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Making Sense of Old Testament Genocide: Christian Interpretations of Herem Passages
The divine commands to annihilate the seven nations living in Canaan (to 'devote them to destruction', herem in Biblical Hebrew) are perhaps the most morally troubling texts of the Hebrew and Christian bibles. Making Sense of Old Testament Genocide: Christian Interpretations of Herem Passages addresses the challenges these texts pose. It presents the various ways in which interpreters from the first century to the twenty-first have attempted to make sense of them. The most troubling approach was no doubt to read them as divine sanction and inspiration for violence and war: the analysis of the use of herem texts in the crusades, the inquisition, and various colonial conquests illustrates this violent way of reading the texts, which has such alarming contemporary relevance. Three additional approaches can also be traced to antiquity, viz. pre-critical, non-literal, and divine-command-theory readings. Finally, critics of Christianity from antiquity via the Enlightenment to today
have referenced herem texts: their critical voices are included as well.
Christian Hofreiter combines a presentation of a wide range of historical sources with careful analysis that scrutinizes the arguments made and locates the texts in their wider contexts. Influential contributions of such well-known figures as Augustine, Origen, Gregory the Great, Thomas Aquinas, and John Calvin are included, as well as those of critics such as Marcion, Celsus and Matthew Tindal, and less widely known texts such as crusading histories, songs and sermons, colonial conquest accounts, and inquisition manuals. The book thus sheds new light on the ways in which these texts have shaped the thoughts and actions of their readers through the centuries, and offers pertinent insights into how readers might be able to make sense of them today.
have referenced herem texts: their critical voices are included as well.
Christian Hofreiter combines a presentation of a wide range of historical sources with careful analysis that scrutinizes the arguments made and locates the texts in their wider contexts. Influential contributions of such well-known figures as Augustine, Origen, Gregory the Great, Thomas Aquinas, and John Calvin are included, as well as those of critics such as Marcion, Celsus and Matthew Tindal, and less widely known texts such as crusading histories, songs and sermons, colonial conquest accounts, and inquisition manuals. The book thus sheds new light on the ways in which these texts have shaped the thoughts and actions of their readers through the centuries, and offers pertinent insights into how readers might be able to make sense of them today.
294 pages, Hardcover
Published May 1, 2018
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October 20, 2019
"Then the Lord said to Joshua, 'Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Take the whole army with you, and go up and attack Ai. For I have delivered into your hands the king of Ai, his people, his city and his land."...When Israel had finished killing all the men of Ai in the fields and in the wilderness where they had chased them, and when every one of them had been put to the sword, all the Israelites returned to Ai and killed those who were in it. Twelve thousand men and women fell that day—all the people of Ai. For Joshua did not draw back the hand that held out his javelin until he had destroyed all who lived in Ai. So Joshua burned Ai and made it a permanent heap of ruins, a desolate place to this day."
Number 8: 1;24-28
A first glance of this text might generate a very repulsive outcry from those who possess little to no experience in reading the Bible. Those who went to church on a regular basis for worship might even find difficulties in defending such passages in the face of modern reasoning, which without any hesitancy would question its relevance in a complex society that one lives in today.
The passage above describes the practice of Herem, which can be interpreted as, "In war, consecrate a city and its inhabitants to destruction; carry out this destruction; totally annihilate a population in war." In the context of the Biblical narrative, the practice of Herem was mainly conducted by the Israelites throughout their conquest of the Land of Canaan, which today mainly comprises the modern-day Israel-Palestine and Lebanon. Within a similar framework, Canaan was the land that God had promised unto the Israel people, which influenced the way the Israelis see themselves as conducting a divine work through the Herem.
Hofreiter, in this academic work, outlined how various church figures, theologians and scholars throughout the centuries attempted to provide their respective interpretations on how Christians should understand the Herem texts throughout the Old Testament. Generally, there are two main paths wherein these passages are read and understood, with allegorical reading being the first way that emerges in the church's early days. This method chooses to see the Herem as a symbol of the worldly struggle against sin and its proprietor, the devil, with Joshua's action of putting enemy men, women and children to death is a symbol of exterminating out every single root of sin from within us.
As time progresses, this method began to be phased out as new church leaders began to adopt the divine command reading, as part of reestablishing God and Church at the center of individual and societal life. Aligning with this greater goal, the divine command theory validate the Herem conquests in the Old Testament, as they saw it as a command from God, whose words cannot fall into a level of errors that any human words might. As to how can the massacre of men, women and children can be justified in this regard, proponents of this reading argued that considering factors such as the deeds they have committed on earth, their death can be seen as a deliverance from the errors of their ways. Some had also gone to extremes in declaring that, the reasons are shrouded in a divine mystery known only to the omniscient God.
Regardless of which form of reading one chooses to adopt to understand the Herem passages, Hofreiter managed to draw a line on how people throughout history either verbally used the passage to justify their conduct in wars and conquests or inspired by the social context provided through the passages. From the Jerusalem Massacre in the First Crusade to the Rwandan Genocide in 1994, the influence of Herem in what one might define as a "Christian conduct," is something that ought not to be taken lightly. One ought to take note that the discussions surrounding Jihad since 9/11 have gone on a similar path, where people from various perspectives used the allegorical readings to interpret the idea in order to help shift any misconceptions one might have on Islam, or even prevent people from falling into a narrowed perspective that sees the religion within the context of the radical terrorism lens alone.
