Matthew B. Schwartz and Kalman J. Kaplan

Written by Politics in the Hebrew Bible: God, Man, and Government Reviewed By M. Daniel Carroll R.

The aim of this volume is to glean insights from the Hebrew Bible for a healthy and just politics. Both authors, professors at Wayne State University and the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine, respectively, argue from a Jewish perspective for the unique contributions of that scripture to political values and behaviors and to domestic and foreign policy. They believe that the lessons to be drawn from that particular religious tradition are universal in application.

The book is divided into three parts. The first contains the Introduction and the opening chapter. The Introduction presents their conviction that the orientation toward politics in the Hebrew Bible is different from what many in the West now hold. To exemplify this dissimilarity, the book juxtaposes the thinking of three classical thinkers who have informed political philosophy (the Greeks Plato and Aristotle, and the Roman Sallust) to the rabbinical voices of Maimonides, Abravanel, and Samson Raphael Hirsch. The latter three attempted to relate politics to a life in obedience to Torah and to what they perceived were relevant biblical narratives. Throughout the rest of the volume, in their exposition of biblical passages, Schwartz and Kaplan will appeal continually to these and other rabbinic sources, as well as to the Mishna, Midrash, and Talmud.

Chapter One explains the three fundamental “organizing principles” that set the biblical perspective apart. First is its “individuation” and “differentiation” as over against “uniformity” and “conformity” (pp. 19–25). That is, the Hebrew Bible accentuates the worth and potential of each person and people, instead of imposing unity and homogenous ideals. The second principle is what Schwartz and Kaplan call “organic morality” (pp. 25–31). Unlike the Greeks who sought an “abstract equilibrium” (p. 30) based on philosophical categories often dominated by a fatalistic determinism before their gods, the Hebrew Bible emphasizes ethical responsibility and divine remedies to human predicaments. The third and most significant point is “hope against fear toward the future” (pp. 31–38). The Greeks constantly worried about how change might threaten their desired social stability, whereas the Hebrew Bible entrusts what lies ahead to the sovereign Creator.

The second part of the book proffers illustrations for each of these three principles in successive chapters. Each chapter is broken down into two subsections, each employing seven relatively brief expositions of the events and characters of biblical stories to suggest implications pertinent to contemporary politics. Chapter Two (individuation/differentiation) speaks to the social order and to leadership in government. Chapter Three (organic morality) discusses domestic and societal relations. The fourth chapter (hope for the future) deals with morale and mission and then foreign policy.

Part Three is comprised of a short conclusion that reviews the authors’ arguments. Politics in the Hebrew Bible closes with two appendices—the first a chronology of the biblical era, the second a glossary of classical and Jewish terms and personages. There is a brief bibliography and a subject index.

What is impressive in this work is the breadth of narratives that the authors utilize, forty-two in total. In addition, Schwartz and Kaplan continually bring in illustrations from Greek, Roman, European, and United States literature and history to inform their expositions, whether for contrast or support. These allusions are more anecdotal than technical. Correspondingly, there is almost no interaction with scholarly biblical research (Jewish or otherwise). The discussions flow from surface readings of the biblical narratives and do not entertain alternative construals. Politics in the Hebrew Bible, in other words, is not an academic publication, but rather a resource for lay readers.

Some points are well taken, such as the extensive treatment of the Jubilee legislation to warn against unconstrained wealth accumulation and to underscore the foundational importance of socioeconomic equity for all. The virtues to be learned from some biblical characters and the vices of others to avoid also are helpful reminders for leadership. Political commentary can be interesting, as the authors associate biblical stories to issues such as appeasement (King Ahaz of Judah and his Assyrian policies in 2 Kgs 16; Isa 7). Other connections are perhaps more questionable. For example, David’s interaction with and Solomon’s eventual execution of Shimi ben Gera (2 Sam 16; 1 Kgs. 2) generate reflection from Schwartz and Kaplan on how to deal with (and maybe eliminate) dissenters.

The distinctive and consistent Jewish point of view might prove interesting to Themelios readers who may be unacquainted with Jewish interpretations and sources. Although there is much that can be appreciated in this work, this reviewer considers the treatment of the biblical text and its implications to be of variable value. Not all of the proposals are convincing or morally compelling, but their “organizing principles” do find some resonance in the stories and merit attention. Although with caveats, Schwartz and Kaplan’s volume can be commended for the effort to relate the Hebrew Bible to modern-day social, political, and economic life.

For those readers interested in academic treatments of the nature of politics in the Hebrew Bible, other recent publications can serve as supplements and correctives to Politics in the Hebrew Bible. J. Gordon McConville renders close reading of biblical texts and robust interaction with biblical scholarship in God and Earthly Power: An Old Testament Political Theology: Genesis–Kings (London: T&T Clark, 2006). Less technical, but also well-informed in biblical research and drawing extensively on other disciplines, is Joshua A. Berman’s Created Equal: How the Bible Broke with Ancient Political Thought (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008). In the book In God’s Shadow: Politics in the Hebrew Bible (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012), Jewish political theorist Michael Waltzer explores the variety of sociopolitical arrangements described in the Hebrew Bible from his unique perspective. Like Schwartz and Kaplan, these three scholars (in varying degrees) contrast the biblical vision with those of surrounding cultures, whether Mesopotamian, Egyptian, or Greek. They, too, opt for the received text as the focus of their discussions. None appropriate the Hebrew Bible as directly to contemporary society as Politics in the Hebrew Bible, but their reflections are beneficial for a deeper appreciation of God’s design for a more just world.


M. Daniel Carroll R.

M. Daniel Carroll R.
Wheaton College Graduate School
Wheaton, Illinois, USA

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