Table Of ContentAnimosity, the BiBle, And Us
Global Perspectives on Biblical scholarship
number 12
Animosity, the BiBle, And Us:
some eUroPeAn, north AmericAn,
And soUth AfricAn PersPectives
Animosity, the BiBle, And Us
some eUroPeAn, north AmericAn,
And soUth AfricAn PersPectives
Edited by
John t. fitzgerald,
fika J. van rensburg,
and
herrie f. van rooy
society of Biblical literature
Atlanta
Animosity, the BiBle, And Us:
some eUroPeAn, north AmericAn,
And soUth AfricAn PersPectives
copyright © 2009 by the society of Biblical literature
All rights reserved. no part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
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library of congress cataloging-in-Publication data
society of Biblical literature. international meeting (2004 : Gröningen, Germany).
Animosity, the Bible, and us : some european, north American, and south African
perspectives / edited by John t. fitzgerald, fika J. van rensburg, and herrie f. van rooy.
p. cm. — (society of Biblical literature global perspectives on biblical scholar-
ship ; no. 12)
“this collection of essays is the result of a three-year research project launched in
2004 by the school of Biblical studies and Bible languages at north-West University
in Potchefstroom, south Africa … this project was pursued at the 2004 international
meeting of the society of Biblical literature in Groningen and at meetings of the
european Association of Biblical studies from 2004 to 2006”—Pref.
includes bibliographical references and indexes.
isBn 978-1-58983-401-9 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. violence—Biblical teaching—congresses. 2. hostility (Psychology)—Biblical
teaching—congresses. i. fitzgerald, John t., 1948– ii. van rensburg, fika, 1951– iii.
rooy, herrie f. van. iv. european Association of Biblical studies. v. title.
Bs680.v55s63 2004
220.8'3036—dc22 2009026564
17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United states of America on acid-free, recycled paper
conforming to Ansi/niso Z39.48-1992 (r1997) and iso 9706:1994
standards for paper permanence.
contents
Preface
John t. fitzgerald ...........................................................................................vii
Abbreviations ..........................................................................................................xi
War and violence in the old testament World: various views
eben scheffler ...................................................................................................1
The World’s first murder: violence and Justice in Genesis 4:1–16
eric Peels .........................................................................................................19
The enemies in the headings of the Psalms: A comparison of
Jewish and christian interpretation
herrie f. van rooy .........................................................................................41
disputes about the calendar in Jewish Apocalyptic literature and
its Basis
marius nel.......................................................................................................59
Animosity in targumic literature
eveline van staalduine-sulman ....................................................................87
domestic violence in the Ancient World: Preliminary considerations
and the Problem of Wife-Beating
John t. fitzgerald .........................................................................................101
Animosity against Jewish and Pagan magic in the Acts of the Apostles
rainer G. h. reuter .....................................................................................123
Paul and the others: insiders, outsiders, and Animosity
Jeremy Punt ..................................................................................................137
switching Universes: moving from a cosmology of fear and
Animosity to one of reconciliation in colossians
J. J. fritz Krüger ............................................................................................153
vi contents
Useless commandment: Animosity toward the earlier covenant
in hebrews
outi leppä ....................................................................................................177
no retaliation! An ethical Analysis of the exhortation in 1 Peter
3:9 not to repay evil with evil
fika J. van rensburg ....................................................................................199
Animosity in the Johannine epistles: A difference in the interpretation
of a shared tradition
dirk G. van der merwe ...............................................................................231
hostility against the Wealth of Babylon: revelation 17:1–19:10
Paul B. decock ..............................................................................................263
Animosity and (voluntary) martyrdom: The Power of the Powerless
henk Bakker .................................................................................................287
Assessment—Animosity, the Bible, and Us: A few tentative remarks
herrie f. van rooy .......................................................................................299
Bibliography .........................................................................................................301
contributors .........................................................................................................331
index of Ancient Authors and texts .................................................................335
index of modern scholars ..................................................................................356
Preface
Animosity is a perennial problem that has plagued every form of interper-
sonal and international relationship from the dawn of human existence. The
histories of all peoples have shown, time and again, that any kind of deep-
seated bitterness rarely remains dormant for a great length of time. on the
contrary, it seethes and simmers beneath the surface, festering like a wound.
At any moment, with or without provocation, it is liable to break out into
the open, manifesting itself in all kinds of hostile words and hateful acts.
Although animosity is hardly a new problem in today’s world, it is, unfor-
tunately, a prevalent one, and modern technology has raised its potential
consequences to a frightening level.
the term itself appears to have entered the english language in the
fifteenth century, when the french noun animosité was Anglicized as “ani-
mosity.” The french word was not a new coinage but simply derived from the
postclassical latin term animositas. The latter is used by the vulgate to render
the Greek word θυμός (thymos) in both 2 cor 12:20 and heb 11:27 (see also
sir 31:30 lxx = 31:40 vulg.). As that translation already suggests, the ancient
world was well aware of the link between anger and animosity, and several of
the essays included in this volume provide further evidence of this linkage.
