He Shall Repay the Lamb Fourfold

2021 ◽  
pp. 19-23
Author(s):  
Rachelle Gilmour
Keyword(s):  
Collateral Damage ◽  
Retributive Punishment ◽  
Divine Violence ◽  
Newborn Child ◽  
Divine Punishment ◽  
2 Samuel

When retributive divine punishment against David in 2 Samuel 12 includes the death of David and Bathsheba’s newborn child, troubling issues surrounding God’s character are identified by many commentators. In order to examine the divine violence against David’s household in 2 Samuel 11–20 in Part 1, the terms punishment and retribution are defined. Punishment is pain imposed on a person judicially determined as guilty, either through declaration by an authorised party or through transgression of an established law. By this definition, David’s newborn is not individually punished but either collectively punished as part of David’s household, or the victim of collateral damage. Retribution is distinguished from natural consequences that proceed from transgressions, and defined as backward looking, proportional payback for an offence. Elements of Kant’s formulation for retributive punishment are introduced.

Bloodguilt, Curse, and 2 Sam 21

2021 ◽  
pp. 82-86
Author(s):  
Rachelle Gilmour
Keyword(s):  
Divine Intervention ◽  
Divine Violence ◽  
Divine Punishment ◽  
2 Samuel

The dynamics of retribution and divine characterisation in 2 Samuel 11–20 are compared and contrasted with the formulation of divine violence in 2 Samuel 21. The famine that breaks out in the land and the expiation of the land through the deaths of Saul’s sons are attributed to natural consequences of breaking an oath and incurring bloodguilt on the land. The famine is not a divine punishment, but a consequence for unatoned bloodguilt. The oath is sworn in God’s name, the land is a ‘possession of the LORD’ and the slaughter takes place ‘before the LORD.’ Yet overall there is little divine characterisation, and the famine takes place because of a lack of divine intervention, rather than a result of divine punishment.

scholarly journals Love of God and Apologia for a King

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isaac Kalimi
Keyword(s):  
Near Eastern ◽  
Ancient Israel ◽  
Newborn Child ◽  
Love Of God ◽  
Birth Story ◽  
Literary Phenomenon ◽  
2 Samuel

The birth story of Solomon is unique in the ancient Israelite historiography from the monarchic period. Though the birth name of the newborn child was “Solomon,” he received an additional name “Yedidyah.” The purpose of this name should be understood within three contexts: the immediate passage in 2 Samuel 12; the wider story regarding Solomon’s rise to power in 1 King 1–2; and comparable ancient Near Eastern texts that recount the claims of usurpers outside the royal line to a throne. The latter attempted to legitimize their kingship by introducing themselves as beloved or chosen by patron deities, occasionally taking a new throne-name to reflect their status vis-à-vis the god or gods. This historical and literary phenomenon is clearly reflected from Mesopotamian, Anatolian, Persian, and Egyptian writings of different periods. The discussion here reveals that in ancient Israel and in the surrounding cultures, both Semitic and non-Semitic, the method of self-legitimation by usurpers was to claim that they had divine legitimization.

Retributive and Consequential Violence in 2 Sam 11–20

2021 ◽  
pp. 24-53
Author(s):  
Rachelle Gilmour
Keyword(s):  
P Elements ◽  
Retributive Punishment ◽  
Per Se ◽  
Collective Punishment ◽  
2 Samuel

Elements of David’s transgression in 2 Samuel 11–12 are delineated, suggesting that David is not condemned for murder and adultery per se but for violating God’s prerogative to give and the principle that God takes from the master to give to the servant. Building on Klaus Koch’s distinction between retribution and natural consequences for sin, it is shown that the violence against David described in Nathan’s oracle in 2 Samuel 12 is both a judicial, proportional punishment and natural consequences in the form of a curse. The dynamics of God’s forgiveness of David are explored in depth, including the apparent role of retributive punishment for restoring the offender identified in the work of Kant. The nature and implications of collective punishment in the story of David, including the effects of David’s sin on his household, are addressed.

