. It may
refer to illegal killing inimical to the community. It protected the life of
the Israelite from illegal and impermissible violence. It is formulated in the
most absolute manner to include any possible object, any human being, including
suicide. Clearly, this commandment had its restrictions within the Old
Testament, as God authorized killing in warfare and in many judicial acts of
stoning people to death.
The Hebrew slaves
in Egypt live under a murderous cloud. Moses is already a murderer. Suffering
and death set the people of God free. Following the directive from God, they
practice holy war. No prisoners. No spoils. All must die. The slaves may not
become the masters of others, nor may they grow fat on their bounty. The change
of residency must be clean. Consequently, it is all the more murderous. This
contains an eerie logic that we will never puzzle out.
Old
Testament law made wide provision for the death penalty. Capital punishment
covered such offenses as kidnapping, blasphemy, idolatry, witchcraft, adultery,
rape, incest, bearing false witness in death penalty cases, and cursing or
striking a parent. Capital trials allowed no circumstantial evidence. They
required at least two witnesses who had observed that the crime was
premeditated, was carried out in hate, and involved a deadly weapon. If, after
all this, the criminal was condemned to death by stoning, these same witnesses
were required to cast the first stones.
One can also see
this emphasis of this commandment in other passages.[5] Some
passages include hate in the prohibition against murder.[6] Behind
the prohibition is the sanctity of life.[7]
The
Torah and the theological history of Israel find the breaking of this
commandment in the Tribal Federation period in the startling story of Judges
19-20. It offers an account of the Levite who cut up his concubine and set out
the pieces to the tribes of Israel, bringing about a war with the tribe of
Benjamin that resulted in the death of thousands of Israelites. In the period
sacral kingship, the story of David includes his murder of Uriah, the husband
of the woman with whom he committed adultery, in II Samuel 11-12. Further,
Absalom would murder his half-brothers in II Samuel 13.
Martin
Luther notes that this command does not include either God or government, in
that God has given to government the responsibility for punishing those who do
evil.[8]
The killing this commandment forbids is that of one individual to another. In
reference to government, it has every right to be angry with those who do evil,
even as Jesus forbids us to be angry with another. Since there is so much
unhappiness in the world, however, God has placed this commandment between the
good and the evil. One may allow envy to arise in the heart for the good things
that others possess. The commandment means that we are to do no harm to our
neighbor. Further, this commandment forbids the one who can do something to
give aid and help to another from doing nothing, consistent with Matthew
25:42-43. In particular, we are to do good to our enemies.
John
Calvin says that since the Lord binds the human race together in unity, God has
entrusted the safety of everyone to each other.[9]
God forbids all violence and injustice, and therefore all harm to the neighbor.
God calls us to defend the life of the neighbor, to promote the tranquility of
the neighbor, to be vigilant in warding off harm. Since God can see the heart,
it also forbids to us any murderous intent or desire, as Jesus says in Matthew
5:22 and as I John 3:15 says. We must not violate the image of God, and thus,
the other person is sacred. We are to watch over the preservation of our
neighbor, since we share the same flesh. If we wish adversity upon the
neighbor, we are guilty of murder.
We
find Jesus offering that it is not enough not to murder. The same is true, as
we have seen in the Old Testament, that even forbidding hate was important. One
must deal with the heart, the source of murderous acts. Matthew 5:21-26
contains sayings of Jesus concerning killing. In the format of “holy law,”
Jesus says that they have heard from ancient times that they shall not murder
(the sixth commandment) and that whoever murders is liable for judgment.
However, Jesus says to them several things that will deepen such statements.
First (verse 22), if they are angry (the normal beginning of abuse) with anyone
(brother), they will be liable for judgment. If they insult anyone (the
brother), they will be liable to the council. If they say, “You fool,” they
will be liable for the hell of fire. The emphasis is on the community and the
harm done to it. Other Jewish writings contain similar thoughts.[10] The
opposition that Jesus sets up here creates a sense of newness from the
prevailing sentences of law. In offering such a criticism of the Law, setting
his word in opposition to it, he devalues the Law in favor of the loving
disposition one is to have toward others. Second (verses 23-24), if they make
an offering at the altar in the temple and remember that anyone has something
against them, they are to leave their gift at the altar and reconcile, and then
make their offering. The point moves away from words and toward the positive
act of reconciliation, which involves actual love toward the member of the
community. The one who shows mercy has the right to offer sacrifices. Third
(verses 25-26 from material common between Matthew and Luke), they are to come
terms quickly with their accuser while on the way to court, or the accuser may
hand them over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and they will throw
them into prison. Jesus assumes the cold and merciless quality of human courts.
Do not rely upon them. Settle out of court. Jesus concludes by truly telling
them, they will not get out until they have paid the last penny. Jesus
understood that the dehumanizing act of murder has its roots in the
dehumanizing of another person through our anger. Moreover, not only does anger
dehumanize the other, it dehumanizes us, too. Every time we decide to allow
anger to smolder inside of us, we become less than fully human, less than the
people God created us to be. Instead of merely avoiding murder, we should
embrace reconciliation, which leads to community.
The
seventh commandment (Exodus 20: 14 and Deuteronomy 5:18) is that they shall not
commit adultery. The commandment occurs in the context of a conception of
marriage that was not monogamous. A man was free to have sexual intercourse
with the female slaves of his household. Stated negatively, it establishes a
limit on sexual behavior. It invites us not to cross a certain line. Stated
positively, it suggests living faithfully with your spouse. It suggests that we
do all we can to protect marriage. It suggests the excellence of marriage. It suggests
that we do everything we can to help others live faithfully as well.[11]
Several passages
in the Old Testament relate to this commandment.[12] In
the final edition of the Torah and theological history of Israel, we find
startling examples of adultery.
