"Sound Doctrine," "Pattern," "Timothy:" Reflections on Restoration Hermeneutics

From time to time I write a blog post in response to a request, that is the origin of this post. Sometime back a friend, a brother in Christ, and fellow preacher asked me to write about "sound doctrine" and "the pattern." I have thought long and hard about this and have written various other pieces and I encourage the curious to check them out:

Quest for THE Pattern

Wal-Mart, Dresses and Patterns

So knowing full well that many will totally disagree with what I am about to write I offer these thoughts on "Sound Doctrine," "Patternism," and Timothy. I ask that you read carefully and prayerfully ... and if you disagree let me know ... after you have read it AGAIN to make sure I am really wrong.

Introductory Matters: Conundrums and Ironies

One of the great strengths of the Churches of Christ has been our commitment to be a "people of the book." It is a commitment that I am personally at peace with and give my life and heart too without reservation. We, "our people," have held tightly onto the belief in the inspiration and authority of the Scriptures as the Word of God. This quality has become a trademark of "our" identity. We have consistently called upon others to come and join us "on Bible ground" and I am happy to continue to do so. Sometimes we even use lingo that says "The Bible is our Creed" or more likely "the New Testament is our creed." While I do not like that language I understand the sentiment. Christ is our Creed ... but more on that as we reflect ...

Yet by being a "Back to the Bible" movement that focuses so intensely on the Scriptures (even if uneveningly in practice) it is possible that the Bible has displaced the true object of our faith. Although our motives have been pure, and holy, we may have forgotten the biblical truth(!!) that the Bible is NOT an end to itself. The Bible is a MEANS of grace (i.e. can I say "sacrament") to THE end ... the end being Jesus the Christ (Jn 5.39f). This does not diminish the importance of the Bible. It enhances it. We really need to think through these challenging words of N. T. Wright as he reminds us that all authority is actually quite personal and en-fleshed in Jesus ...

"The risen Jesus, at the end of Matthew's gospel, does not say 'All authority in heaven and on earth is given to the books you are all going to write,' but 'All authority in heaven and on earth is given to me." This ought to tell us, precisely if we are taking the Bible itself seriously as we should, that we need to think carefully what it might mean to think that the authority of Jesus is somehow exercised through the Bible. What would that look like in practice? In particular, what happens when we factor in Jesus own redefinition of what 'authority' itself might mean?" [1]

Most of us would deny seeing the Bible as an end to itself but our language and practice at least reveal that often we are not clear as we ought to be. The current, ever present, debate over "patternism" in our fellowship is, I believe, a case that proves the point. Roy Deaver, for instance, wrote "the divine rule-book by which he [God] seeks to govern man is the New Testament of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The New Testament is the pattern." Deaver goes on to say "There are certain (perhaps "uncertain" would be a better word) brethren among us who very definitely and vehemently REJECT the idea that the New Testament is our PATTERN" [2].

A fairly recent tome, Behold the Pattern, defends the notion of the New Testament being the perfect pattern for the church in name, belief, form and frequency of worship, organization, mission, structure, etc. Goebel Music, the author, cites as his proof the many times the NT uses the Greek word tupos.[3] This book is seriously, fundamentally, flawed by simply assuming the conclusion it seeks to prove. For example that that there appears a nail "pattern" (tupos) in the hand of Jesus hardly proves that a series of 27 books called the New Testament is the pattern.

J. D. Thomas in his Heaven's Window, though far more restrained and gracious than Music, assumes his conclusion as well. For example Thomas quotes Romans 6.17 "But thanks be to God that you, having once been slaves to sin, have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted." Our word "tupon" is rendered "form" here. From this text Thomas concludes "the Bible does present pattern requirements"[4]. Thomas, earlier in responding to an objection to "patternism" that humanity's salvation cannot rest upon human deductions and logic. He says, "correct, salvation is not a reward for cleverness." He then moves on to say, "the common man can learn from the Bible himself how to become a child of God and live a godly and acceptable life ..."[5]. This is, in my opinion, simply evasion. Few folks mean, in our contemporary setting, by the word "pattern "simply becoming a Christian and living a godly life!" It is, in fact, a far cry to say that ordinary people can read the Bible and come to faith in Jesus and that same ordinary person discern all the dotted "i's" and crossed "t's" of the "pattern of ecclesiology" (which is exactly what is meant by "pattern" by these brothers) nor does it follow that because the Bible contains "pattern" requirements to saying the NT is itself the pattern.

One of the major conundrums of the "inductive" approach to Scripture is the illusion of objectivity. Many historians, not to mention biblical scholars, have noticed this great irony - it is greatly subjective while pretending to be objective. Richard Lints notes,

"the inductive Bible study approach may encourage individuals to read the Bible as they never have before, but it will also encourage them to read the text according to their own subjective interests."

He goes on to note that when readers reject (sometimes outright!) the aid of interpreters throughout Christian history, or biblical commentaries or other scholarly sources "we have not succeeded in returning to the primitive gospel; we have simply managed to plunge ourselves back to the biases of our own individual situations." [6] This can be seen in the controversy over patternism.

I hope to examine one widely quoted text in the "sound doctrine" and "patternism" debate that the New Testament is itself the pattern. Second Timothy 1.13 reads, in part, "follow the pattern of sound/healthy teaching/doctrine" ... this is taken as proof positive of the point at issue.[7] The question is typically framed in the form of this question: "Is the New Testament the Pattern?" Perhaps we should re-frame this to What is the pattern? Does the Bible actually point to itself as the pattern or does it testify to something else??

Pattern of Sound Words

What are traditionally called the Pastoral Epistles, 1-2 Timothy & Titus, figure prominently in discussion of church order and patternsim. The fact that these short books are even called "Pastorals" reflects a higher critical Protestant tradition that these books testify to an early form of "Catholicism" (i.e. patternism) in regard to church structure. In fact many liberal Protestant scholars reject Pauline authorship because of this notion of early Catholicism they believe they see (there are other reasons but this is a big one). The church manual theory makes it too late to come from Paul.

Thankfully more recent scholarship has stressed the occasional nature of the "Pastorals." They were not written, I believe, to be a "Roberts Rules of How to Do Church" but to combat real live false teachers in Ephesus (1-2 Timothy) and get Titus on with his job (Titus) [8]. The "Robert's Rules" approach has given only lip service to two iron clad rules of reading the Bible: Context and Context (historical and literary)!. These works are occasional documents ... they address specific and concrete situations in the life of Paul, the life of Timothy and the life of the Ephesian church. Paul, if we take the letter (as a letter) seriously states exactly why he left Timothy in Ephesus, "to command certain men not to teach false doctrines" (1 Tim 1.3). Without discussing the nature of that teaching at the moment but recognizing the danger of the false teachers the so called "Catholic" (especially in the pejorative critical use of that term) nature of these epistles is greatly diminished. Timothy is to deal with the false teachers that are tearing this congregation literally apart by upholding the "pattern of sound teaching." That is the pattern of teaching that promotes the well being and health of the disciples within it ... as we shall see.

The word translated "pattern" in this text is hypotyposis and means something like example, standard, pattern, paradigm or the like [9]. This "pattern, paradigm, example" is something Timothy possesses and Paul calls it the "model/example/paradigm of healthy/sound teaching." We can get a firmer grasp of what Paul means by this unique expression by looking at the context and the "Pastorals" themselves.

From the opening line of "First Timothy" Paul's "logic" seems to be heading to a crescendo of for intense focus on God's saving work for creation through the work of Jesus the Christ. Paul gives Timothy a "trustworthy saying."

"Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners-of whom I am worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an EXAMPLE for those who would believe and have eternal life" (1.15-16, NIV)

The word rendered "example" in the NIV is hypotyposis, the exact word translated "pattern" in 2 Tim 1.13 ... these, by the way, are the only two occurrences of that exact word in the New Testament. Two things emerge from the immediate context. First, Paul's former life is described in ways that are remarkably similar to the descriptions throughout 1 & 2 Timothy to the false teachers ... these descriptions are behavioral (persecutor and violent man) and his misunderstanding/misuse of Scripture (blasphemer and ignorant). The purveyors of unhealthy teaching (false doctrine!) are men that "want to be teachers" but do not understand (1.7). Or as the NIV renders "they want to be teachers of the law but they do not know what they are talking about" This is followed by a series of community destroying behaviors based on the second half of the Decalogue (1.8-11). It is here that Paul explicitly defines "sound doctrine" in terms of ethics ... NOT PROPOSITIONAL STATEMENTS (v.10, 'and for whatever else is contrary to sound/healthy teaching/doctrine") The second thing crystal clear from the context is that God has taken Paul (the proto-typical false teacher zealot who violently misused the Bible!) and made him the paradigm, indeed the pattern(!!) of the saved sinner to not only Timothy but all the saints in Ephesus.[10] Paul is not the pattern of how to "do church" per se, but of the gospel of grace resulting in one transformed into a "new creation." From this context it becomes clear that the high sounding phrase "sound doctrine" means teaching that results in spiritually healthy followers of the Messiah who live in harmony within the community of God.

An Even Closer Look

It has long been recognized the interest the "Pastorals" have in "sound teaching." Indeed this interest is one reason some scholars deny Pauline authorship as pointed out above. This denial is rooted in the unproved assumption that "sound doctrine" refers to church order and the like! The word translated in our English Bibles as "sound" ... which by the way means something like "sound mind" "sound heart" or "healthy mind" or "healthy mind," this is the meaning of the term. hygiano (from where we get our English word hygiene!) along with related terms in these epistles confirms (IMHO) their occasional nature. hygiano occurs eight times in the "Pastorals" (1 Tim 1.10; 6.3; 2 Tim 1.13; 4.3; Titus 1.9; 1.13; 2.1-2) and does not occur outside of these letters anywhere in the NT. The word refers to health.[11] The false teachers are unfit because they are "unsound" in mind, in conscience and in heart. It is a term we import other meanings for so it is better to say they are unfit because they are UNHEALTHY. Their minds and their behavior is unhealthy for the well being of the church. Timothy is charged with stopping the spread of gangrene.

Abraham J. Malherbe has shown, convincingly, that the medical terminology that peppers the "Pastorals" was par for the course among popular "street philosophers" in the first century. Paul knew this language as did everyone hearing First Timothy read in the assembly for the first time. Paul adopts this language to describe the troublers of peace in the Ephesian church (I believe a strong case can be made they were some of the "elders" in the congregation) and those who hold fast to healthy apostolic tradition. In using this language Paul does not so much describe the content of the unhealthy teaching rather the cause of such teaching and the deadly results of it. [12] Reading through the letter itself reveals this taxonomy of the false teacher in Ephesus:

1) Their conscience is seared (1 Tim 2.4)
2) They lust lust/crave money and influence (1 Tim 6.9)
3) They are embroiled in "stupid and senseless" controversy (2 Tim 2.23; Titus 3.9f)
4) They wrangle "about words" (2 Tim 2.14 & 1 Tim 6.4-5)
5) They are harsh and anti-social (2 Tim 3.2-4)
6) They are arrogant (Titus 1.16)

These descriptions surely bring to mind not only Paul's own self-description as one who was an enemy of Christ but of that summary of items "contrary to healthy teaching" to which I have already referred (1 Tim 1. 6-10). These false teachers mishandle the Word of Truth as they use it as occasion for strife ...

Is it any surprise that the command to "rightly divide the word of truth" (2 Tim 2.15, KJV) occurs in a context that separating the so called Old Testament from the New Testament is not even on the radar screen! Rather the statement occurs in the middle of relating to people in in the community in healthy ways. Some so abuse the "word of truth" that they bring ruin (lack of health) to those who listen because they are doing nothing but arguing (v.14). The words immediately following the statement refers to empty talk, godless chatter and a verse or so down to "stupid arguments." Rightly dividing ... done by a spiritually healthy teacher ... leads to a healthy environment with the local body of believers. False teachers use the Bible as justification for their extreme harshness, judgmental attitudes, and they kill and divide the local church. Paul is calling Timothy on the carpet because he did not have the courage, it seems, to kill the disease.

Paul also draws on the terminology of these street philosophers to talk about those who are the opposite of the unhealthy, unsound, ignorant, and arrogant dogmatists. Those who are given to "healthy" teaching prove so by their behavior in the body. They are healthy because ...

1) They apply their minds to receive understanding from the Lord (2 Tim 2.7)
2) They let the grace of God instruct them in gentleness (2 Tim 2.25)
3) Their teaching results in peaceful godly ways (1 Tim 2.2)

It would seem that whatever this "sound" or "healthy" teaching is it is not primarily church order nor creedal orthodoxy. If we let Paul define the meaning of the terms he uses we have a hard time agreeing with the notion that phrase "sound doctrine" as used by Paul refers to an itemized list in the fashion of Why I'm a Member of the Church of Christ! Unbelievably some have acted, and even said outright to me, that this contextual information is "irrelevant." Our contemporary interests and biases have been allowed to dictate what the text actually "teaches." This is not, I submit to my readers, respect for biblical authority but is exactly what Richard Lints warned about ... what we have is the authority of the individual! This phrase does not refer to propositional creedal statements but to teaching that results in a healthy (loving!) Spirit filled community - the beachhead of the New Creation. Francis Young writes of Paul's usage "the predominant concern is about correct relationships, duties and obligations in a community which regards itself as a teaching environment with a pattern of virtuous behavior" [13] God has revealed "healthy" teaching that results in a proper God honoring, community building, way of life.

Concluding Reflections

It seems clear that the word "doctrine" as in "sound doctrine" cannot be simplistically reduced to items regarding church structure or organization. That notion is untenable in the historical situation of Timothy and the Ephesian church. "Doctrine" does not mean what what it would later develop into ... a way of saying "dogma." Rather in the context of 1-2 Timothy it refers to teaching that results in a certain kind of healthy (sound!) behavior among the family of God. This spiritually healthy, this sound in health doctrine, has to do with a new creation lifestyle under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. It is life in, and for, the Body. One scholar put it like this, "the concern of the metaphor [i.e. sound doctrine] is not with the content of doctrine. Rather it is with behavior." [14]

When 2 Timothy 1.13 is read in light of its situation (historical context) and its literary context it takes on a different character than the one it has had on the polemical platform. We notice that the statement comes at the end of a "gospel summary" just as did our other occurrence of our word "pattern" in 1 Timothy 1.16.

Paul just announced in 1.8 that he is not ashamed of the gospel and exhorts Timothy to join him in "suffering" for it. Timothy is to model himself after Paul ... his behavior is in question! In verses 9-10 just prior to our contentious text Paul writes

"God has saved us and called us to a HOLY LIFE -- not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel."

Paul was appointed a "herald" of this gospel for which he suffers. In language reminiscent of 1 Cor 15.1, "I remind you of the gospel ... which you have received," Paul reminds Timothy what he heard from the apostle. That glorious gospel provides the grist for healthy teaching (Paul says explicitly that spiritually healthy congregations result from emphasis on the glorious gospel of grace, Titus 3.3-8, note v.8). Healthy teaching "conforms" to the gospel, it is rooted in the gospel ... the gospel Paul said he was in chains for in v.8. But sound teaching and the gospel are not one and the same thing. Rather sound doctrine is teaching that applies that astounding message of grace - applying it to God's people in order to transform them into models ... patterns ... of the New Creation! Healthy teaching promotes the unity, harmony, and love of the disciples for one another. Sound Doctrine is teaching that "conforms" us to the likeness of Jesus Christ. That is healthy teaching.

