ON THE ‫שפָט‬

ְׁ ‫ ִמ‬OF YHWH: EXPLORING THE THEME OF JUSTICE IN THE OLD

TESTAMENT
Sid Sudiacal

Introduction

Throughout the Jewish and Christian Scriptures, we see the uniquely intimate relationship

between the nation of Israel and its Supreme Ruler, YHWH. As we read through the Old

Testament, in particular, YHWH reveals himself as the divine cosmic being par excellence. The

other foreign gods are but nothing when compared to Him.1 When put to the ultimate test, it is

He, not Baal, who brings down fire from heaven when His children call upon Him.2 It is His

presence that caused the image of Dagon to be smashed into pieces, cut up, and instilled fear

among his priests.3 He is not a boring god devoid of personality; He shows Himself in an array

of ways. He describes himself as “gracious, merciful, and abounding in steadfast love” to Moses

(Exo. 34:6-7). YHWH, as revealed through the Holy Bible, is both multifaceted and yet

stubbornly consistent in all His ways.

For the purpose of this paper, I will be exploring the theme of YHWH‟s justice and how

it is intricately woven throughout the Tanakh. Time after time, YHWH reminds Israel that He is

the Ultimate Judge of all creation. Time after time, the faithful children of Israel turn to YHWH

in their time of distress and afflictions, demanding justice when injustice overwhelms them. This

paper will look at how justice is defined and demonstrated in the Law, the Prophets and the

Writings. It will also examine how the theme of YHWH‟s justice found in the Old Testament is

further fulfilled in the New Testament through the person of Jesus Christ. It is this author‟s intent

to maintain the claim that a proper understanding of justice is needed to understand the character

of God and how He interacts with His creation. As His children, we are called to be justice

workers in the same way as our Just Father metes out justice regularly and unceasingly.

1
Craig, "Psalm 82."
2
1 Kings 18:17-39.
3
1 Samuel 5:1-5

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Sid Sudiacal

YHWH’S Justice: The Law

From the very beginning of Genesis to the final words of Deuteronomy, one can see the

concept of justice being evident throughout the first five books. It is from the Hebrew word ‫מִשְׁ פָט‬

that we derive our understanding of the word justice. “In the OT the stem ‫ שפת‬carries the double

sense of „to rule‟ and „to judge.‟”4 In the Garden of Eden, the story of the first humans, Adam

and Eve, unfolds. YHWH, as creator of both flora and fauna, allows Adam and Eve full

dominion over everything He has created. There is only one caveat: they are free to eat of any

fruit-bearing tree in the Garden save from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Eve, deceived

by the serpent, partakes of the forbidden fruit and invites her husband to join her as well. Due to

this act of rebellion, YHWH Himself judges the three transgressors in the story of the Fall. Man,

woman, and serpent bring down specific curses from YHWH. From this story, one can

understand how easy it is to view ‫שפָט‬

ְׁ ‫ ִמ‬as a forensic, legal term that denotes judgment “in the

concrete sense of a verdict or decision.”5

The Israelites seemed to have this same idea of YHWH‟s justice as displayed to us by

Joseph‟s brother in Gen. 42:21-22. Joseph‟s brothers, because of their hateful jealousy, sold their

father‟s favoured son to slave-traders. After several years, a great famine came upon all of Israel.

In order to survive, Jacob‟s sons went to the land of Egypt to buy grain. When they went to

Egypt, they were unaware that their brother was now the governor of the whole land. Joseph,

upon seeing his brothers, tested them. He accuses them of spying, puts them in prison, and on the

third day tells them that the only way to prove their innocence is to go home and bring back their

youngest brother in exchange for the life of a brother who shall be left behind. Before they left

4
Kittel, Bromiley, and Friedrich, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, 923.
5
Kittel, Bromiley, and Friedrich, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, 924.

