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

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.

The Ethics of Worship

The chapter examines the relation between ethics and worship in ancient Israel. It focusses on the way in which the cult was instrumental in instructing the people of Israel and Judah in the basic tenets of the moral life by drawing clear distinctions between the ways of the good and those of the wicked. It was in the context of worship that the people were reminded of the moral aspects of the character of God, and some psalms suggest that his character should be imitated in the lives of the pious. The chapter discusses the prophetic critique of Israel’s worship, especially their focus on the disconnect between the conspicuous displays of piety and the lack of ethical behavior on the part of the people. Some aspects of Israel’s worship are highly problematic from the ethical point of view, and the chapter discusses the so-called “imprecatory psalms,” which reflect a tone of resentment and a hunger for retaliation on the part of the worshipper.

Cursing Back to Life? From Psalms to Imprecatory Prayers: An Intercultural Reading

Imprecatory prayer is becoming a common phenomenon in Ghana. This plea seeks the complete annihilation of human enemies believed to be the cause of the woes the petitioners face. However, ecclesiastic authorities and academic world find it difficult to dialogue with the practice and reject imprecatory prayers as ‘unchristian.’ Interestingly enough, the same attitude is manifested towards portions of the Bible which contain ‘imprecatory prayers’: The Psalter. As a consequence, while the Historic Mission Churches forbid imprecatory prayers, their members flock to the Charismatic and Prophetic Churches. Against this background, the article analyses Ps 58, one of the ‘imprecatory psalms’ excluded by the official prayers of Historic Mission Churches, to understand its call to action and the perlocutory effect on the reader. The article concludes that the ‘imprecatory prayers’ can be a powerful educational tool to see the world with the eyes of the victims: it offers them a model of prayer of “cursing back to life;” a painful way to reconciliation and to rediscovering justice.

Bishops, Baby-Killers and Broken Teeth: Psalm 58 and the Air War

Do the imprecatory psalms authorize reprisal attacks against civilian targets? This question was at the heart of a controversy that arose in Britain during July 1917, which brought together the unlikely combination of the German bombing campaign and the Church of England’s process of liturgical reform. When a meeting of the Canterbury Convocation approved the removal of Psalm 58 and several other imprecatory psalms, there was an immediate stir in the Press. This public debate about Convocation’s decision offers a valuable window through which we can discern the ongoing vitality of British biblical culture during the First World War.