In Part 2 we will look at distinguishing "doctrine" and "gospel." A perennial problem. Blessings ...

NOTES:

[1] N. T. Wright, The Last Word (HarperSanFrancisco, 2005), xi-xii.

[2] Roy Deaver, "We Must Recognize that the New Testament Does Set Out the Divine Pattern," Firm Foundation 102 (22 October 1985), 626

[3] Goebel Music, Behold the Pattern (Colleyville, TX: Music Publications, 1991), 19-22.

[4] J. D. Thomas, Heavens Window (Abilene, TX: Biblical Research Press, 1974), 73.

[5] ibid., 46.

[6] Richard Lints, The Fabric of Theology: A Prolegomenon to Evangelical Theology (Grand Rapids: Eerdmens, 1993), 93.

[7] J. D. Thomas, Heavens Window, p. 73.

[8] Gordon D. Fee, "Reflections on Church Order in the Pastoral Epistles, with Further Reflections on the Hermeneutics of Ad Hoc Documents," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 28 (June 1985): 141-151.

[9] H. Muller, "tupos" in New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, ed. Colin Brown, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1975), 3: 903-907.

[10] Francis Young, The Theology of the Pastoral Epistles (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994), 54.

[11] D. Muller, "hygies," in New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, 2: 169-172.

[12] Abraham J. Malherbe, Paul and the Popular Philosophers (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1989), 122.

[13] Young, The Theology of the Pastoral Epistles, p. 83.

[14] Gordon D. Fee, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1984), 46.

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Prayer of Manasseh: The Heartbeat of Jewish Spirituality

Light of Grace Bursts Forth

The Prayer of Manasseh is one of the most beautiful prayers ever written - even if it is in the Apocrypha. (See also my: Apocrypha: Reading Between the Testaments; Praying with Romans & Manasseh; Apocryphal Myths: Great is the Truth and Mighty above All Things.

Prayer. The word itself ushers us into the realms of something deeper and richer than ourselves. Prayer. Prayer is the witness to dynamic faith in a personal deity though transcendentally on high is deeply involved with creation. Prayer. Prayer is to humanity's walk with God what hugs, kisses and sex are to a healthy, God honoring marriage. Prayer. Prayer is, in a way, God's own Spirit crying out from within us in order to connect us once again with the Lover of our Souls: the Triune God. Prayer. Prayer connects us to the rhythm of grace and immerses us in the river of the Spirit. Is it any wonder that prayer seasons the biblical story from Genesis to Revelation?

Prayer remained an intimate part of the life of Jews in the centuries before Jesus and the early church. The Apocrypha is literally peppered with prayers. Years ago Norman B. Johnson wrote in his Prayer in the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha that nothing reveals a peoples true heart as the prayers they pray. Prayer reveals, ironically, what they believe about God ... it is the unveiling of their "doctrine" of God. If this is true then the Prayer of Manasseh is the heartbeat of Jewish spirituality ... a light of grace bursting forth against the darkness of evil!

Evil Incarnate - Manasseh

To understand Psalm 51 the editors of the Psalter wrote a heading for it: "A Psalm of David, when the prophet Nathan came to him, after he had gone into Bathsheba." This great penitential psalm is gripping against the backdrop of the the whole sordid sad affair in 2 Samuel 11-2 Kings 2.

Likewise to understand the Prayer of Manasseh, and its radical claim, we must know who Manasseh was. The story of the king is told two times in very different ways in the Hebrew Bible (2 Kings 21.1-18 & 2 Chron 33.1-20). Kings, written to explain "why" Israel was "here" (exile) rather than "there" (promised land) describes Manasseh as the incarnation of evil. He even led pagan worship in human sacrifice of his own son. Manasseh's sin almost makes David's look, by comparison, small. He was the straw that broke the camels back. Yahweh's long suffering patience had run out. Chronicles, written a century or more later than Kings is written to answer the question "will God take us back? Have we sinned beyond hope?" In this narrative Manasseh is the same incarnation of evil. Yet the Chronicler does not end the story in darkness but in shocking grace. When the Evil King is blinded and taken into exile himself, Manasseh repented and prayed to the Lord. Unbelievably, Yahweh seems to have forgiven Manasseh "at the drop of a hat!" Manasseh, the greatest of all sinners, learned the truth by experience that Yahweh is "merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in hesed and faithfulness ... forgiving iniquity, rebellion and sin" (See my post on the Old Testament Gospel: The Gracious and Compassionate God, Exodus 34).

The Chronicler does not preserve the prayer. The Prayer of Manasseh was written not only to give voice of the king's penitent heart but to give voice to the faith of the Jewish people have in their God. The prayer reveals the God they worshiped. And what a prayer ... it is one of the greatest penitential prayers ever written. It's the heartbeat of Jewish spirituality.

Preparing to Hear Manasseh

The Prayer of Manasseh is one of the best places to camp to expose the often anti-Semitic stereotypes that followers of the Nazarene so often have of his race. This anti-Jewish bias (prejudice??) has affected not only Western Christian thought on a popular level but since the Enlightenment period has been part and parcel of Protestant biblical scholarship. Judaism was, it claimed, obsessed with ceremony and rife with legalism. Second Temple Judaism was in this worldview reduced to a mechanical priestly cult or rabbinic sophistry. Anything Jewish was (and often still is) dismissed outright as spiritually sterile legalism! Anti-Semiticism perverted many otherwise brilliant scholars and colored their views on "Old Testament" studies and Judaism of the time of Jesus too. Friedrich Delitzsch even argued Jesus himself was not Jewish.[1]

So ingrained had this stereotype become that a hundred years ago it was fashionable among among biblical critics to deny the author of the Prayer of Manasseh was a Jew but rather was a "Christian." Though there is not a shred of evidence to sustain such a position and no one in the ancient church thought so. But as James Charlesworth has noted "the author is obviously a Jew." Charlesworth argues that the Prayer was written sometime between 200 B.C. and 50 B.C. by a Jew that flourished in Jerusalem.[2] The light of grace shining in the Prayer exposed the bias of scholars ... we need to hear it afresh even today.

There is an interesting "prehistory" of sorts to the Prayer of Manasseh. Just as Psalm 151 is preserved in the Septuagint and was discovered in the last century in its Hebrew original among the Dead Sea Scrolls so there seems to be a similar phenomena with the Prayer. The Greek version of Psalm 151 and the Hebrew are different and yet the same psalm. In Cave Four of Qumran a damaged scroll was found that contained various prayers used apparently for worship. Among those prayers was 4Q381 which reads

The prayer of Manasseh, king of Judah, when the king of Assyria imprisoned him
.... my God .... is near,
My deliverance is before your eyes ....
For the deliverance your presence brings I wait, and I shrink before you
Because of [my sins,] for You have been very [merciful]
while I have increased my guilt, and so .... from enduring joy,
but my spirit will not experience goodness for ....
You lift me up, high over the Gentile ....
though I did not remember You ....
.... I am in awe of You, and I have been cleansed of the abominations I destroyed.
I made my soul to submit to You ... they increased its sin,
and plot against me to lock me up; but I have trusted in You ....
do not give me over to be tried, with You, O my God ....
they are conspiring against me, they tell lies .... to me deeds of ....[3]

The text preserved by the church has clear connections with this tradition of Manasseh's prayer.

