Source: William G. Most, "Appendix: Sedaqah in Jewish/Christian Tradition"
The
Concept of Sin as Debt
We
saw from Simeon ben Eleazar that sin is a debt. That word reflects again God's
concern for what is morally right.
In
the Old Testament
This
notion appears often in the Old Testament, in the sheggagah theme,
as we have seen, and also in many other passages.
Hosea
7:1:
"When I would [wanted to] heal Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was
laid bare." It seems that God wanted to heal them, but the iniquity was a
debt to be paid -- within covenant. So He could not, within covenant, heal
them. His Holiness called for this attitude.
Jeremiah 11:5: God calls for obedience, "In order that (lemaan) I may carry out the oath that I swore to your fathers." John Bright renders well thus: "this will allow me to carry out the oath that I swore to your fathers."10
Jeremiah
36:3:
Asks them to turn from their evil way "and I will forgive their iniquity
and their sin [wesalachti]." Bright renders: "and then I can
forgive."11 Cf. Jeremiah 11:5 above.
Ezechiel
5:13: God
had said in verse 6 that Jerusalem had sinned worse than the nations. Therefore
He would punish them and then in v.13: "And my anger shall be
fulfilled." Surely does not mean not vengeance (willing evil to another so
it may be evil to him) -- which is not in God -- but that the objective order
will be rebalanced.
The
Septuagint: The
verb aphienai is often used to mean forgive. Its
connotation is to remit a debt, for example, Genesis 50:17; Exodus
32:32.
In
Intertestamental Literature
Hebrew hobah and
Aramaic hobah, which directly mean debt, are often used
to mean sin. Cf. S. Lyonnet -- L.Sabourin, Sin, Redemption and
Sacrifice (Rome, Biblical Institute, 1970, pp.25-26,32.); George F.
Moore, Judaism (Harvard U. Press, Cambridge, 1927, II, p.95);
M. Jastrow A Dictionary of the Targumim (Pardes, N.Y., 1950,
I, pp.428-29); Jacob Levy, Chaldaisches Wörterbuch über die Targumim (Joseph
Melzer Verlag, Köln, 1959, p.241); and Michael Sokoloff, A Dictionary
of Jewish Palestinian Aramaic (Bar Ilan University Press, Ramat-Gan,
Israel, 1990, p.189).
Testament
of Abraham:
E. P. Sanders dates it 1st-2nd century A.D. Recension A:12.l8: "And when
he opened the book he found its [those of a soul at judgment] sins and
righteous deeds to be equally balanced, and he neither turned it over to the
torturers, nor (placed it among) those who were being saved, but he set it in
the middle."12
In
Chapter 14, Abraham and the Commander in Chief Michael offer a prayer for that
soul, which corrects the balance, and it is saved. Eerdmans Bible
Dictionary says most scholars think, aside from some Christian
interpolations, the Testaments are by a single Jewish author of the 2nd half of
the 2nd century B.C.13
In
the New Testament
The
concept of sin as debt is very clear here. Especially important is the Our
Father itself (Matthew 6:12), where we ask to have our debts (= sins)
forgiven (opheilemata), as we forgive our debtors = those who have
sinned against us. This of course is the same usage of aphienai that
is found in the LXX.
The
same usage is found in the parable of the talents in Matthew 18:24: "There
was brought to him one who owed ten thousand talents." Then in verse 27,
"He forgave the debt to him": daneion apheken.
There
is also an implication of forgiving a debt in many uses of charizomai:
Luke
7:42: "And since they did not have the means to pay, he forgave each
one." (They had owed debts:opheilo).
2
Corinthians 2:7: "So that on the contrary you should forgive and comfort him."
2:10: "To whom you have forgiven anything, so do I."
Colossians
2:13: "Forgiving us all our transgressions."
Colossians
3:13:"Forgiving each other as God has forgiven you." The verb
is echarisato -- make a present of the debt.
Ephesians
4:32:"Be kindly, merciful to one another, forgiving one another just as
God in Christ has forgiven you."
There
is the same implication of debt in the texts of Paul about Christ buying us
back, buying at a price:
exagorazo: Galatians 3:13: "Christ has bought us back from the
curse of the law by becoming a curse for us." Galatians 4:5: "That He
might buy back those under the law."
agorazo:
1 Corinthians 6:20: "You were bought at a price." 1 Corinthians
7:23:"You were bought at a price."
lytron:
Matthew 20:28: "The Son of Man came to give His life as a ransom for the
many." Mark 10:45 has the same.
antilytron: 1 Timothy 2:6: "He gave Himself as a ransom for all."