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for Egypt, Jacob prevents Benjamin from joining his brothers lest misfortune fall upon him and

Jacob enter Sheol with much sorrow and despair. The importance of the life of their youngest

brother in the life of their aging father, Jacob, is not lost on the brothers. After Joseph‟s verdict

was pronounced, “they said to one another, „alas, we are paying the penalty for what we did to

our brother; we saw his anguish when he pleaded with us, but we would not listen. That is why

this anguish has come upon us‟” (42:21 NRSV). From their reaction, they seem to display an

understanding of justice primarily framed in punitive terms. Because they have done something

evil in the sight of YHWH, YHWH is now punishing them for their evil act. YHWH‟s justice is

grasped as being the final, legal indictment for their actions.

While a forensic interpretation of ‫שפָט‬

ְׁ ‫ ִִמ‬can often be one‟s first recourse, it would be

completely inappropriate and misleading to maintain that this is the only way to explain the idea

of justice since “the justice commanded by Yahweh ... is not the retributive justice of „deeds-

consequences‟ wherein rewards and punishments are meted out to persons and the community

according to conduct.”6 To go beyond this superficial understanding of justice, biblical justice

must also be understood as “that norm of behaviour which arises out of the relationship of God

and people, and out of the interrelationships of God‟s people with themselves and others.”7 By

rooting our comprehension of justice within a relational framework, we can come closer to a

deeper reading of what justice means.

In Gen. 18:22-33, we read about Abraham‟s bargain with God to save the city of Sodom.

Mafico argues that when Abraham heard about the city of Sodom, it was not the word rášá that

bothered him. Instead, it was the ‫ִִזַעֲקתִסְׁד ֹם‬that caused him to be alarmed. “There is much

6
Brueggemann, Theology of the Old Testament : Testimony, Dispute, Advocacy, 421.
7
Lind, Monotheism, Power, Justice : Collected Old Testament Essays, 82.

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biblical evidence to establish that once the the ‫"(ִִזַעֲקת‬outcry") of the oppressed reached God, his

response was swift and dire consequences on the offender were immediate and unavoidable.”8

Because he realized the impending destruction of Sodom, “Abraham immediately sought an

answer from God on the ethical problem paused by indiscriminate destruction.”9 The shocking

point in this story is not that YHWH destroyed Sodom for their wickedness; it is the fact that

Sodom‟s decimation was a result of YHWH hearing their outcry. This is a realization that

“Yahweh‟s justice does indeed have a preferential inclination for the poor and the marginated.”10

All through the Pentateuch, the oppressed and the needy are the most frequent recipients of

YHWH‟s justice.

Fretheim claims that “the prime example of divine justice in the Old Testament is God's

deliverance of Israel when they were enslaved in Egypt.”11 He continues to say that this message

is “often repeated in the Old Testament: the Israelites were the helpless victims of abuse and

exploitation at the hands of the most powerful nation of that age, and God, who identified

himself as compassionate (Exo. 22:27), delivered them.”12 In fact, Israel‟s initial portrayal of

YHWH was not that of a king. The pagan nations which surrounded Israel were full of kings that

laid heavy burden on their people. Instead, YHWH‟s chief title was “Deliverer from Egypt.” It is

clear that “from the outset Yahweh was understood as the One who sets slaves free.13 This title

showed YHWH‟s uniqueness in contrast with the neighbouring foreign gods and monarchs. The

justice of YHWH frees and delivers those within the Yahwistic community in spite of, and

sometimes despite of, their evil and rebellious ways.

8
Mafico, "The Crucial Question Concerning the Justice of God (Gen 18:23-26)," 12.
9
Mafico, "The Crucial Question Concerning the Justice of God (Gen 18:23-26)," 12.
10
Brueggemann, Theology of the Old Testament : Testimony, Dispute, Advocacy, 422.
11
Fretheim, "The Prophets and Social Justice: A Conservative Agenda," 162.
12
Fretheim, "The Prophets and Social Justice: A Conservative Agenda," 162.
13
Wolff, "Masters and Slaves : On Overcoming Class-Struggle in the Old Testament," 261.

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As far back as the Creation Story, the Bible presents us with a vision of YHWH as Judge.

