When God Wanted to Destroy the Chosen People: Biblical Traditions and Theology on the Move

Gili Kugler

Published by De Gruyter 2019

When God Wanted to Destroy the Chosen People

Biblical Traditions and Theology on the Move

Gili Kugler

Volume 515 in the series Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110609905

Overview
Contents

About this book

According to narratives in the Bible the threats of the people’s end come from various sources, but the most significant threat comes, as learned from the Pentateuch, from God himself. What is the theological meaning of this tradition? In what circumstances did it evolve? How did it stand alongside other theological and socio-political concepts known to the ancient authors and their diverse audience?
The book employs a diachronic method that explores the stages of the tradition’s formation and development, revealing the authors’ exegetical purposes and ploys, and tracing the historical realities of their time.
The book proposes that the motif of the threat of destruction existed in various forms prior to the creation of the stories recorded in the final text of the Pentateuch. The inclusion of the motif within specific literary contexts attenuated the concept of destruction by presenting it as a phenomenon of specific moments in the past. Nevertheless, the threat was resurrected repeatedly by various authors, for use as a precedent or a justification for present affliction.

Author / Editor information

Gili Kugler, University of Sydney, Australia.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	I
Acknowledgements Publicly Available Download PDF	VII
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	IX
1. Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
2. A superfluous threat of annihilation – God’s reaction to the building of the Golden Calf: Exodus 32 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	13
3. Punishment and threat of destruction in the story of the spies: Varied theological views in two parallel narratives Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	27
4. The annihilation-threat tradition Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	53
5. Told by the protagonists: Retelling episodes of the time in the desert Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	71
6. Reviewing the past in light of the present plight: Nehemiah 9 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	125
7. The past in the service of God’s name: Ezekiel 20 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	145
8. Past precedents pave the way for current pleas: Psalm 106 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	165
9. Conclusions Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	179
List of abbreviations Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	185
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	187
Subject index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	201
Ancient sources index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	203
Author index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	221

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter
Audience: Scholars of Theology and Religion, Hebrew Bible and Old Testament, Pentateuch.
Pages
- Front matter: 11
- Main content: 223
Illustrations
- Illustrations: 1
Keywords: Biblical Theology; Biblical Interpretation; Biblical Historiography; Rewriting biblical traditions.

eBook

Published: June 4, 2019
ISBN: 9783110609905

Hardcover

Published: June 4, 2019
ISBN: 9783110605822