Welcome to the Pauline Family's "Year of the Bible"! I'm reading the Bible clear through this year, and I invite you to read along with me. But first, let us pray:
I praise you, my God, with all people.
May they thank and adore you!
You have written your greatness in creation,
your Law in consciences,
your eternal promises in the Bible.
You are eternally faithful and always lovable!
As I read Sacred Scripture today, open my mind to hear your voice and understand your loving message.
Amen.
Today's three chapters are Exodus 21-23.
The God who delivered the descendants of Abraham from servitude in Egypt and entered into covenant with them proceeds to train them into a new kind of people. The laws that are introduced here, after the giving of the Ten Commandments, show us the beginnings of a divine pedagogy. God does not start with the Sermon on the Mount! In fact, even today a look at the headlines does not always demonstrate people using the kind of restraint that is enjoined on the Twelve tribes in the desert, where they are forbidden excessive revenge and told to limit punishment to a kind of equal measure to injury received. It will be more than a thousand years before Jesus will say, "You have heard it said, 'an eye for an eye; a tooth for a tooth,' but I say to you ... turn the other cheek" (see Matthew 5:38-39).
If you are looking for a solid but approachable companion to the Bible, I can wholeheartedly recommend A Catholic Introduction to the Bible: The Old Testament by Brant Pitre and John Bergsma. Although the authors are top-level Scripture scholars, they write for "real" readers. Notes include recent findings from archaeology and ancient manuscripts.
1 comment:
Oops. I skipped chapters 17-20!!! Oh, dear. It's catch-up time.
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