And the earth was corrupted before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
Genesis 6:11
Balls and strikes can be called on Major League Baseball’s scriptural verse controversy. The Torah citation to Genesis 9:12-16, has been pitched by players, including the San Francisco Giant’s Laden Roupp, as worthy scripture. The players have inscribed it upon their team’s promotional Pride caps. Major League Baseball (MLB) is upset over their actions and have threaten to take disciplinary action against the players.
This certainly is a Biblical Literacy moment. For all those involved in the dispute, it is important to understand this piece of scripture.
Understanding scripture, however, should be not an isolated event. As Professor Richard Elliott Friedman explains that scholars identified the Torah’s unique way of story telling. The Torah is written with the expectation that readers are aware of the past passages. In this instance, the citation is to the flood narrative. As such, to fully understand the players’ selected passage, the context is important.
Before doing this exploration, some background concerning the current controversy is indicated.
The Background
Part of MLB’s current controversy includes Mr. Roupp writing the Genesis citation upon his team’s Pride promotion cap. On these caps, the team’s SF logo is in rainbow colors. MLB is upset over Mr. Roupp’s actions as well as other players who have done something similar; according to. MLB rules, unauthorized writing is not permitted on caps. These special caps employ a rainbow; an iconic symbol from scripture.
Mr. Roupp explained his choice of scripture: “It’s just about God’s covenant and a promise that he makes to us that, you know, his faithfulness and his mercy,” Roupp said. He continued “That’s just kind of something I believe in, and I stand firm in that, and I’m thankful we live in a country where, you know, we have the freedom to believe what we want.” Sportingnews.com.
Thus, the questions raised are as follows: what significance does a rainbow have to do with a covenant? What is a covenant? And, why was there a covenant?
The Passage: Genesis 9:12-16
The Genesis passage is as follows:
“And God said, ‘This is a sign of the covenant that I’m giving between me and you and every living being is with you for eternal generation. I’ve put my rainbow in the clouds, and it will become a covenant sign between me and the earth. And it will be when I bring a cloud over the earth, and a rainbow will appear in the cloud, and I’ll remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living being of all flesh, and the waters will not become a flood to destroy all flesh again. And the rainbow will be in the cloud, and I’ll see it, to remember an eternal covenant between God and every living being of all flesh that is on the earth.” Genesis 9:12-16.
This passage reveals that the rainbow is a sign of a covenant between every living being and God. The covenant stands for the fact that God will forever refrain from creating another total life destroying flood. The passage, however, is missing context. What was the reason for the flood?
The Context
The Torah indicates that due to the earth’s corruption- violence- God decided upon a re-boot of both humanity and other living creatures. See Genesis 6:11. The means of doing so would be the flood. The re-boot would take place by taking a righteous and faithful individual- Noah- and his family to start over. Noah would also be responsible for gathering up pairs of animals to save on the Ark.
Given the rationale, the theological meaning of the scripture can be brought forward.
The Meaning
The Hebrew Bible expresses a viewpoint that human survival and success on Earth is tied to moral conduct; in this instance, violence.
In the Hebrew Bible, God covenanting with humanity is the means upon which there is an appreciation of the moral imperative upon which God places onto humanity. The rainbow is a reminder of the Lord’s commitment to humanity- the covenant.
As a result of Noah’s tale, the rainbow became scriptural iconography; a reminder to the Flood tale’s important message.
Given the Flood story’s various aspects, what should be made of the rainbow’s connection to scripture? What is the message it imparts?
The Takeaway
Noah’s tale is a polemic against violence. Certainly, the concern over violence is universal. It is something that all people can agree upon. The rainbow is a sign symbolizing the partnership between God and Humanity to make a moral and non-violent world.
In the Hebrew Bible, there would be additional partnerships or covenants. These include the Abrahamic Covenant, the Mt. Sinai Covenant and the Davidic Covenant.
Further, symbols- such as the rainbow- are often used and employed by different groups for different purposes at different times in history. In this instance, the rainbow, connected to precipitation, uniquely connects to the flood event.
Conclusion
Regardless of the controversy, the MLB Players Genesis passage provides a strong societal message concerning morality and non-violence. The bible passage- referencing the rainbow as a sign- envisions a moral non-violent world. The world viewed from the passage includes a God-Human partnership- covenant. The covenant’s sign- as noted above- was and remains the rainbow; a sign whose significance to the covenant has existed for thousands of years. While other groups and organizations have used the rainbow as part of their symbolism, it continues to be part of scripture.
In sum, the MLB should take the time, read the scripture, and embrace what is in fact a positive message for all to appreciate.
Be well!!
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