CLUB 444: Some Old Testament

From Lawson Stone, friend in real life from college days and an archaeologist and Old Testament Professor —-

Being a contrarian, lots of things bug me. One of the most frequent, among us Wesleyans, is the savage mis-quoting of 2 Kings 10:15, which was the text for John Wesley’s sermon on the “Catholic Spirit.”

It’s typically quoted, and in places closer to me than I’m comfortable naming, as “If your heart is as my heart, give me your hand.” But that’s not even the wording of the text, which has King Jehu saying to Jonadab, “Is your heart right, as my heart is with your heart?… if so, give me your hand.”

Note it’s not just a matter of agreement, but agreement ON THE RIGHT THING.

The word for “right” here, Hebrew. יָשָׁר yašar, means more than just “in accord” but means “straight” as compared to a standard of right.

Let us also remember Jehu had just beheaded 70 royal sons and killed 42 other northern elites, and then these two fellows slaughtered hundreds of Baal worshipers whom they’d lured into their own temple.

Context is Everything, folks.