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Exile I. Hebrew Bible/Old Testament

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Exile I. Hebrew Bible/Old Testament 387 Exile 388 other as Christ accepted them, Rom 15 : 7, or to Other contents and how they are motivated are spe- carry each others’ burdens, Gal 6 : 2), to exemplary cifically Christian (e.g., the presence of the Holy behavior towards outsiders (Col 4 : 5; Tit 2 : 10), to Spirit, eschatological implications of the resurrec- pray for mission work (Col 4 : 3), to financial sup- tion of Jesus). port of missionaries or the poor in Jerusalem (1 Cor Exhortation in the NT is closely related to proc- 16 : 1–4; 2 Cor 8–9), and to spread the Gospel lamation and teaching. While the NT emphasizes (“holding forth the word of life,” Phil 2 : 16). They that salvation is appropriated through faith in are further exhorted to perseverance in the faith in Christ and not by “works of the Law” (a disputed view of hardships, temptations, and persecutions term) or other forms of human achievement, exhor- (1 Peter) and to wait for the return of Christ and the tation to good conduct and sanctification as a con- consumption of the kingdom of God. Christians are sequence of salvation is a prominent feature. Chris- not to leave their assemblies but are to encourage tians are exhorted “to work out their own salvation one another (Heb 11 : 25). The content of these ex- with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at hortations indicates some of the challenges which work in them, enabling them both to will and to the early Christians from Jewish and Gentile back- work for God’s good pleasure” (Phil 2 : 12–3). grounds faced in ancient society often hostile to Bibliography: ■ Blischke, F., Die Begründung und die Durchset- their confession and behavior (1 Peter). In view of zung der Ethik bei Paulus (Arbeiten zur Bibel und ihrer Ge- the early Jewish origin of the NT authors and many schichte 25; Leipzig 2007). ■ Braumann, G./G. T. D. Angel, of their addressees, it is noteworthy that the HB/OT “Exhort, Warn, Console, Rebuke,” NIDNTT 1 (Grand Rap- law hardly occurs in NT exhortation (cf. Mark ids, Mich. 1975) 567–73. ■ Fiore, B., “Parenesis and Pro- 2 : 23–28; 7 : 8–13; 10 : 17–22; Rom 13 : 8–10; Gal treptic,” ABD 5 (1992) 162–65. ■ Hays, R. B., The Moral Vi- sion of the New Testament (San Francisco, Calif. 1996). 5 : 14), although the authors draw on early Jewish ■ Horn, F. W./R. Zimmermann (eds.), Jenseits von Indikativ ethical convictions and argument. Ritual purity and und Imperativ (WUNT 238; Tübingen 2009). ■ Perkins, P., cultic instructions are of no concern. “Ethics: New Testament,” ABD 2 (1992) 652–65. ■ Popkes, To motivate the concrete behavior demanded in W., Paränese und Neues Testament (SBS 168; Stuttgart 1996). exhortation, the NT authors use various argumen- ■ Rosner, B. S. (ed.), Understanding Paul’s Ethics: Twentieth Cen- tative strategies. The new behavior which is de- tury Approaches (Grand Rapids, Mich. 1995). ■ Schmitz, O., παρα αλω παρ λησις manded of the readers (the “imperative”) follows “ κ , κ ,” TDNT 5 (Grand Rapids, Mich. 1967) 793–99. ■ Starr, J./T. Engberg-Pedersen (eds.), Early from their new status of salvation and as the people Christian Paraenesis in Context (BZNW 125; Berlin/New York of God, from the various gifts and activities of God, 2004). ■ Thomas, J.,“παρακαλω, παρκλησις,” EDNT 3 Jesus, or the Holy Spirit (the “indicative” of salva- (Grand Rapids, Mich. 1994) 23–27. ■ Zimmermann, R. et tion; although the “indicative-imperative” scheme al. (eds.), Moral Language in the New Testament (WUNT 296; for understanding the sub-structure of NT ethics Tübingen 2010). which was dominant in the 20th century [see “Eth- Christoph Stenschke ics. III. New Testament”] has been questioned in See also /Parenesis and Protreptic recent discussion; see Horn/Zimmermann). Chris- tian behavior is also motivated by the nature of God which Christians are exhorted to reflect (Luke 6 : 36; Exile see Lev 19 : 2) and by eschatology: in view of the I. Hebrew Bible/Old Testament return of Christ and of future rewards or judgment II. New Testament (1 Cor 3 : 12–15; “all the more as you see the Day [of III. Judaism the Lord] approaching,” Heb 11 : 25), Christians are IV. Christianity to live godly lives here and now. There is to be a V. Islam noticeable difference between their former behavior VI. Other Religions and their present Christian existence (at times jux- VII. Literature taposed by “then” and “now”). VIII. Music IX. Film Some of the exhortation contained in the NT builds upon the HB/OT (1 Cor 9 : 9; 1 Tim 5 : 18), while other exhortations modify the HB/OT or ap- I. Hebrew Bible/Old Testament pear in antithesis to it (Matt 5 : 17–48). Some