'Gelukkig hij die uw kinderen zal grijpen'
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Date
2002
Authors
Peels, H. G. L.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Faculty of Theology, University of the Free State
Abstract
“Happy is he who seizes your infants…”. Hermeneutical and biblical-theological
positioning of the Old Testament imprecations
The Old Testament contains many prayers for the shaming, punishment or destruction
of the godless, especially in the Psalms. This imprecatory prayer, which still
forms one of the most troublesome dimensions of Scripture for modern Bible-readers,
is usually explained very negatively as a human but intolerable expression of
personal or national rancour/hostility, and as such put in sharp contrast with the
New Testament message of love for the enemy. This article makes a plea for a more
hermeneutically responsible exegesis, by paying attention to the background, context
and intention of the imprecatory prayer itself. After having delineated the
indigenous horizon of interpretation of the Old Testament imprecatory prayers, a
comparison with New Testament data is made, leading to the conclusion that on the
one hand the condemnation of Old Testament imprecatory prayer from the perspective
of New Testament ethics is incorrect, but on the other that it is also impossible
within the New Testament situation to raise the imprecatory prayer in the
same manner as was done by the psalmists of the Old Testament.
Description
Keywords
Hermeneutics, Imprecation, Old Testament theology
Citation
Peels, H. G. L. (2002). Gelukkig hij die uw kinderen zal grijpen'. Acta Theologica, 22(1), 117-134.