The Prayer of Manasseh

The Prayer as it has come down to us is a mere fifteen verses long. Read against the backdrop of the darkness of incarnate evil the Prayer is nothing short of breathtaking. This is the the New Revised Standard Version's translation

1 O Lord Almighty,
God of our ancestors,
of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob
and of their righteous offspring;

2 you who made heaven and earth
with all their order;

3 who shackled the sea by your word of command,
who confined the deep
and sealed it with your terrible and glorious name;

4 at whom all things shudder,
and tremble before your power,

5 for your glorious splendor cannot be borne,
and the wrath of your threat to sinners is unendurable;

6 yet immeasurable and unsearchable
is your promised mercy,

7 for you are the Lord Most High,
of great compassion, long-suffering, and very merciful,
and you relent at human suffering.
O Lord, according to your great goodness
you have promised repentance and forgiveness
to those who have sinned against you,
and in the multitude of your mercies
you have appointed repentance for sinners,
so that they may be saved.

8 Therefore you, O Lord, God of the righteous,
have not appointed repentance for the righteous,
for Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, who did not sin against you,
but you have appointed repentance for me, who am a sinner.

9 For the sins I have committed are more in number
than the sand of the sea;
my transgressions are multiplied, O Lord, they are multiplied!
I am not worthy to look up and see the height of heaven
because of the multitude of my iniquities.

10 I am weighted down with many an iron fetter,
so that I am rejected because of my sins,
and I have no relief;
for I have provoked your wrath
and have done what is evil in your sight,
setting up abominations and multiplying offenses.

11 And now I bend the knee of my heart,
imploring you for your kindness.

12 I have sinned, O Lord, I have sinned,
and I acknowledge my transgressions.

13 I earnestly implore you,
forgive me, O Lord, forgive me!
Do not destroy me with my transgressions!
Do not be angry with me forever or store up evil for me;
do not condemn me to the depths of the earth.
For you, O Lord, are the God of those who repent,

14 and in me you will manifest your goodness;
for, unworthy as I am, you will save me according to your great mercy,

15 and I will praise you continually all the days of my life.
For all the host of heaven sings your praise,
and yours is the glory forever. Amen.

Listening to the Heartbeat of Second Temple Jewish Spirituality

Ben Sira surely is not far from the mark when he exhorts sinners to "Return unto the Lord, and forsake sins: Make thy prayer before his face, and lessen the offense. Turn again to the Most High, and turn away from iniquity; And greatly hate the abominable thing" (Sirach 17.25-26, Revised Version). Clearly in the Prayer the king has turned to God and despises "the abominable thing" (I love that turn of phrase in the Revised Version).

Verses 1-4 extol the power and majesty of God in creation (God's hesed is frequently seen in and through creation in the biblical psalms cf. Ps 104, Ps 136). The majesty of God is unendurable for sinners (v.5) Though God's holiness is potentially dangerous Manasseh swiftly moves to a meditation on the "heartbeat of the Hebrew Bible" ... Exodus 34.6-7 (the text thunders through the Story of Israel, See Num 14.17-18; Neh 9.16-17; Ps 86.15; Ps 148.8; Jonah 4.2; Joel 2.13; etc). In that Mt. Everest of biblical texts Yahweh reveals his true nature, his true glory in the face of Israel's "abominable" betrayal of the Covenant of Love by declaring a Golden Calf to be their God (this is adultery on the honeymoon!). Manasseh, like Israel of old, deserves certain death but discovers (like Job who had "heard" but now "sees") the true nature of his God. Here is the core of what follows in the prayer:

"immeasurable and unsearchable is your promised mercy,
for you are the Lord Most High,
of great compassion, long suffering, and very merciful,
and you relent at human suffering."

As David poured out his heart to the Lord "I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you alone have I sinned ..." (Ps 51.3-4a) so Manasseh, incarnate evil, cries "for the sins I have committed are more in number than the sand of the sea my transgressions are multiplied, O Lord, they are multiplied!" Like the poor tax collector (who more than slightly "echoes" the language of Manasseh!) that would not even "look up to heaven" but implored "God, be merciful to me, a sinner!" (Luke 18.13), Manasseh confesses he is unfit to even "look up and see" the height of heaven.

Here is, again in my opinion, one of the most beautiful and memorable phrases in all spiritual literature. The need for divine forgiveness and acceptance is expressed in unforgettable poetry. The Prayer says

"And now I bend the knee of my heart imploring you for your kindness.
I have sinned, O Lord, I have sinned,
and I acknowledge my transgressions."

The penitent prayer warrior places emphasis (in the preserved Greek text anyway) upon his unworthiness. Yet the petition is simultaneously bold for the verb aniemi (aorist imperative) rendered "forgive" in v.13 means to "let go unpunished."[4] Evil Incarnate dares to pray to go unpunished! He has no doubt of his unworthiness but he dares ... dares ... to pray to go unpunished! What a radical, shocking unveiling in this Jewish prayer ...

Verse 14 is perhaps the climax of the prayer. It is here that the sinner, that is as dark as the blackest night, exudes a confidence in his God that is truly astonishing. So astounding those clouded by their anti-semitic glasses could not imagine a Jew praying with such confidence in God. But here it is ...

"for unworthy as I am, you WILL save me
according to your great mercy."

The TEV captures something of the "mood" here: "Show me all your mercy and kindness and save me, EVEN THOUGH I DO NOT DESERVE IT."

This confident assurance though is in complete harmony with the Story told, sang and prayed throughout the "Old Testament." In fact this confident assurance in the character of God is rooted in the confession, the Creed of Israel, in vv. 6-7 (Ex 34.6-7). God's mercy, by his own testimony, is infinite. The Prayer of Manasseh is a light of grace bursting upon the darkness. The confidence, the assurance, of the believer in the God who forgives (lets go unpunished) is the result of the light of grace.

The only response Manasseh can have to such unbelievable grace and mercy is to worship the King of Grace. "I will praise you continually all the days of my life." So should we.

Concluding Reflections

The great Jewish scholar, Samuel Sandmel, is quoted in the Forward of David deSilva's Introducing the Apocrypha as saying the Prayer of Manasseh "should have been 'canonized' within the liturgy of the Day of Atonement" (p.9). Charlesworth in fact speculates that the Prayer was indeed used in the Temple prior to its destruction in AD 70. We cannot, with the extant materials, prove Charlesworth's speculation but we do know that the message of Prayer was treasured by ancient Christians and used during worship. The Prayer was part of congregational worship by Christians early on. It survives Syriac, Coptic, Greek, Latin and was frequently gathered with other "prayer texts" for congregational use.

The Prayer has been included in the long line of English Bibles. The Geneva Bible of 1560 separates the Prayer from the rest of the Apocrypha (which is placed between the Testaments) and includes it as either an appendix or last chapter to 2 Chronicles. There is a marginal note that reads simply "This prayer is not in the Ebrewe, but is translated out of the Greeke." The King James Version removed the Prayer from the end of Chronicles and placed it with the rest of the Apocrypha between the Testaments.

The Prayer of Manasseh is indeed the heartbeat of Second Temple Jewish spirituality. If this prayer reveals the author's "doctrine of God" then that doctrine is wholesome. God is not merely a computer of justice. God is also the gracious Father. Anyone familiar with Greek gods in the myths appreciates the gulf between the two conceptions of deity. From Manasseh (and many other prayers of the time) a holy but gentle even intimate quality is revealed. One never wants to get to near the gods in Greek religion. This prayer proclaims that even the worst of sinners, incarnate evil, can find mercy, compassion and forgiveness from the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. No wonder the church got on her knees with Manasseh and prayed ... and was ushered into the heart of God.

Notes:

The artwork, The Prayer of Manasseh, is by C. P. Marillier the 18th century French artist.

[1] See on a friendly and engaging level Bill T. Arnold and David B. Weisberg, "Babel und Bibel und Bias: How Anti-Semitism Distorted Friederich Delitsch's Scholarship," Bible Review 28 (February 2002): 32-40, 47.

