Download or read book Warfare Ritual and Symbol in Biblical and Modern Contexts written by Brad E. Kelle and published by Society of Biblical Lit. This book was released on 2014-06-03 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New perspectives on Israelite warfare for biblical studies, military studies, and social theory Contributors investigate what constituted a symbol in war, what rituals were performed and their purpose, how symbols and rituals functioned in and between wars and battles, what effects symbols and rituals had on insiders and outsiders, what ways symbols and rituals functioned as instruments of war, and what roles rituals and symbols played in the production and use of texts. Features: Thirteen essays examine war in textual, historical, and social contexts Texts from the Hebrew Bible are read in light of ancient Near Eastern texts and archaeology Interdisciplinary studies make use of contemporary ritual and social theory

Download or read book Warfare Ritual and Symbol in Biblical and Modern Contexts written by Brad E. Kelle and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New perspectives on Israelite warfare for biblical studies, military studies, and social theory Contributors investigate what constituted a symbol in war, what rituals were performed and their purpose, how symbols and rituals functioned in and between wars and battles, what effects symbols and rituals had on insiders and outsiders, what ways symbols and rituals functioned as instruments of war, and what roles rituals and symbols played in the production and use of texts. Features: Thirteen essays examine war in textual, historical, and social contexts Texts from the Hebrew Bible are read in light of ancient Near Eastern texts and archaeology Interdisciplinary studies make use of contemporary ritual and social theory

Download or read book Uncovering Violence written by Amy Cottrill and published by Westminster John Knox Press. This book was released on 2021-10-26 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is no surprise that the Bible is filled with stories of violence, having come into being through the crucible of trauma, cultural conflict, and warfare. But the more obvious acts of physical or sexual violence in the Hebrew Bible often overshadow its subtler forms throughout Scripture and belie the variety of perspectives on violence embedded in biblical narratives. This hinders readers' ability to recognize the full spectrum of human engagement with violence, both in texts and in their lived experiences. Uncovering Violence: Reading Biblical Narratives as an Ethical Project seeks to provide a theoretical vocabulary for the various forms that violence can take—including textual violence, interpretive violence, moral injury, and slow violence—and to offer a fresh ethical reading of violence in the biblical text. Focusing on four narratives from the Hebrew Bible, Cottrill uses the approach of narrative ethics to lay out the many ways that stories can make moral claims on readers, not by delivering a discrete "lesson" or takeaway but by making transformative contact with readers and involving them in a more embodied dialogue with the text. Exploring the narratives of Jael’s killing of Sisera, the toxic masculinity of Samson, environmental devastation and failures of legal systems in Ruth, and Abigail’s mediation with King David, Uncovering Violence presents strategies for reading that allow for this close encounter. In doing so, it helps prepare readers to better recognize, interpret, and even respond to violence and its many effects within and beyond the text.

Download or read book Rewriting Masculinity written by Kelly J. Murphy and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2019-02-04 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Who is the biblical Gideon? A mighty warrior, or a fearful son? Hesitant solider, clever tactician, commanding father, ruthless killer, idolater, or illegitimate king? Gideon has long challenged readers of the book of Judges. How did so many conflicting portraits become inscribed in our biblical text and its reception? What might these portraits tell us about the authors, editors, and interpreters of Gideon's story-especially their expectations for men? Rewriting Masculinity interweaves redaction criticism, reception history, and masculinity studies to explore how Gideon's image changes from a mighty warrior to a weakling, from a successful leader to a man who led Israel astray. Kelly J. Murphy first considers the ways that older traditions about Gideon were rewritten throughout ancient Israel's history, sometimes in order to align the story of Gideon with new ideas about what it meant to act like a man. At other times, she shows that the story of Gideon was used to explain why older standards of masculinity no longer worked in new contexts. Murphy then traces how some later interpreters, from the ancient to the contemporary, continually rewrote Gideon in light of their own models for men, might, and masculinity. Murphy offers an in-depth case study of how a biblical text was continuously updated. Emphasizing the importance of reading biblical stories and expansions alongside their later reception, she shows that the story of Gideon the mighty warrior is, in many ways, the story of masculinity in miniature: a constantly-transforming construct.

Download or read book Violence Otherness and Identity in Isaiah 63 1 6 written by Dominic S. Irudayaraj and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2017-04-20 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Download or read book Neo Assyrian and Greek Divination in War written by Krzysztof Ulanowski and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2020-10-20 with total page 588 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Neo-Assyrian and Greek Divination in War is about practices which enabled humans contact the divine. These relations, especially in difficult times of military conflict, could be crucial in deciding the fate of individuals, cities, dynasties or even empires.

Download or read book Life and Death written by Francesca Stavrakopoulou and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2021-01-28 with total page 231 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Life and Death: Social Perspectives on Biblical Bodies explores some of the social, material, and ideological dynamics shaping life and death in both the Hebrew Bible and ancient Israel and Judah. Analysing topics ranging from the bodily realities of gestation, subsistence, and death, and embodied performances of gender, power, and status, to the imagined realities of post-mortem and divine existence, the essays in this volume offer exciting new trajectories in our understanding of the ways in which embodiment played out in the societies in which the texts of the Hebrew Bible emerged.