The decision to banish Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden after they have committed a

grievous sin against Him is a prime example of such a judgment. However, what is often de-

emphasized from the conception of YHWH as Judge is the idea that “as Judge, YHWH is also

Helper of His people.”14 Before Adam and Eve left the Garden, YHWH made “garments of

skins for the man and for his wife, and clothed them” (Gen. 3:21). He did not leave them naked

and destitute. Although they have disobeyed His rules, He does not completely withhold His

compassionate hand from them. This is yet further evidence that the justice of God cannot be

simply apprehended from a legalistic sense. To understand YHWH‟s justice as such is to

misunderstand the heart behind His just rulings. The ‫שפָט‬

ְׁ ‫ ִמ‬of YHWH is restorative, not punitive.

While sin can, and does, provoke the hand of YHWH against those who transgress Him, the

negative consequences it incurs has, at its very core, the desire to restore a broken human-divine

relationship. It is his desire that none should perish but instead all would come to Him that they

may have an abundant life.

ְׁ ‫ ִמ‬is “a term which expresses relationship.”15 As Kittel

It is interesting to note that ‫שפָט‬

rightly observes “the OT view of ‫שפָט‬

ְׁ ‫ ִמ‬has to be differentiated from the Roman concept of law

and also from the abstract notion of an ethos or idea of virtue or law.”16 Recovering this notion

of ‫ מִשְׁ פָט‬allows us to have fresh eyes to see YHWH‟s justice within the Pentateuch. The laws

which YHWH gives to Moses are not only to be seen as moral and ethical codes; instead, it must

be seen as a way of life that involves having YHWH at the center of it.17 ‫שפָט‬
ְׁ ‫ ִמ‬, understood

14
Kittel, Bromiley, and Friedrich, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, 925.
15
Kittel, Bromiley, and Friedrich, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, 926.
16
Kittel, Bromiley, and Friedrich, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, 926.
17
Birch, Let Justice Roll Down : The Old Testament, Ethics, and Christian Life, 38.

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Sid Sudiacal

within relational terms, breaks free from the idea of iustitia distributiva into iustitia salutifera.18

Any appraisal of the Old Testament “which operates according to a fixed norm of absolute

morality will necessarily miss the mark” because “they fail to note that the judicial decisions of

Yahweh in the covenant people and its history serve a specific goal.”19 The goal of YHWH‟s

justice is to save and redeem. Throughout the Torah, YHWH‟s ‫שפָט‬

ְׁ ‫ ִמ‬permeates every story and

every page.

YHWH’s Justice: The Prophets

Jacobson insists that “justice is a social concept. It has to do with the order of society and

how that order shapes or fails to shape human relationships with one another.”20 Throughout the

Prophets, one can see the failure of Israel to embody and enact YHWH‟s justice. In its stead,

injustice rules the land and the nation of Israel finds itself once more in the position of the

oppressed. Whereas in the past, the oppressive forces that threatened Israel came from without,

now the oppressive forces are found from within. A nation that groaned under the heavy burdens

inflicted upon them when they were slaves to the Egyptians now enslaved its own people. Those

who were redeemed by the mighty hand of YHWH from the Egyptians who abused them are

now found abusing their own kith and kin. It is against this background that I wish to explore the

theme of YHWH‟s justice within the Prophets.

The Book of Judges provides us with a picture of Israel unravelling at its seams. The

book is but a description of the „downward spiral‟ that happens in the nation of Israel.21 In this

book, one can see that there is “deterioration in the quality of the judges and the effect of their

18
Kittel, Bromiley, and Friedrich, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, 926.
19
Kittel, Bromiley, and Friedrich, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, 926.
20
Jacobson, ""The Lord Is a God of Justice" (Isaiah 30:18): The Prophetic Insistence on Justice in Social Context,"
125.
21
Longman and Dillard, An Introduction to the Old Testament, 140.

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leadership.”22 It begins with Othniel who is “raised up by God and invested with his Spirit” and

ends with Samson who “is a shadow of what a judge was supposed to be. He is self-indulgent

and refuses to control his sexual appetite.”23 The deterioration was not limited to the judges and

their ungodly ways, it was also mirrored in the way that the people of Israel “did what was right

in their own eyes” (Judges 21:25). Even though the nation did not do that which was right in the

eyes of YHWH, still He came to their rescue when foreign bodies invaded their land and caused

the people of Israel to cry out in response to their suffering and pain. He raised up various judges

to rule and reign over the land. Despite the difficult times that Israel faced, there was a “periodic

divine intervention in the nation‟s leadership” that brought momentary relief and rest. YHWH‟s

‫ מִשְׁ פָט‬proclaimed the fact that even if Israel had forgotten that her “obligation is do justice,” 24 He

will remain faithful to Israel. He will remain to be a Helper to a stiff-necked nation.