In
Rabbinic Literature
The
concept that sin is a debt is abundant in Rabbinic literature.
Aboth
4.13: "Rabbi
Eliezer ben Jacob said: He who does one commandment gains for himself one
advocate [prqlyt]; and he who commits one transgression gains for
himself one accuser." Cf. also Aboth 3.20, an elaborate
metaphor of a shopman who gives credit, but the collectors daily make the
rounds to call for payment. Sin is viewed as a debt.
Pirque
R. Eliezer 4.11a:
"He that does one precept gains for himself one advocate [prqlyt],
but he that commits one transgression gets for himself one accuser. Repentance
and good works are as a shield against retribution."
Tosefta,
Kiddushin 1.14:
[Simeon ben Eleazar in name of R. Meir]: "He has carried out one
commandment. His blessings! He has tipped the scale to the side of merit [zchth]
for himself and for the world; he has committed one transgression. Woe to him.
He has tipped the scale to the side of debt [hobah] for himself and for
the world." Verbatim adding kol in Kiddushin 1.10:40a,
below.
B.
Kiddushin 1.10.40a-b:
"Our Rabbis taught: A man should always [40b] regard himself as though he
were half guilty and half meritorious: if he performs one precept, happy is he
for weighting himself down in the scale of merit; if he commits one
transgression, woe to him for weighting himself down in the scale of guilt [hobah]. . . .
R. Eleazar son of R. Simeon said: Because the world is judged by its majority,
and an individual [too] is judged by his majority of deeds, good or bad, if he
performs one good deed, happy is he for turning the scale both for himself and
for the whole world on the side of merit [zchth]; if he commits one
transgression, woe to him for weighting himself and the whole world in the
scale of guilt, [hobah] for it is said, 'but one sinner, etc.' -- on
account of the single sin which this man commits he and the whole world lose much
good. R. Simeon b. Yohai said: Even if he is perfectly righteous all his life
but rebels at the end he destroys his former [good deeds], . . .
And even if one is completely wicked all his life but repents at the end, he is
not reproached with his wickedness. . . ."14 COMMENT:
We note the internal quotes from Tosefta, Kiddushin 1.14, cited
above. But Simeon b. Yokai rejects the idea given at the start and says:
"Even if he is perfectly righteous all his life but rebels at the end, he
destroys his former [good deeds]." He goes on to cite Ezekiel 33:12.
Gemara
on Kiddushin, as above: "R. Eleazar son of R. Zadok
said: . . . the Holy One, blessed be He, brings suffering
upon the righteous in this world, in order that they may inherit the future
world. . . . the Holy One, blessed be He, makes them [the
wicked] prosper in this world, in order to destroy them and consign them to the
nethermost rung. . . ."
Baraitha,
Kid. 40b:
"Rabbi Eleazar ben R. Sadok, of the lst century in Jerusalem, said: 'God
brings chastisements upon the righteous men in this world, in order that they
may inherit the world-to-come.'"15
Baraitha
in Kiddushin 40b:
"R. Eleazar b. R. Sadok says: God bestows prosperity in fullness upon the
sinners in this world, in order to drive them (from the world-to-come) and give
them as their portion the lowest step (of Gehinnom)." The same idea, in
almost the same words is in:
Pesikta
73a R. Akiba:
"God bestows prosperity and well-being in fullness in this world and pays
the sinners for the few good deeds done by them in this world, in order to
punish them in the world-to-come."16
Sifre
on Deuteronomy, Piska 32: "Furthermore,
a man should rejoice more in chastisement than in times of prosperity. For if a
man is prosperous all his life, no sin of his can be forgiven." What
brings forgiveness of sin? Suffering. . . . R. Meir says,
"Scripture says 'Know in your heart that the Lord your God chastises you
just as a man chastises his son' (Deut 8:5). You and your heart know the deeds
that you have done and you know that whatever sufferings I have brought upon
you do not outweigh all your deeds." R. Yose ben R. Judah says,
"Precious are chastisements, for the name of the Omnipresent One rests
upon one who suffers them. . . ." R. Nehemiah says,
"Precious are chastisements, for just as sacrifices bring appeasement, so
do chastisements bring appeasement. . . . Indeed, suffering
appeases even more than sacrifices, for sacrifices involve wealth, but
suffering involve's one's body. . . ."17
B.
