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Re: "Love" in the DSS
Friends, I have been lurking for a while on this list, but I agree
wholeheartedly with Judith Romney Wegner's last message. Though
Christian, I have been trying to overcome some typically Christian
misunderstandings about the Hebrew Bible since I served as a pastor of a
church in Southern Indiana. You are probably right, Dr. Wegner, in
attributing some of these mistaken perceptions about "love" in the Hebrew
Bible to Christian circles. Certainly not all Christians adhere to the
misguided dichotomy between law=HB/love=NT, but there are enough of us
that do that I try to steer the discussion to a more appropriate
understanding when I can. ...Two related thoughts -- language about
"ahav" in the sense of loyalty is reflected in Mesopotamian covenantal
language as well -- also, perhaps it is also worth mentioning that
Jesus is quoted in Matthew 22:37-39 as saying "'You shall love the Lord
your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your
mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it,
You shall love your neighbor as yourself." The second commandment,
interestingly enough, is also from Torah. Specifically, it is dependent
on Leviticus 19:18. (I am, by the way, an admirer of Dr. Romney Wegner's
book "Chattel or Person? The Status of Women in the Mishnah).
Sarah Melcher
Ph. D. Candidate
Emory University
Dissertation is on Sexuality and Bodily Purity in Leviticus