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Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Christianity > The Bible > Old Testament
Pikor anaylzes the land of Israel in the book of Ezekiel showing
how its preoccupation with the Babylonian exile and the loss of the
Promised Land that this entails is directly linked to the danger
this poses to Israel's covenant with God. Pikor examines the motif
of land in its literary and historical contexts and in relation to
the oracles of salvation in chapters 34-39 as well as the vision of
the new Israel and the return of Yahweh's Glory to the temple.
Pikor begins by examining the motif of land in its literary and
historical contexts. The main body of the book then addresses
specific sections of Ezekiel. Chapter two analyzes the oracles of
punishment addressed to Israel, in which the land undergoes a
process of anthropomorphization. Chapter three situates the
punishment experienced by Ezekiel and his listeners in a broader
historical context suggested by the prophet in Ezekiel 20. Chapter
four analyses the oracles of salvation in Ezekiel 34-39, in which
the restoration of the land of Israel remains intertwined with the
promise of the new covenant. Finally, chapter five addresses the
closing vision of the new Israel (Ezekiel 40-48), which is
characterized by the territorial dimension of the future
restoration. This feature is shown via analysis of the rhetoric of
the land, the crucial element of which is the return of Yahweh's
Glory to the temple. God's presence adds sacral value to the land
in which his covenant with his people is to be realized. The
covenant will be finalized through Israel's repopulation of the
renewed land.
In this unique volume, father-and-son team Walter and John
Brueggemann take a close look at our fractured American society and
suggest ways for improvement. Using six themes identified by some
scholars as the moral foundations of societycare, fairness,
liberty, loyalty, authority, and sanctitythey examine the
unsustainable patterns of our contemporary society and reveal how
those patterns played out in the ancient world of the Old
Testament. Brueggemann and Brueggemann demonstrate how comparing
the current state of these moral foundations with what God wanted
them to be can help us better respond to the challenges of today.
They assert that achieving any significant change will require the
work of all of us and will be grounded in a vision of
neighborliness. Rebuilding the Foundations will inspire readers to
reorient toward a better way of living, both for themselves and for
all living things.
Stephanie Day Powell illuminates the myriad forms of persuasion,
inducement, discontent, and heartbreak experienced by readers of
Ruth. Writing from a lesbian perspective, Powell draws upon
biblical scholarship, contemporary film and literature, narrative
studies, feminist and queer theories, trauma studies and
psychoanalytic theory to trace the workings of desire that produced
the book of Ruth and shaped its history of reception. Wrestling
with the arguments for and against reading Ruth as a love story
between women, Powell gleans new insights into the ancient world in
which Ruth was written. Ruth is known as a tale of two courageous
women, the Moabite Ruth and her Israelite mother-in-law Naomi. As
widows with scarce means of financial or social support, Ruth and
Naomi are forced to creatively subvert the economic and legal
systems of their day in order to survive. Through exceptional acts
of loyalty, they, along with their kinsman Boaz, re-establish the
bonds of family and community, while preserving the line of
Israel's great king David. Yet for many, the story of Ruth is
deeply dissatisfying. Scholars increasingly recognize how Ruth's
textual "gaps" and ambiguities render conventional interpretations
of the book's meaning and purpose uncertain. Feminist and queer
interpreters question the appropriation of a woman's story to
uphold patriarchal institutions and heteronormative values. Such
avenues of inquiry lend themselves to questions of narrative
desire, that is, the study of how stories frame our desires and how
our own complex longings affect the way we read.
Roy L. Heller looks at the prophets Elijah and Elisha in the books
of Kings charting a two-fold characterization that portrays these
prophetic figures in both positive and negative lights. In the
narratives of Kings Elijah and Elisha often parallel other
prophetic figures from Israel's history: they perform miraculous
signs, they speak in the name of God, and they pronounce judgments
upon the nation of Israel for its idolatrous worship. There are,
however, other stories which have troubled readers and scholars
alike: Elijah's cowardly running from the threats of Jezebel, his
self-pitying complaint to God that he was the only true Israelite
left, and Elisha's cursing a group of little boys who, in turn, are
slaughtered by two female bears. Scholars have traditionally
ignored or belittled the negative stories of the prophets, seeing
them as either late additions to the biblical text or as minor,
unimportant stories that can easily be dismissed. Heller, however,
argues that the dual characterization of Elijah and Elisha reflects
an ambivalent attitude that the narrator of Kings has toward
prophecy as a whole, an attitude that is reflected in the book of
Deuteronomy itself. This forces readers of the biblical text to
pose the question; "how may Israel best know and follow God?" The
stories of Elijah and Elisha make the answer clear: the words and
lives of the prophets are a possible way for God to reveal how
Israel is to live, but those words and lives must always be
considered with a degree of suspicion and must always be evaluated
in light of the clear and straightforward teaching of Deuteronomy.
