Quite the Opposite
A merciful person does himself good, but the cruel person does himself harm. Proverbs 11:17 NASB
Cruel – Who is the cruel person? The torturer? The egotistic dictator? Men like Hitler, Pol Pot, Stalin? When we think of the antonym of “cruel” these days, what term comes to mind? Kind? Forgiving? Merriam-Webster lists “tender, warm, warmhearted, charitable, clement, lenient, merciful, pitying, pacific, peaceable, peaceful.” The Hebrew author points toward something else. Whatever we find here in this verse, it will be the opposite of ḥesed. That should cause us to pause. Does Merriam-Webster cover the territory of the Hebrew term ʾakzārî, the opposite of ḥesed? ʾakzārî occurs only eight times in Proverbs, Isaiah, and Jeremiah. Since it is the opposite of ḥesed, and we know that ḥesed is a multi-faceted word, perhaps we need all these English terms to explain what ʾakzārî implies. Or perhaps we need only two words, the two words that stand in opposition to God’s self-definition in Exodus 34:6-7. What are those two words? Ah, in English, “no compassion,” precisely the opposite of God’s first declaration about Himself, namely, raḥûm, “compassionate.” The man without ḥesed at the core of his identity is the man who displays a lack of raḥûm. It isn’t necessary that he be vindictive, abusive, tyrannical, intolerant, or power hungry. It is only necessary that he does not care! Insensitivity toward others is the hallmark of the Hebrew ʾakzārî. God loves. That’s why He is first and foremost compassionate. The man who opposes God is not first and foremost hateful. He is uncaring!
In our world we often contrast love with hate, but this is not the case in the biblical world. There is something far worse than hate. Hate assumes involvement. It might be negative involvement, but it is emotional involvement nonetheless. In biblical terms, lack of compassion is not lack of emotional expression. It is utter insensitivity. The opposite of raḥûm is indifference; not caring one whit about the other person. The man of ʾakzārî is the man who just doesn’t give a damn. It makes no difference to him whether you live or die, whether you eat or starve, whether you prosper or fail. As far as he’s concerned, you don’t matter. Perhaps now we can see why such a man is utterly opposed to God. The entire message of the Bible can be summarized in just these two words: God cares. The man who doesn’t care at all, who doesn’t count you as even worth hating, is the true anti-God, the true antichrist.
And according to this ancient wisdom, such a man doesn’t really need God’s punishment (although, as we shall see, God promises it anyway). Why? Because his attitude harms himself. How does it do that? Ah, a simple answer (at last). He makes himself not human.
Topical Index: ʾakzārî, cruel, uncaring, compassion, human, raḥûm, Proverbs 11:17
Amen! That the “imager” should not “image’ compassion is a declaration that “I never knew you.”
“The righteous knows the life (nephesh) of his animal, but the compassion of the wicked is cruel.” (Proverbs 12:10)
Skip, as you have pointed out many times in the past we are all in the process of becoming human. What connections are there to ‘becoming human’ to being initially being made in the image and likeness of YHWH? Is it our loss of connection with YHWH or our loss of connection each other (or both) that accounts for our predilection to willfully destroy that image and with it the prospect of any hope of becoming human?
I am coming to realize that like Paul’s hapless strawman of I Cor 13 who gives away everything, but he himself profits nothing if he has not love, so it is in the case of becoming human; if you don’t form caring relationships with other people it doesn’t matter what else you do- you aren’t fulfilling the assigned task of being an imager of God. Our Greco-Roman Western society encourages individualism, isolationism and independence, the complete opposite traits the Middle Eastern Biblical Patriarchs needed to form solid relationships in order to start a new nation and the beginning of a true New World Order…the Kingdom of God. So if we are to realize our end of becoming human we must not only fight off the devils of the lusts of the flesh and the prides of life, but the very marching orders of this very old world order in which we have been born. I have come to realize that if in my attempt to become human I have not included others or my motive was not for the benefit of the other at the cost of self…then my humanity is unhumanity. Gulp. I hope there is still time to repent and make, build, forge some relationships. Thanks again Skip for the wake-up call.