Lex Talionis in Exod 21:22–25: Its Origin and Context

Lex Talionis in Exod 21:22–25: Its Origin and Context

Yung Suk Kim

Was the biblical lex talionis to be applied by equal retribution or in a figurative sense? What was its origin? How or for what purpose was the lex talionis practiced in ancient Israelite life? This article argues that lex talionis in Exod 21:22-25 should be understood figuratively in the ancient village life context and that the development of the lex talionis should be understood as a complex process, depending on the corresponding social, economic structure of the time. Comparative considerations between the lex talionis in Exod 21:22-25 and other relevant ANE texts are advanced.

Marginality

In his book Marginality: The Key to Multicultural Theology (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1995), Jung Young Lee states that his marginal experience is the basis for his contextual theology. Furthermore, Lee affirms that marginality is a new source of power (self-affirmation) despite its negative connotations. Lee goes on to argue that Christian theology, the mission of the church, a habit of thinking, personal commitment, and all our hearts and minds must be based on the new marginality of self-affirmation. A new marginal person is one who relentlessly hopes for harmonious justice beyond one's identity, defiantly resisting all abusive systems and evil in the world.

To support his thesis about new marginality, Lee rejects the one-way, classical definition of marginality that emphasizes the negative sides of marginality such as alienation, rejection, struggles, and so forth. This classical definition is the product of "centrality" according to which marginality is a situation of "got stuck" or "in-between." But Lee defines marginality from a marginal perspective, which upholds a "both/and" and "in-beyond" approach. For example, Lee declares that he is both an American and an Asian. The "Both/and" approach is a self-affirmation of both Asian and American.


He also talks about a new marginality person who stands "in-beyond," which means standing beyond "in-between" and "in-both" (Asian and American). That is to say, such an "in-beyond" person transcends the current time and space to form a new identity, which is formulated both in "in-between" and "in-both" worlds. Lee states that this kind of "in-beyond" thinking leads to living up to "the harmony of difference," as God's creation itself is of plurality and differences.


Lee continues to explore marginality to the extent that marginality should be the center of Christian theology. For instance, God becomes marginal through the incarnation of Jesus Christ. Marginality is God's choice of loving humanity. Jesus was also marginal, being rejected and crucified by the people. In other words, Jesus lived "in beyond," affirming the world that rejected him. Likewise, Lee suggests that the church, seminaries, and all our Christian works be a community of marginality that lives up to the love and servanthood of Jesus. The author envisions the whole church and Christian institutions to embrace a holistic "in-beyond" approach.


Lee does an excellent job and he reclaims a Christian theology of marginality. Jesus came not to be served but to serve (Mt. 20:28). As Jesus was a marginal person, so were Christians. Christians' power comes out of serving others. Another strong point is regarding the identity of the minority. Marginal experiences are certainly negative but are not hopeless altogether. Lee suggests that we transform our marginal experiences to form a new identity of hope and love beyond the current conditions of the world. Lee also made a big contribution to the understanding of multicultural society. A pluralistic, multicultural society needs multiple centers and margins. Lee seems to encourage all of us to play an active role in making a better society. He also reminds us of the mystery of creation that reflects the diversity, plurality, and differences in our culture. Everyone has his or her place of margin, because, according to Lee, margins and centers are not fixed; rather, they are dynamic and moving. A multicultural society is a kind of web in which every unit of society has its connection to one another, modifying its place constantly.


Lee's book has had a great impact on my study, as I feel confident about my role as a biblical theologian in a multicultural society. Through my upbringing, education, and experiences in Korea, and elsewhere (including Latin America and the USA) I came to view the world through the lens of critical diversity or imagination. When I lived in a small rural village during my childhood, I liked to play with things in nature and grasped the harmony of differences. Not a single thing is the same as the other in nature: Different colors of leaves, different trees, different flowers, different stars, different birds, and so forth. While we are different from each other, we also share a common humanity. We are still the same human being. In nature, dandelion is different from the rose but it is still a beautiful flower. God made all of us good and beautiful.

Santa Biblia

In his book Santa Biblia, Gonzalez claims that the interpretation of the Bible should be balanced in terms of a variety of perspectives. Thus the Bible cannot be interpreted unilaterally by the so-called center group (the dominant culture, middle class, academic circle, etc.); Rather, it is to be the source of hope and strength for the powerless and the poor by reading the text interactively (true dialogue between reader and the text). In other words, the Bible should be read with a perspective; the text speaks to the reader but also the reader speaks to the text. The text should address us where we are: our contexts. Thus, reading of the Bible should be contextual (Gonzalez 16, 17).
On this basis of contextualization, the writer affirms that the Hispanic perspective can give the Christian community a new insight into the reading of the Bible. The new insight will be the importance of a variety of views by which the wholeness of the church (universal church) can be seen better than each group of perspectives sees. Furthermore, he reclaims the true gospel message's transforming power in a way that marginal paradigms (marginality, poverty, mestizaje, exile aliens, and solidarity) should play a role in the Christian community. In this approach, he eventually tries to solve the problem of marginality by reaffirming the power of marginality which has been embedded in the Bible stories. The writer's wish is that the Bible be the source of hope and strength to all who want to live out the true gospel in solidarity with the marginalized.