In the Book of 1 Kings, Solomon is established as king over all of Israel. As the

established monarch over all of Israel, his empire was marked by forced labour for the sons of

Israel. The power and wealth he wielded enabled him to afford such luxury and extravagance

that even silver had no more value (1 Kings 10:21). The opulence he enjoyed came from laying

a heavy burden upon the house of Israel. Hyatt makes the bold argument that

it is to Solomon's day that we should attribute the beginnings of that social division
within Israel which led later to the outcries of the prophets against social injustice. The
commerce of his reign must have given rise to a wealthy merchant class and the
corresponding degradation of many of the masses who worked in the mines, in the
factories, and on his buildings. It was certainly not only the enslaved "Canaanites" who
thus suffered, but native Israelites as well.25

22
Longman and Dillard, An Introduction to the Old Testament, 140.
23
Longman and Dillard, An Introduction to the Old Testament, 140-41.
24
Brueggemann, Theology of the Old Testament : Testimony, Dispute, Advocacy, 421.
25
Hyatt, ""Solomon in All His Glory"," 30.

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Sid Sudiacal

After Solomon‟s death, the nation was divided in two. As the years went by, the ‫שפָט‬
ְׁ ‫ ִמ‬of YHWH

continued to go unheeded.

King remarks that “contrary to the Mosaic covenant, wealth had created a social

imbalance, which resulted in two separate classes, the rich and the poor. Those at the top of the

pyramid exploited the weak and oppressed the poor by alienation of land, forced labour, and

heavy taxes.”26 This was the social backdrop to the clarion call of Amos and Hosea for justice.

During this time, the ruling elite which comprised of one to three percent of the population

owned fifty to seventy percent of the land.27 The land that was traditionally guaranteed by tribal

access “slowly gave way before the concentration of wealth in the state treasury and in the hands

of merchants and landlords who were largely urban-based and backed by explicit or implicit

state power, including a judicial system largely compliant to the newly enriched speculators.”28

These repressive socioeconomic factors are but a picture of how “injustice had become woven

into the very fabric of public life, permeating the whole power structure within the social

organism.”29 Under such circumstances, Amos‟ call for ‫שפָט‬

ְׁ ‫ ִמ‬to “roll down like waters, and

righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” becomes more pronounced and heart-wrenching. The

nation that was delivered from poverty is the same nation that impoverishes its own people.

The call for ‫שפָט‬

ְׁ ‫ ִמ‬is synonymous to the call to feed the hungry and clothe the poor. Here,

YHWH‟s ‫שפָט‬
ְׁ ‫ ִמ‬is understood in a salvific and tangible way. The justice that He calls for and

asks His children to display is deeply rooted in physical expressions of liberation and

redemption. Justice, in this sense, “does not refer to abusing the judicial system per se, but rather

26
King, Amos, Hosea, Micah : An Archaeological Commentary, 22.
27
Coote, Amos among the Prophets : Composition and Theology, 25.
28
Crim, The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible : An Illustrated Encyclopedia Identifying and Explaining All
Proper Names and Significant Terms and Subjects in the Holy Scriptures, Including the Apocrypha, with Attention
to Archaeological Discoveries and Researches into the Life and Faith of Ancient Times : Supplementary Volume,
466.
29
Stek, "Salvation, Justice and Liberation in the Old Testament," 27.

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to the enactment of unjust laws.”30 The prophets remind Israel that YHWH “humiliates the

uplifted and exalts the lowly.”31 As a result, “the term ‫שפָט‬

ְׁ ‫ ִמ‬carries no fears for the poor and the

oppressed. For them judgment means help and deliverance.”32 YHWH‟s justice is firmly linked

with aiding the poor and caring for the helpless.

