Seeking the Mercy of God: Narratives of Forgiveness between Dependency and Freedom in Ancient Judaism

This paper wants to examine how the phenomenon of forgiveness and its narrative processing in early Jewish literature both represent and create forms of dependency and freedom. Forgiveness can be regarded as one of the outstanding qualities of God and as a basic element of anthropology, because the fact that God forgives the wrongdoer is existential and vital for a person’s concept of the self. At the same time, the request for forgiveness emphasizes the insurmountable asymmetry between creator and creature. It underlines the reliance of the individual on God, whose forgiveness saves the sinner from the decay to death and enables new life. Nevertheless, since the act of forgiveness is also essentially depended on human action, it simultaneously reveals human freedom. Therefore, the phenomenon of forgiveness consists of a double dependency and takes place within the tension of the dependency and freedom of the human being. Narratives of forgiveness arise primarily in an environment in which human existence is perceived as negative or deficient. The texts want to appear both parenetic and comforting, thereby creating certain dependency structures; be it to endure and overcome crises, to justify current practice, to change behavioral structures, to consolidate Torah obedience, or to warn against the alienation of non-Jewish culture. To address this issue, this paper will focus on a text from the 1st century AD: The Apocalypse of Moses can be understood as a synopsis of early Jewish preoccupation with the first parents of mankind, because it connects the most diverse traditions connected with the reception of Gen 1-3. Since Gen 1-3 contains fundamental narratives on human existence, dealing with Adam and Eve was also guided by a significant anthropological interest. Thus, ApcMos and the inherent Adam legend can be understood as a central narrative of the anthropology of ancient Judaism.