From this experience, one would not be surprised if the churches of today decided to readopt the allegorical way in interpreting the Herem, in order to maintain its relevance amongst an ever-evolving congregation, as the lessons from the discussions on Jihad can be applied just as easy. Another way that many churches decided to do, however, is to skip the passages altogether and cherry pick those that would be easier to digest for a common churchgoer. It is precisely for the same goal of compatibility in the modern era, that many church decides to take the Bible and adjust it to the ideas of our time, thus watering down its contents into those that incorporates a universal humanitarian principle.
Whether one utilize the allegorical interpretation when they encounter the Herem passages on any given Sunday or decided to self-blind themselves and their congregations from these passages altogether, Hofreiter's book is a concise and well laid-out summary of a particular religious theme that, for a good portion of a person's life of religious worship, have been avoided in many circumstances. His structure enables us as readers to openly see the reality, that is the presence of these passages and the response that church provided to its many parishes. My sole reservation is that he did not devote more time within this work to provide his own narrative over how the readers should interpret the passages on their own. Though by not doing so, Hofreiter might have done a service by compelling us to adopt a holistic and critical standpoint ourselves, regardless of belief, when we read these passages. From there, we as an individual, would be more well-equipped to face the complexities that persists within our lives, and not fall into the same trap of hammering out judgements at face value.
Number 8: 1;24-28
A first glance of this text might generate a very repulsive outcry from those who possess little to no experience in reading the Bible. Those who went to church on a regular basis for worship might even find difficulties in defending such passages in the face of modern reasoning, which without any hesitancy would question its relevance in a complex society that one lives in today.
The passage above describes the practice of Herem, which can be interpreted as, "In war, consecrate a city and its inhabitants to destruction; carry out this destruction; totally annihilate a population in war." In the context of the Biblical narrative, the practice of Herem was mainly conducted by the Israelites throughout their conquest of the Land of Canaan, which today mainly comprises the modern-day Israel-Palestine and Lebanon. Within a similar framework, Canaan was the land that God had promised unto the Israel people, which influenced the way the Israelis see themselves as conducting a divine work through the Herem.
Hofreiter, in this academic work, outlined how various church figures, theologians and scholars throughout the centuries attempted to provide their respective interpretations on how Christians should understand the Herem texts throughout the Old Testament. Generally, there are two main paths wherein these passages are read and understood, with allegorical reading being the first way that emerges in the church's early days. This method chooses to see the Herem as a symbol of the worldly struggle against sin and its proprietor, the devil, with Joshua's action of putting enemy men, women and children to death is a symbol of exterminating out every single root of sin from within us.
As time progresses, this method began to be phased out as new church leaders began to adopt the divine command reading, as part of reestablishing God and Church at the center of individual and societal life. Aligning with this greater goal, the divine command theory validate the Herem conquests in the Old Testament, as they saw it as a command from God, whose words cannot fall into a level of errors that any human words might. As to how can the massacre of men, women and children can be justified in this regard, proponents of this reading argued that considering factors such as the deeds they have committed on earth, their death can be seen as a deliverance from the errors of their ways. Some had also gone to extremes in declaring that, the reasons are shrouded in a divine mystery known only to the omniscient God.
Regardless of which form of reading one chooses to adopt to understand the Herem passages, Hofreiter managed to draw a line on how people throughout history either verbally used the passage to justify their conduct in wars and conquests or inspired by the social context provided through the passages. From the Jerusalem Massacre in the First Crusade to the Rwandan Genocide in 1994, the influence of Herem in what one might define as a "Christian conduct," is something that ought not to be taken lightly. One ought to take note that the discussions surrounding Jihad since 9/11 have gone on a similar path, where people from various perspectives used the allegorical readings to interpret the idea in order to help shift any misconceptions one might have on Islam, or even prevent people from falling into a narrowed perspective that sees the religion within the context of the radical terrorism lens alone.
From this experience, one would not be surprised if the churches of today decided to readopt the allegorical way in interpreting the Herem, in order to maintain its relevance amongst an ever-evolving congregation, as the lessons from the discussions on Jihad can be applied just as easy. Another way that many churches decided to do, however, is to skip the passages altogether and cherry pick those that would be easier to digest for a common churchgoer. It is precisely for the same goal of compatibility in the modern era, that many church decides to take the Bible and adjust it to the ideas of our time, thus watering down its contents into those that incorporates a universal humanitarian principle.
Whether one utilize the allegorical interpretation when they encounter the Herem passages on any given Sunday or decided to self-blind themselves and their congregations from these passages altogether, Hofreiter's book is a concise and well laid-out summary of a particular religious theme that, for a good portion of a person's life of religious worship, have been avoided in many circumstances. His structure enables us as readers to openly see the reality, that is the presence of these passages and the response that church provided to its many parishes. My sole reservation is that he did not devote more time within this work to provide his own narrative over how the readers should interpret the passages on their own. Though by not doing so, Hofreiter might have done a service by compelling us to adopt a holistic and critical standpoint ourselves, regardless of belief, when we read these passages. From there, we as an individual, would be more well-equipped to face the complexities that persists within our lives, and not fall into the same trap of hammering out judgements at face value.
August 19, 2021
The treatment of Origen alone should make this work five stars. This is the foundational work that the discussion of herem texts has been missing for so long. Much needed.
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