This volume examines the stories of Genesis in music, showing how
musical settings can illuminate many of the Bible's most noted
tales. Helen Leneman studies oratorios, operas and songs (as well
as their librettos) to shed light on how Genesis has been
understood and experienced over time. Examining an extensive range
of musical settings of stories from the book of Genesis, Leneman
offers an overview of chiefly 19th and 20th century musical
engagements with this biblical text. Leneman first discusses how
Eve's inner thoughts are explored by noted French composers Jules
Massenet and Gabriel Faure. The text then enters the deep waters of
Noah's flood in examination of several compositions, including two
unusual settings by Igor Stravinsky and Benjamin Britten, as well
as more conventional settings by Saint-Saens and Donizetti. Two
major 19th century oratorio settings of Abraham's story by
lesserknown German composers Martin Blumner and Karl Mangold
provide fascinating illuminations of the Abraham narratives,
whereas parts of Rebecca's story are found in works by Cesar
Franck, Ferdinand Hiller, and most unusually, by a French woman
composer, Celanie Carissan. Finally, Leneman shows how Joseph's
story was set in numerous oratorios (including by Handel) but that
one of the most important works based on his story is an opera by
18th century French composer Etienne Mehul. In addition to
discussing these larger 19th century works, Leneman also examines
several interesting atonal 20th century works based on the stories
of Eve and the Flood, shedding new light on the history of the
interpretation of the Book of Genesis.
The Honey of Souls is the first full-length study of the
Explanation of the Psalms by Cassiodorus. While the Explanation
became a seminal document for the monastic movement in the West and
was eagerly read and widely quoted for centuries, it has languished
in relative obscurity in the modern period. Derek Olsen explores
Cassiodorus and his strategies for reading as a window into a
spirituality of the psalms that defined early Western biblical
interpretation.
An introduction to the Old Testament prophetic book of Zechariah is
followed by a verse-by-verse commentary on the text.
In this engaging book, Graeme Goldsworthy reflects with clarity and
practical insight on reading and using the Old Testament. By
showing us how Jesus is central to the Old Testament's message, he
encourages us to reinstate it as essential and transformative to
our lives, churches and mission in today's world. The author asks
important questions: Where is Jesus in the whole biblical
storyline? How does the kingdom of God relate to him? In what way
is he central to the divine revelation? This is a must-read for
those who wish to transform their biblical understanding.
This study focuses on the Chronicler's special interest in Levite
singers. It takes into consideration the socio-ideological milieu
of the Jerusalem temple community in the Persian period and the
Mesopotamian elite professional norms and practices that nourished
the singers and their music. It also explores the conception of the
earthly temple as representative of its heavenly counterpart, and
looks at the way in which this shaped the Chronicler's theological
frame of reference. The work is divided into two parts. Part I
examines the Mesopotamian scribal-musical background, to which Ko
attributes the rise of music in Chronicles. Part II considers the
Chronicler's ideological perspective, the language of the temple
and the educational, scribal, and liturgical services of Levite
singers. By focusing on the characterisation of the Levite singers
in the light of their Mesopotamian counterparts, Ko shows how they
sought to foster cosmic stability according to the terms of the
Davidic covenant.
Mayer I. Gruber provides a new commentary on and translation of
Hosea. Building upon his work that debunked the myth of sacred
prostitution, Gruber now goes on to show that the book of Hosea
repeatedly advocates a single standard of marital fidelity for men
and women and teaches cheated women to fight back. Gruber employs
the latest and most precise findings of lexicography and poetics to
solve the difficulties of the text and to determine both how Hosea
can be read and what this means. The translation differs from
classical and recent renderings in eliminating forms and
expressions, which are neither modern English nor ancient Hebrew.
Referring to places, events, and material reality of the 9th and
8th centuries BCE, Gruber uncovers the abiding messages of the
heretofore obscure book of Hosea. As in previous studies, Gruber
employs the insights of behavioral sciences to uncover forgotten
meanings of numerous allusions, idioms, similes, and metaphors.
Judicious use is made also of textual history, reception history,
and personal voice criticism. One of the least biblical books now
speaks more clearly to present and future audiences than it did to
many previous audiences.