[2] James H. Charlesworth, "Prayer of Manasseh" in Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, vol 2. pp. 625-633.

[3] Translation taken from The Dead Sea Scrolls: A New Translation, by Michael Wise, Martin Abegg Jr & Edward Cook. The translation of 4Q381 in Geza Vermes The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls reads slightly different. See also "An Qumran Fragment of the Ancient 'Prayer of Manasseh,' Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 108 # 1 1996, p 105-107

[4] See the Greek text of Manasseh in John R. Kohlenberger III, ed. The Parallel Apocrypha: Greek, King James Version, Douay, Knox, Today's English Version, Revised Standard Version, New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible (Oxford University Press, 1997), p. 1070.

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Baruch and the Letter of Jeremiah: Don't Fear, They are not Gods

Baruch

Introduction

Baruch along with the Letter of Jeremiah are probably among the earliest (i.e. oldest) of the writings contained in the Old Testament Apocrypha. Because of the abundance of “Hebraisms” the original language of these works is believed to be Hebrew. The now lost Hebrew originals were written sometime between 300 and 160 B.C. for Baruch and 317 and 306 B.C. for the Letter of Jeremiah (the issues are complicated but for the curious see, David deSilva, Introducing the Apocrypha, pp. 204-205 and 216-217). The Letter of Jeremiah has been found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. Baruch has not been identified among the DSS, however, since the Letter was often chapter 6 of Baruch we cannot be certain that Baruch was not among the Scrolls. Baruch has a composite nature so parts of the book are older than others.

Interestingly enough there is a historical “blunder” in Baruch. Baruch 1.11 for example says that Belshazzar was Nebuchadnezzar’s son as does Daniel 5.2, etc. There is an historical problem here (Belshazzar was not N’s son but Nabonidus) and the relation between Daniel and Baruch is disputed at this point.

Baruch: The Confessional Prayer

Baruch is made of five chapters containing a variety literary forms. The book opens with a narrative similar to Nehemiah 8-9 and 2 Kings 22.8-13. The narrative creates a setting in which Baruch “reads” to the exiles in Babylon after the destruction of the Temple in 586 B.C. (the date “in the story” would be around 582). Interestingly enough Baruch contains the command to read the book in the “house of the Lord”:

“And you shall read aloud this scroll that we are sending you, to make your confession in the house of the Lord on the days of the festivals and at appointed seasons” (Baruch 1.14).

This is interesting because Protestant apologists have frequently said that no apocryphal book claims to be authoritative ... one wonders what this text is claiming?

The first major section of the book (1.15-3.8) contains a prayer of confession. In this the Jews take full blame for the disaster that has befallen them. It is because of their faithlessness to the covenant that Yahweh has disciplined them,

“we have sinned before the Lord. We have disobeyed him, and have not heeded the voice of the Lord our God, . . . From the time when the Lord brought our ancestors out of the land of Egypt until today, we have been disobedient to the Lord our God . . .” (Baruch 1.17-19)

“We have sinned, we have been ungodly, we have done wrong . . .” (2.12)

The prayer reveals a repentant heart on Baruch’s, and the Exiles, part. The prayer also has a firm belief that God is a merciful God. So not only do we see confession of sins and remorse but we see pleas based upon the grace of the Lord. Notice that the writer does not believe that Israel merited any blessing from the Lord,

“Hear, O Lord, our prayer . . . and for the sake of your own sake deliver us, and grant us favor . . .” (Baruch 2.14)

“For it is not because of any righteous deeds of our ancestors or our kings that we bring before you our prayer for mercy, O Lord our God.” (Baruch 2.19)

In spite of the exile, Baruch, confesses that God has been good and dealt with Israel in “kindness.” The book appeals directly to the promise of God in Deuteronomy 4.25-31, that should exile come because of sin, God will heal and restore Israel if they call on him.

That is why Baruch prays,

“you have dealt with us, O Lord our God, in all your kindness and in all your great compassion, as you spoke by your servant Moses . . . For I know that they will not obey me, for they are a stiff-necked people. But in the land of their exile they will come to themselves and know that I am the Lord their God. I will give them a heart that obeys and ears that hear . . . I will bring them back again into the land” (Baruch 2. 27, 30-31, 34).

Baruch: The Psalm of Praise

The second major section of Baruch is a hymn of praise to wisdom – the wisdom of serving God alone. Wisdom is of incredible value and it is because Israel did not value wisdom that she is now in a “foreign country” (Baruch 3.10). In its context, the hymn helps Israel to do what they prayed – turn their hearts back to God. But it is only by being devoted to the “book of the commandments of God” (Baruch 4.1) that she can ever hope to live. Note that wisdom according to Baruch is not simply philosophy but it is in fact the words of God that embody wisdom. These words bring life (cf. John 5.39; 6.63, 68) if they are clung too.

Though there is much that is worthy of attention in this section we can only examine Baruch 3.35-37. This particular passage played an important role in the early church. The “Church Fathers” repeatedly appealed to this text as referring to Jesus Christ. The text reads,

This is our God; no one can compare to him.
He found the whole way to knowledge,
and gave her to his servant Jacob and to
Israel, whom he loved.
Afterward she appeared on earth and lived with humankind.
(Baruch 3.35-37).

Early Christians like Origen, Cyprian, Tertullian and Lactantius along with a host of others thought this was prophecy of the Incarnation and the growth of Christianity among the Gentiles.

Baruch: Zion is Encouraged

The last section of Baruch (4.5-5.9) is a personification of Zion (Jerusalem) as she provides hope for the future to a disgraced and exiled people. Zion expresses her grief at seeing her “children” taken off into captivity. She has “faith” however that God will deliver them if they turn to God (4.5-29). Repeatedly the exiles are exhorted to “take courage” (4.5, 21, 27, 30) because God has not cast off his people forever. Here are a few choice texts,

“For he who brought these calamities upon you
will deliver you from the hand of your enemies”
(Baruch 4.18).

“I sent you out with sorrow and weeping,
but God will give you back to me with
joy and gladness forever.” (Baruch 4.23)

“Look, your children are coming, whom
you sent away; they are coming, gathered
from east and west, at the word of the Holy
One, rejoicing in the glory of God.”
(Baruch 4. 37).

“For God will lead Israel with joy,
in the light of his glory, with the mercy
and righteousness that come from him.”
(Baruch 5.9).

Baruch moves from confession of sin and acknowledgement of the righteous judgment of
God. Then the book exhorts us to find true life and wisdom through the word of God. And finally the book closes with the promise of God grace and mercy in the return of the exiles. The final verse, quoted above, is a beautiful image to behold. God is leading his children with joy and mercy down the highway to a beautified Jerusalem.



The Letter of Jeremiah

The Letter of Jeremiah is not really a “letter” but a polemic against Babylonian (and pagan) religion. “Jeremiah” writes instructing the first exiles to keep their faith in Yahweh in a world that is surrounded by beautiful and awe inspiring idols. “Jeremiah” seeks to inoculate these deportees by showing the ridiculous nature and status of an image. This was indeed a relevant message to Jews any time during their history and is just as relevant to Christians: idolatry is false and we need not fear those things in our lives that would claim to be deity that have no claim.

Basic Facts about the Letter

The Letter of Jeremiah is most likely the oldest of the Apocrypha. Based upon 6.3 “up to seven generations” which describes the length of the Exile will be, scholars deduce the book was written in the late fourth century around, 317 to 306 B.C. (see deSilva, Introduction to the Apocrypha, pp. 216-217 and Carey A. Moore, The Anchor Bible: Daniel, Esther, and Jeremiah: The Additions, pp. 327-328, 335). Other factors go into the date of the book as well: 1) enough time has to be allowed for it to be translated into Greek prior to inclusion in the Septuagint; 2) the fact that it is referred to in 2 Maccabees 2.1-2, 4 as being written by Jeremiah (2 Macc itself dates approximately around 100 B.C.); 3) it being found among the Dead Sea Scrolls.

