Ethical Ambiguity in the Hebrew Bible: Philosophical Analysis of Scriptural Narrative

Abstract

In this volume, Jewish philosopher Shira Weiss offers fascinating perspectives on narratives in the HB that have been questioned as morally ambiguous but that are not explicitly condemned by the text itself. Her goal is to demonstrate how philosophical ethical approaches can contribute to ethical reflection on these biblical texts. An interesting feature of Ethical Ambiguity in the Hebrew Bible is that Weiss constantly brings in Targumic and rabbinic readings of the textual examples.In the introduction, Weiss underscores that the narratives depict complex individuals involved in complicated ethical quandaries, a literary quality that prompts readers to “contest boundaries, examine preconceptions, and interpret ambiguity in an effort to find moral meaning in Scripture and inform their own moral thinking” (p. 11). In other words, the contested moral intricacies of the stories in the HB can serve as a school for moral reflection and growth. Her purpose is not to provide definitive solutions to these moral dilemmas but rather to show that they can be approached in diverse ways, thereby enriching their ethical fecundity.In addition to the introduction, Ethical Ambiguity in the Hebrew Bible is composed of five chapters, a conclusion, and an appendix. Each of these five chapters deals with a different kind of moral difficulty, which is then explored in several scriptural examples. Chapter 2 probes divine command morality, which considers whether morality is set by God or whether independent ethical norms exist to which God must respond. The case studies are Abraham’s binding of Isaac (Gen 22) and the annihilation of Amalek (Exod 17:8-16; Deut 25:17–19). The third chapter grapples with evaluating divine justice. Is it fair in relationship to the destruction of everyone in Sodom (Gen 18), the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart (Exod 4–14), God’s willingness to stay Nineveh’s judgment (Jonah 3–4), and the suffering of righteous Job? Chapter 4 turns to the morality of taking advantage of others (financially and otherwise); it examines Esau’s selling of his birthright to Jacob (Gen 25), the price of Abraham paid Ephron for a plot to bury Sarah (Gen 23), and Joseph appropriating Egyptian properties for Pharaoh during the famine (Gen 47). The fifth chapter looks at the morality of deception and considers multiple scriptural examples. Chapter 6 investigates the use of sexual seduction for political gain by analyzing the Esther and Jael narratives. After a concluding chapter that summarizes the book’s argument, a brief appendix considers different ways of appraising biblical law through the example of Deuteronomy’s guidelines for handling women seized in war (17:15).There are too many case studies to summarize in this review. Consequently, one is chosen from each chapter to illustrate Weiss’s method and purpose. For example, ch. 2 raises the question whether the command to sacrifice Isaac was morally acceptable simply because God commanded it, or whether its morality should be judged by a transcendent standard that would condemn the command (according to a universal principle against murdering an innocent—Kant’s “categorical imperative”). Some Jewish philosophers take a very different tact by looking at the process of Abraham’s journey to Moriah and the binding of his son. In that pagan environment, where human sacrifice was sanctioned, the constructive lesson for Abraham in the progression of events of this supreme test was that animals must be substituted for humans. That is, the divine purpose of averting the killing of Isaac was “to teach [Abraham] about moral religious worship” (p. 42). Thus, God’s command did not violate an independent morality.In looking at divine actions, not commands (ch. 2), ch. 3 asks if what God does is subject to an autonomous norm. For instance, is it right for Pharaoh to be condemned, if God hardened his heart? From a Kantian perspective, this imposition violates true morality by denying a person free and rational choice. Alternative explanations exonerating God, however, include that the hardening was deserved as a natural progression of Pharaoh’s earlier stubbornness, and that the hardening actually was designed to strengthen Pharaoh to withstand the plagues and thus be able to make the choice to genuinely repent (instead of just trying to relieve suffering or stem disaster).Chapter 4 on “price gouging” looks at buyer’s and seller’s motivations and decisions. The first example Weiss examines is Jacob’s buying of Esau’s birthright. Did Jacob unfairly exploit his brother? Weiss explores several possible justifications of Jacob’s actions (e.g., his awareness of the divine promise and desire to preserve its legacy; his valuing the birthright more than Esau; Esau’s later exogamous marriages; and God’s reassurances of Jacob in his flight north) to lessen a censure of his deception of Isaac but also to point out that ethical actions do not always mean that they are exemplary. Once again, she moves into the multiple levels of knotty scenarios.Chapter 5 is the longest in the volume and engages intentional deception. A Kantian ethic would say all deception is wrong, because it does not allow the tricked person the opportunity to act in freedom. Weiss argues that sometimes consequences must come into play (she appeals here, and elsewhere, to the 18th-century French philosopher and activist Benjamin Constant), as in the case of the midwives in Exod 1, who save lives; only those deserving of total truth merit it, especially if deceit serves to defend the weak. She looks at Abraham’s half-truths to Pharaoh and Abimelech, as well as the more complex case of Simeon and Levi’s killing of Shechem in retaliation of the violation of their sister Dinah (Gen 34). Contrary to the “absolutist” deontological position that deems these acts immoral, other readings see these as actions of the less powerful against superior agents. The discussion in ch. 6 of sexual seduction also turns to the necessity of preserving lives, but from a woman’s disadvantaged position in those cultures (Esther; Jael’s killing of Sisera), as nullifying disapproval of such actions as immoral.It is not possible to summarize adequately the many nuances and voices of the arguments of Ethical Ambiguity in the Hebrew Bible. Weiss’s presentation of multiple views on these morally puzzling narratives is designed to push readers beyond simplistic interpretations and ethical evaluations. By exposure to a breadth of perspectives that try to understand (and usually defend) the actions of God and biblical characters, readers are alerted to ethical complexities. The value of this exercise is not in solving these textual problems, but in a greater appreciation of the HB as a rich locus for ethical reflection.