Slowing Down for Violence—Numbers 5 and 25

NUMBERS IS NOT the first place in the Bible that the volatile combination of sex and violence comes to the fore, but here it is impossible to ignore, especially in two lengthy passages: the judgment of a woman suspected of adultery (Num 5:11–31) and the execution of a couple who have sexual intercourse at the tent of meeting (Num 25). The first instinct of many readers may be to move quickly past passages that seem to manifest a primitive and dangerous obsession with sexual morality that has nothing to do with genuine religion. I recommend the opposite approach: slowing down over violent texts to consider what kind of critical and specifically theological response is appropriate. The violent language and imagery prevalent in biblical texts should slow us down, because it is not casual. In contrast to much of the violence found in modern films especially, violence in the Bible is rarely if ever meant to be “entertaining.” Pornography may use violence to shock and titillate, but these carefully composed biblical texts seem calculated to disturb in ways that may prove edifying, if read with care and wisdom. Film images of violence may flash across the screen in a bewildering succession, but biblical images of violence require patient probing if we are to comprehend their surprisingly subtle signals of dangers prevalent in the community of faith and our life with God....