exhor- 1. Assyrian Exile. According to 2 Kgs 17 : 6, Israel- tations in the NT closely resemble Hellenistic popu- ites were deported to Assyria, settled in Halah and lar philosophical ethics in their content and form/ Habor, on the river of Gozan, and in the cities of style. Fiore notes that “much like the catalogues of the Medes. The deportation is also mentioned in virtues, vices, and sufferings, the images of father, two Summary Inscriptions of Sargon II (Becking nurse, pedagogue, and disease, the themes of 1992: 25–31). Traces of Israelite exiles are found in money- or reputation-seeking teachers, the desire to the assigned areas. In the Habor region, Israelites be with the correspondents, the personal relation- worked at agricultural estates, often owned by the ships and mutual concern among the correspond- crown. In mainland Assyria they were incorporated ents, is common to Greco-Roman parenesis” (164). into the Assyrian army, especially the cavalry. Vari- Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception vol. 8 Authenticated | [email protected] © Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/Boston, 2014 Download Date | 1/1/19 11:56 PM 389 Exile 390 ous documents reflect the Assyrian policy to mingle All in all the written evidence – despite its limi- deportees from different ethnicities into a melting tations – makes clear that the idea of the Babylo- pot in order to preclude new rebellions. They also nian exile as a period of sorrow and grief, fuelled indicate that the exiled Israelites lived with certain by Ps 137, is based on an exaggeration of the expe- degree of liberty, although they had no political rience of the exiles. power (Becking 1992: 61–93). No evidence for a re- The note in 2 Chr 36 : 21 – that the land lay des- turn from exile exists, although texts like Nah 2 : 1– olate for seventy years – has given rise to the idea 3 (ET 1 : 15–2 : 2) and Mic 5 : 5–6 hint at the dream of the empty land. Barstad has deconstructed this of a return from exile. view and unmasked it as a historical myth. The 2. Babylonian Exile. The HB/OT only narrates the archaeological evidence shows that “the land was beginning and the end of the Babylonian exile. The not empty.” The archaeological data indicate a con- narrative of the first conquest of Jerusalem is to be tinuity of activities in the territory under considera- found in 2 Kgs 24 : 13; 24 : 8–12 and in a fragment tion especially in the area of Bethel and Mizpah. in a Babylonian Chronicle, that only mentions the The habitation of Jerusalem, however, dropped to conquest but not the deportation. A second con- a minimum. Blenkinsopp has argued that, in the quest including the deportation of the elite is only “exilic” period, Bethel served as a religious center, mentioned in the Book of Kings (2 Kgs 25 : 1–7). while Mizpah functioned as the administrative cen- Second Chronicles 36 : 20–23 and Ezra 1 suggest a ter. return from exile in the direct aftermath of Cyrus’ It is remarkable that the Gedalia-incident is set conquest of Babylon in 539. The external evidence, at Mizpah (Jer 40 : 7–41 : 15; 2 Kgs 25 : 22–26). The however, does not corroborate a theory of mass re- Babylonian appointed governor Gedaliah was assas- turn in the 6th century. It hints at a series of waves sinated as the result of a pro-Davidide conspiracy. of return that lasted for over a century (Becking In the aftermath of this incident, an important 2006). The historical books in the HB/OT do not group of Judahites – including the prophet Jere- supply information on the fate of Judeans in exile miah – decided to live in exile in Egypt. There exist or in Judah. Books like Daniel and 1 Esdras have only glimpses of evidence that could shed light on used this gap to narrate stories that were of impor- the early Egyptian diaspora. Jeremiah 44 narrates a tance in the Hellenistic age. conflict between the prophet Jeremiah and persons From a historical and archaeological point of from the Yahwistic elite in Egypt on the desirability view, the following observations can be made. Bab- of the veneration of the “Queen of Heaven.” It is ylonian assignment lists refer, amongst others, to far from certain, whether the “Yehudites” from Ele- [Ia]-’ú-kinu/Ia-ku-ú-ki-nu =*Yahu-kin, his five sons phantine were descendants of this first group mov- and some other Judeans as regular receivers of por- ing to Egypt. tions of food on behalf of the Babylonian king. The The traditional image of the Exile has as its fi- book of Kings, in its present form, ends with a note nal feature the idea of a return from exile and the on the release of the exiled king Jehoiachin from formation of a Jewish state soon after the conquest prison (2 Kgs 25 : 27–30).
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