Genesis 20:1-18 is the story of
Abraham and Sarah in Gerrar. The source is
the E document. Abraham says that Sarah is his sister. King Abimelech took
Sarah. However, God came to the king in a dream and told him he would die, for
he has taken a married woman. The king objects, “Lord, will you destroy an
innocent people?” God responds, “Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity
of your heart; furthermore it was I who kept you from sinning against me. ….
Return the man’s wife; for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you
shall live.” Abraham is to be a blessing to the nations. Yet, he almost brought
death. When the king tells his servants of his dream, they are afraid. The king
then talks with Abraham, “What have you done to us? How have I sinned against
you, that you have brought such great guilt on me and my kingdom?” The defense
by Abraham is that he thought there was no fear of God in this place and that
they would kill him because they desired Sarah. He has told a partial truth,
however, in that she is her half-sister. The king gives him sheep, oxen, and
slaves, as well as his wife, and invites him to settle in his land. The prayer
of Abraham healed Abimelech, wife, and his slaves so that they could have
children. However, we see Abraham humiliated in that a non-Israelite surpasses
him in his respect for God. The excuse of Abraham is weak when compared to the
loyalty of the king. We see Elohim speaking to someone outside the family of
Abraham. The prayer by Abraham is part of the work of a prophet.
The story of Joseph and the attempt
by the queen of the Pharaoh to have sexual intercourse with him in Genesis 39
shows the horror with which J considered adultery.
The horror of adultery comes out
strongly as well in the story of David and Bathsheba. I will discuss this in
more detail under the tenth commandment concerning coveting. In this case, a
highly valued king breaks several commandments. It centers on King David and
his adultery with Bathsheba in II Samuel 11-12. He coveted the wife of his
neighbor, breaking the 10th commandment. This led to his adultery,
which then led to the murder of his neighbor. The point I would make here is
that under sacral kingship, the king was to lead the way in obeying the
covenant. Instead, even King David broke the commandments.
John
Calvin says that God loves chastity and purity, and thus, we need to guard
ourselves against uncleanness. Lust naturally tends toward adultery. God did
not desire us to live a life of solitude. Rather, God gave us a partner in
life. Any mode of cohabitation separate from marriage is something God curses.
God has given the gift of celibacy to a few people, but to most, marriage is
the primary to regulate lustful desire. The Lord affirms the few who are
celibate in Matthew 19:12, but most will receive the gift of marriage. Marriage
does not give the couple to “intemperate and unrestrained indulgence.” They are
to have sobriety toward each other. He quotes Ambrose favorably in saying that
one can commit adultery with his wife. Further, we need to consider that God
has also forbidden fornication. Our minds must not burn with lust. We must not
fill our eyes with corrupting objects. We must not deck our bodies with that
which allure others. We must not fill our tongues with filthy speeches.[13]
In
Canterbury Tales, the priest says
that the commandment concerning adultery comes between the commandments on
murder and theft because adultery is the greatest theft and the greatest
murder, the theft of the body of the spouse and the murder of the one flesh
union of spouses.
Jesus
will refer to this commandment explicitly. While the sexual act of adultery may
apply to many people, it will be a limited number. Jesus seems to broaden the
command to apply to many more.[14] Matthew
5:27-30 are sayings regarding adultery. The new righteousness Jesus is
explaining now touches upon the most personal of relationships, that of
marriage. John 8:1-11 contains the response of Jesus to one caught in the act
of adultery. Interestingly, he rejects the notion that the woman caught in
adultery should receive the biblical penalty of stoning. My point here is that
we can legitimately understand this as an abrogation of the death penalty for
the other Ten Commandments as well. John 4 and the story of the woman at the
well offer another story of Jesus with one who was clearly not sexually pure.
Luke 7:36-50 tells the story of a woman with a bad reputation disturbing a
dinner, at which Jesus offers her forgiveness. In this case, as a sentence of
holy law (verses 27-28 from Matthew), Jesus again says that they have heard it
said they should not commit adultery (the sixth commandment). However, Jesus
says that anyone who looks at a woman to lust has already committed adultery
with her in his heart. Such a statement is consistent with what Jews at the
time taught concerning lust, as we see in the tenth commandment not to covet
the wife of the neighbor. Even the ancient world in general would have agreed.
Lust dehumanizes people into objects that we use for our own pleasure. We might
be able to avoid the physical act of adultery and thus obey the law, but we
forget that the emotional or psychological attachment of lust is just as
destructive. Jesus here calls us not to merely avoid breaking the law but to
avoid breaking the fidelity of marriage that supports community, trust and
love. In an expansion (verses 29-30 from Mark 9:47), Jesus says that if the
right (symbolic of good, precious, and important) eye causes sin, tear it out
and throw it away. It would be better to lose a member of the body that for God
to throw the whole body into hell. If the right hand causes sin, cut it off and
throw it away. It would be better to lose a member than for God to throw the
whole body into hell.
Jesus’ extended
application of the commandment against adultery brings up several major issues.
Notice the overlap between the seventh and eighth commandments and the tenth
commandment. As Jesus observed, desire and acting on desire go hand in hand.
