JUDAICA - Wisdom In Torah

ethics
low man, and is not concerned with abstract definitions. This
attitude is almost explicitly expressed in Jeremiah 9:22–23: “Let
not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the strong man
glory in his strength, let not the rich man glory in his riches.
Only in this should one glory: in his earnest devotion to me.
For I am the Lord who exercises kindness, justice, and equity
in the world; for in these I delight – declares the Lord.” From
this it follows that doing what is right and just is the essence
of biblical ethics. The personal ethical ideal is the ẓaddik (the
good man; see *Righteousness). Ezekiel defines him in detail
for the purpose of explaining the doctrine of reward and
*punishment, and his definition is nothing but an enumeration
of the deeds performed by the good man and of those
from which he refrains (Ezek. 18:5–9). The essence of all of
these acts is the proper relationship between man and man,
except for one commandment, to shun idolatry, which is solely
a duty of man to God. A similar definition of the good man
appears in Isaiah 33:15 and in Psalm 15. Added to the ideal of
the righteous man in Psalms is the Godfearing man who finds
happiness in the teachings of God and in the worship of Him
and who shuns the life devoid of ethical earnestness (e.g., Ps.
1). The personal ethical ideal received further expression in
the character of *Abraham, who was credited with several especially
fine and noble qualities. He was complaisant in his
relationship with Lot, hospitable, compassionate toward the
evil inhabitants of Sodom, humble and generous in his dealings
with the people of Heth, and he refused to profit from
the booty of the war with Amraphel.
Distinguishing Feature of Social Ethics in the Bible
The lofty level of biblical ethics which is evident in the command
to love one’s neighbor, in the character of Abraham,
and in the first Psalm, is peculiar to the Bible, and it is difficult
to find its like in any other source; however, the general
ethical commandments in the Bible, which are based on the
principle of refraining from harming others, are a matter of
general human concern and constitute the fundamentals of
ethics. Some characteristic features of biblical ethics, such as
due justice and the rights of the widow and the orphan, are
prevalent in the ancient Near East (see below). Therefore the
generalization that the Bible is unique among religious works
in the content of its ethical teachings cannot be made. However,
the Bible does differ from every other religious or ethical
work in the importance which it assigns to the simple and
fundamental ethical demand. The other nations of the ancient
Near East reveal their ethical sense in compositions that are
marginal to their culture: in a few proverbs dispersed throughout
the wisdom literature, in prologues to collections of laws,
in various specific laws, and in confessions (see below). The
connection between ethical teachings and primary cultural
creations – the images of the gods, the cult, the major corpus
of law – is weak. The ethical aspirations of these cultures are
sometimes, but not always, expressed in their religion and social
organization, while the Bible places the ethical demand at
the focus of the religion and the national culture. The ethical
demand is of primary concern to the prophets, who state explicitly
that this is the essence of their religious teaching. Basic
sections of biblical law – the Ten Commandments, Leviticus
19, the blessings and curses of Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal
(Deut. 27:15–26) – contain many important ethical commandments.
Biblical law itself testifies to its ethical aim: “Or what
great nation has laws and norms as just (ẓaddikim) as all this
Teaching…” (Deut. 4:8). While the wisdom literature of Israel
is similar to that of the neighboring cultures, it is distinctive
in the greater stress it places upon ethical education (see below).
The assumption that God is – or should be – just, and the
question of reward and punishment which follows from that
assumption, are the bases of the religious experiences found
in Psalms, Job, and some prophetic passages. The opinion of
Hillel the Elder that the ethical demand is the essence of the
Torah may be questioned, for it can hardly be said to be the
only pillar of the biblical faith. However, there is certainly a
clear tendency in the Bible to place the ethical demand at the
focus of the faith, even if it does share it with other concerns
such as monotheism (see biblical view of *God).
Biblical ethics teachings, though clear and forceful, are
not extraordinary in content, for the Bible requires nothing
other than the proper behavior which is necessary for the existence
of society. Biblical ethics does not demand, as do certain
other systems of ethics (Christianity, Buddhism, and even
some systems in later Judaism), that man withdraw completely
or even partially from everyday life to attain perfection. Asceticism,
which views the normal human situation as the root
of evil, is foreign to the Bible and to the cultures of the Near
East in general. The Bible approves of life as it is, and, accordingly,
makes its ethical demand compatible with social reality.
However, the degree of justice which it is possible to achieve
within the bounds of reality is demanded with a clear forcefulness
which allows for no compromise. This makes the Bible
more radical than most ethical systems. The ethical teachings
of the Bible, like the Bible generally, are addressed first and
foremost to Israel. But some biblical passages extend the ethical
demand to encompass all mankind, such as the *Noachide
laws (Gen. 9:1–7), the story of Sodom (Gen. 19:20ff.), or the
rebuke of Amos against the neighboring kingdoms for their
cruelty (Amos 1:3–2:3). The setting of the Book of Job is also
outside the Israelite realm.
Sexual Ethics
What has been said up to here applies only to social ethics, in
view of the fact that in the realm of sexual morality the biblical
outlook differs from that of neighboring cultures. The
Bible abhors any sexual perversion such as *homosexuality
or copulation with animals, prescribing severe punishments
for offenders (Lev. 18:22–23; 20:13, 15–16). The adulteress sins
not only against her husband, but also against God (e.g., Ex.
20:14; Lev. 20:10; Mal. 3:5). Fornication is generally frowned
upon, severely condemned by *Hosea, and legally punishable
by death in some cases (Lev. 21:9; Deut. 22:21). The other
peoples of the ancient Near East did not treat these offenses
532 ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 6