1. "Towards an Interpretation of the Shema," in Theological Exegesis: Essays in Honor of Brevard S. Childs, ed. by C. Seitz and K. Greene-McCreight (Grand Rapids/Cambridge: Eerdmans, 1999), 134.
2. G. Braulik, "The destruction of the nations and the promise of return: hermeneutical observations on the book of Deuteronomy," Verbum et Ecclesia 25.1 (2004):46-67 (49).
3. John Goldingay, Old Testament Theology; Vol. One, Israel's Gospel (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003).
4. Ibid., 500. Emphasis mine.
5. Ibid., 483.
6. Ibid, 498, where he cites Mayes, with approval: "Had the command here [in Deut 7:1-2] been carried out or had it been intended that it should be put into practice, the following verses would be superfluous."
7. Ibid.
8. Ibid., 500.
9. Click here to read a critique of Mayes's reading of Deut 7:1-5.
10. It is my deliberate decision not to name them.
11. Though the term "sanctity of life" is a misnomer since the noun speaks not of value per se but of it being "set apart" for God.
12. One of the most disturbing cases in recent history of relevance to our reflection on the "sanctity of life" here is George W. Bush's war on Iraq. Bush's war on Iraq was premised on two important notions. First is that, in denying the claims of the 9-11 jihadist terrorists that they were acting in the name of God in taking American lives, he went on—on patently false and fabricated grounds as the gounds and scare-mongering as the means—to kill hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis on his own authority as the head of a state. This is disturbing because Bush (who loved to be seen publicly as a Christian)—and the multitudes of evangelical supporters—could not see that it is idolatry to give to the state an authority (that of taking another human life) that alone belongs to God. If it had been demonstated beyond reasonable doubt (and Christians should require more than a certainty 'very beyond easonable' in something so serious as this) that Iraq had indeed been responsible for the 9-11 attack, or even that Saddam Hussein was in fact massing WMD, it may have mitigated the case. As it is, we now know for a fact that the attack on Iraq had been on Bush's and his neoconservative team of hawks way before 9-11. We need to ask ourselves as Christians whether we have not in fact failed in our prophetic ministry to speak out against such Christian hubris. In a world of perfect justice, Bush (and perhaps, Tony Blair) would deservedly have been charged with, and found guilty of, war crimes. And idolatry. And murder, for usurping the authority to take so many human lives for a cause that has no substance to it other than his own deep-seated emmity towards Saddam Hussein. But we Christians rather prefer to forget our dirty pass in favour of a more comforatble present.
13. The fact that the sacrifice was rescinded at the last moment does not, of course, erase the moral issue with the command to sacrifice one’s child.
14. Though Achan is mentioned for the first time only in Jos 7:1, the introduction to the cherem in Joshua’s stern warning against taking any of the proscribed articles that leads directly into the Achan narrative is already reported in 6:17. It is significant that the Achan narrative consumes eight of the twenty-two occurrences of the verb (charam) in the book of Joshua.
15. Low C. H. and Bruce Nichols, The Book of Deuteronomy. Asia Bible Commentary; Manila: Asia Theological Association, 2013. The original manuscript is being revised for inclusion in ALBERITH. For an incomplete view of the book click here.
16. The scholarly literature on this subject tends nowadays to focus on the commandment within the context of a "holy war." I do not find the idea of “Holy War” particularly compelling of the evidence in the Old Testament. It is also not very helpful within our present socio-political context. See, however, T. Longman, III, and D. G. Reid, God is a Warrior (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1995).
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