Poetic justice

POETIC JUSTICE IN THE BIBLE

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Dr. Paul Manuel—2016

Of the various literary tropes biblical writers use, poetic justice (a kind of irony) highlights a particular reversal of fortune. In poetic justice, recompense, be it retribution or reward, is 'opposite' as well as greater than what one expects and is most evident (most 'poetic') when the opposite form of the original condition, the retribution or the reward, is comparable in kind (versus degree) to the original.

Most examples of poetic justice in the Bible are negative, with people receiving retribution after committing sin.

• Esau demonstrated disdain for his birthright by selling it to Jacob, which encouraged Jacob to steal, and Esau to lose, his blessing as well, leaving Esau with nothing.

Gen 25:33b lEsaul swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob.
Gen 27:36b [Jacob] has deceived me these two times: He took my birthright, and now he's taken my blessing!"

• Egyptian magicians duplicated Aaron's miracle of turning his staff into a snake but with dire results.

Exod 7:10b Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake. 11 Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the Egyptian magicians also did the same things by their secret arts: 12 Each one threw down his staff and it became a snake. But Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs.

• Aaron's sons died by fire "before the Lord" after burning incense "before the Lord," contrary to His command. (This may be the most explicitly parallel case of poetic justice in scripture.)

Lev 10:1 Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to his command. 2 So fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD.

Cf. Num 3:4a Nadab and Abihu...fell dead before the LORD when they made an offering with unauthorized fire before him in the Desert of Sinai.

Num 26:61 Nadab and Abihu died when they made an offering before the LORD with unauthorized fire.

• The Philistine champion, a large, experienced soldier, was defeated by a small, untested shepherd.

1 Sam 17:4 A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. He was over nine feet tall.... 33 Saul replied, "You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth." ...42 He looked David over and saw that he was only a boy...and he despised him.... 50 So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.

• David suffered for his murder of Uriah and his sinful affair with Bathsheba by losing his other wives as well as the son of the adulterous union.

2 Sam 12:10 The sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own....' 11 b Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. 12 You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel." ... 14 But because by doing this you have made the enemies of the LORD show utter contempt, the son born to you will die.

• The hostile forces that tried to eliminate David will themselves be eliminated.

Ps 64:3 They...aim their words like deadly arrows. 4 They shoot from ambush at the innocent man; they shoot at him suddenly, without fear.... 7 But God will shoot them with arrows; suddenly they will be struck down. 8a He will turn their own tongues against them and bring them to ruin....

• Haman was executed on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai.

Esth 7:9 Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs attending the king, said, "A gallows seventy-five feet high stands by Haman's house. He had it made for Mordecai, who spoke up to help the king." The king said, "Hang him on it!" 10a So they hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai.

• Nebuchadnezzar, the supreme ruler, was at ease in the palace but became like an animal in the wild.

Dan 4:4 I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at home in my palace, contented and prosperous.... 33 Immediately what had been said about Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from people and ate grass like cattle. His body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird.

• The kingdom of Babylon, which depleted the resources of other countries and shamed them, would itself be depleted and shamed by them. Babylon consulted idols that cannot speak and must itself not speak before the Lord.

Hab 2:8a Because you have plundered many nations, the peoples who are left will plunder you.... 15 Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbors, pouring it from the wineskin till they are drunk, so that he can gaze on their naked bodies. 16b Now it is your turn! Drink and be exposed! ...17a The violence you have done to Lebanon will overwhelm you.... 18d He makes idols that cannot speak... 20 But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him.

• Herod received great adulation publicly but then experienced greater suffering publicly.

Acts 12:21 On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. 22 They shouted, "This is the voice of a god, not of a man." 23 Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.

Some examples of poetic justice in the Bible are positive, with people receiving reward after experiencing hardship.

• Satan afflicted Job resulting in a loss of the patriarch's health and wealth early in the book, but God blessed Job resulting in greater gain to his health and wealth later in the book.

Job 1:12 The LORD said to Satan, "Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger." Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.
Job 2:6 The LORD said to Satan, "Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life." 7a So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and afflicted Job....
Job 42:10b The LORD made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before.... 12a The LORD blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the first.... 17 And so he died, old and full of years.

• Jonah fled from the Lord, but a fish returned him to the Lord (i.e., to his intended assignment from the Lord).

Jonah 1:3 But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish.... 7a But the LORD provided a great fish to swallow Jonah....

• The rich man enjoyed comfort in this life but experienced great discomfort in the next life. In contrast, Lazarus experienced discomfort in this life but enjoyed great comfort in the next life.

Luke 16:25 ...Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.

• What disadvantages believers encounter in this life will be replaced by great advantages in the next life.

2 Cor 4:17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

The ultimate example of (positive) poetic justice was two-fold: first, when Jesus exchanged some aspects of deity for humanity, even dying so that other men might live; second, when Jesus rose from the dead and ascended to preeminence, reclaiming all former aspects of deity.

Phil 2:6 [Christ Jesus], being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 ...and became obedient to death.... 9a Therefore God exalted him to the highest place.

Caiaphas unwittingly assessed the situation correctly and verbalized the first aspect of this ultimate poetic justice.

John 11:50 You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish." 51 He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, 52 and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one.

Poetic justice is a reminder that God takes a long view of events and that, even if He does not balance the scales immediately, He will do so eventually. Poetic justice also demonstrates that God has the ability to shape events so they conform to His plan. Although man is not always cooperative, his resistance to God is in no way disruptive to God. Poetic justice may also add a measure of amusement for the reader, as he wonders at man's futile striving to have his own way, and marvels how God does indeed work all things "for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Rom 8:28).

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