Sabb 2.6.fol.32a:
"If one is led to the place of judgment to be judged, he can be saved if
he has great advocates [prqlitin], but if he does
not . . . he will not be saved; and these are the advocates [prqlitin]
of a man: conversion and good works."
B.
Baba Bathra 1.5.fol.10a: "All the moral rightness [sedaqah] and
covenant fidelity [hesed] that Israel does in the world are great
well-being [shalom] and are great advocates [prqlitin] between
Israel and their Father in heaven." COMMENT: We note that it is within the
covenant framework -- hesed -- and justice -- sedaqah.
The advocates (we note the Greek loan word) are the reasons to balance the
objective order favorably.18 At times paraclete seems
to mean a weight in the scales, as in the above. At other times it seems to
mean a person who pleads for another. Thus in Shemoth
Rabbah 32 we read that for keeping one precept God gives one angel,
for two, two angels, for many, half of his host. And in Exodus Rabbah 18.3
(on 12.29) Moses is called a good paraclete. The Targum on Job 33:23 says that
if a man has merit, an angel intervenes as an advocate among one thousand
accusers.
Semahoth
III.11.
R.Yehudah ben Ilai asserts that the ancient pious men "used to be
afflicted with intestinal illness for about ten to twenty days before their
death, so they might . . . arrive pure in the hereafter."19
In
Patristic Literature
Leo
the Great, Epistle 28, To Flavian: "To pay the debt of our condition, inviolable nature
was joined to passible nature."20
Athanasius,
On the Incarnation of the Divine Word 9: "For the Word, knowing that only by dying was it
possible for the corruption of men to be removed, since the Word, being
immortal, could not die . . . took to Himself a body that could
die. . . . The Word of God . . . paid the debt in
death."
Origen,
On Matthew 20:28:
"Now to whom did He give His life as a price of redemption for the many?
For it was not to God. Was it then to the Evil One? For he had us in his power,
until the life of Jesus was given to him as a ransom for us -- to him who was
deceived, as though he could hold that life."
Ambrose,
Epistle 72:
"Without doubt he [Satan] demanded a price to set free from slavery those
whom he held bound. Now the price of our liberty was the blood of Jesus, which
necessarily had to be paid to him to whom we had been sold by our sins."
Augustine,
Sermon 329: "For
on the cross He carried out a great exchange. There the sack of our price was
paid, when his side was opened by the lance of the one who struck it, from
there flowed out the price for the whole world."21
Gregory
of Nazianzus, Oration 45, on Easter 22 : "Now if the ransom goes to none other than the
captor: I ask, to whom was it brought and why? If to the Evil One -- what a
mockery! If that robber receives not just something from God, but God
Himself. . . . But if it was paid to the Father -- first of all,
how? For we were not held captive by Him. Secondly, why would the blood of His
only begotten please the Father. . . . Or is it not clear
instead that the Father did receive the offering, even though He did not ask
for it or need it, but He received it as a result of His divine
plan and because it was right that humanity should be sanctified by
the humanity of God."22
Notes for the Above
|
10 |
John Bright, Jeremiah, Anchor Bible, Doubleday,
N.Y., 1965, p.81. |
|
Ibid. p.176. |
|
|
E. P. Sanders, "Testament of Abraham" in The
Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, ed. James H. Charlesworth, Doubleday,
N.Y., 1983, I, p.875. The text is on p.889. |
|
|
Eerdmans Bible Dictionary, Grand Rapids, 1987, p.994. |
|
|
Kiddushin, tr. Rabbi Dr. H. Freedman, Soncino, London, 1977. |
|
|
Büchler, op.cit., pp.318-19. |
|
|
Ibid., p.173, n.3. |
|
|
Translated by Robert Hammer, previously unpublished, cited by
Jacob Neusner, Midrash in Context, Fortress, Phila., 1983,
pp.150-51. |
|
|
Cf. Kittel, s.v. parakletos. |
|
|
The Tractate Mourning, tr. Dov Zlotnik, Yale University Press, New Haven, 1966,
p.39. |
|
|
DS 293. |
|
|
PL 38.1455. |
|
|
PG 36.653.2. |