Hilfe für Schwache im Alten Testament: Motivation und Formen der Hilfe im Kontext von Familie und Staat

Starting point for the present investigation is the problem of how to motivate ethically such actions which do aim at overcoming social segregation. Any answer has to take into account the specific social contexts. Normally, Christian social ethics relies on concepts like “mercy” and “love”. These notions, however, have their origin in inter-personal and familial relationships; they are rather inadequate in regard to structures and institutions of society at large. The author, basing himself on a strict sociological differentiation of primary and secondary groups, first scrutinizes and compares relevant Old Testament texts, elaborating their specific ways and motivations of “offering help to frail persons” in the context of family (primary group). He then proceeds showing a model of institutional care within state-structures (secondary group), oriented principally towards “law” and “justice”. In contradistinction to “love” and “mercy” these latter concepts are, of course, quite impersonal; they do not permit emotional involvements between participating actors. Distinguishing in this fashion between social levels of ethical reasoning does have a significant impact on pertinent modern discussions.