OLD TESTAMENT EQUIVOCATION ON ENDOGAMY REVEALING CONTEXTUAL PRESSURES BEHIND SCRIBAL PERSPECTIVES

Abstract

The saying attributed to Jesus Christ that “The law is made for man, not man for the law” (Mk. 2:27) is even more true in the Old Testament doctrinal and theological positions. Modern practitioners of religion lay claims to religious laws to heap yokes of bondage on unsuspecting religious adherents. Some of the laws used for such sinister motives are drawn from the Old Testament. However, a close look at the Old Testament reveals that the laws are made rather flexible to accommodate the varying pressures arising from a multitude of socio-cultural and econo-political contexts. This paper uses the illustration of the Old Testament equivocation on endogamy to demonstrate the varying contextual pressures that determine the flexibility of the doctrinal and theological positions of the scribes on the Old Testament laws and regulations. Using context hermeneutical principles, the paper shows that the scribes who are the authors and editors of the Old Testament books, rather than adopting strict and stiff positions, are always sensitive to prevailing societal pressures while composing their works which they use as theological instruments to shape the people’s response to their environments. The paper advocates that such flexibility in the presentation and interpretation of religious laws will help the human society achieve more effectively its developmental objectives in the fast-changing human socio-economic and ethno-political environments.