Texts in Conversation
Psalm 35 depicts enemies of the psalmist giving false testimony, echoing the language of Exodus 23 that warns against spreading false reports or joining the unrighteous in corrupting justice. Both texts highlight how being a false witness functions as a form of violence.
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Exodus 23:1
Hebrew Bible
1 “You must not give a false report. Do not make common cause with the wicked to be a violent6 witness. 2 “You must not follow a crowd in doing evil things; in a lawsuit you must not offer testimony that agrees with a crowd so as to pervert justice, 3 and you must not show partiality to a poor man in his lawsuit. 4 “If you encounter your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering off, you must by all means return it to him.
Date: 5th Century B.C.E. (Final composition) (based on scholarly estimates)
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Psalm 35:11
Hebrew Bible
9 Then I will rejoice in the Lordand be happy because of his deliverance. 10 With all my strength I will say, “O Lord, who can compare to you?You rescue the oppressed from those who try to overpower them, the oppressed and needy from those who try to rob them.” 11 Violent men perjure themselves, and falsely accuse me. 12 They repay me evil for the good I have done; I am overwhelmed with sorrow. 13 When they were sick, I wore sackcloth, and refrained from eating food. (If I am lying, may my prayers go unanswered.)
Date: 6th-3rd Centuries B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The violence (חמס) that filled the world in Genesis 6:13 is the destructive deeds that every flesh was doing in Genesis 6:12. The noun חמס as well as its verbal root is also multivalent and used in a few different contexts. It is commonly translated as “violence” and the concept covers various types of violence in Hebrew as well as in English. The violence may be social and hierarchical: done by the noble against the lowly, by the rich against the poor, and by the strong against the weak. In this vein, it may occur in international relations. The mode of violence may be bodily assault, which lead to murder in its severity: e.g., Genesis 49:5–7; Judges 9:24. Yet there are other modes of violence, including economic oppression (e.g., Jeremiah 22:3; Ezekiel 45:9; Amos 3:10), or a false legal witness/accusation (e.g., Exodus 23:1; Deuteronomy 19:16; Psalm 35:11), among others. This wide range of meanings led Stoebe and Cassuto to conclude that חמס is “an encompassing term for sin per se,” i.e., “generally anything that is not righteous” ..."
Bae, Sun Bok
Ethics and Morality in the Priestly Law and Narrative
(pp. 253-254) The University of Chicago, 2021
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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