This raises interpretive issues beyond that of the original separate
commandments; but then again, so do most significant biblical texts when we try
to interpret and apply them. The question is how far to go with this. The Ten
Commandments inspire us to go well beyond their original statements, in that we
use them as guiding principles (preferably principled) to use in deciding about
wider behaviors in response to our covenant-making-and-keeping God, all in the
light of Jesus Christ.
The
eighth commandment (Exodus 20: 15 and Deuteronomy 5:19) is that they shall not
steal. Stated negatively, it provides a limit to our behavior. It invites not
to take the property of another. Stated positively, it suggests that we are to
protect the property of another, just as we are to protect the life and spouse
of another. It certainly suggests contentment with what one has while earning
properly what one has. Stealing has the meaning of acquiring wrongfully the
property of the other. One can steal in many ways. One might not give due
attention to one’s work or not provide the good or service one said one would
do.[15]
Other passages of
the Old Testament have a close connection to this commandment.[16] The
Torah and the theological history of Israel present a strong case that Israel
broke this commandment at deep levels. First, the theological history of Israel
shows that the first military defeat of Israel was due to stealing. As the
story of Achan shows (Joshua 7: 1, 10-26), the entire community may suffer for
the sin of one of its members. I will discuss more with the tenth commandment
on coveting.
I Kings 21 include
the story of Ahab coveting the property of his neighbor, bringing false
witnesses against him, and having him killed. Ahab will break commandments
related to coveting, stealing, and murder in this one incident. The similarity
of his sins with that of David is striking, in both directions.
John
Calvin says the point of this commandment is that we must render to all persons
their due. It forbids longing after the property of other people. It also urges
us to preserve honestly our own property. After all, individual possessions are
the result of the will of the Lord, so that no one can pervert his or her means
to bad purposes without committed a fraud on a divine gift. He then considers
differing types of theft, suggesting that people have artfully developed ways
of depriving other people their due. Other types of theft include divulging
secrets, depriving an employer the labor one owes, and an employer who torments
employees. Every person has a calling to fulfill toward God. We obey this
commandment if we are content with our lot and acquire things only by honest
gain. We obey this commandment if we do not long to grow rich by injustice, nor
plunder the goods of the neighbor in order to increase our own goods. In fact,
we need to do what we can to help others preserve their property. We also need
to help those going through difficulties. Citizens are to give their duty to
their rulers and submit to their authority, as rulers have the duty to preserve
public peace, protect good citizens, curb bad citizens, and conduct themselves
in a manner in which God is judge of us all. People need to consider what they
owe to their neighbors and pay what they owe, or they have committed theft.[17]
James may well
offer a Christian commentary upon this commandment.
James 5:1-6
Come now, you rich people, weep and
wail for the miseries that are coming to you. 2 Your riches have
rotted, and your clothes are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have
rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you, and it will eat your flesh
like fire. You have laid up treasure for the last days. 4 Listen!
The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud,
cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of
hosts. 5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you
have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. 6 You have
condemned and murdered the righteous one, who does not resist you.
The ninth
commandment (Exodus 20: 16 and Deuteronomy 5:20) is that they shall not offer a
false witness against the neighbor. Such truth telling in court can be a matter
of life or death. Psalms often has complaints about false witness. It relates to 3rd and 8th. Ancient Israel
attached great value to the testimony of the witness. Note the disastrous
effect of false testimony in the story concerning the vineyard of Naboth in I
Kings 21. Legal proceedings in Israel placed the burden proof upon the accused.
One had to prove innocence in the face of the accusation. In that sense, the
whole world is a courtroom. Thus, stated negatively, it establishes a limit. Stated
positively, it suggests the value of protecting the name or the honor of the
neighbor. God is truth, so speaking truthfully connects us to God. Thus, even
if the neighbor sins and we see it, we have no right to report it to others. We
have no right to slander the reputation of others.
We find the
concern of this commandment in other parts of the Old Testament.[18] In the Torah and the theological
history of Israel, we see that a king disobeyed this commandment. Again, Ahab
is the key in I Kings 21.
