The Hebrew Bible is officially revered by the three monotheistic faiths. Comprising all of the Jewish Scriptures, it is the essential foundation of those of the other two. But, more commonly referred to in the western world as the Old Testament, it has long been looked upon with some condescension for its supposed emphasis on retribution and punishment rather than love.
The Case for the Critics
To be sure, there's lots of sinning and its consequences from Genesis to Chronicles. Adam and Eve, Cain, the generation of the Flood, the Egyptians, the Canaanites, the straying tribes of Israel, Samson, Saul, David, the Ten Tribes, and finally the Kingdom of Judah all do bad things and are harshly penalized. And the Israelites are governed by a system of law given by God to Moses which has extensive reference to capital punishment, including stoning, on the books and even contains that provocative phrase deplored so much in modern times, "an eye for an eye.'
So when the author of the Gospel According to St. Matthew wrote, "Ye have heard that it hath been said, "Love thy neighbor and hate thy enemy" (5:43), his readers could have logically assumed that he was citing an about-to-be superseded "Old Testament." And in fact not much has been done in some quarters, both religious and literary, over the past 2000 years to dispel the notion that the Good Book wasn't as good before the New Testament.
The Case for the Defense
Does the Hebrew Bible deserve the rap it's gotten? Well, for starters, while "Love thy neighbor" is right smack in the middle of the Five books of Moses (Leviticus 19:18), there's no 'hate thy enemy" to be found. In fact, the Israelites are repeatedly enjoined to love the "stranger,' specifically because they were strangers in a foreign land and enslaved there. Moreover, in Chapter 23 of Exodus, they're instructed that if they come across the lost animal of their enemy, they must return it, and if they find him struggling to lift a fallen beast of burden, they must pitch in and help him with that, too.
Moses and the succeeding prophets and psalmists who lived through the events depicted in the Hebrew Bible visualized and transmitted a picture of a loving and merciful God who wanted His human creations to learn love and mercy and build an ideal society. They taught respect and caring for parents, the elderly, widows, orphans, and the needy. The divine law even prescribed that some assistance was to be in the form of entitlements rather than charity, as with gleaning and certain tithes.
Retribution and punishment were far from King David's consciousness when he acknowledged the bountiful blessings of a loving God in Psalm 23's matchless phrase, "My cup runneth over." And there is no better summation of the "Old Testament's" human principles than Micah's (6:8): "To do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with thy God."
Source: The Holy Bible, King James Version
The Five Books of Moses, Commentary by Samson Raphael Hirsch
David Hornestay - DavidH began a career as a freelancer after 34 years in government management. Keeping a hand in as a consultant in federal human ...
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