Biblical Response to Being Given the Cold Shoulder
The experience of being given the "cold shoulder" can be understood through various biblical lenses, often relating to themes of rejection, divine judgment, or spiritual indifference. The imagery of coldness itself appears in scripture, sometimes literally and sometimes metaphorically. For instance, Psalm 147:17 describes God casting out "ice like crumbs," asking, "who can stand before His cold?" [2]. John Gill interprets this passage as referring to hail stones, which can be destructive, and sees it as expressive of God's "wrath, vengeance, and judgments upon men" [5]. Similarly, the Hebrew word "Zin" can mean "coldness" [3].
In a metaphorical sense, being given the cold shoulder can signify a withdrawal of favor or a state of spiritual apathy. The prophet Hosea describes Israel as "slid[ing] back as a backsliding heifer," which John Gill interprets as a "refractory and untamed heifer" that breaks bounds, illustrating a people obstinately persisting in idolatry and turning away from God [6]. This "backsliding" can be seen as a form of spiritual coldness or indifference towards divine commands.
The concept of rejection or being cast out also appears in biblical narratives. In Genesis, Abraham sends Hagar away with bread and water, placing them on her shoulder [8]. While the Midrash Rabbah interprets this act as a demonstration of Abraham's generosity, the act of sending her away nonetheless represents a form of social and familial exclusion [8]. Ezekiel 12:6 speaks of being carried on shoulders "in the dark" and having one's face veiled, unable to see the land, because one has been made a "portent" to the house of Israel [1]. This imagery suggests a public display of rejection or judgment.
From a theological perspective, John Calvin discusses how God uses various means, including "unclean spirits," to exercise believers through "war" [4]. This suggests that difficult experiences, which might include social rejection or the "cold shoulder," can be part of God's sovereign plan for spiritual growth. Calvin also addresses the human tendency to resist God's will, noting that individuals may "eagerly, and of set purpose, oppose God," yet ultimately, they "obey his Creator" even unwillingly [4]. This perspective implies that even when people act with malice or indifference, their actions are ultimately within the bounds of divine permission.
Augustine, in his exposition on Psalm 60, prays for salvation "with Thy right hand," desiring to stand at the right hand, not seeking merely temporal safety [9]. He acknowledges that humans are often ignorant of what they should pray for, but ultimately seeks a salvation that places him among the "sheep" on the right hand, rather than the left, after all tribulations have passed [9]. This reflects a focus on eternal perspective over immediate earthly comfort or social acceptance.
The experience of feeling rejected or facing adversity is also addressed by Paul in Romans 8, where he asks, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?" [7]. Calvin interprets this passage as Paul declaring that his righteousness in Christ is sufficient for salvation, and that "miserable bondage" or suffering does not detract from his confidence [7]. This suggests that even when facing severe forms of "cold shoulder" or opposition, believers can find assurance in their relationship with Christ.
Sources
- Ezekiel “In conspectu eorum in humeris portaberis ; in caligine effereris : faciem tuam velabis, et non videbis terram, quia portentum dedi te domui Israël. -- Ezekiel 12:6”
- Psalms “Psalms 147:17 (LITV) — He casts out His ice like crumbs; who can stand before His cold?”
- Hitchcock's Bible Names “Hitchcock's Bible Names: Zin — buckler; coldness”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 30: therefore, he has of himself, and his own iniquity, that he eagerly, and of set purpose, opposes God, aiming at those things which he deems most contrary to the will of God. But as God holds him bound and fettered by the curb of his power, he executes those things only for which permission has been given him, and thus, however unwilling, obeys his Creator, being forced, whenever he is required, to do Him service. 18. God thus turning the unclean spirits hither and thither at his pleasure, employs them in exercising believers by war”
- Psalms (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Psalms 147:17: He casteth forth his ice like morsels,.... Divided like morsels, as the Targum; cut into pieces, like morsels of bread. This seems to have respect to hail stones, which sometimes fall like pieces of ice, and are very prejudicial to the fruits of the earth: this was one of the ten plagues of Egypt; and whereby also many of the Canaanites were destroyed in the times of Joshua, Exo 9:23; and there is an exceeding great storm of hail yet to come, very dreadful; see Rev 16:21. This is expressive of the wrath, vengeance, and judgments of God upon men, by which he is known”
- Hosea (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Hosea 4:16: For Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer,.... A heifer or young cow Israel is compared unto; the rather, because of the object of their idolatrous worship, the calves at Dan and Bethel: the Septuagint calls them "heifers": which they are hereby put in mind of, and upbraided with; as also to express their brutish stupidity in worshipping such idols, in which they obstinately persisted: and so were like a "refractory" and "untamed" heifer, as some (w) render it, which will not be kept within bounds, either within doors or without, but breaks through, and passes ov”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 66: Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” ( Rom. 8:33 , 35 ). He clearly declares that the only righteousness for him is that which alone suffices for complete salvation in the presence of God, so that that miserable bondage, the consciousness of which made him a little before lament his lot, derogates not from his confidence, and is no obstacle in his way. This diversity is well known, and indeed is familiar to all the saints who groan under the burden of sin, and yet wit”
- Midrash Rabbah (Jewish (Rabbinic)) “Midrash Rabbah, Bereishit Rabbah 53:13: “Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water, and gave them to Hagar, he placed them her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away. She went and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba” (Genesis 21:14). “Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water, and gave them to Hagar” – the people of the household of our patriarch Abraham were generous, as it is stated: “Abraham rose early […he placed them on her shoulder].” 34 The Midrash interprets “he placed on her shoulder” to mean that besides the bread and wa”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 8: Augustine — Exposition on Psalms — PSALM LX.(1) (part 6): with Thy right hand, and hearken unto me" (ver. 5). With Thy right hand save me, Lord: so save me as that at the right hand I may stand. Not any safety temporal I require, in this matter Thy Will be done. For a time what is good for us we are utterly ignorant: for "what we should pray for as we ought we know not:"(4) but "save me with Thy right hand," so that even if in this time I suffer sundry tribulations, when the night of all tribulations hath been spent, on the right hand I may be found among the sheep, not on the lef”