Martin
Luther says that the progression of the commandments from protection of body,
spouse, and property continues now to the protection of our name or honor. God
wants the honor of the neighbor protected. The plain meaning is to do so in
court. Everyone is to help the neighbor secure his or her rights. One must
honestly bear witness to the Word of God. Further, God prohibits any manner of
injuring the neighbor with the tongue. He points out that we may see the
neighbor sin, but we have no right to judge the neighbor and report it to
others. One slanders the reputation of others if one knows sin and then
communicates it to others. In his colorful way, Luther refers to persons who
“know a slight offense of another, carry it into every corner, and are
delighted and tickled that they can stir up another's displeasure [baseness],
as swine roll themselves in the dirt and root in it with the snout.” In fact,
we have the responsibility of contradicting a dishonorable report in order to
protect the honor of another person, “for honor and a good name are easily
taken away, but not easily restored.” Rather than spreading idle talk, follow
what Jesus said in Matthew 18:15 and go to the person first. If you do, you
have done a “precious and excellent” thing.[19]
John
Calvin says the point of this commandment is that God, who is truth, hates
falsehood. Therefore, we must cultivate truth toward each other. We must do
nothing in the area of false accusations that injure the honor or fortune of the
neighbor. We must not love speaking evil of others. We need to assist everyone
in asserting the truth and maintaining his or her good name. It does not matter
if we lie in court or lie in common conversation when it comes to obeying this
commandment. However, the third commandment is a prohibition against perjury,
so this commandment focuses upon common conversation. Yet, so many people sin
in this respect. In fact, few people do not have this disease. We take delight
in exposing the faults of others. We have the obligation to protect the honor
of another, so far as truth will permit. We have a duty to protect the good
name of the neighbor. Clearly, if the objective is correcting the neighbor,
then we can engage in conversation. However, such is not the purpose of
judicial accusation or public censure. The commandment also forbids eagerness to
listen to gossip and slander.[20]
Jesus
offered a different perspective on this theme of false witness. Matthew 5:33-37
are sayings around oaths. The source is Matthew but with a relationship with
James 5:12 as well. In the form of holy law, Jesus says that they have heard
from ancient times that they shall not swear falsely (9th
commandment). Rather, they are to carry out the vows they have made to the
Lord. However, in drawing a contrast with his teaching, he says they are not to
swear at all. Do not swear by heaven, for it is throne of God. Do not swear by
the earth, for it is the footstool for God. Do not swear by Jerusalem, for it
is the city of the great King. Do not swear by your head, for they cannot make
one hair white or black. The point is that they are to let their word be yes or
no. They are to be honest and truthful in all they do. Anything more than this
comes from the evil one. Even in the Hellenistic world, the oath was
undignified and contrary to ethical principles. The person should be reliable,
rather than be in need of an oath toward some external authority. Jesus demands
unrestricted truthfulness of the human word. The reliability of the human being
alone is decisive. Interestingly, according to Josephus, the Essenes rejected
oaths so much so that Herod released them from the fealty oath of subjects. In
rabbinic Judaism, the point was to prevent the misuse of the divine name by
false or superfluous oaths. Matthew 23:16-22 may testify to the limited sense
in which this prohibition found interpretation in early Christianity. Paul also
made use of the oath.
The
tenth commandment (Exodus 20: 17 and Deuteronomy 5:21) is that they shall not
covet the house of the neighbor. Stated negatively, it invites us to check our
desire to have that which we have no legitimate to have. This means not to
covet the wife, slave, ox, donkey, or anything that belongs to the neighbor. Thus,
to obey this commandment removes the reason for breaking the previous
commandments. The commandment suggests an emotional element that often leads to
commensurate action. It deals with our hearts. It suggests seizing objects for
oneself. It suggests a wish for the appropriation of the property of another
person for personal use. It suggests lust and inner desire for wealth.[21]
Stated positively, it suggests permeating the heart with love for the neighbor.
If we did, we would have no desire for the neighbor to lose anything. We would
desire what is best for the neighbor. Love does not seek its own enrichment,
but rather, the enrichment of the other.
The
final edition of the Torah and the theological history of Israel offer some
prime examples of coveting.
Genesis
3 is the J story of the entry of sin and death into the world that disrupts the
intimacy humanity had with God and with each other. Sin does not attain by one
event its dominion over the human race. It does so in a sequence that reaches a
first climax with the murder of Abel by his brother Cain. We ought not look
upon Genesis 3 in isolation and derive from it the idea of single fall. We are
to look at the whole process whereby sin increases in the race and God takes
countermeasures against its aggression to preserve the race from the ruinous
consequences of its own acts. This approach is more in keeping with the
biblical text in these stories of the early days of human history. Thus, the
serpent is simply there, a creature that God has made, but is also crafty. The
serpent tempts the woman and denies what God said in terms of dying. We see a
wonderful description of the process of sin, having its origin in the breaking
of the Ten Commandments, especially the tenth commandment that one shall not
covet. She “saw” and had “delight.” She then “desired” wisdom that would come
in disobedience to God, so she took the fruit and gave it to her husband. The
desire oriented to what God forbids means that humanity thinks it has a better
knowledge that will promote life.[22]
We have a graphic example of temptation in Genesis 3. Eve isolates herself from
Adam. While alone, the thought arises to do something God forbade, namely,
eating fruit from one particular tree. It bothers us that the command of God
concerns such an important think as fruit. Yet, often we reveal our character
in small events. An angry word, a selfish act, lustful meditations,
inappropriate consumption of food and expenditure of wealth, and so on, can
reveal who we are and what we value. In the small act of disobedience, Eve
discovered who she was. She wanted to lead her life independent of God. She
also wanted to bring Adam into her orbit. Then, they broke the familiar
relationship they had with God in Eden by hiding from God. The secretive nature
of sinful behavior becomes clear. Yet, even though Adam and Eve sinned
together, the sin disrupts their relationship with each other. The experience
of authenticity they had in Eden with God, with each other, and with nature,
remains a hope, but is not human life.
As the story of
Achan shows (Joshua 7: 1, 10-26), the entire community may suffer for the sin
of one of its members. The story shows the breaking of several of the Ten
Commandments, mostly the tenth commandment of coveting and the eighth
commandment for stealing. The story is one of ritual purification by removing
the guilty party. When one removes the person, one removes the guilt. The story
begins by saying that the Israelites broke faith concerning the devoted things.
They did so in the person of Achan, from the tribe of Judah. He took some
devoted things. The anger of the Lord, the only time mentioned in Joshua,
burned against the Israelites. The Lord tells Joshua to stand up. The Lord
wonders why Joshua has fallen on his face. The Lord says that Israel has
sinned. They have transgressed any the covenant the Lord imposed on them. They
have taken some of the devoted things. They have stolen. They have acted
deceitfully. They have put them among their belongings. For that reason, the
Israelites are unable to stand before their enemies. They turn their backs to
their enemies because they have become a thing devoted for destruction
themselves. The Lord will be with Joshua no more, unless Joshua destroys the
devoted things among them. Such a statement is strong, considering earlier
promises to be with Joshua. He is to proceed to sanctify the people. If they do
not, they will be unable to stand before their enemies. The point here is that
the entire community may suffer for the sin of one of its members. The punishment
of Achan is a ritual purification, by removing the guilty party Joshua removes
the guilt. Achan confess that it the accusation is true. He is the one who has
sinned against the Lord. What he did was that he saw the spoil, a beautiful
mantle from Shinar, and 200 shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing 50
shekels, and then he coveted them and took them. We can see here that the
coveting led to the action of stealing.
