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129 Language: Latin Critical edition: WA 42–44 (here WA 42:446–51) english Translation: LW 1–8 (here LW 2:259–66) Text #17 Lectures on Genesis 12 (1537) Luther’s career as a professor of Bible at the University of Wittenberg began with lectures on the Psalter, which he delivered over the years 1513–1515.These first lectures by the young professor are saturated with anti-Jewish references and allusions .At the opposite end of his career stand the lectures on Genesis (1535–1545), a work rightly called his magnum opus. Here Luther in many ways concludes on the most essential theological topics of his time, such as creation, the fall, the origins of sin, the issue of free will, God’s omnipotence and omniscience, the limits of human knowledge of God manifest in three persons, and, above all, the work of the Word. The chronology of these lectures is not precise,and in addition it is known that they were interrupted on numerous occasions, not least of which was the plague. It is noteworthy that Luther’s rigorous exegetical engagement with Genesis coincides with the period of time when his most infamous anti-Jewish treatises were written and published. When these two corpora are compared, one finds a high degree of coherence in terms of what Luther says about the Jews in general and about Rabbinic interpretation in particular, with the important difference that the Genesis lectures lack any reference to the medieval atrocity stories about the Jews that become commonplace in the 1543 treatises. Luther’s Genesis is polemical, and the usual suspects, Jews—Heretics—Pope— Turks—Schwärmer (“enthusiasts”), are attacked with regularity. A prominent characteristic of his anti-Jewish invectives (which appear throughout the lectures) is the overt hostility he expresses toward Rabbinic interpretation of the Bible in general and of Genesis in particular. Over the course of his career Luther developed a visceral antipathy toward the Rabbis, and he came to hold them liable for Jewish resistance to the message of the gospel. In the Genesis lectures in particular, one encounters denigration after denigration. At best the Rabbis are arbitrary, at worst nonsensical. At best they know grammar, at worst they are devoid of theological understanding. He reacted vehemently against Rabbinic ambiguity/plurality of 130 Martin Luther, the Bible, and the Jewish People meaning, and he called their readings “gemachte Grammatica” (artificial grammar). By way of example we quote here an extended diatribe, which captures in one place the level of antagonism that one encounters throughout the Genesis lectures, and illustrating as well the overall attitude with which Luther pursues his interpretation of Genesis over against Judaism. It occurs in his treatment of Gen. 25:21, the story of Rebecca’s conception of esau and Jacob: For the sake of those who at some time or other will read the commentaries of the rabbis let us next add something of the Jewish nonsense. At this point they raise the question why Isaac did not marry another wife after he had discovered in the course of almost twenty years that his wife was barren, while in the example of Sarah they conclude that ten years should be allowed for discovering barrenness or fecundity.Their answer is that in Isaac’s case the situation is different from what it is in the case of Abraham.They say that because Isaac was sacrificed to God and became a burnt offering by the direction of God, he was not permitted to marry another wife.. . . everybody sees how absurd and worthless these ideas are. Nevertheless,they must be touched on at times, in order to advise those who are students of the Hebrew language to read the sayings and writings of the Jews with discretion.We acknowledge, of course, that it is a great benefit that we have received the language from them; but we must beware of the dung of the rabbis, who have made of Holy Scripture a sort of privy in which they deposited their foulness and their exceedingly foolish opinions. I am advising this because even among our own theologians many give too much credit to the rabbis in explaining the meaning of Scripture. In the matter of grammar I readily bear with them; but they lack the true sense and understanding, in accordance with the well-known words in Is. 29{:14}: “The wisdom of their wise men shall perish , and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hid.” This statement declares...

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