Kant on the Role of the Retributive Outlook in Moral and Political Life

2011 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 425-448
Author(s):  
Arthur Shuster
Keyword(s):  
Moral Worth ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Retributive Punishment ◽  
Divine Punishment

AbstractKant is regarded as one of the staunchest advocates of retributive punishment in the modern tradition. This essay makes the case that a careful reexamination of Kant's account of punishment is necessary, especially in light of liberalism's characteristic inability to give the powerful moral appeal of retribution its due. Kant attempted to provide a clear analysis of what we mean when we say that morality demands that punishment be “proportional” to the crime. According to Kant, punishment's retributive aspect—as distinguished from its deterrent or restorative effects—is primarily concerned with redeeming (negative) moral worth. This paper attempts to unpack this claim by examining Kant's discussions of judicial punishment, the conscience, and divine punishment, respectively. It concludes that as a result of serious unresolved difficulties in his arguments for retribution, Kant manages only to deepen the question of the morality of retribution rather than to give it a decisive answer.

Divine Violence and Divine Presence: Reading the Story of Uzzah and the Ark in 2 Samuel 6 with Slavoj Žižek

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Rachelle Gilmour
Keyword(s):  
Divine Presence ◽  
Slavoj Zizek ◽  
Slavoj Žižek ◽  
Masoretic Text ◽  
Divine Violence ◽  
2 Samuel

Abstract This article interprets the story of the outbreak of God against Uzzah in 2 Samuel 6 as an act of “divine violence,” a concept described by Slavoj Žižek in his book Violence: Six Sideways Reflections. In previous interpretations of 2 Samuel 6, the violence against Uzzah has been understood either as a punishment for a transgression, or as a capricious act of God’s power. Slavoj Žižek describes “divine violence” as violence, which is not a means to an end, and which irrupts from a position of vulnerability and impotence. By looking at the details of the Masoretic Text of 2 Samuel 6, it will be argued that the violence of God in this story should also be interpreted as divine violence: it lacks meaning as a punishment for transgression, and it stems from the vulnerability of God’s presence in the ark rather than from God’s transcendent power.

Collateral Damage

2010 ◽  
Vol 44 (5) ◽  
pp. 25
Author(s):  
WILLIAM G. WILKOFF
Keyword(s):  
Collateral Damage

Severe Homozygous Protein C Deficiency: Identification of a Splice Site Missense Mutation (184, Q → H) in Exon 7 of the Protein C Gene

1994 ◽  
Vol 72 (01) ◽  
pp. 065-069 ◽  
Author(s):  
J M Soria ◽  
D Brito ◽  
J Barceló ◽  
J Fontcuberta ◽  
L Botero ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Missense Mutation ◽  
Gene Product ◽  
Splice Site ◽  
Protein C ◽  
Purpura Fulminans ◽  
Single Strand Conformation Polymorphism ◽  
Donor Splice Site ◽  
Protein C Deficiency ◽  
Donor Splice ◽  
Newborn Child

SummarySingle strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis of exon 7 of the protein C gene has identified a novel splice site missense mutation (184, Q → H), in a newborn child with purpura fulminans and undetectable protein C levels. The mutation, seen in the homozygous state in the child and in the heterozygous state in her mother, was characterized and found to be a G to C nucleotide substitution at the -1 position of the donor splice site of intron 7 of the protein C gene, which changes histidine 184 for glutamine (184, Q → H). According to analysis of the normal and mutated sequences, this mutation should also abolish the function of the donor splice site of intron 7 of the protein C gene. Since such a mutation is compatible with the absence of gene product in plasma and since DNA sequencing of all protein C gene exons in this patient did not reveal any other mutation, we postulate that mutation 184, Q → H results in the absence of protein C gene product in plasma, which could be the cause of the severe phenotype observed in this patient.

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