Further, in the
period sacral kingship, we find coveting at two significant levels. In King
David, we find the coveting of the wife of the neighbor. II Samuel 11:1-12:15a
is the story of the adultery of David with Bathsheba. Of course, here is an
important example of the breaking of the Ten Commandments. David, the servant
of the Lord, the anointed of the Lord, breaks the 10th, 7th,
and 6th commandments in succession. The way the narrator tells the
story, one could interpret that David forced himself on her. One ought not to
let David off the hook in any way. He also becomes complicit in the killing of
her husband, Uriah, thereby breaking yet another commandment. In terms of the
insight of the story regarding coveting and adultery, he saw her beauty, which
led to the action of inquiry and the action of sexual relations. The result is
that she is pregnant. He tries to cover it up by having her husband have sex
with her, but he is a military man and refuses to enjoy sex while his fellow
soldiers are in battle. David then develops a plan that will result in the
death of Uriah. David then marries Bathsheba. Yet, “the thing that David had
done displease the Lord, and the Lord set Nathan to David.” David was angry at
the parable Nathan tells of a rich man who stole the dearest lamb of a poor man
– until Nathan pointed to David as the culprit. To his credit, David confesses
his sin. One could argue that in the background of this story is the luxury to
which David is now accustomed. While his soldiers are fighting, David is living
a slothful life that leads to these terrible actions that break a covenant with
God and the people of God.
In King Ahab, we
find the coveting of the property of the neighbor. I Kings 21:1-20, 23-24 has the
story of Ahab of Israel and the vineyard of a subject, Naboth of Jezreel. The
story relates the transgression by King Ahab of the Shechemite Twelve Commandments[23]
and the Ten Commandments. The story shows the breaking of the
eighth commandment on stealing, the ninth commandment on false witness, the
tenth commandment on coveting, and the sixth commandment on murder. Such
breaking of the covenant by the king will justify judgment on the kings. While
Ahab wants the vineyard as a vegetable garden, Naboth responds that “The Lord
forbid that I should give you my ancestral inheritance.” Ahab is resentful and
would not eat. His wife, Jezebel, noticed his depression. When she learns why,
she chides him that he governs Israel, implying that he can take what he wants.
She promises that she will give the vineyard to him. She writes letters to the
nobles of the area who would bring false testimony against him at a public
feast. The accusation was that he “cursed God and the king.” They stoned him to
death. The king goes to take possession of the vineyard. However, “the word of
the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite.” He is to meet with the king. He is to
identify the sin of the king and pronounce judgment, “In the place where dogs
licked up the blood of Naboth, dogs will also lick up your blood.” The response
of Ahab to Elijah was, “Have you found me, O my enemy?” Elijah responds that
the king has sold himself “to do what is evil in the sight of the Lord. He had
a further judgment of Jezebel, that “the dogs shall eat Jezebel within the
bounds of Jezreel.” The story shows the resistance the prophetic community gave
to the movement toward syncretism between the worship of Yahweh and the worship
of Baal. In this case, Jezebel was a worshipper of Baal in the traditions of
Canaan. The point here is that the king remains under the covenant that Yahweh
had with Israel. It was the practice of the city-states in Canaan that the king
had arbitrary rights and privileges. The covenant with Yahweh required respect
for the person, rights, and property of the people.
John
Calvin says that the Lord wants the soul pervaded with love, and thus, we must
banish from our minds anything of a perverse nature. We must not put into our
minds anything that tends toward the neighbor losing anything. We need to
desire what is best for our neighbor. Coveting can be as simple as having the
mind tickled to desire what the neighbor has. This commandment deals with the
source of the previous commandments concerning killing, stealing, false
witness, and adultery. The character of God is righteous, and thus, the goal of
the commandments is a righteous people. We are to love God with the whole
heart, mind, soul, and strength. "The end of the commandment is charity
out of a pure heart, and a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned," (1
Tim. 1:5). Jesus said the weightier matters of the Law are justice, mercy, and
faith. Love fulfills the Law, love to God fulfilling the first table of the
commandments and love to neighbor fulfilling the second table. The observance
of the commandments consists in the love of God and our neighbor. One leads the
best and holiest life who refuses to live only for oneself. I Corinthians 13,
especially in the statement that love does not seek its own, shows how we are
to direct love away from self. We naturally show love to self, but we need to
re-direct our love to others. As the parable of the Good Samaritan shows, the
term “neighbor” concerns the stranger. This type of love embraces humanity,
regardless of other distinctions we make. The fundamental principle is simple.