Gonzalez supports his claim about the importance of Hispanic paradigms in several ways. First, he believes that there is no such objective knowledge that can illumine the truth (15). The marginal view is another angle to be reclaimed. In this way, many distortions about biblical interpretations can be corrected, and the overlooked things are reclaimed: For instance, when Jesus' parables and the Sabbath law of the Ten Commandments are viewed from "the perspective of the poor," they have a new meaning: reversal of society's justice like "give and take," thereby reclaiming deeper level of justice by giving due return to all (58). Likewise, he points to the right to work and justice of God: fair distribution to people who need for their lives (61-64).

Second, the author takes examples of marginal stories in the Bible. To take a few of them: Abraham's call, Ruth's choice, Joseph's life in Egypt, and Paul's Gentile mission. The history of Israel began with the call of Abraham. He had to leave for an unknown land as an alien but with faith in God and with hope for the unseen future. Since then, God has remembered the aliens and strangers and moved them toward a more inclusive community (89). Gonzalez affirms that the Bible itself is the story of people of the voiceless but with voices. Their voices were calling God's name. In the midst of difficulties and despair, God was with them. Their powerlessness was their opportunity to call God. In return, God gives them hope and energy to overcome hardships.

Finally, Gonzalez leads us to the very history of Christianity and Jesus. He states that the history of Christianity is "the conversion of Christianity" as suggested in the encounter of Peter with Cornelius (51). At the center, Peter realized a new meaning of the gospel through his encounter with the marginalized person, Cornelius. In other words, he insists on the so-called "border approach" - the encounter of "two cultures and two worldviews" (86). At this point, the writer even portrays Jesus as mestizo Jesus (90). In a sense, he seems to state that to be a good Christian implies that each has to live out "mestizaje" in one's daily life, in ways that on one hand, each lives in solidarity with the poor, the powerless, and the marginalized, on the other hand, each needs to reaffirm one's own "mestizaje" in the very being of Christian (87).

This book gave me new insights into the biblical interpretation that the process of interpretation involves a perspective that can contribute to the larger community of faith. There is one universal church as one body of Christ, but there are many members in it with many perspectives and many different stories. But diversity is an essential factor in enriching others and the whole church by opening ourselves to listen to other views. In this sense, communication among Christians and ecumenical efforts toward more inclusive communities is crucial.

Another insight is the need to strike a balance between theology and practice. Being disciples means living out the Christian gospel - good news to everybody - by seeking good news from the Bible and living it out in everyday life.

The last insight is that the mission takes place at the borders. Mutual interaction in those places is very important. This border mission implies that we all need to seek out those who occupy a different place on the Christian landscape and be ready to change ourselves as the new understanding of our faith challenges us. Gospel or good news is permeated through this border area because God is closer to the people of struggle who desperately need help and hope for the future. New history and new beginnings take place at the border. I need to participate in that border in solidarity with the marginalized. I have a strong conviction that my "sitz-im-leben" - similar experiences as the Latinos/Latinas - will be used for making my border mission happen.

I have to point out small weaknesses in this book, though. It is the danger of relativism. If all theologies are perspectival and contextual, all are good in their contexts. What is the central place or criteria to affirm a kind of universal truth in the world? Human perspectives are emphasized too much. This being the case, the question is where does God stand? My question is about God's place in our different perspectives. Had Gonzalez developed this point of divine initiative, he would have avoided the problem of his overemphasis on the human perspective. That is to say, the Holy Spirit's work through our ministry should have been elaborated in order that each perspective can be valid.

Another problem is that Gonzalez did not explicitly show the importance of community in his development of the perspectival view of the Hispanic paradigms. Though he posed general Hispanic paradigms from the whole Hispanic community, one thing he overlooked is how each perspective can be checked and filtered through the larger communities. In other words, it is about how the Hispanic view can be balanced among the universal church. What other perspectives are available to see a complete picture of the landscape, and how can we get closer to them? Even though he suggested the contrasting and dominating views in the discussion of the Hispanic paradigms, if he had elaborated on other views that could show the other part of the landscape the Hispanic lens could easily miss, I would have had more sense of balance in this book.

A new textbook writing

I am writing a new textbook for the critical, comprehensive study of the Gospels for graduate/seminary students that I serve in my second career. I put all my mind and energy into this, using 16 years of my teaching experience. Here I am still functioning. I must do what I can now because I face a sheer reality that I must go down someday.

Commentary on 1 Peter 3:18-22 (Working Preacher)

The author of 1 Peter addresses “the exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who have been chosen and destined by God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus Christ and to be sprinkled with his blood” (1 Peter 1:1-2). The exiles of the Dispersion are gentile Christians in Asia Minor who need encouragement and comfort in their harsh lives on the margins of the Roman Empire. The author assures them of the sustenance and success of Christian life rooted in Christly examples as well as God’s grace.

Continue to read.

Lectionary commentary on 2 Cor 4:3-6 (Working Preacher)

 

Second Corinthians 4:3-6 is part of the defense letter of Paul’s gospel (2 Corinthians 2:14—7:4).

In 1-2 Corinthians, he consistently and vehemently argues that the good news is:

• God-centered (for example, God’s faithfulness in 1 Corinthians 1:9; God’s mercy in 2 Corinthians 4:1)
• Christ-demonstrated (1 Corinthians 1:18-25; 2 Corinthians 5:14-15) and
• Christian-imitated (1 Corinthians 11:1; 2 Corinthians 5:16-21; 2 Corinthians 8:8-15).

While God is the starting point of the good news, Jesus Christ is the foundation of the church (1 Corinthians 3:11). Jesus revealed God’s wisdom and strength through his challenge to the wisdom of the world.

For more, continue to read.