Gurányi Krisztián. A kiválasztás héber fogalmai és teológiája

The Hebrew concepts and theology of election in light of Deuteronomy The study offers a text-centred analysis of key Old Testament concepts related to divine election, focusing primarily on the book of Deuteronomy and its reception in the Psalms and prophetic literature. Methodologically it follows the insight that
theology is not derived from isolated lexical meanings but from words functioning within their literary and canonical contexts. The investigation therefore examines the verb bāḥar (“to choose”) in its various syntactic and theological settings and correlates it with the control-lexemes ḥāšaq (“to cling / set one’s
affection on”), ʾāhab (“to love”) and śānēʾ(“to hate”). In Deuteronomy bāḥar emerges as the characteristic verb of covenant language: God’s election of Israel is grounded solely in his prior love and in the promises made to the fathers, not in Israel’s greatness or merit. Election is thus both privilege and vocation. It confers holiness and a distinctive identity, yet simultaneously demands obedience to Torah. The same verb is also used for the choice of kings, priests and cultic places,
sketching a coherent sacred topology and distribution of functions that all belong to God. The Psalms largely interpret election against the horizon of God’s cosmic kingship and his concrete historical interventions (exodus, conquest, Davidic and Zion traditions). Prophetic texts, especially Isaiah, develop the motif of re-election after judgement and open it toward a universal horizon in which Israel’s chosen status serves the gathering and illumination of the nations. The love-verbs ḥāšaq and ʾāhab articulate the affective and covenantal depth of God’s free decision, while śānēʾ expresses not psychological hatred but rejected status and reversed preference, as in the contrast between Jacob and Esau. The article concludes that Old Testament election language portrays a dynamic, historical and relational theology: God’s sovereign and faithful choice sets Israel apart for the sake of the world and continually summons a responsible human response.
Keywords: divine election, Deuteronomy, Old Testament theology, covenant and Torah, Israel and the nations