Regardless of who the person is, God calls us to love the person, even as God
desires us to love God. Calvin also takes the occasion to argue against the
notion of venial and mortal sin, since all sin is mortal, because it consists
in rebellion against the will of God. Since are venial because people obtain mercy
through the mercy of God.[24]
Concluding remarks
I
do not want to lose the point of these reflections. The Ten Commandments are a
good way to read a large portion of the Old Testament. They help us understand
the Torah and the theological history of Israel we find in Joshua, Samuel, and
Kings. The central stories illustrate ways in which Israel was not faithful to
the covenant the Lord made with them. When scholars break down the various
levels of the Old Testament, whether with J (900s), E (800s), or the history
itself (600s), we find the Ten Commandments a helpful interpretive tool. Israel
broke the covenant in significant ways. The prophets themselves continually
called the people and its kings back to this covenant. This story, which is not
just history in the modern sense, but also a theological history, accomplishes
three things. The first is that in exile, Jewish scholars conclude that they
are to people of the Torah, as symbolized dramatically in the Ten Commandments.
The Torah would become the way they identify themselves as the people of God.
The second is that the Torah and the history demonstrate that God was just in
bringing judgment upon Israel. God took away what God had promised – land,
city, temple, and Davidic king. Third, we learn in the post-exilic period that
their learning from all of this was that they were to restore to themselves the
land, the city, the Temple, and a king. They learned quickly that a Davidic
king would not be a possibility. However, they did not get their city back, and
would build a wall around the city. They rebuilt the Temple. Their learning
from the judgment of exile was that they needed an increasingly strict
interpretation of Torah and obey it.
All
of this will set up two things important for the New Testament. First, one can
see that Jesus and Paul will run up against the Torah as interpreted in the
first century Judaism. The New Testament is suggesting that the Jewish people
of the exile, while learning some important things about themselves and God,
made a mistake in focusing so much on the minute details of the Law. One could
say that the way the Law became a hedge around the Jewish people brought shame
to the name of the Lord among the nations. Thus, second, we see the New
Testament embarking upon re-interpretation of the Old Testament. For Jesus, the
Torah receives interpretation through the lens of the two great commandments,
to love God with all the heart, and to love the neighbor as oneself. For Paul,
what it will mean is that salvation is now by the grace of God shown in Christ,
and by turning to that act of God by faith in what God has done in Christ, and
therefore, significantly, apart from the Law. As we have seen, Jesus is already
re-interpreting the Ten Commandments. This will lead to the New Testament
re-thinking the entire Old Testament. It will do so by looking again at
significant passages like Psalm 2, 22, and 118, as well as Isaiah 53. They will
interpret the life of Jesus as a fulfillment in the sense that he is the Son
who is the suffering servant of the Lord. They will interpret the mission of
Israel to be a light to the nations as impossible as long as the Law is the
center. The Law could only separate Israel from Gentiles. In this separation,
Israel did not fulfill its God-giving mission to the nations. Instead, God set
up a new covenant in Jesus Christ, a covenant that opens up the God of Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, and the prophets to the nations.
All
of this has significant implications for scriptural interpretation and
authority. What I would emphasize is that the New Testament opens the door for
a conversation about what the people of God are to look like today. For
example, when Jesus said that his disciples are to love their enemies, it might
mean that the imprecatory Psalms that call for curses upon enemies might not be
appropriate upon their lips, at least as written. It certainly means that the
death penalty for disobedience to the covenant is not binding on the people of
God today (John 8:1-11). The food limitations on the Jewish people are no
longer binding upon the people of God. The death of Christ means that the one
sacrifice necessary is one God has made, as Father and Son worked together for
the one offering necessary for a sinful humanity. The resurrection of Jesus
means many things for Christians, but one thing it means is that his approach
to the Old Testament finds its justification in God raising him from the dead.
The judgment of him by Jewish leaders and Roman alike is not the truth
concerning him. Such a reality also means looking upon the appearance of the
angel of the Lord in the Old Testament in a different way, as if pre-figuring
the appearance of Jesus as the Son.
My
suggestion is that the New Testament already does a critical reading of the
Old. We need to read the New Testament carefully to see its use of the Old
Testament. This will also keep us away from purely subjective judgments
concerning passages that we simply do not like. Rather, we will have a solid basis
for making such judgments, not so much in our preferences, but grounded in a
reading of the Old Testament through the lens of the New.
[1]
Exodus 21:15 (NRSV)
15 Whoever strikes father or mother shall
be put to death.
Exodus 21:17 (NRSV)
17 Whoever curses father or mother shall be
put to death.
Leviticus 20:9 (NRSV)
9 All who curse father or mother shall be
put to death; having cursed father or mother, their blood is upon them.
Leviticus 19:3 (NRSV)
3 You shall each revere your mother and
father, and you shall keep my Sabbaths: I am the Lord your God.
[2]
Barth, Church Dogmatics I.2 [20.2]
585.
[3]
Barth Church Dogmatics III.4 [54.2]
242-3.
[4]
Barth will discuss the commandment in his reflections on theological ethics. In
Volume III.4 [55] he discusses, in the context of his ethics connected to his
doctrine of creation.
[5]
Exodus 21:12 (NRSV)
12 Whoever strikes a person mortally shall
be put to death.
Leviticus 24:17 (NRSV)
17 Anyone who kills a human being shall be
put to death.
Deuteronomy 27:24 (NRSV)
24 “Cursed be anyone who strikes down a
neighbor in secret.” All the people shall say, “Amen!”
[6]
Leviticus 19:17-18 (NRSV)
17 You shall not hate in your heart anyone
of your kin; you shall reprove your neighbor, or you will incur guilt yourself.
18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your
people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.
