Reward and Punishment/2

Reward and Punishment

Exegetical Approaches

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Individual Recompense in Both Worlds

Individuals are compensated for their actions both in this world and the next world.

Total or partial compensation?

Individual Reward only in Next World

Individuals do not receive true retribution in this world, receiving their just desserts only in the next world.  The rewards of this world mentioned in Torah are meted out only to the collective.

Collective nature of Biblical blessings – Many of the blessings and curses in Torah, such as war/peace, rain/drought, prosperity/famine,¹ are those which naturally affect the collective, supporting the idea that they refer to the nation as a whole, rather than individuals. Some verses even explicitly refer to the nation's status² and foretell how outsiders will look upon the country's fate (for good³ or bad⁴), again buttressing the reading that Biblical rewards are aimed at the group rather than the individual.⁵

Honoring Parents: "לְמַעַן יַאֲרִיכֻן יָמֶיךָ וּלְמַעַן יִיטַב לָךְ" – Certain verses speak of rewards for individual observance of specific mitzvot, such as honoring parents or sending away the mother bird. At first glance, these would seem to imply that there is individual reward in this world as well.  This approach would respond in one of two ways:

• Collective reward – Ibn ezra, Ralbag, Shadal
• Reward in next world

"וְשַׂמְתִּי אֲנִי אֶת פָּנַי בָּאִישׁ הַהוּא"

Physical Blessings

Why not reward the individual in this world?

Philosophical motivations

Nature of עולם הבא

Why isn't עולם הבא mentioned in the Torah?

Purpose of rewards / punishments

Is it problematic to hope for reward?

Changing Rewards

Hashem's modes of providence have changed over time.  As the nation gradually moved from a miraculous to natural existence, Hashem's overt providence became covert. Immediate reward and punishment, thus, slowly disappeared over the First Temple period.

"עַל הָאֲדָמָה אֲשֶׁר י״י אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לָךְ"

No Rewards

The blessings promised in the Torah should be viewed as enablers or natural consequences rather than rewards.

¹ See, for instance, Shemot 23:27 Vayikra 26:3-12 and the parallel curses in  Vayikra 26:14-21, Devarim 7:16, Devarim 11:13-17, Devarim 28:1-13, 21-25, 49-63 and Devarim 29:21-27.

² See, for example, Devarim 7:14 (בָּרוּךְ תִּהְיֶה מִכׇּל הָעַמִּים) or Devarim 28:9 (יְקִימְךָ י״י לוֹ לְעַם קָדוֹשׁ), or Devarim 28:52 (וְהֵצַר לְךָ בְּכׇל שְׁעָרֶיךָ בְּכׇל אַרְצְךָ).

³ See, for instance, Devarim 28:10.

⁴ See Devarim 29:21-24.

⁵ This explicit context of the collective suggests that surrounding verses which could theoretically be explained to refer only to the individual (such as promises of health or sickness, bareness or fruitfulness) refer to the group as well.  Thus, though the blessings of Devarim 28:3-8 are all worded in the singular ("בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה") and could easily refer only to individuals, the fact that they are followed by promises referring to the nation as a whole (and the promise that when others observe these blessings they will come to fear the nation) suggests that even the initial blessings of the list speak of the collective.  Similarly, though Shemot 23:26 refers to teh removal of barrenness, a promise which might be understood to refer to an individual, the verse's addition of "in your land" ("לֹא תִהְיֶה מְשַׁכֵּלָה וַעֲקָרָה בְּאַרְצֶךָ") suggests that it is referring to a nation-wide phenomenon.