Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T19:16:07.963Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

3 - Covenant and the Restraint of Violence in Creation

from Part I - Violence and Ecology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 May 2020

Matthew J. Lynch
Affiliation:
Regent College, Vancouver
Get access

Summary

Chapter 3 explores divine responses to the ways God responds to the ruptures wrought by violence in the physical world, especially as presented in Genesis 8-9. In Gen 8:22, God assures humanity that he would uphold the cycles of creation in the face of human corruption, such that it would not sustain the impact of violence as it did before the flood. Psalm 74 portrays an analogous world in which God’s ongoing power over creation subdues the chaotic ruin that violence unleashes in the world. I also suggest that God’s promise to never again curse the land reverses the land curse arising from Cain’s act of violence (4:12). This chapter also addresses the ‘laws’ of Gen 9:1-6. Some understand Gen 9:1-6 to address humanity’s bloodlust for violence. God tolerates a modicum of violence against animals, but restrains it. I suggest by contrast that the ‘fear and dread’ reflects the fractured relationship between humans and animals. Also, the so-called ‘laws’ only point toward the need for law, and in the world of the story, indicate only what God himself will do. Moreover, the text restricts humanity’s power over the life(blood) of animals. Finally, the creation covenant (9:7-18) reflects ways that God restricts the use of divine violence in the post-flood world. This creation covenant anticipates God’s later covenants with Israel and the land.

Type
Chapter
Information
Portraying Violence in the Hebrew Bible
A Literary and Cultural Study
, pp. 70 - 94
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×