This collection of essays is the result of a three-year research project
launched in 2004 by the school of Biblical studies and Ancient languages
at north-West University in Potchefstroom, south Africa. Because animos-
ity is a global problem, this endeavor was designed from the outset as an
international effort, with contributors from three different continents offer-
ing perspectives on the subject of “Animosity, the Bible, and Us.” Under the
leadership of my co-editors, fika J. van rensburg and herrie f. van rooy,
this project was pursued at the 2004 international meeting of the society of
Biblical literature in Groningen and at meetings of the european Associa-
tion of Biblical studies from 2004 to 2006. Participants presented papers on
a wide variety of topics, some dealing with the Bible and others with differ-
ent aspects of animosity in the ancient near east and the Greek and roman
worlds. some gave considerable attention to the hermeneutical implications
of their findings; others left it to readers to draw the implications for them-
-vii-
viii PrefAce
selves. for reasons of space, not all contributions could be included in this
volume. Those that were selected for inclusion have been revised and updated
for publication. five contributors are from europe (three from the nether-
lands and one each from finland and russia), one is from north America
(the United states), and eight are from Africa (from various universities in
south Africa).
The original goal of the project was to examine the biblical text to see
how it understands and presents the phenomenon of animosity and to glean
any insights that it might offer to help us address this problem. At the same
time, we knew from the outset that the Bible itself and how it has been used
have sometimes contributed to the problem of animosity. ours is not the first
generation to be troubled by various things that we read—or do not read—in
scripture. to give but one example, after the egyptians have drowned in the
sea of reeds, the israelites, led by moses and miriam, sing a song to yahweh
celebrating his triumph and their deliverance (exod 15). This is a perfectly
natural human response, especially after the harsh oppression the israelites
suffered at the hands of the egyptians. yet some later rabbis, troubled by the
moral problem of singing and dancing festively when there has been a griev-
ous loss of human life, asked: is this also God’s response? to address this
issue, some created a midrash in which God had a dialogue with his angels,
who wanted to join in the singing of the israelites’ song. in this connection,
rabbi yohanan not only declared that the holy one “does not rejoice at the
downfall of the wicked” but also has God rebuke the angels and shame them
into silence by saying, “my creatures are drowning in the sea, yet you wish to
sing a song?”1
The volume comprises fourteen essays. We begin with eben scheffler’s
examination of the phenomenon of war and violence within the context of
the ancient near east, then turn to the hebrew Bible and the Jewish traditions
connected with it, within the context of ancient israel and the ancient near
east. eric Peels discusses cain’s killing of Abel, the Bible’s first case of homi-
cide. This is followed by the essay of herrie van rooy, who gives attention to
the Psalter and the many occasions on which a psalmist makes reference to
1. i cite the form of the statement as it appears in b. meg. 10b; the translation is that of
Jacob neusner, Bavli Tractate Megillah (vol. 10 of The Talmud of Babylonia: An Academic
Commentary; Atlanta: scholars Press, 1995), 49, slightly modified and with the brackets
removed. A similar version of the saying appears in midrash rabbah on exod 23:7: “When
the angels desired to chant song before God on that night when israel crossed the sea, the
holy one, blessed be he, prevented them, saying, ‘my legions are in distress, and you wish
to utter song before me?’” (trans. s. m. lehrman in h. freedman and m. simon, eds.,
Midrash Rabbah [3rd ed.; 10 vols.; london: soncino, 1983], 3:285).
PrefAce ix
his enemies. later tradition tried to identify these enemies, and van rooy
compares and contrasts the Jewish and christian interpretations of the ene-
mies as they are reflected in the headings to the psalms.
during the hasmonean and roman periods of Jewish history, numerous
debates involved the Jerusalem temple. one of these centered on the calen-
dar to be used for the observance of holy days and festivals, and more than
a few individuals were alarmed by the prospect of a Jewish high priest, using
the wrong calendar, entering the adytum of the sanctuary on a day that was
not the true yom Kippur. The essay by marius nel examines this controversy,
giving particular attention to the differences among the competing calendars.
his essay is followed by that of eveline van staalduine-sulman, who examines
animosity in targumic literature, comparing its depiction of certain instances
of enmity and hostility with that of the hebrew Bible. As is the case with
modern cinematic depictions of biblical characters and scenes, the targumim
change the picture of acrimonious relationships in revealing ways.
following my discussion of the problem of domestic violence in the
ancient world, we turn to early christian literature outside the Gospels. We
begin this section of the volume with rainer reuter’s discussion of three
episodes involving magic in the Acts of the Apostles. The next two essays
deal with quite different issues in the Pauline corpus. Jeremy Punt discusses
Paul’s penchant for using insider/outsider terminology and the potential for
animosity engendered by this kind of language. fritz Krüger explores the
prospects for our dealing effectively with the problem of animosity by exam-
ining the cosmological narrative embedded in colossians, comparing it and
its worldview with two other such narratives.
outi leppä discusses hebrews and its author’s extensive use of the rhetor-
ical technique of comparison (synkrisis) to exalt christ at the expense of the
people and institutions connected with the former covenant, and she argues
that this “word of exhortation” (heb 13:22) is not only disparaging but also
generates feelings of animosity. in the next essay, fika J. van rensburg exam-
ines a quite different problem, that of abused christians who are encouraged
by the author of 1 Peter not to retaliate by repaying evil for evil (1 Pet 3:9).
yet another situation involving animosity surfaces in the Johannine epistles,
where there is open hostility between different groups of christian believers,
each refusing to extend hospitality to the other group. This acrimonious situ-
ation is discussed by dirk van der merwe.
Apocalyptic literature frequently offers a vision of the future in which the
suffering righteous are vindicated and their oppressors punished. The book of
revelation is typical in that regard, with the seer John giving us a vision of the
downfall of “Babylon.” Paul decock discusses this christian animus toward
rome, giving special attention to how various interpreters have understood
