The Lord, "God of Mercy", and Israel, the People "by the Mercy of God", § 1: Old Testament / Hebrew Bible
Abstract
The study deals with facets of Biblical Theology relating to JHWH, the God of Israel, as "the God of Mercy", and to Israel, the people of JHWH, as "a people by the grace of God", taking into account their relations to the religious and historical realities in their context. In a comprehensive approach to the subject, the author first provides an introduction to the context and premises of thinking about a "merciful God" in ancient cultures.
He then presents in detail the Hebrew terminology and phraseology used in Old Testament texts about this subject. This is followed by a detailed examination of the individual types or genres of biblical texts in which statements about a merciful God appear most frequently (prayers, especially prayers of entreaty, prophetic pronouncements of judgement and grace, proclamations of the principles of the Torah, and functions of the "Gnadenformel").
In the process, the contextual function of the statements and their inter-relationship are always critically evaluated. In conclusion, the author summarises the significance of the aspect of "grace" for the image of God in biblical theology, and likewise the significance of the aspect of "grace" for the way humankind or "the people of God" is understood in biblical anthropology or in ecclesiology.
The study provides a systematic overview and critically evaluative survey of contemporary research into this theme.