Numbers 35:30-34 (NRSV)
30 If anyone kills another, the murderer
shall be put to death on the evidence of witnesses; but no one shall be put to
death on the testimony of a single witness. 31 Moreover you shall
accept no ransom for the life of a murderer who is subject to the death
penalty; a murderer must be put to death. 32 Nor shall you accept
ransom for one who has fled to a city of refuge, enabling the fugitive to
return to live in the land before the death of the high priest. 33 You
shall not pollute the land in which you live; for blood pollutes the land, and
no expiation can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed in it, except
by the blood of the one who shed it. 34 You shall not defile the
land in which you live, in which I also dwell; for I the Lord dwell among the
Israelites.
Deuteronomy 19:11-13 (NRSV)
11 But if someone at enmity with another
lies in wait and attacks and takes the life of that person, and flees into one
of these cities, 12 then the elders of the killer’s city shall send
to have the culprit taken from there and handed over to the avenger of blood to
be put to death. 13 Show no pity; you shall purge the guilt of
innocent blood from Israel, so that it may go well with you.
[7]
Genesis 9:6 (NRSV)
6 Whoever sheds the blood of a human,
by a human shall that person’s blood be shed;
for in his own image
God made humankind.
[8]
Martin Luther, The Larger Catechism,
179-198.
[9]
John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian
Religion, Book Two, Chapter 8, sections 39-40.
[10]
Sirach 34:21-22
21 If one sacrifices ill-gotten goods, the offering is
blemished; 22 the gifts of the lawless are not acceptable.
II Enoch 44:2-3
And whoever insults a person’s face, insults the face
of a king, and treats the face of the Lord with repugnance. He who treats with
contempt the face of any person treats the face of the Lord with contempt. He
who expresses anger to any person without provocation will reap anger in the
great judgment. He who spits on any person’s face, insultingly, will reap the
same at the Lord’s great judgment.
[11]
Martin Luther, The Larger Catechism,
199-221. Martin Luther says that
we are to live lives of chastity and do all we can to help others live in that
way as well. The aim is to protect marriage, providing a hedge of protection
around it, even as that of honoring parents does so as well. Married life is
excellent life and a matter of divine seriousness. He rejects the elevation of
celibacy for this reason.
[12]
Leviticus 18:20 (NRSV)
20 You shall not have sexual relations with
your kinsman’s wife, and defile yourself with her.
Leviticus 20:10 (NRSV)
10 If a man commits adultery with the wife
of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death.
Deuteronomy 22:22 (NRSV)
22 If a man is caught lying with the wife
of another man, both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman as well
as the woman. So you shall purge the evil from Israel.
Numbers 5:11-30 (NRSV)
11 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 12
Speak to the Israelites and say to them: If any man’s wife goes astray
and is unfaithful to him, 13 if a man has had intercourse with her
but it is hidden from her husband, so that she is undetected though she has
defiled herself, and there is no witness against her since she was not caught
in the act; 14 if a spirit of jealousy comes on him, and he is
jealous of his wife who has defiled herself; or if a spirit of jealousy comes
on him, and he is jealous of his wife, though she has not defiled herself; 15
then the man shall bring his wife to the priest. And he shall bring the
offering required for her, one-tenth of an ephah of barley flour. He shall pour
no oil on it and put no frankincense on it, for it is a grain offering of
jealousy, a grain offering of remembrance, bringing iniquity to remembrance.
16 Then the priest shall bring her near,
and set her before the Lord; 17 the priest shall take holy water in
an earthen vessel, and take some of the dust that is on the floor of the
tabernacle and put it into the water. 18 The priest shall set the
woman before the Lord, dishevel the woman’s hair, and place in her hands the
grain offering of remembrance, which is the grain offering of jealousy. In his
own hand the priest shall have the water of bitterness that brings the curse. 19
Then the priest shall make her take an oath, saying, “If no man has lain
with you, if you have not turned aside to uncleanness while under your
husband’s authority, be immune to this water of bitterness that brings the
curse. 20 But if you have gone astray while under your husband’s
authority, if you have defiled yourself and some man other than your husband
has had intercourse with you,” 21 —let the priest make the woman
take the oath of the curse and say to the woman—“the Lord make you an
execration and an oath among your people, when the Lord makes your uterus drop,
your womb discharge; 22 now may this water that brings the curse
enter your bowels and make your womb discharge, your uterus drop!” And the
woman shall say, “Amen. Amen.”
23 Then the priest shall put these curses
in writing, and wash them off into the water of bitterness. 24 He
shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that brings the curse, and
the water that brings the curse shall enter her and cause bitter pain. 25 The
priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy out of the woman’s hand, and
shall elevate the grain offering before the Lord and bring it to the altar; 26
and the priest shall take a handful of the grain offering, as its
memorial portion, and turn it into smoke on the altar, and afterward shall make
the woman drink the water. 27 When he has made her drink the water,
then, if she has defiled herself and has been unfaithful to her husband, the
water that brings the curse shall enter into her and cause bitter pain, and her
womb shall discharge, her uterus drop, and the woman shall become an execration
among her people. 28 But if the woman has not defiled herself and is
clean, then she shall be immune and be able to conceive children.
29 This is the law in cases of jealousy,
when a wife, while under her husband’s authority, goes astray and defiles
herself, 30 or when a spirit of jealousy comes on a man and he is
jealous of his wife; then he shall set the woman before the Lord, and the
priest shall apply this entire law to her.
Jeremiah 29:23 (NRSV)
23 because they have perpetrated outrage in
Israel and have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and have spoken
in my name lying words that I did not command them; I am the one who knows and
bears witness, says the Lord.
Ezekiel 16:32 (NRSV)
32 Adulterous wife, who receives strangers
instead of her husband!
