Halakha

Place in Scripture

The word halakha does not appear in the Bible itself. It is a later term for Jewish legal interpretation, and the rulings derived from it, that determine how the commandments of the Old Testament Pentateuch are to be applied in practice. The practices underlying it, however, appear in the New Testament under the name "the tradition of the elders" (Mark 7:3, 5).

In Mark 7 and Matthew 15, the Pharisees and scribes object that the disciples eat without washing their hands. In response, Jesus cites the practice of "Corban," by which a person avoided supporting his parents by declaring that what he would have given them was an offering dedicated to God. He then criticizes the way the commandment of God is made void by the tradition of men (Mark 7:8-13).

Term and Background

Halakha shares its root with a Hebrew verb meaning "to walk" or "to go." The Old Testament frequently describes living according to God's will as walking in his ways (Deuteronomy 5:33), and the verb used there comes from this same root. Halakha is therefore understood to mean "the way in which one should walk," that is, a rule of life.

During the intertestamental period and the New Testament era, the Pharisees regarded oral tradition as authoritative alongside the written law. The Sadducees, by contrast, are known to have rejected oral tradition. After the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in A.D. 70, the rabbis compiled and organized this tradition. The result was the Mishnah (traditionally said to have been compiled by Judah ha-Nasi around A.D. 200), and the commentary on the Mishnah is the Talmud. Judaism distinguishes between halakha, which concerns legal rulings, and haggadah (aggadah), which deals with the narratives and moral teachings of Scripture. Midrash, a method of interpreting the biblical text, contains both halakha and haggadah.

Significance in the New Testament

Many of the disputes recorded in the Gospels concern questions of this kind about the application of the law. Examples include the Sabbath controversy (Mark 2:27-28), disputes over purity regulations, and the question of tithing (Matthew 23:23). The dispute over divorce (Matthew 19:3-9) is commonly explained against the background of the debate between the schools of Hillel and Shammai over the grounds for divorce in Deuteronomy 24:1.

Paul says of himself that before his conversion he was zealous for "the traditions of my fathers" (Galatians 1:14). According to Acts, he was educated under Gamaliel (Acts 22:3). Some scholars compare the decision of the Council of Jerusalem on what Gentile believers were to observe (Acts 15:28-29) to a halakhic ruling of the early church.

Interpretation and Points of Debate

• Reformation traditions such as the Lutheran and Reformed churches have read the disputes between Jesus and the Pharisees within the framework of the distinction between law and gospel. Within this framework, those disputes are interpreted as a critique of the attempt to be justified by works.
• The so-called New Perspective on Paul, which emerged in the late twentieth century, offered a different interpretation. E. P. Sanders, James D. G. Dunn, N. T. Wright, and others criticized the view of first-century Judaism as merely legalistic and explained Jewish observance of the law as a means of remaining within the covenant. Traditional Reformed scholars have objected that this approach obscures the doctrine of justification.
• Judaism describes halakha not as a heavy burden but as the way in which the covenant people live holy lives.
• A distinction should be drawn between what the text says and common additions to it. Jesus says, "these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone" (Matthew 23:23), and he also says of the scribes and Pharisees, "whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do" (Matthew 23:3). Some therefore point out that explanations that characterize the entire interpretive tradition of the Pharisees as hypocrisy go beyond what the text says.

In the Korean Church

The term halakha is used mainly in seminary courses on the background of the New Testament and in studies of Judaism, and it appears only rarely in preaching. Sermons and Bible studies usually address the same subject with expressions such as "the tradition of the elders" or "the legalism of the Pharisees."