The order of the Jeremiah “corpus” of material in the Greek tradition is different than in the Latin tradition. In the great codices Vaticanus and Alexandrinus the order is Jeremiah, Baruch, Lamentations, Letter of Jeremiah. In the Syriac and the Latin the Letter of Jeremiah is added to Baruch becoming chapter 6 (Jerome is responsible for this). Most modern versions for some reason still number the Letter as chapter six even though it is set by itself as it should be.

The content of the Letter of Jeremiah parallels numerous biblical passages on idolatry. As to be expected there are echoes of Jeremiah in the Letter. For example Jeremiah 10. 1-15 contains a parody on idols as well and surely provides grist for the author of the Letter. Other passages where humor is extended at the expense of idols can be found in Isaiah 44.9-20 and Psalm 115.3-8.

Literary Outline

The Letter of Jeremiah is divided up into ten sections each being marked with a negation of the reality of pagan gods. This negation serves as a refrain through the Letter as an organizing principle, “From this it is evident they are not gods; so do not fear them” (vv. 16; 23; 29; 65; and 69) or “Why then must anyone think that they are gods, or call them gods?” (vv. 40; 44; 52; 56; and 64). The Letter closes with an affirmation of the honor of the person who does not degrade himself into worshipping idols (v.73). The thundering refrain in the Letter is similar (in purpose) to the refrains in such biblical passages as Psalm 42 and 43 (one psalm) and Psalm 107.


Choice Texts

“When you see the multitude before and behind them [idols] worshipping them Say in your heart, ‘It is you, O Lord, whom we must worship.” For my [God’s] angel is with you, and he is watching over your lives.” (vv. 6-7)

“They [idols] are just like a beam of the temple, but their hearts, it is said, are eaten away when crawling creatures from the earth devour them and their robes. They do not notice . . .” (v. 20).

“How can one fail to see that these are not gods, for they cannot save themselves from war or calamity?” (v. 49).

“So it is better to be a king who shows his courage, or a household utensil that serves its owner’s need, than to be these false gods; better even the door of a house that protects its contents, than these false gods; better a wooden pillar in a palace, than these false gods.” (v. 59).

“Like a scarecrow in a cucumber bed, which guards nothing, so are their gods of wood . . .” (v. 70).

Because all of this is so, then . . .

“Better, therefore, is someone upright who has no idols; such a person will be far above reproach.” (v. 73).

Baruch and the Letter of Jeremiah are among the lesser important Apocrypha. However they were both frequently simply "went along" with Jeremiah like Lamentations did in the ancient church. They have a place in the history of the Bible and were part of the English Bible tradition for hundreds of years. Both were included in the King James Version.

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Judith: Radical Woman of God

Introductory Thoughts

As we continue our series on the "Ancestry of the King James Version" by looking at books it contains that the modern Evangelical NIV does not we come to Judith. Judith is a wonderful example of moral story telling by an early Jew. The author tells of the story of a contest between a dominant pagan culture with its attendant claims and the God of Israel. Yahweh gains victory through a very unlikely source. Judith, a pious widow, uses her wiles to save her people and the Temple from the pagan Assyrians. The tale from beginning to end reinforces the basic theology of the Hebrew Bible (especially that of Deuteronomy). Judith is presented as a model of piety and faithfulness to the covenant of grace, affirming the efficacy of prayer and confidence in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

On the face of it, Judith is set in the sixth century B.C. But it is readily apparent that the book does not date from that time period. The book was written in Hebrew sometime after 200 BC and likely toward 100 BC (Carey A. Moore, Judith: The Anchor Bible Commentary, pp. 66-67; 68-70).

A major issue, especially since the Reformation, has been the historicity of the story of Judith. There has been vigorous debate over this issue and only a partial resolution. Judith on one level appears to be concerned with historical details typical of real history,

“the twelfth year of . . . Nebuchadnezzar” (1.1)
“In [Nebuchadnezzar’s] seventeenth year” (1.13)
“In the eighteenth year on the twenty-second day of the first month” (2.1)

The book includes references to exact periods of time, real places and other matters characteristic of historical narrative. Finally, the plot is simple and straightforward enough for it to be fact rather than fiction.

However, there are some serious errors of history for the book to be taken as straightforward historical writing. One of the most glaring and obvious is that Nebuchadnezzar was not the king of the Assyrians! So the question remains: Was Judith a real woman? I think that Hebrew Bible scholar, David Noel Freedman has proposed the best possible answer:

“Perhaps in the end we will come out approximately where Shakespeare did: Hamlet and Lear were real people, but the plays have little to do with factual history, and the story and characters in the plays have a life of their own which bears little resemblance to the original historical figures, or the various historical characterizations in the sources which Shakespeare used.” (quoted in Moore, p. 49).

There are many examples of “real” people who are fictionalized into legends – even almost overnight. For example John Greenleaf Whittier’s account of how Barbara Frietchie defied Stonewall Jackson as his soldiers tried to prevent her from displaying the American flag as they marched through Maryland.

Martin Luther on Judith

Luther was conscious of the historical “problems” in Judith, despite this he holds it to be a “noble and fine book.” In fact for Luther the historical issues are not that serious at all for he holds the book is intended as a “beautiful religious fiction.” He thinks that the work may have been intended to be a sort of drama along the lines of some Greek plays. He writes.

“Therefore this is a fine, good, holy, useful book, well worth reading by us Christians. For the words spoken by the persons in it should be understood as though they were uttered in the Holy Spirit by a spiritual, holy poet or prophet who, in presenting such persons in his play, preaches to us through them” (“Preface to the Book of Judith,” Luther’s Works, vol. 35, pp. 338-339).

Judith: The Story

Judith falls into two basic parts. The first part describes the war of the Assyrians against the Jews (chapters 1-7); the second relates the deliverance wrought by God through Judith (chapters 8-16).

Hostilities had broken out between the Assyrians and the Medes. Nebuchadnezzar, who is pictured as ruling the Assyrians, calls on the western nations to help him against his enemies, however, they refused (1.7-11). Angry and vowing to take revenge on them – including the Jews. After defeating the Medes (1. 12-16) Nebuchadnezzar decides to destroy those who sought his downfall in the west. He sends out his General, Holofernes, with 120.000 men and a further 12,000 cavalry. Soon the nations were frightened into submission.

Meanwhile in the village of Bethulia the citizens, fearful that the Assyrians would defile the holy Temple of God, decide they will not acquiesce to Nebuchadnezzar. They store provisions in anticipation of siege. They seek God’s favor through prayer and fasting in sackcloth (4.1-15). After thirty four days, however, with supplies running low the inhabitants of Bethulia began to loose heart and call upon the city elders to surrender to the Assyrians. A leader, Uzziah, plead with them to hold out five more days, “By that time the Lord our God will show us mercy, for he will not forsake us utterly” (7.30). Nevertheless, he agreed to capitulate to the Assyrians should help not come (7.19-32).

At this crucial point we are introduced to the unlikely source of God’s salvation for the Jews: a widow woman named Judith. Her name simply means “Jewess.” She is what all of God’s children ought to be. Having heard what Uzziah has decided she steps way out of her “traditional” bounds as a woman. She summons him and the elders and upbraids them for their lack of faith – and for attempting to force the hand of God with the time limit on him. She says,

“Listen to me, rulers of the people of Bethulia! What you have said to people today is not right; you have even sworn and pronounced this oath between God and you, promising to surrender the town to our enemies unless the Lord turns and helps us within so many days. Who are you to put God to the test today . . .You cannot plumb the depths of the human heart or understand the workings of the human mind; how do you expect to search out God, who made all these things, and find out his mind or comprehend his though?” (8.12-14).

