Empire in the New Testament

Stanley E. Porter, Cynthia Long Westfall, Stanley E. Porter, Cynthia Long Westfall, Porter, Westfall

• Publisher: Pickwick Publications
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN: 9781608995998, 9781498256858
• eBook ISBN: 9781630877323
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Criticism & Interpretation

How does a Christian render unto Caesar what is Caesar's, and unto God what is God's? This book is the result of the Bingham Colloquium of 2007 that brought scholars from across North America to examine the New Testament's response to the empires of God and Caesar. Two chapters lay the foundation for that response in the Old Testament's concept of empire, and six others address the response to the notion of empire, both human and divine, in the various authors of the New Testament. A final chapter investigates how the church fathers regarded the matter. The essays display various methods and positions; together, however, they offer a representative sample of the current state of study of the notion of empire in the New Testament.

1

The Old Testament Context of David’s Costly Flirtation with Empire-Building

Douglas K. Stuart

This paper is an admittedly ambitious attempt to do three things: first, via a brief but hopefully representative survey, to seek a basic understanding of the nature of the “mentality” of empire in the ancient Near East; second, by another brief but hopefully representative survey to identify the “mentality” toward empire of the Old Testament; and, with these contexts as background, to analyze an attempt made by King David to begin to establish an empire of his own.

The Mentality of Empire in the Ancient Near East1

Consider an initial example of the ancient Near Eastern mentality of empire: In the following excerpt of a relatively short Egyptian historical record,2 Pharaoh Ka-mose states his case for re-establishment of the Egyptian empire (Upper and Lower Egypt and, presumably, the traditional buffer territories adjoining them north and south) in a speech to his advisors, ca. 1575 BCE:3

His majesty spoke in his palace to the council of nobles who were in his retinue: “Let me understand what this strength of mine is for. (One) prince is in Avaris,4 another is in Nubia, (and) here I sit associated with an Asiatic and a Nubian! Each man has his slice of this Egypt, dividing up the land with me . . . No man can settle down, being despoiled by the taxes imposed5 by the Asiatics. I will grapple with him, that I may cut open his belly! My wish is to save Egypt and to smite the Asiatics!”

His advisors suggest doing nothing except being ready defensively, since there have already been decades of fighting against the Hyksos6 and they do not want more war:

The great men of his council spoke: “Behold it is Asiatic water as far as Cusae7 . . . [and] we are at ease in our (part of) Egypt. Elephantine is strong, and the middle (of the land) is with us as far as Cusae . . . He [the enemy] holds the land of the Asiatics; we hold Egypt.8 Should someone come and act [against us], then we shall act against him!”

Pharaoh Ka-mose was having none of this stay-safe-at-home, limited-territory advice:

Then they were hurtful to the heart of his majesty: “As for this plan of yours, . . . he who divides the land with me will not respect me. [Shall I res]pect these Asiatics . . . ? I shall sail north to reach Lower Egypt. If I fight with the Asiatics, success will come . . . Ka-mose, the protector of Egypt!”

Having rejected the advice of his counselors as inferior to that of his divine counselor, the god Amon, the pharaoh went on the attack and succeeded in restoring much of lower Egypt to Egyptian sovereignty, paving the way for the further conquests of the upcoming Eighteenth Dynasty:

I went north because I was strong enough to attack the Asiatics through the command of Amon, the just of counsels. My valiant army was in front of me like a blast of fire. . . . I attacked him. I broke down his walls, I killed his people . . .

A second example involves Sargon of Akkad (ca. 2371–2316 BCE), usually thought of as the greatest of the early Mesopotamian emperors. In the following excerpt of what is typically called either the “Legend of Sargon” or the “Birth Legend of Sargon,” he is quoted speaking of his own far-ranging imperialistic exploits, but also tellingly of his expectation that the kings who follow him in governing his empire should do the same if they are truly worthy of the office:9

The black-headed [people]10 I ruled, I gov[erned];

Mighty [moun]tains with chip-axes of bronze I conquered,

The upper ranges I scaled,

The lower ranges I [trav]ersed,

The sea [lan]ds three times I circled.

Dilmun11 my [hand] cap[tured],

[To] the great Der12 I [went up] . . .

[K]azallu13 I destroyed and . . .

Whatever king may come up after me, . . .

Let him r[ule, let him govern] the black-headed [peo]ple,

[Let him conquer] mighty [mountains] with chip axe[s of bronze],

[Let] him scale the upper ranges,

Let him traverse the lower ranges,

Let him circle the sea [lan]ds three times!

[Dilmun let his hand capture],

Let him go up [to] the great Der and . . . 14

Clearly, conquering distant lands was a mark of greatness in Sargon’s view, and he challenges his successors to do the same—not necessarily as a way of boasting of his uniqueness (“Just try to do what I’ve done if you think you can!”) but more likely as an example of what proper successor emperors should likewise do (“If I’ve done it, you should, too!”).15

As a third example, we cite portions of the prologue to the famous law code of Hammurabi the Great (ca. 1728–1686 BCE), in which Hammurabi makes certain claims about his right to rule a great empire and to impose upon it his will, including his will in the form of legal practices to be standardized and extrapolated from16 throughout his empire:

When lofty Anum, king of the Annunaki,

(and) Enlil, lord of heaven and earth,

the determiner of the destinies of the land,

determined for Marduk, the first-born of Enki,

the Enlil functions over all mankind,

made him great among the Igigi,

called Babylon by its exalted name,

made it supreme in the world,

established for him in its midst an enduring kingship,

whose foundations are as firm as heaven and earth—

at that time Anum and Enlil named me

to promote the welfare of the people,

me, Hammurabi, the devout, god-fearing prince,

to cause justice to prevail in the land,

that the strong might not oppress the weak,

to rise like the sun over the black-headed (people),

and to light up the land.

[I am] the one who strides through the four quarters of the world;

who makes the name of Babylon great;

who rejoices the heart of Marduk, his lord; . . .

god among kings, acquainted with wisdom . . .

the one who seizes the foe . . .

who pacifies the heart of Adad, the warrior . . .

the chief of kings, a fi...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Preface
• Abbreviations
• Contributors
• Introduction: Empire, the New Testament, and Beyond
• Chapter 1: The Old Testament Context of David’s Costly Flirtation with Empire-Building
• Chapter 2: Walking in the Light of Yahweh
• Chapter 3: Matthew and Empire
• Chapter 4: King Jesus and His Ambassadors
• Chapster 5: “I Have Conquered the World”
• Chapter 6: Paul Confronts Caesar with the Good News
• Chapter 7: “This Was Not an Ordinary Death”
• Chapter 8: Running the Gamut
• Chapter 9: The Church Fathers and the Roman Empire