The chapters in this volume clarify crucial aspects of Torah by
exploring its relationship to sedaqa (righteousness). Observing the
Torah is often considered to be the main identity-marker of Israel
in the post-exilic period. However, sedaqa is also widely used as a
force of group cohesion and as a resource for ethics without
references to torah. The contributors to this volume explore these
crucial themes for the post-exilic period, and show how they are
related in the key texts that feature them. Though torah and sedaqa
can have some aspects in common, especially when they are amended
by aspects of creation, both terms are rarely linked to each other
explicitly in the Old Testament, and if so, different relations are
expressed. These are examined in this book. The opening of the book
of Isaiah is shown to integrate torah-learning into a life of
righteousness (sedaqa). In Deuteronomy sedaqa is shown to refer to
torah-dictacticism, and in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah torah can
be understood as symbol of sedaqa meaning the disposition of each
individual to accept torah as prescriptive law. However, the
chapters also show that these relationships are not exclusive and
that sedaqa is not always linked to torah, for in late texts of
Isaiah sedaqa is not realized by torah-observance, but by observing
the Sabbath.
Through these fascinating Old Testament books, Ezra and Nehemiah
you will discover a God who is in control of history and the hearts
of his people. It is a real encouragement to be reminded how Yahweh
can even work through the lives of secular leaders, just as he did
with the Persian Kings, Cyrus and Artaxerxes.
David Janzen argues that the Book of Chronicles is a document with
a political message as well as a theological one and moreover, that
the book's politics explain its theology. The author of Chronicles
was part of a 4th century B.C.E. group within the post-exilic
Judean community that hoped to see the Davidides restored to power,
and he or she composed this work to promote a restoration of this
house to the position of a client monarchy within the Persian
Empire. Once this is understood as the political motivation for the
work's composition, the reasons behind the Chronicler's particular
alterations to source material and emphasis of certain issues
becomes clear. The doctrine of immediate retribution, the role of
'all Israel' at important junctures in Judah's past, the promotion
of Levitical status and authority, the virtual joint reign of David
and Solomon, and the decision to begin the narrative with Saul's
death can all be explained as ways in which the Chronicler tries to
assure the 4th century assembly that a change in local government
to Davidic client rule would benefit them. It is not necessary to
argue that Chronicles is either pro-Davidic or pro-Levitical; it is
both, and the attention Chronicles pays to the Levites is done in
the service of winning over a group within the temple personnel to
the pro-Davidic cause, just as many of its other features were
designed to appeal to other interest groups within the assembly.
Violence disturbs. And violent depictions, when encountered in the
biblical texts, are all the more disconcerting. Isaiah 63:1-6 is an
illustrative instance. The prophetic text presents the "Arriving
One" in gory details ('trampling down people'; 'pouring out their
lifeblood' v.6). Further, the introductory note that the Arriving
One is "coming from Edom" (cf. v.1) may suggest Israel's
unrelenting animosity towards Edom. These two themes: the "gory
depiction" and "coming from Edom" are addressed in this book.
Irudayaraj uses a social identity reading to show how Edom is
consistently pictured as Israel's proximate and yet 'other'-ed
entity. Approaching Edom as such thus helps situate the animosity
within a larger prophetic vision of identity construction in the
postexilic Third Isaian context. By adopting an iconographic
reading of Isaiah 63:1-6, Irudayaraj shows how the prophetic
portrayal of the 'Arriving One' in descriptions where it is clear
that the 'Arriving One' is a marginalised identity correlates with
the experiences of the "stooped" exiles (cf 51:14). He also
demonstrates that the text leaves behind emphatic affirmations
('mighty' and 'splendidly robed' cf. v.1; "alone" cf. v.3), by
which the relegated voice of the divine reasserts itself. It is in
this divine reassertion that the hope of the Isaian community's
reclamation of its own identity rests.
In this book Barbara Green demonstrates how David is shown and can
be read as emerging from a young naive, whose early successes grow
into a tendency for actions of contempt and arrogance, of blindness
and even cruelty, particularly in matters of cult. However, Green
also shows that over time David moves closer to the demeanor and
actions of wise compassion, more closely aligned with God. Leaving
aside questions of historicity as basically undecidable Green's
focus in her approach to the material is on contemporary
literature. Green reads the David story in order, applying seven
specific tools which she names, describes and exemplifies as she
interprets the text. She also uses relevant hermeneutical theory,
specifically a bridge between general hermeneutics and the specific
challenges of the individual (and socially located) reader. As a
result, Green argues that characters in the David narrative can
proffer occasions for insight, wisdom, and compassion.
Acknowledging the unlikelihood that characters like David and his
peers, steeped in patriarchy and power, can be shown to learn and
extend wise compassion, Green is careful to make explicit her
reading strategies and offer space for dialogue and disagreement.
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