Friday, January 7, 2022

William G. Most, "The Concept of Sin as Debt"

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.

11

Ibid. p.176.

12

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.

13

Eerdmans Bible Dictionary, Grand Rapids, 1987, p.994.

14

Kiddushin, tr. Rabbi Dr. H. Freedman, Soncino, London, 1977.

15

Büchler, op.cit., pp.318-19.

16

Ibid., p.173, n.3.

17

Translated by Robert Hammer, previously unpublished, cited by Jacob Neusner, Midrash in Context, Fortress, Phila., 1983, pp.150-51.

18

Cf. Kittel, s.v. parakletos.

19

The Tractate Mourning, tr. Dov Zlotnik, Yale University Press, New Haven, 1966, p.39.

20

DS 293.

21

PL 38.1455.

22

PG 36.653.2.