ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors focus on understanding Confucius’ initiation of the Confucian tradition of discernment, that is, the “timely mean,” and then compare it with the prophetic exploration of discernment in the Hebrew Bible. Confucius warned that what matters for the members in a family and in society is not as much poverty itself but an uneven state. The act of choice on the basis of discernment in the Hebrew Bible may be the most equivalent notion to the Confucian concept of balancing the scale. In the Hebrew Bible, the expression of “discernment” is not found, but the whole Bible is about making discriminating judgment on conflicts between the powers of evil and the spirit of God. The role of a prophet was in leading the Israelite people to experience and recognize God’s saving acts in their historical situations.
