Page 44 - Coincidences in the Bible and in Biblical Hebrew

CHAPTER 1 THE STRUCTURE OF THE HEBREW LANGUAGE
CHAPTER 1 THE STRUCTURE OF THE HEBREW LANGUAGE 23 23

against bias in favor of the strong, the wealthy, and the well-connected would be
emphasized. But they are not. This is too trivial to mention. The precision of the
Bible is revealed again: one must warn against the less expected eventualities that
might violate justice. So, as in Leviticus 19:14, where warning against placing a
stumbling block before the blind is never mentioned, here too the warning is
against the more unexpected violations of justice and equality. Observe this:

• “Neither shalt thou speak in a cause to incline after a multitude to pervert
justice: nor shalt thou favour a poor man in his cause” (Exod. 23:2, 3).
• “Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of thy poor in his cause” (Exod.
23:6). It is not clear whether this is a warning against bias in favor of or
against the poor—perhaps it means both.
• “You shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shall not respect
the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the might: but in
righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour” (Lev. 19:15).

Note, in the last example, that although a warning is added against bias in
favor of the “person of the might,” this is secondary. The first warning, which is

the more important, is again leveled against bias towards the poor. Being biased
in judgement in favor of the rich is not mentioned at all. Yet the Bible repeatedly
emphasizes the equality between the poor and the rich—for example, when
offering the commanded half-shekel to God: “The rich shall not give more, and
the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give the offering of the
Lord …” (Exod. 30:15).
One is once again impressed by the precision with which the Bible conveys its
prescriptions of what needs attention, avoiding the more trivial and the obvious.

1.3.5 Eda and Kehila
Witnesses are a recurring theme in the Bible. In fact, a search in a biblical con-
cordance reveals that the noun “witness,” with its various forms, appear no fewer
than sixty-nine times, and as a verb additional forty times. Both God and the
people of Israel are supposed to serve as witnesses . But witnesses to what, and why
is this important?

Let us first observe some examples in the Bible where God asserts his role as a
witness (or, alternatively, summons heaven and earth to serve as witnesses):