PDF《Stellenbosch Theological Journal 2》

s. Yet the main thrust of her article is to argue that biblical narratives could play a role in discourses on both '

moral complexities'

and the '

particular contexts'

of women who resist dehumanisation. In this regard she draws on the earlier work of Barton and a hence short engagement with his contribution is needed now. 3. Implicit virtue in Old Testament narratives? Over the years Barton'

s engagement with ethics and the Old Testament has shown that two models are especially important in dealing with ethics in the Old Testament. These are natural morality and the requirement of obedience to God.4 Yet he has often attempted to engage with virtue ethics, although it seems rather reluctantly. Thus he warned (in Barton 2003:67) that although the Old Testament can be used for moral formation, this is not what the Bible is primarily about: Hebrew culture differs from Greek on precisely this issue: the Hebrew Old Testament does not operate with any idea that one can grow in virtue but sees virtue as something one either has or lacks. Moral formation or growing in virtue is one of the features often associated with virtue ethics (Barton 2003:65) and Barton thinks that it is absent from the Hebrew Old Testament, although as we will argue later, the development of Judah in Genesis

38 (as pointed out by Claassens and Wünch) might be a different story. Barton argues that in the Old Testament moral goodness is about taking moral decisions that are in line with prevailing divine law (Barton 2003:69). Still Barton (2003:71) wants to talk about '

implicit virtue'

and now he uses the work of Martha Nussbaum, where the tragedy of characters in narrative is analysed. This is done to see what can be learned from characters in '

these stories in order to learn about the difficulties and

3 This part of her argument is a bit unclear. How is Tamar an outsider? She is part of Judah'

s family and thus an insider. Yet in the light of the discussion in the previous footnote Claassens might not be totally wrong.

4 See especially his latest, namely Barton (2014: 64-157) and earlier Barton (2003:45-54) and (2002:77-97).

245 Meyer &

Pietersen ? STJ 2016, Vol 2, No 1, 241C259 merits of living a moral life or the problems of failing to do so'

(Barton 2003:72). In this sense the reader becomes aware of the complications of life and the moral decisions humans have to make amidst these complications. Furthermore, Barton (2003:73) asks whether even if there is '

little or no virtue ethics in the Bible, may not the Bible be used constructively by those who are trying to achieve what virtue ethics puts forward as the great aim of human life: the achievement of stable and good moral character?'

It is these kinds of insights from Barton that Claassens draws on and she thinks that the narrative could be used as a space for '

moral reflection'

. She argues that the '

reader'

s emotional response to the story (and more specifically her capacity to empathize) is ethically significant'

(Claassens 2012:673). In this sense Genesis

38 becomes a '

conversation starter'

which creates a space where readers can enter the world of the narrative regardless of its moral complexities. But what is the point of starting a conversation if you are not sure where it will end? For Claassens it seems that the point is for readers to compare their own realities/contexts with that of the text. She looks at the narrative as part of a patriarchal structure that speaks to situations of injustice. Moreover, the narratives of Ruth and Tamar are seen as t........