earticle

영어

This article aims to study the meaning of the ‘kareth’ penalty in thePriestly tradition. For this study, a history of research and the theologyof the cultic material in the Priestly tradition were, first of all, discussed. Then the author tried to understand the meaning of the ‘kareth’ penaltyand how the penalty is related to the theology of the cultic material byanalyzing the kinds of punishments that appeared in the text of thekareth penalty formula. ‘Kareth’ penatly can be divided into three different types. The firsttype is death related to excommunication from the covenant community. Violating the Sabbath(Exod 31:14-15), divination(Lev 20:6) andblaspheming God(Num 15:30-31) belong to this type. The offenderwho committed these sins had to be put to death. Death here means theabsence of God and destruction through excommunication from thecovenant community. The second type is death related to the destruction of the nation. Illicitsex and idol worship belong to this type. The offender who committedthese sins had to be put to death like the first type, or at least to diewithout children. Death here also means more than physical death. Itmeans excommunication from the Promised Land and the completedestruction of Israel. Interestingly, a typical clause such as “I am the구 약논단55 내지 완료.indd 31 2015-03-31 오전 11:00:2332 제21권 1호(통권 55집) 2015년 3월 31일LORD your God(who makes you holy)” always appears with the ‘kareth’ formula in the context of these two kinds of penalty. This means thatGod gave the sentence, “I am not the LORD your God any longer, incase you are an offender.”The third type are cases in which the meaning of the ‘kareth’ penaltyis not clearly known. Most cultic uncleannesses belong to this type. Inthese cases, the offender has been given opportunity to remove his/heruncleanness. But if he/she does not remove his/her uncleanness, he/she loses his/her right to go the temple/tabernacle and to be a memberof the covenant community. Accordingly, the ‘kareth’ penalty means thatthe offender loses God’s sustenance and salvation caused by extirpationfrom the holy community where God is present. Through this study we come to know how to keep Israel, as a kingdomof priests, was kept holy, and to understand more correctly the textswhere the ‘kareth’ penalty is mentioned.

한국어

본 논문은 제사장 전승에 나타난 ‘끊어짐의 형벌’의 의미를 연구하는데 있다. 이를 위하여 먼저 연구사 및 제사장 전승 중에서도 제의적 자료의 신학을 논의하였다. 그리고 ‘끊어짐의 형벌’의 본문에서 나타나는 형벌의 종류(사형, 자식이 없이 죽음, 거룩한 땅에서의 축출)를 연구함으로 ‘끊어짐의 형벌’이 하나님의 부재를 통한 파멸을 의미함을 주장하였다.