Shamed or Ashamed?
My God, in You I trust. Let me be not shamed, let my enemies not gloat over me. Psalm 25:2 Robert Alter translation
Be not shamed – The Hebraic world is public. Its concepts of integrity, reliability, honor and disgrace are public. What happens in the world of the community determines character. The Greek world is private. Inner psychological conditions play a much larger role in Greek thinking. What matters in Greek thought is the cohesiveness of my personal state of mind. “Don’t pay attention to what others say. Just listen to your heart” is a thoroughly Greek idea. In the Hebraic world, everything others say and observe is critically important to character. In the Hebrew world, all houses are glass.
The Hebrew word here is bosh. “The primary meaning of this root is ‘to fall into disgrace, normally through failure, either of self or of an object of trust.’ . . . The word is often paralleled with kālam ‘to be humiliated,’ and less frequently with ḥātat ‘to be shattered, dismayed.’ As these parallels suggest, the force of bôš is somewhat in contrast to the primary meaning of the English ‘to be ashamed,’ in that the English stresses the inner attitude, the state of mind, while the Hebrew means ‘to come to shame’ and stresses the sense of public disgrace, a physical state.”[1] When we move from our Hellenized world to the world of ancient Hebrew, we discover that sensitivity to public image is enormously heightened. In fact, even if what I am doing is inwardly correct, the potential misunderstanding of my actions by others is enough to make my actions sinful. What matters is what others think, not just what I think. In this sense, there is no individual, independent, autonomous person in Hebraic thought. No Robinson Crusoe. No islands. I am the summation of all who came before me, all who interact with me and all who follow me.
So what does it mean to be shamed? Biblical texts portray circumstances that include confusion, embarrassment, excessive delay in fulfillment, dismay, defeat, humiliation, captivity, disastrous decisions, immorality, foolishness and guilt from wrongdoing. Think of all of these as public exhibitions. Think of yourself standing in the town square explaining your condition to the counsel. Then imagine you are standing before the Great White Throne. How will you explain your behavior to the King of kings? Were you confused about His expectations? Are you embarrassed by your choices? Did you complain when He didn’t respond quickly? Did you suffer defeat or humiliation because you didn’t exercise trust in His goodness? Did you act foolishly? Are you guilty of sinful choices? It will all be public. All of it!
There is only one cure for bosh. It is batah. Perhaps you better back up and read about that word again.
Topical Index: bosh, shame, batah, trust, ashamed, Psalm 25:2
[1] Oswalt, J. N. (1999). 222 בּוֹשׁ. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer, Jr. & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer, Jr. & B. K. Waltke, Ed.) (electronic ed.) (97). Chicago: Moody Press.
I don’t know but I think I may be glad that I was raised with the Greek mindset on this one, wow don’t think I could be able to come out of my room, much less live in everyday society and function with that hanging on my neck. For some reason I feel okay with Yaweh knowing it all, maybe because He sees my heart and intent, people, well I know myself get too busy judging others actions but my motives. Food for pondering.
I echo Babs. In my flesh self, the ‘happiness’ I desired most was to know no obligations to the world, and to be obligated to none. Wandering in the wilderness(!) was my ideal. Literally, the further I went into it, the happier I would get. About the middle of the Alaskan wilderness or at least a deserted island looked like pure bliss to me. Peace. Relief.
But then there is the New Testament. Not only does it require me to BE public, the way I read the Great Commission, I am commanded to GO public. To be a witness is to be perpetually on the courtroom stand, forever willing and able to tell everybody ABOUT MY ‘PRIVATE’ LIFE! About my innermost hopes, fears, experience and history, but most of all, about my failures, inabilities and past and present sins and the resultant consequences. WAIT, WAIT! That was my B.C. definition of unhappiness and hell!
But the way I read it, there is no other way to be a Christian. A spectacle to angels and men. In fact, if I am not that way, it is questionable that I am even one! Jesus asked if anyone had ever seen Him sin (“Who among you can convict Me of sin?”). He said He did nothing in private, that there were WITNESSES (that word again!) to His whole ministerial life. And if He lives in me, is my life to look any different?
This one point right here has been the single most sobering fact for me as a Christian. Apparently, the biggest portrayal of Godly love is to let it all hang out. To be so publically in your face and available and accessible that there is nothing left to shame me with; why, I would have already told you all about it; no identity to steal, because I would have already shared it with you; no mystery as to where I am coming from, either. Except, except, if I am clearly ‘out of the way’, then, and only then, can the great “mystery of godliness” be viewed in me. Then, I am truly hidden in plain sight. Then, only other true Christians, who can see Jesus too, know ‘where I am coming from’. Everyone else will simply not be able to have a clue! “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, for they are spiritually discerned.” (1Cor. 2:14) In this dark and dangerous world, I am finding that hiding in plain sight is proving to be much better protection for me than attempting to hide in the wilderness. Halleluah!
Public righteousness! That’s the key. It begins on the inside but it cannot remain there. It must be manifested to others. And witness is Greek is the word for martyr.
“And witness in Greek is the word for martyr”
I did not know that and feel a little silly for having never looked it up but am glad I do now. I’ve always wondered if I need to be beheaded for my witness to receive the martyr’s reward. This seems way less scary. 😀