Within the Torah, it is YHWH who constantly performs acts of justice towards His

people. He commands Israel to be a consecrated group who, like Him, should be defined as a

just people. “It goes without saying that for Israel a life characterized by justice and

righteousness (and their related qualities) must show the same special regard for the poor, the

weak, and the vulnerable that God‟s activity has already demonstrated and God‟s law urges.”33

Within the Prophets, there is an almost imperceptible, yet also pronounced, shift towards Israel

being the primary agents of YHWH‟s justice. While YHWH has indeed commanded Israel to be

agents of justice in the Pentateuch, it is within the Prophets that the call becomes a resounding

gong that continually goes unheeded. Perhaps, this is a sign of the evolution of the relationship

between Israel and YHWH. The Torah could be conceived of as the initial period of instruction

for Israel and as she matured, she was called upon to be more responsible. The Prophets provide

us with that stage when YHWH calls upon Israel to realize her full potential as a community

devoted to serving YHWH and performing acts of ‫שפָט‬

ְׁ ‫ ִמ‬to those who are in need and

disenfranchised. Within the Prophets, there is a growing need for the ‫שפָט‬
ְׁ ‫ ִמ‬of YHWH to be

realized and performed within a particular social milieu. There is a greater push for Israel to be

agents of YHWH‟s ‫שפָט‬

ְׁ ‫ ִמ‬on earth.

30
Lind, Monotheism, Power, Justice : Collected Old Testament Essays, 239.
31
Kittel, Bromiley, and Friedrich, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, 930.
32
Kittel, Bromiley, and Friedrich, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, 930.
33
Birch, Let Justice Roll Down : The Old Testament, Ethics, and Christian Life, 177.

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YHWH’s Justice: The Writings

Within the Writings, there is a growing sense that the world is unfair and that the system

that YHWH endorsed has not come into fruition. This results in the children of Israel crying out

for YHWH‟s enforcement of His ‫שפָט‬

ְׁ ‫ ִמ‬. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the laments.

Through the act of lamenting, a complaint is lodged to YHWH that insists that “i) things are not

right in the present arrangement ii) they need not stay this way but can be changed iii) the

speaker will not accept them in this way, for it is intolerable and iv) it is God's obligation to

change things.”34 Things have reached such an unbearable level that something must be done.

The complainant can do nothing but appeal to YHWH‟s justice.

According to Brueggemann, there are two directions that the lament can take: “i) the

complaint can be addressed to God against neighbour or ii) the complaint can be addressed to

God against God.”35 In both cases, there is an underlying assumption and presupposition that

YHWH is the final judge to whom we can voice our grievances to and who will bring about

redemptive restoration to the one who suffers agony caused by injustice. These two scenarios

hold to the fact that what is ultimately at stake here is justice.

Lam. 2:20-22 is a shocking account of the desperation and anguish of Daughter Zion who

lifts up her voice in lament towards YHWH. Conway remarks that

Daughter Zion‟s outpouring to YHWH is an important illustration of the truth that all
pain, anger and torment can be brought to the throne of God. This may be a cry for mercy
and relief, but even when the judgment is inevitable or the discipline already enforced, as
in Lamentations, lament serves as a means to express, endure, and eventually survive the
suffering.36

34
Brueggemann, "The Costly Loss of Lament," 62.
35
Brueggemann, "The Costly Loss of Lament," 62-63.
36
Conway, Lamentations, 59

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Sid Sudiacal

As Brueggemann notes, “in regularly using the lament form, Israel kept the justice question

visible and legitimate.”37 Through these laments, one can see that “the claims and rights of the

speaker are asserted to God in the face of a system which does not deliver. That system is visible

on earth and addressed in heaven with the passionate conviction that it can, must, and will be

changed.”38 The call for justice grows loud and the call for YHWH to stir Himself up and

administer His ‫שפָט‬

ְׁ ‫ ִמ‬becomes a deafening roar.

DeBorst remarks that “justice, as the visible face of love, brings wholeness of life

because it sets things right between people and God, people and other people, people and

creation— as it was in the beginning.”39 This conception of justice is brought to the foreground

in the Writings. There is a prevailing desire for the divine breakthrough of YHWH‟s ‫שפָט‬
ְׁ ‫ ִמ‬from

an individual and national perspective. Justice, in the Writings, busies itself with restoring

relationships in their rightful place. There is a developed understanding of justice as a social

concept and how it concerns itself with establishing proper relations between two distinct

parties.

