Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology 2015, Vol. 69(3) 272–287 © The Author(s) 2015 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0020964315578205 int.sagepub.com Sin and Punishment: The Ethics of Divine Justice and Retribution in Ancient Near Eastern and Old Testament Texts Angelika Berlejung University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany Abstract This article gives a short survey of concepts of “sin and sanction,” the “crisis of Wisdom,” and divine justice in ancient Mesopotamian texts and in the Old Testament. A concluding summary provides a comparison of these two ancient Near Eastern cultures’ understandings of the ethics of divine justice. Keywords Old Testament ethics, Retribution, Law, Divine will, Sin and sanction, Theodicy, Job, Qoheleth, Wisdom Introduction From a theological perspective, “sin” is a term that identifies human (individual and/or collec- tive) misconduct before a god. This basic definition makes clear that the divine will provides the scale for the measurement of human behavior. Sin (“moral evil” 1 ) describes human intentions and actions that are qualified as evil, violent, wrong, or as vices and crimes. But passive aspects also are inherent, such as when a human being neglects or disregards divine orders. In many texts of the ancient Near East (ANE), including the Old Testament, sin is the result of a fundamental disturbance in the human-divine relationship and communication. Moreover, one sin creates subsequent sins, once that relationship has been damaged. Sin has social aspects, too, as it causes a serious disruption of interpersonal relationships, the social network, and life. Within this context, punishment is the divine or society’s reaction to the sinner. From a sociological perspec- tive, sin and punishment were part of the social construction of reality in the ANE. Human actions, 1 In contrast to “moral evil” (human actions) is “natural evil,” which consists of negative powers in the universe. Corresponding author: Angelika Berlejung, Universität Leipzig, Martin-Luther Ring 3, Leipzig, D-04109, Germany. Email: berle@rz.uni-leipzig.de Article at Universitaetsbibliothek on July 15, 2015 int.sagepub.com Downloaded from