The Jews Say the Hand of God is Chained

Q. 5:64 as a Response to a Midrash in a piyyut by R. Elʿazar ha-Kallir

Bibliographic Data

ID22318608
AuthorsShari L Lowin (Stonehill College, corresponding author)
Year2019
Volume21
Issue2
Pages108-139
Publication date2019-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Qur'anic Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1465-3591 • E-ISSN: 1755-1730
PublisherEdinburgh University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.3366/jqs.2019.0383
OpenAlexW2952111848
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited19

In Q. 5:64, the Qur'an accuses the Jews of describing God as a deity with a chained (maghlūla) hand, a charge the Qur'an understands as indicating divine miserliness. However, a foray into Jewish teachings reveals that no such statement of God's niggardliness can be found in the Jewish tradition. While scholars have suggested Psalms 72:11 and Lamentations 2:3 as possible sources, in both the image is of a deity withdrawing His military might, not His financial bounty. Insistence on these as the inspiration behind the Qur'an's words ignores the substance of the Qur'an's claim. This article argues instead that Q. 5:64 is reacting to a midrashic motif embedded in a liturgical poem (piyyut) recited on the Ninth of Av, the day commemorating the destruction of the First and Second Temples. Here God chains His own hand in empathy with the exiled and traumatised captives, a move also understood as guaranteeing Israel's eventual redemption. Additionally, I argue that the Qur'anic transmutation of this image into one that concerns finances is intentional. In turning the midrashic declaration of God's continued relationship with Israel into a blasphemous accusation of parsimoniousness, the Qur'an argues against the continued Jewish understanding of themselves as God's favoured

Aesthetics · Art · Declaration · False accusation · Judaism · Literature · Midrash · Ninth · Political science · Supper · Theology · Archaeology and Historical Studies · Families in Therapy and Culture · Historical and Linguistic Studies · Law · Philosophy · Religious studies

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