Hebraism and Hellenism reconsidered

Judaism, Spring, 1994 by Louis H. Feldman

Moreover, to contrast the Greek and the Hebraic view of the Divine by asserting that the Greek gods were immoral, whereas the Hebrew view of God is of perfect morality, is to neglect the remarks of Xenophanes, who complained that Homer and Hesiod assigned to the gods all that was disgraceful and blame-worthy, notably stealing, adultery, and deceit. Pythagoras insisted that the gods must be ethical; and we hear that when he visited Hades, he saw Homer and Hesiod being punished because of what they had said about the gods. Moreover, to Heraclitus is ascribed the statement that Homer deserves to be chased out of the lists and beaten with rods. And, in a famous passage, Plato (Republic 2.377-379) insists that the poems of Homer and of Hesiod not be included in the curriculum of the ideal state since they represent the gods as immoral.

In our own days, Boman(4) has vividly painted the contrast as follows: "The matter is outlined in bold belief by two characteristic figures: the thinking Socrates and the praying Orthodox Jew. When Socrates was seized by a problem, he remained immobile for an interminable period of time in deep thought; when Holy Scripture is read aloud in the synagogue, the Orthodox Jew moves his whole body ceaselessly in deep devotion and adoration. . . . Rest, harmony, composure, and self-control--this is the Greek way; movement, life, deep emotion, and power--this is the Hebrew way." Boman may well be thinking of the attitude of a Hasid; but swaying is by no means necessarily characteristic of the deeply pious Mitnagid. And any student of the Talmud will be aware of the great premium placed there upon clear and logical thinking.

Ferguson(5) has remarked that there is no real Greek word for "to sin," and that the verb hamartanein really means "to miss the target," like, we may add, the Hebrew hata'. He also notes that where we use the phrase "to take something to heart," the Greek uses the verb nouthetein, which literally means "to put in the mind." The word sophrosyne ("moderation") is related, etymologically, to the word phronesis ("thought"). He cites Nietzsche's statement that whereas other nations had saints the Greeks had sages.

The problem with such an analysis, however, is that it fails to note a number of passages in Greek literature containing the verb hamartanein in the very sense of "sin," which patently contradict it. Thus, for example, in a famous passage, Homer (Iliad 9. 500-501), in the words of the wise old Phoenix, Achilles' tutor, remarks that "man turns [the hearts of the gods] with prayer as often as anyone transgresses and sins." Likewise, Hesiod remarks that "Often even a whole city suffers for a bad man who sins and devises presumptuous deeds." Again, Herodotus (1.133) says that according to the Persians, one who has leprosy is not permitted to consort with other Persians; "they say that he is so afflicted because he has sinned in some wise against the sun."

To say, moreover, that other nations had saints but that the Greeks had sages is to neglect the fact that the Jews, at least in the talmudic period, refer to their saints as talmidei hakhamim, that is, wise students. It is surely significant that the same community of Jews produced Pharisees and Sadducees and Essenes and the Dead Sea Sect (twenty-four in all, according to the Jerusalem Talmud, Sanhedrin 10.6.29c), and individuals as diverse as Yohanan ben Zakkai and Josephus and Elisha ben Avuyah. The Talmud, far from being a dogmatic code, is more like a Congressional Record of the debates of the sages. And in what other religion is the study of such disputes a form of divine worship?