Portraying Violence in the Hebrew Bible
Portraying Violence in the Hebrew Bible
Most studies on violence in the Hebrew Bible focus on the question of how modern readers should approach the problem. But they fail to ask how the Hebrew Bible thinks about that problem in the first place. In this work, Matthew J. Lynch examines four key ways that writers of the Hebrew Bible conceptualize and critique acts of violence: violence as an ecological problem; violence as a moral problem; violence as a judicial problem; violence as a purity problem. These four 'grammars of violence' help us interpret crucial biblical texts where violence plays a lead role, like Genesis 4-9. Lynch's volume also offers readers ways to examine cultural continuity and the distinctiveness of biblical conceptions of violence.
- Provides an in-depth examination of critiques of violence indigenous to the Hebrew Bible
- Analyzes four grammars of violence that writers of the Hebrew Bible employ to portray the problem of violence: ecology, moral speech, justice, and purity
- Focuses on the way various biblical writers conceptualized the varied problem of violence
Reviews & endorsements
'Lynch's work allows readers to think deeply about the implications of violence and its effects in biblical times. Thus, I am pleased to recommend Lynch's book to those interested in the topic.' Luis A. Quinones-Roman, Journal of Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity
Product details
September 2022Paperback
9781108714471
304 pages
230 × 152 × 18 mm
0.46kg
Available
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Part I. Violence and Ecology:
- 1. A brother's blood on the land
- 2. The cosmic ecology of violence
- 3. Covenant and the restraint of violence in creation
- Part II. Violence and Moral Speech:
- 4. Violent deceitfulness in the scheming heart
- 5. The violence of arrogant speech
- Part III. Violence and Justice:
- 6. The outcry of violence
- 7. Judicial responses to violence
- 8. Violence and the divine avenger
- Part IV. Violence and Impurity:
- 9. Violence and the problem of impurity: key texts
- 10. The rhetoric of violence and impurity
- Conclusion
- Appendix. Biblical terms for violence.
