The verb חשׁב has
an area of meaning which is expressed in English by the words “conceive of”, “regard
as”, “reckon”. It also designates a process of thought in a value-judgment, but
in which this value-judgment is related not to the speaker but to the value of
an object. (Gerhard von Rad, “Faith
Reckoned as Righteousness,” in The Problem of the Hexateuch and Other Essays
[trans. E. W. Trueman Dicken; New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1966], 125-26)
Lev. VII.11ff. deals with the ritual minutiae of the offering of
so-called "peace offerings" (זֶבַח הַשְׁלָמִים). The flesh must be
eaten on the day on which the sacrifice is made, and, if need be, on the
following day. If, however, any of the flesh is not eaten until the third day,
he who offers it shall not be accepted,
neither shall it be reckoned to him,
it shall be an abomination,
(Lev. VII.18b)
This is a case of a "reckoning" which is to be pronounced by
the priest, rejecting the individual worshipper in circumstances of an
exceptional nature, in which the priest is called on to pass a kind of cultic
judgment on him; but in so doing he is acting as Yahweh's mouthpiece. In
accepting or rejecting the sacrifice he is declaring in categorical terms the
will of Yahweh. There is a similar statement in the law of the altar in the
Holiness Code:
If anyone does not bring it [i.e. the animal he has killed] to the
door of the tent of meeting ... blood-guilt shall be reckoned to that man (דָּ֣ם
יֵחָשֵׁ֞ב).
(Lev. XVII.4)
Here, too, the word חשׁב denotes a declaratory act which the priest
performs on behalf of Yahweh, although in this case it concerns a capital
offence with regard to the cultus, for blood-guilt is to Yahweh the most
heinous of all sins. Accordingly it attracts the extreme punishment, that of
being "cut off from among the people". If at this stage we take a
preliminary glance at Gen. xv.6 and ask what terminology could be used to express
the exact opposite of "blood-guilt" (דָּ֣ם), only one word out of the
entire cultic and theological vocabulary of Israel seems applicable-the word
"righteousness" (צְדָקָה). (Ibid., 126)
Further
Reading:
Response
to a Recent Attempt to Defend Imputed Righteousness
Λογιζομαι in texts contemporary with the New
Testament, part 7: Summary (links to the entire series)
חשׁב/λογιζομαι
being used for Calculating or Metaphorical Purposes
Representative
Examples of חשב in non-biblical texts from Qumran