Judith volunteers for a dangerous mission – to be used by God to defeat the mighty, arrogant and pagan Assyrian army. She prays. She emphasizes her weakness and her vulnerability but also expresses amazing confidence in the God who is “God of the lowly, helper of the oppressed, upholder of the weak” (9.11). She concludes her prayer by bringing to expression the main issue, her (and the author) the manifestation of who truly is God in this world (9.14).

Judith ends up using Holofernes arrogance, and his desire for her beauty, to bring him down. Thus in one of the most painted scenes in western art, Judith decapitates a drunken Holofernes. Judith frankly acknowledges, “It was my face that tricked him to his destruction, and yet he committed no act of sin with me, to defile or shame me” (13.16). Thus God wrought a powerful victory through the most unlikely of ways for his people. It is a delightful story with a powerful message.

Irony in Judith

A number of biblical books make effective use of the narrative technique of irony. But author of Judith seems to have based his entire story on this art form. Irony, as Moore notes, is the “key to the book” (Carey A. Moore, Judith: The Anchor Bible, p. 78). Irony is difficult to use because one typically means the exact opposite of what is said. One who has a too literal a mind set often runs the danger of missing the irony an author wishes to intend. For example when Judith is brought into the presence of Holofernes and he demands she explain her mission to him she “beguiled” him by using words that carry a double entendre: “If you follow out the words of your maid-servant, God will accomplish something through you” (11.6). The reader knows full well what God is going to “accomplish” through this arrogant pagan General – not the conquest of Bethulia as he imagines but the liberation of the Jews by his own death.

The whole story of Judith is ironic from beginning to end. She, a childless widow, gives spiritual and physical life to her people. She is wealthy woman lives so simply that she almost starves herself. In a society where women did nothing at all she enters into the “man’s sphere” with great success (and through God’s help). She is soft, feminine, and vulnerable yet capable of taking Holofernes head off.

Holofernes character is defined by irony as well. Able to conquer the entire West, he is unable to take small Bethulia. Intending to master a beautiful, but defenseless widow, he is mastered by her. Wanting to use, and if necessary abuse, Judith Holofernes is abused (decapitated). His personal sword which had taken so many lives of his enemies becomes the instrument of his own death. One of the classic statements in the book comes in the song of praise at the end of the book. The people sang:

“Her sandal ravished his eyes;
Her beauty captivated his mind.
And the sword slashed through his neck! (16.9).

The would be ravisher is ravished and killed.

Judith the Murderer?

Though no one thought of this in the ancient world some moderns (particularly some well meaning, but special pleading, Protestant apologists) have questioned the morality of Judith’s killing of Holofernes. While decapitating a person is indeed a violent and bloody affair I would hold judgment in abeyance. There can be little doubt that the model or “inspiration” for presenting Judith’s victory is the narrative of Jael and Sisera in Judges 4 and 5. The parallels in the stories are remarkable to say the least (see Sidnie Ann White’s “In the Steps of Jael and Deborah: Judith as Heroine” in No One Spoke Ill of Her: Essays on Judith, ed. James C. Vanderkam, pp. 5-16).

It will be recalled in that story (Jael and Sisera) that Sisera is a general (like Holofernes). He is invited in, gets drunk on milk (it wasn't chocolate!), and in his sleep Jael takes his life by driving a tent peg through his temple. This is followed by a great hymn (as in Judith) in chapter five of Judges. Now Jael is not the inspiration for our author’s story but it is the inspiration for how he choose to tell the story.

The best resource for understanding this aspect of Judith as its original audience would is David A. deSilva' outstanding essay "Judith the Heroine? Seduction and Murder in Cultural Perspective" in Biblical Theology Bulletin 36 (Summer 2006): 55-61. Kept in her historical (and biblical!) context, Judith emerges powerfully as a "Delilah for the cause of God ... a model for the pious and rigorous observance of the holy covenant, an example of the power of prayer when joined with faithful action, and a proof of the power of God" (p. 60).

The After Lives of Judith

The failure of Judith to achieve canonical status among post-Temple rabbis and Judaism, despite the deep piety and presence of God in the book, has baffled many scholars in recent years. This is all the more surprising because Esther, in its Hebrew form, never even mentions God! But when the chips are down the actual process of canonization is shrouded in mystery and we simply do not know why Judith failed to make it into the rabbinic canon. However, we must not assume that the book was not treasured by the Jews for such a conclusion would be false. The book became associated with Hanukkah being read for centuries during that festival.

Among Christians the book has always been popular and often quoted as holy Scripture by the Church Fathers. The earliest influence of Judith can be discerned on some of the phraseology of the NT. Aland’s Novum Testamentum Graece (Greek NT) lists a number of parallels to Judith. In Matthew 9 the evangelist describes Jesus’ compassion for the masses as he saw them as a “sheep without a shepherd” (9.36) a phrase that comes from Judith 11.19. The language of Judith is echoed in the description of God’s vengeance on those who would oppress his people,

“Woe to the nations that rise up against my people!
The Lord Almighty will take vengeance on them
in the day of judgment;
he will send fire and worms into their flesh;
they shall weep in pain forever” (16.17)

The image of judgment by fire and flesh eating worms, along with endless weeping figures prominently in Jesus’ depiction of that horrible day in Matthew 24.51 and Mark 9.48. However, probably the strongest case for a direct tie is with Paul in 1 Corinthians 2. 10-11 and v. 16 and Judith 8.14. Here are the texts laid out:

“You cannot plumb the depths of the human heart or understand the workings of the human mind: how do you expect to search out God; who made all these things, and find out his mind or comprehend his thought? (Judith 8.14).

“The Spirit searches out all things, even the depths of God. For who among human beings knows the things of a human being except thes pirit of the human being that is inside him? And in this manner no one who has known the things of God except the spirit of God . . . For “who has known the mind of the Lord, who will advise him?’” (1 Cor. 2.10-11, 16)

Both contrast the “depths” of a person with the “depths” of God. Both use the peculiar terminology eraunto (search out) and bathos (depth, deep things). There is a strong likelihood that Paul uses the language of Judith to shape his own thinking at this point.

Dr. Luke, ever the student of biblical style, may have had read Uzziah's praise of Judith when he framed his story of the virgin Mary. Listen to Uzziah's words ... perhaps they will "ring a bell" ... perhaps not ...

"O daughter, you are blessed by the Most High God above all other women on the earth; and blessed be the Lord God, ... Your praise will never depart from the hearts of those who remember the power of God. May God grant this to be a perpetual honor to you, and may he reward you with blessings, because you risked your own life when our nation was brought low, and you averted our ruin, walking in the straight path before our God" (Judith 13.18-19)

Judith’s influence in the early church is so abundant only brief mention can be made. We read, before the close of the first century, in Clement (an elder in Rome writing the same time that John is writing his Revelation) of Judith being held high as an example of selflessness, courage and prayer. Clement writes,

“Many women being strengthened through the grace of God have performed many manly deeds. The blessed Judith, when the city was beleaguered, asked of the elders that she might be suffered to forth into the camp of the aliens. So she exposed herself to peril and went forth for love of her country and of her people which were beleaguered; and the Lord delivered Holofernes into the hand of a woman” (1 Clement 55, The Apostolic Fathers, p.36).

The text of Judith is quoted by a number of second century writers like Origen and Clement of Alexandria. Clement, a Christian in Alexandria in Egypt, lived about 160 to 215 A.D. He quotes Judith several times in his book, Stromata (written around 190). In Book IV he summarizes her story while mentioning Esther and Susanna too. Clement had been talking of overcoming our passions and holds Judith up as an example (see Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 2, p. 431).

