INSULT AND INJURY IN THE BIBLE

Fyodor Dostoevsky once wrote a book titled The Insulted and Injured, which I must admit I have never read. However, I would be willing to bet that it is not exactly the most uplifting novel around. This present post is probably not going to be the most cheerful one either, but I do think that it will be helpful in pointing out an interesting pattern in Scripture.

There are actually many examples of insulting put-downs found throughout both Testaments, but they seem to fall into one of two categories. The first could be best characterized as “adding insult to injury,” “rubbing salt in the wound,” or “hitting someone when they are already down.” However one expresses the idea, it is a behavior almost always condemned by society for its unnecessary cruelty. When we run across examples of it in the Bible, it is always carried out by non-believers or disobedient Jews. For example:

Genesis 49:5-6 Simon and Levi are rightly criticized by Jacob for not only killing off all the men of Shechem but then cruelly and unnecessarily hamstringing their oxen.

Judges 1:7 The pagan lord of Bezek states that he used to cut off the thumbs and big toes of defeated kings and then have them feed on scraps under his table as a further insult. For that behavior, God has the same fate happen to him.

Judges 16:23-27 Not satisfied with blinding Samson and making him grind at the mill, the Philistines then decide to have him entertain them at an important gathering. Again, that move backfires on them.

I Samuel 10:27-11:2 Nahash of the Ammonites gouged out the right eyes of all those Israelites he conquered to “thus put disgrace on all Israel.”

I Samuel 31:4 After Saul is mortally wounded by an arrow in battle with the Philistines, he begs his armor-bearer to kill him off so that the enemy will not “make sport of me.”

II Samuel 13:7-16 Not satisfied with raping his half-sister Tamar, David's son Amon then dismisses her as if she were a mere prostitute. Tamar objects that the latter offense is even worse than the first one.

II Samuel 16:5-8 As a classic example of kicking someone when they are down, Saul's relative Shimei waits until David has been forced out of Jerusalem by Absalom before he begins to insult him and throw stones at him during David's retreat.

Psalm 137 is the heartfelt cry of Jews who had been sent into Babylonian captivity. Not only were they taken captive from their homeland, but to make things worse, their captors rubbed things in by demanding that they sing songs in honor of Zion, which they would never see again.

Additional examples of how pagan countries in Old Testament times humiliated those inhabitants of nations whom they had decimated are alluded to in the writings of the prophets. These included sending captives into exile barefoot and with their buttocks uncovered (Isaiah 20:3-4); leading them around with hooks in their nose or cheek (Isaiah 37:29; Ezekiel 29:4; 38:4; Amos 4:2); and caging them up (Ezekiel 19:9). In other words, they treated others as mere animals.

This same pattern of insulting someone who has already suffered pain is found even more prominently in the New Testament description of Jesus' crucifixion. Not only was he mocked by the soldiers before he was crucified, but even on the cross the insults continued. Besides the ironic placard identifying him as King of the Jews, Matthew 27:37-49 and its parallel account in Luke 23:36-39 record sarcastic comments concerning Jesus coming from passers-by, soldiers, the chief priests, scribes, elders, a bandit crucified with him, and some bystanders.

At this point, a knowledgeable Bible student could rightly point out that it wasn't only the “villains” in the Bible who were known for their insulting words directed toward those with whom they didn't agree. That is certainly true, but there is an important distinction that needs to be drawn. For those who were “on God's side” the insults they gave out never followed an injury; in sharp contrast, they either preceded the “injury” as a sort of warning or were never intended to be followed by any sort of injurious action at all. Here are some examples:

One form of insult was that of the fable, which Tasker defines as “a picturesque, but fictitious, story, often satirical in character, told to bring home to the hearer a salutary, if unwelcome, truth.” There are two such examples in the Old Testament.

    Judges 9 After Abimelech, son of Gideon, managed to assassinate all but one of his half-brothers, he is confronted by Jotham, the remaining brother, who tells a fable about some trees who go out to choose a king. This story makes fun of Abimelech's pretensions and at the same time warns him and the Shechemites who helped him to power of future disastrous consequences. The king refuses to listen and as a result, God leads the Shechemites to turn against Abimelech.

    II Kings 14:8-14 In this similar case, the good and powerful king of the Northern Kingdom, Joash, is confronted by King Amaziah of Judah who wants to fight against him. Joash replies with a rather sarcastic fable attempting to puncture Amaziah's inflated image of himself and his army. Again, the latter refuses to listen to the warning and as a consequence is soundly defeated in battle.

Another form of insult is known as the taunt song. There are examples, which appear to be cruel at times, found in the OT and NT. But when it is God or His representative who utilizes this form of rebuke, the often unspoken motive is to wake up the addressee to the point where he will recognize his sinful attitude and actions and repent before God's judgment comes upon him.

One rather extended example is found in Job 38-41 in which God exposes Job's ignorance of His ways and causes him to repent. Unfortunately, most of the examples of taunt songs in the books of the prophets are not as successful in affecting the course of their intended targets. The most prominent Old Testament examples are those in which God's prophets denounce foreign kingdoms with their rulers, gods, pagan priests and prophets. Thus, In I Kings 18:27 it is Elijah against the priests of Baal; Isaiah 14:12-21 is directed against an unnamed king of Babylon; and Ezekiel (in chapters 27-28) rails against Tyre and its ruler.

The New Testament continues this tradition with John the Baptist criticizing the Pharisees and Sadducees who came to him for baptism: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance.” Note the strong correlation between strong rebuke and the call to true repentance. Of course, the taunt song reaches its peak with Christ's comments concerning the religious leaders of his day who were “hypocrites” and “white-washed tombs.” In addition, his parables often shine the light on the sinful behavior of his audience in an indirect way so that the implied criticism might have a better chance to soak in and effect a changed life.

Stephen carries on in this tradition in his highly critical review of Jewish history in Acts 7, as do Paul when addressing the false teachers and James in his criticism of the rich.

If there is any “injury” following these various “godly insults,” it ultimately comes from God Himself, sometimes utilizing earthly entities to carry out His will.

At this point, I am reminded of the Christian writer Flannery O'Conner's most famous story, called “Revelation.” It is a simple tale in which a somewhat emotionally disturbed teen-age girl suddenly blurts out the insult “You are a warthog from hell!” to a rather self-satisfied and bigoted older woman who is in a dentist's waiting room with her. It has the effect of deeply disturbing the woman, who for the first time in her life sees herself as she actually is and repents of her sins. And that is really the intended result of all the godly insults in the Bible.