The Book of Proverbs gives us a glimpse of the wise sayings of King Solomon. From

these proverbs, he gives us practical insights on how to maintain good relationships with other

people. While Proverbs is traditionally linked to wisdom, I would argue that it should also be

linked with the notion of justice. In it, we find countless advices as to how we should conduct

ourselves in relation to other people and even towards people in authority. If we heed these

sayings as the Book calls us to do, we can live in a community that “is acutely alert to socio-

political differentiations and is aware that the strong and the weak, the rich and the poor, live

37
Brueggemann, "The Costly Loss of Lament," 63.
38
Brueggemann, "The Costly Loss of Lament," 63.
39
DeBorst, "Scrabble, Injustice, and Me," 11.

11
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differently and need to be attended to in different ways.”40 Proverbs provides us with an

instruction manual on how to show justice to our neighbour. Justice, as portrayed in the

Writings, invites us to participate in repairing broken human-to-human and human-to-divine

relationships. When faced with injustice, our final appeal is in YHWH‟s ‫שפָט‬
ְׁ ‫ ִמ‬.

YHWH’S Justice: The New Testament

The extensive treatment of justice in the Old Testament is carried over and further

refined in the New Testament. While there may be different conceptions and “variations in New

Testament attitudes about justice, the law of love as derived from a precept in Old Testament

social legislation is central.”41 The command to love your neighbour as you love yourself was

traditionally applied only to members of Israel or to the stranger who joined the Yahwistic

community. In the New Testament, the word neighbour began to be understood in an

indiscriminate manner. Anyone outside of one‟s self is now included in the new re-conception of

the neighbour. This means that race, gender, ethnicity or any other social construct that can be

used to discriminate against someone else is rendered invalid. ‫שפָט‬

ְׁ ‫ ִמ‬is no longer restricted and

contained within the nation of Israel; it is extended to all divine image-bearers.

A further advancement in New Testament concerning justice lies in its admonition to

love the neighbour “as expressed in tangible acts of caring or mercy that exceed the requirements

of Old Testament social legislation.”42 The agapaic love which Jesus demonstrated towards the

world must also find its expression among those who declare allegiance to him. As Phil. 2:3

reminds us, we should not look only to our “own interests, but to the interests of others.” While

the heart of YHWH for the marginalized remains the same, Jesus now demands that not only

40
Brueggemann, Theology of the Old Testament : Testimony, Dispute, Advocacy, 422.
41
Felder, "Toward a New Testament Hermeneutic for Justice," 17.
42
Felder, "Toward a New Testament Hermeneutic for Justice," 19.

12
Sid Sudiacal

should we show justice to the needy, but that we should champion and help in ushering it among

a wicked and perverse generation as well.

Ultimately, the fulfillment of justice itself is revealed and embodied in the person of

Jesus Christ. “In God's dictionary, justice is defined as redemptive restoration of all things that

are wrong. Justice sets things right; it vindicates the victims; it gives them another chance.”43

This definition finds its fullest expression in the Second Person of the Trinity. Through his

crucifixion, death, and resurrection, Jesus Christ mends and fixes the broken relationship

between humanity and YHWH. He buys back the people of God from their cruel taskmaster, sin,

and gives them the chance to be sons and daughters of the Most High. Justice in the New

Testament ceases to be an abstract idea; instead, justice in the New Testament came in flesh and

lived among us so that we may learn and follow His examples.

YHWH’s Justice: Current Application

As members of the ἐκκλησία, the Body of Christ, we exist “solely to do the will of Christ

and in this way be his presence in the world.”44 Jesus‟ words in Matt. 5-7, the Sermon on the

Mount, provides us with guidelines as to what the justice of YHWH could look like here on

earth. Through the Beatitudes, Jesus expounds on the necessity of living a life that upholds and

enacts the ‫שפָט‬

ְׁ ‫ ִמ‬of YHWH here on earth. If we are to have a right relationship with God and with

others, Jesus‟ macaristic sayings impart to us words of wisdom on how to achieve it.