"Biblical" literature has exercised a profound influence in Western culture, Judith is hardly an exception. Indeed cultural historian Margarita Stocker (of Oxford University and Hilda's College) has argued that Judith has functioned as an "enduring cultural myth in western society." Stocker invites us on a magical mystery tour, a thorough analyses of literary, artistic, cinematic and popular culture sources in her scholarly yet readable tome with the catchy title Judith Sexual Warrior: Women and Power in Western Culture (Yale University Press, 1998). It is truly fascinating to see how and in what ways biblical stories have been used in our culture. If you ever meet a Judy her name goes back to this Jewess hero.

As we have already noted above Judith has had enduring influence among play writes, artists and even film. One of the great classic “silent” movies features the story of Judith. I encourage you to visit the following address to see the movie made in 1913 recounting the legend of Judith. I am sure you will enjoy learning about this classic film: Judith of Bethulia

Judith has the "Final Word" - A Word of Praise

"Judith began this thanksgiving before all Israel ... Begin a song to my God with tambourines, sing to my Lord a new psalm; exalt him and call on his name. For the Lord is a God who crushes wars; he sets up his camp among his people; he delivered me from the hands of my pursuers ...

Then my oppressed people shouted; my weak people cried out, and the enemy trembled;
they lifted up their voices, and the enemy turned back ...

I will sing to my God a new song: O Lord, you are great and glorious,
wonderful in strength and invincible. Let all your creatures serve you, for you
spoke and they were made. You sent forth your [S]pirit and it formed them; there is none that can resist your voice ..." (Judith 16.1-2, 11-14)

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The "Enjoyment" of Scripture

Writing on the Ancestry of the King James Version has stimulated my mind in some fresh and new directions ... I grew up in a Bible believing, church attending, God fearing home. From a very young age I have memories of my dad sitting on the floor with his back leaning on his back on the bed (sometimes on the couch) with Nave's Topical Bible, Strong's Concordance and Unger's Bible Handbook, and sometimes Adam Clarke's commentary around him as he studied. From a very early age I had my own personal copy of the Bible that I was encouraged to take to church. I still have a red leather bound Thompson Chain Reference King James Version I got from my parents as a teenager. I remember singing Pricilla Owens' hymn "Give Me the Bible,"

Give me the Bible, Holy message shining
Thy light shall guide me in the narrow way;
Precept and promise, law and love combining,
Till night shall vanish in eternal day

I learned from virtually every direction that the Bible was special. It was holy. It was God's Word. It was to be held high. It was to be respected. No it was to be revered ... But Scripture was not really meant to be enjoyed.

My experience is probably not that unique. I revered the Bible and was ready to defend it against all comers (especially after I gave my life to Christ in baptism) but ironically my respect, singing, and bellicose rhetoric betrayed an awful lot of NONREADING! I "loved the Bible" but I did not "Enjoy the Bible." I have come to believe that my sin is shared with millions of other Bible believing, church attending and God fearing people. The Bible is probably the most "worshiped" book yet the least read book in the world.

Let me rant for a moment. Many Christians know little of the contents of the book they reverence, almost to the point of idolatry. Rather than knowing the Biblical Story, Scripture is turned into nuggets in "Bible Promise" books. Or debate propositions that have no connection to the context or the Story.  I had a discussion with a disciple, that had been baptized and had attended church for 30 years, and was surprised to learn of the "divided" kingdom in the "Old Testament."

I suspect that much of the biblical illiteracy rampant among disciples today stems precisely from the manner in which Restoration and Evangelical churches have come to habitually approach the biblical text. Especially the Preaching!! The Bible is not a string of commands. It is not a series of propositions for theological debate. The Bible is not a jigsaw puzzle with a hidden code. The Bible is not even a book of contextless promises. The Bible is not even twelve steps to a happier more successful you. We do not play hop-scotch with any other book in the world.  The Bible is a Story, the God's Story of the redemption of the world he created. It has a beginning, a development of a plot, and a "finale."

When I say Story I do not mean "once upon a time" make believe story.   I do mean by story a narrative, a drama, an epic! Narratives, stories, epics have inherent power to draw the reader within. The Story in the Bible is unified narrative. Like all good stories it has the plot and sub-plots. It has the Star (God) and then supporting characters (Abraham, Moses, David, Paul, etc). It has conflict and resolution. Stories have one more quality ... Stories capture our imagination! Stories are compelling. Stories are are enjoyable!

In my own upbringing, I never understood that the Bible was a unified Story. In Churches of Christ it was nearly part of my DNA to see the Bible "piecemeal" rather than holistically. I was trained to jettison the "Old Testament" (while embracing the rhetoric that "we believe in the Old Testament to counter 'the denominations' that claimed we didn't). That the New Testament was really the "final chapter" of a long story never occurred to me. My preacher played biblical hop-scotch and I never attempted to keep up with him in a sermon ... a sermon that was topical rather than expository. This usage of the Bible did not encourage enjoyment rather it led to treating the Bible as if it were a bound version of Religious Trivial Pursuit.

Before I go further I want to say there is nothing wrong per se with Bible Promise books or books like The Prayer of Jabez or (insert self-help title) ... I am saying that it is only by having the Story singing in our hearts and our heads that we are protected from half-truths and Scriptures taken out of context. It is the Story that gives the Promises meaning! It is the Story that gives the commands substance. It is the Story that keeps us from seeing commands as the goal and protects us from the Heresy of Legalism. It is the Story that continually forces us to gaze upon the awesomeness of our God and his Mission ... not making role models out of the damaged goods that are the supporting cast! The Story calls us to enjoy it. To relish it for what the Star has done, is doing, and covenants to do.

The Enjoyment of Scripture (I borrow the term from Samuel Sandmel, a Jewish scholar) is enhanced when we appreciate its overall narrative quality and structure. From the beginning the Bible narrates one (not two or more) Story of a passionate, loving, gracious God that creates the world as a place where he and humanity can fellowship and live. The Bible begins this way ... and the Bible ends this way. There may be two Testaments but there is still only one single Story and the second testament is grossly misunderstood divorced from the previous three-fifths of the narrative. Here is a short outline from Bartholomew and Goheen's marvelous work, The Drama of Scripture. God's Story looks like this ... these are my own descriptions of the six scenes ...

Scene 1: God Creates his Kingdom with humanity as coregent of his very good world (Gen 1-2)

Scene 2: God's coregent rebels turning the shalom of the kingdom into a scorched earth (Gen 3-11)

Scene 3: God the Creator creates Israel to be his instrument of blessing and redemption to all creation (Gen 12-Malachi)

Dramatic Interlude: A Pause filled with longing ... the Maccabees and other stories of the Apocrypha testify to the longing of Israel for redemption ...

Scene 4: God sends the New Adam to be King in God's kingdom through whom redemption is accomplished and shalom will be restored through his life, death and resurrection (Gospels)

Scene 5: God calls Gentiles to be with Jews in a restored Israel - a renewed humanity - to witness to the Good News of God's redemption of creation through Jesus ... the task of the Gathered People of the Lord (Acts/today - Rev 19)

Scene 6: God commands the Return of the King. Redemption is consummated. Grace, Justice and Shalom prevail in God's good creation when the city of God descends from heaven to the earth and God dwells with humanity once again in his purified redeemed earth (Rev 20-22)

This Story is incredibly compelling. The enjoyable story tells us "what on earth God is doing" and "why it matters" and at the same time teaches us our own task.

In our next post we will examine some features that make God's Story not only theological but enjoyable. I am convinced that we, as Christian leaders, need to model the enjoyment of Scripture. Once we get into the Story ... the Story takes over ... there is little room for getting bored with the Word of God.

May the Lord bless us and keep us and make his face shine upon us as we enjoy the Story of his passionate love for his creation narrated for us between Genesis and Revelation.

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