Hosea 3:1 (NRSV)
The Lord said
to me again, “Go, love a woman who has a lover and is an adulteress, just as
the Lord loves the people of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love
raisin cakes.”
Hosea 4:13 (NRSV)
13 They sacrifice on the tops of the
mountains,
and make offerings upon the hills,
under oak, poplar, and terebinth,
because their shade is good.
Therefore your daughters play the whore,
and your daughters-in-law commit adultery.
Proverbs 6:32 (NRSV)
32 But he who commits adultery has no
sense;
he who does it destroys himself.
[13]
John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian
Religion, Book Two, Chapter 8, section 41-44.
[14]
Barth, Church Dogmatics III.4 [54.1]
232.
[15]
Martin Luther, The Larger Catechism,
222-253. Martin Luther says that
just as God protected the person and the spouse in the previous two
commandments, God now protects personal property. To steal is to acquire wrongfully the property
of the neighbor. One can steal from one’s employer by not working properly. One
can steal from customers by not providing the good or service that one
indicated. The world is full of thieves. We readily accuse those who directly take
property of stealing, yet, people steal all the time who also receive honor in
society. Thieves can sit in luxurious chairs just as easily as break into the
home of someone. We are not to do injury to the neighbor. We are also not to do
advance and improve the possessions of the neighbor and we are to help the
neighbor who is poor.
[16]
Exodus 21:16 (NRSV)
16
Whoever kidnaps a
person, whether that person has been sold or is still held in possession, shall
be put to death.
Deuteronomy
24:7 (NRSV)
7 If someone is caught kidnaping another
Israelite, enslaving or selling the Israelite, then that kidnaper shall die. So
you shall purge the evil from your midst.
Exodus
22:1-13 (NRSV)
When
someone steals an ox or a sheep, and slaughters it or sells it, the thief shall
pay five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep. The thief shall make
restitution, but if unable to do so, shall be sold for the theft.
2 If a thief is found breaking in, and
is beaten to death, no bloodguilt is incurred; 3 but if it happens
after sunrise, bloodguilt is incurred. 4 When the animal, whether ox
or donkey or sheep, is found alive in the thief’s possession, the thief shall
pay double.
5 When someone causes a field or
vineyard to be grazed over, or lets livestock loose to graze in someone else’s
field, restitution shall be made from the best in the owner’s field or
vineyard.
6 When fire breaks out and catches in
thorns so that the stacked grain or the standing grain or the field is
consumed, the one who started the fire shall make full restitution.
7 When someone delivers to a neighbor
money or goods for safekeeping, and they are stolen from the neighbor’s house,
then the thief, if caught, shall pay double. 8 If the thief is not
caught, the owner of the house shall be brought before God, to determine
whether or not the owner had laid hands on the neighbor’s goods.
9 In any case of disputed ownership
involving ox, donkey, sheep, clothing, or any other loss, of which one party
says, “This is mine,” the case of both parties shall come before God; the one
whom God condemns shall pay double to the other.
10 When someone delivers to another a
donkey, ox, sheep, or any other animal for safekeeping, and it dies or is
injured or is carried off, without anyone seeing it, 11 an oath
before the Lord shall decide between the two of them that the one has not laid
hands on the property of the other; the owner shall accept the oath, and no
restitution shall be made. 12 But if it was stolen, restitution
shall be made to its owner. 13 If it was mangled by beasts, let it
be brought as evidence; restitution shall not be made for the mangled remains.
[17]
John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian
Religion, Book Two, Chapter 8, section 45-46.
[18]
Exodus 23:1 (NRSV)
You shall not spread a false report. You shall
not join hands with the wicked to act as a malicious witness.
Deuteronomy
19:16-19 (NRSV)
16
If a malicious
witness comes forward to accuse someone of wrongdoing, 17 then both
parties to the dispute shall appear before the Lord, before the priests and the
judges who are in office in those days, 18 and the judges shall make
a thorough inquiry. If the witness is a false witness, having testified falsely
against another, 19 then you shall do to the false witness just as
the false witness had meant to do to the other. So you shall purge the evil
from your midst.
Leviticus
19:16 (NRSV)
You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not profit by the blood of your neighbor: I am the Lord.
You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not profit by the blood of your neighbor: I am the Lord.
Hosea
4:2 (NRSV)
Swearing, lying, and murder, and stealing and adultery break out; bloodshed follows bloodshed.
Swearing, lying, and murder, and stealing and adultery break out; bloodshed follows bloodshed.
Jeremiah 7:9 (NRSV)
Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known,
Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known,
[19]
Martin Luther, The Larger Catechism,
254-290.
[20]
John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian
Religion, Book Two, Chapter 8, 47-48.
[21]
Martin Luther, The Larger Catechism,
292- Martin Luther notes that we
have gotten quite good at concealing the rascal side of our nature, in that
much of the hidden assumption of our behavior is that no one has any right to
owning more than we own. We see coveting as people wrangle over estates. The
importance of this commandment is that it deals with the heart, removing the
reason for the breaking of the previous commandments.
[22]
Pannenberg, Systematic Theology, Volume
II, 171, 230.
[23]
17 “Cursed be anyone who moves a
neighbor’s boundary marker.” All the people shall say, “Amen!”
24
“Cursed be anyone
who strikes down a neighbor in secret.” All the people shall say, “Amen!”
– Deuteronomy 27
[24]
John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian
Religion, Book Two, Chapter 8, section 49-59.