In Matt. 5:3, Jesus calls blessed those who are „poor in spirit.‟ “As Ambrose says, this

beatitude is not only the first in order, but also the one that in some way generates all other

virtues.”45 This term is synonymous to the word humility.46 If we understood justice as a

43
DeBorst, "Scrabble, Injustice, and Me," 10.
44
Grenz, Theology for the Community of God, 466.
45
Betz and Collins, The Sermon on the Mount : A Commentary on the Sermon on the Mount, Including the Sermon
on the Plain (Matthew 5:3-7:27 and Luke 6:20-49), 111.

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relational term, humility would allow us to “regard others as better than ourselves” (Phil. 2:3).

Humility also allows us to disregard wealth and social prestige which so often are the reasons

why injustice occurs. A humble individual cares not for positions of power nor will they actively

engage in power struggles purely for selfish reasons. Someone who is poor in spirit will only

engage in a power struggle if it is for the purpose of humiliating the proud and exalting the

lowly. By adopting a posture of humility, an individual is more likely to enact, embody, and

usher in the justice of YHWH on earth.

Humility, like justice, concerns itself with a right relationship with God and with others.

A New Testament understanding of justice must then show itself within a social context. Upon

examining our relationship with YHWH, one comes to the realization that we owe everything to

Him. “Justice in the full and proper sense of the term requires a perfect distinction between

debtor and creditor. No one can be bound in justice towards himself; justice essentially regards

others.”47 Because we are cognizant of our role within this human-divine relationship, we should

find ourselves (ideally) exhibiting the same justice which has been so lavishly bestowed upon us.

This could be translated as volunteering at a homeless shelter, being a big brother/sister to a

child who lacks male/female adult role models in their lives, or teaching kids in an impoverished

nation. Such actions reflect the helper aspect of YHWH‟s justice. It also mirrors his desire to

redeem and save the marginalized and the oppressed.

Conclusion

Throughout the Tanakh, the theme of YHWH‟s justice is interwoven in every story and

idea. The ‫שפָט‬

ְׁ ‫ ִמ‬of YHWH cannot be simply understood from a legal sense. While there is an idea

46
Betz and Collins, The Sermon on the Mount : A Commentary on the Sermon on the Mount, Including the Sermon
on the Plain (Matthew 5:3-7:27 and Luke 6:20-49), 116.
47
Herbermann, The Catholic Encyclopedia : An International Work of Reference on the Constitution. Doctrine,
Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church, 572.

14
Sid Sudiacal

of judgment inherent in the term, it must be understood as restoration rather than condemnation.

It is also important for us to understand ‫שפָט‬

ְׁ ‫ ִמ‬as a relational term that naturally involves a form

of relationship between two parties. YHWH‟s justice can also be conceived as the redemption of

the oppressed and marginalized. These are just examples of the multifaceted way in which

YHWH‟s ‫שפָט‬
ְׁ ‫ ִמ‬is understood within the Yahwistic community.

Within the New Testament, YHWH‟s justice continues to be a dominant theme in the life

and works of Jesus Christ. In him, the ‫שפָט‬

ְׁ ‫ ִמ‬of YHWH find its fullest expression. His death on

the cross and resurrection three days after his burial provides us with a concrete and tangible

expression of the ultimate reversal of evil into good. Through his life, Jesus exemplifies the

saving nature of YHWH‟s justice. Like YHWH, Jesus commands and exhorts us to show and

execute justice within our social and cultural milieu. As the church, we are called to be the Body

of Christ who shall usher in the ‫שפָט‬

ְׁ ‫ ִמ‬of YHWH and whose fruit is “shalom, peace, the

flourishing of life, and the realization of God's good purposes.”48 As princes and daughters of the

Most High, this is the type of judgment we are called to personify and establish here on earth.

48
DeBorst, "Scrabble, Injustice, and Me," 11.

15
Sid Sudiacal

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Brueggemann, Walter.. Theology of the Old Testament : Testimony, Dispute, Advocacy.

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DeBorst, Ruth Padilla. "Scrabble, Injustice, and Me." Journal of Latin American Theology 1.1
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Sid Sudiacal

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