Abstract
The essays assembled in this volume represent the twin emphases of Georg Braulik’s scholarly career: Deuteronomy and Christian liturgy. The first essay, “Eine Gesellschaft ohne Arme,” highlights distinctive aspects of the social legislation found in Deuteronomy; having intervened concretely for the oppressed in the events of the Exodus, Israel’s God instituted a social order that abolished the conditions (especially those of ever-mounting indebtedness) leading to permanent slavery. God also stipulated provisions on behalf of the “stranger, the orphan and the widow,” thus ensuring their sustenance and full participation in religious feasts. B. gestures towards interesting questions that Deuteronomy may still pose to us—for instance, is “scarcity” the true starting point for economic reasoning, or might community, justice, and divine blessing be truer to reality (29–30)? The second essay, “Lohnverweigerung und Sippenhaftung,” takes up Deuteronomy’s curious juxtaposition of a rule concerning the payment of wages (24:14–15) with a prohibition of clan liability (24:16), arguing that such legislation ultimately aims at the construction of a “brotherly” community that overcomes poverty. The chapter “‘Heute’ im Buch Deuteronomium” examines the rhetorical and theological purposes of Deuteronomy’s characteristic emphasis on “today.” Special significance is attached to Deut. 29:14 (29:15 in English translations), which invites future readers so to identify with Moses and his initial hearers that they—in their own “today”—choose covenant faithfulness and the consequent “life” held out within the text. The fourth essay, “Das Ende einer Karriere? Zum Dekalog in Deuteronomium 5 nach der revidierten Einheitsübersetzung,” argues that the 2016 revision of the German Einheitsübersetzung obscures the connections—present in the original Hebrew—between the Decalogue in Deuteronomy 5 and the subsequent chapters. Though the essay is aimed at readers of the German Bible, B.’s observations about the structural role of the Decalogue will be of general interest. In “Alltägliche Ernährung und festliches Mahl im Buch Deuteronomium,” B. examines the significance of food in Deuteronomy. Lexical combinations of “eat” with other terms (e.g., “drink,” “be satisfied,” “rejoice,” etc.) are surveyed, and usages associated with a liturgical context are given special attention. B. concludes with brief but stimulating reflections on the Lukan appropriation of the Deuteronomic language of “eating and rejoicing” in the story of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:23). The last, previously unpublished essay on Deuteronomy, “Hat Gott die Religionen der Völker gestiftet?,” offers a thorough exegesis of the terms for “God/gods” found in Deut. 4:1–40, arguing that the passage enjoins an exclusive monotheism—one influenced by and in agreement with Deutero-Isaiah.
Constructive theological proposals in the chapters on Deuteronomy are sparing, but this changes considerably with the essays on Christian liturgy. In “Verweigert die Westkirche den Heiligen des Alten Testaments die liturgische Verehrung?” B. remarks on the relative lack of integration of Old Testament figures into the Latin Church’s calendar of saints, pointing out that even the nominal place held by them (e.g., by the Maccabean martyrs) has been effectively erased by post-conciliar changes to the liturgical rubrics. B. argues theologically for a revival of veneration of Old Testament saints. In “Die Erneuerung der Liturgie und das Alte Testament an den Beispielen Pascha-Mysterium und Tora” B. urges that the paschal mystery of Christ should not be reduced to Christ’s death on the cross; rather, it ought to be understood as including the Pascha of Israel. The Torah should be appreciated as a concrete representation of salvation and as a constitutive part of Christian Scripture; thus, a defective understanding of the covenant needs to be corrected in the fourth Eucharistic prayer, and a Torah lesson ought to be reintroduced liturgically (as per East Syrian church precedent). In “Maria als Inbild Israels” B. examines a liturgical interweaving of psalms with antiphons drawn from Luke’s Annunciation scene. B. finds a rich and liturgically expressed sensitivity to the dynamics of the Magnificat, where Mary speaks as a figuration of her people Israel, and so also of the church. The final essay, “Du bist doch unser Vater! ‘Unser Erlöser von jeher’ ist dein Name,” notes that the Old Testament assumes the social constitution of individuals, and thus gives sustained attention to collective guilt and to the possibility of forgiveness for the same. B. explores the theology of lament and of petition for communal forgiveness expressed in Isaiah 63:7–64:11, urging that such lament and petition have become too infrequent in modern liturgy.
The exegetical essays gathered here certainly contain theologically suggestive observations, such as those concerning the social vision of Pentateuchal legislation or the deeply Deuteronomic resonances of a phrase chosen by the evangelist Luke. Whether these rewards are sufficient to repay reading through the dense technical exegesis will depend on the interests of the reader. For the theologically interested, the essays on liturgy are surely the most rewarding aspect of the collection—both for their theological constructiveness and for their appropriation of the Old Testament as a resource for liturgical reflection.