Bonhoeffer on Enemies and Imprecation in the Psalms: A Biblical–Theological Commentary

Abstract

This essay analyzes Bonhoeffer’s treatment of the enemies and imprecatory psalms in his The Prayerbook of the Bible from a biblical–theological perspective. The analysis focuses on four important aspects of Bonhoeffer’s interpretation: its starting point(s), the non- or impersonal nature of imprecation, the ethics of imprecation that results in an abdication of revenge-seeking, and the Christological interpretation of God’s wrath against the enemies. Several of Bonhoeffer’s insights are echoed in more recent interpretations, though without his Christological emphasis. This leads one to evaluate the merits and demerits of Bonhoeffer’s Christological interpretation in its original context and its aftermath. A larger biblical–theological perspective suggests that Bonhoeffer’s Christological approach is, in the end, too narrow, even as it is also too totalizing.