The Divine Symphony: the Bible's many voices

Chapter Seven - New Conceptions of Evil and Suffering during the Period of Exile and Return

101 CHAPTER SEVEN New Conceptions of Evil and Suffering during the Period of Exile and Return I N THE LAST TWO CHAPTERS, WE DISCUSSED THE MAIN INSTITUTIONS of ancient Israel: sanctuary, priesthood, and kingship. But all these institutions ceased to exist at the beginning of the sixth century B.C.E. At that time, the Babylonians destroyed the kingdom of Judea, razed the Temple in Jerusalem, and exiled a sizeable portion of the populace to Babylon. The destruction raised doubts in the hearts of many Judeans, especially as it followed closely on the heels of the people’s return to an untainted religious faith and purified worship during the time of Josiah. How could such a religious awakening be followed by so terrible a crisis as the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem? The generation of the destruction claimed that they were being punished for the sins of their fathers, the contemporaries of King Manasseh, who had placed an idol in the Temple .1 The Scroll of Lamentations records this saying: “Our fathers sinned and are no more; and we must bear their guilt” (Lam. 5:7). We find a similar claim in the book of Ezekiel. Speaking to the people of his generation, he says, “What do 102 you mean by quoting this proverb upon the soil of Israel, ‘Parents eat sour grapes and their children’s teeth are blunted’?” (Ezek. 18:2). The previous generation’s sour, unripe grapes refer to sins, for which the next generation is punished. The Book of Second Kings also claims that Jerusalem was overrun and razed because of Manasseh’s sins. In other words, everything that Josiah did was fit and proper and found favor in the eyes of God, but it did not suffice to atone for the sins of Manasseh.2 But the people who experienced the destruction found this explanation difficult to accept; did punishment, exile, and the destruction of the Temple really follow from the deeds done by their forebears? Their voices repudiate and challenge this conception, as we have seen in the quotations from the Scroll of Lamentations and the Book of Ezekiel, cited above.3 EZEKIEL’S RESPONSE Ezekiel takes issue with the proverbial saying, “Parents eat sour grapes and their children’s teeth are blunted,” saying instead , “As I live—declares the Lord God—this proverb shall no longer be current among you in Israel. Consider, all lives are Mine; the life of the parent and the life of the child are both Mine. The person who sins, only he shall die” (Ezek. 18:3–4). Ezekiel goes on to discuss at length the principle of individual sin and punishment passing from one generation to another. In making this assertion, he argues against a conception already found in the Ten Commandments, according to which God visits the sins of the fathers upon the children (Exod. 20:5).4 No, says Ezekiel, “The person who sins, only he.” At the end of his oration, Ezekiel addresses his contemporaries , telling them that if they have been punished, if they are suffering great pains and exile, their own sins—not the sins of their forebears—have brought this upon them. He calls out to them: “Be assured, O House of Israel, I will judge each one of you according to his ways…Repent and turn back from THE DIVINE SYMPHONY 103 all your transgressions; let them not be a stumbling block of guilt for you” (Ezek. 18:30). Do not blame your forefathers’ actions; things must be rectified by your own hand. “Cast away all the transgressions by which you have offended, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit” (Ezek. 18:31). Mend your hearts and spirits: this is Ezekiel’s call to his contemporaries . The view that punishment is visited upon the sinners themselves and is not the result of sins committed by earlier generations requires an alternative explanation for the destruction of the Temple. And indeed, we find in 2 Chronicles the statement that Jerusalem was destroyed not because of the sins of Manasseh (who repented before his death, according to this source), but on account of the transgressions of Zedekiah—the last king of Judea—and his contemporaries.5 We have, then, a dispute within the Bible as to the reasons for the destruction of Jerusalem and the razing of the Temple : 2 Kings places the blame squarely on the...