Download or read book Divine Violence and the Character of God written by Claude F. Mariottini and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2022-02-01 with total page 433 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There is much violence in the Old Testament, both human and divine. Christians and non-Christians react differently to what they read about the God of the Old Testament. Some people are so affected by the violence found in the Old Testament that they give up on God, stop going to church and reading the Bible, and eventually lose their faith. Others are offended by divine violence and seek to find an alternative explanation for the violent acts of God in the Old Testament. A popular alternative in the twenty-first century is to return to the second century and adopt some form of Marcionism and make the God of the Old Testament to be a different God from the God revealed by Christ in the New Testament. The purpose of this book is not a defense of God and his use of violence. The author seeks to understand why God acted the way he did and to understand the reason for divine violence in the Old Testament. Yahweh did use violence in his work of reconciliation. However, the use of violence was necessary when everything else failed. Israel provoked God to anger. When God brought judgment upon his people, he did so with tears in his eyes.

Download or read book The Dead Sea Scrolls in Ancient Media Culture written by and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2023-02-13 with total page 542 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a collection of cutting-edge essays on the Dead Sea Scrolls as part of ancient Mediterranean media culture, featuring interdisciplinary feedback from scholars in New Testament studies and Classics.

Download or read book Religious Rites of War beyond the Medieval West written by and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2023-11-10 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is Volume Two of a two-volume collection that brings together contributions from cultural and military history to offer an examination of religious rites employed in connection with warfare as well as their transformative and power- and identity-building potential across political communities of medieval Northern, Central, and Eastern Europe. Covering the period ca. 900 and 1500, the work takes theoretical, textual and practical approaches to the research on religious warfare, and investigates the connections between, and significance and function of crucial war rituals such as pre-, intra- and postbellum rites, as well as various activities surrounding the military life of individuals, polities, and corporates. Contributors are Robert Antonín, Robert Bubczyk, Dariusz Dąbrowski, Jesse Harrington, Carsten Selch Jensen, Sini Kangas, Radosław Kotecki, Gregory Leighton, Kyle C. Lincoln, Jacek Maciejewski, Yulia Mikhailova, Max Naderer, László Veszprémy, and Dušan Zupka.

Download or read book For Us but Not to Us written by Adam E. Miglio and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2020-10-02 with total page 447 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: John H. Walton is a significant voice in Old Testament studies, who has influenced many scholars in this field as well as others. This volume is an acknowledgment from his students of Walton's role as a teacher, scholar, and mentor. Each essay is offered by scholars (and former students) working in a range of fields--from Old and New Testament studies to archaeology and theology. They are offered as a testimony and tribute to Walton's prolific career."

Download or read book Religion and Recovery from PTSD written by Harold Koenig and published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers. This book was released on 2019-12-19 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume focuses on the role that religion and spirituality can play in recovery from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other forms of trauma, including moral injury. Religious texts, from the Bible to Buddhist scriptures, have always contained passages that focus on helping those who have experienced the trauma of war. Many religions have developed psychological, social, behavioral, and spiritual ways of coping and healing that can work in tandem with clinical treatments today in assisting recovery from PTSD and moral injury. In this book the authors review and discuss systematic research into how religion helps people cope with severe trauma, including trauma caused by natural disasters, intentional interpersonal violence, or combat experiences during war. They delve into the impact that spirituality has in both the development of and recovery from PTSD. Beyond reviewing research, they also use case vignettes throughout to illustrate the very human story of recovery from PTSD, and how religious or spiritual beliefs can both help or hinder depending on circumstance. A vital work for any mental health or religious professionals who seek to help people dealing with severe trauma and loss.

Download or read book Fighting for the King and the Gods written by Charlie Trimm and published by SBL Press. This book was released on 2017-10-30 with total page 751 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The most up-to-date sourcebook on warfare in the ancient Near East Fighting for the King and the Gods provides an introduction to the topic of war and the variety of texts concerning many aspects of warfare in the ancient Near East. These texts illustrate various viewpoints of war and show how warfare was an integral part of life. Trimm examines not only the victors and the famous battles, but also the hardship that war brought to many. While several of these texts treated here are well known (i.e., Ramses II's battle against the Hittites at Qadesh), others are known only to specialists. This work will allow a broader audience to access and appreciate these important texts as they relate to the history and ideology of warfare. Features References to recent secondary literature for further study Early Greek and Chinese illustrative texts for comparisons with other cultures Indices to help guide the reader

Download or read book A Theocentric Interpretation of written by Nathan S. French and published by Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. This book was released on 2021-02-15 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On a primary level, the author seeks to answer the question, what is the best interpretation of הדעת טוב ורע. "The Knowledge of Good and Evil," in Gen 2:9, 17; 3:5, and 3:22? In Gen 3:5 and 3:22, this knowledge is said to be possessed by YHWH and the divine beings. This study analyzes the permutations of ) טוב"good") and רעע ("evil/bad") in the Hebrew Bible, with a majority focus in Genesis and the Deuteronomistic History and with a focus upon those textual instances in which YHWH has influence over 'good' and 'bad/evil.' Due to the results of the data, the author brings in a second level of discussion that focuses upon the hermeneutical principle of divine retribution as a structuring element for ancient Near Eastern historiography. On a third level, the author turns to divine blessing and cursing, and its association with good and evil in ancient Near Eastern texts and in the Hebrew Bible. Due to this specific theocentric analysis of the lexemes juxtaposed with the author's wider study of ancient Near Eastern history and culture, the answer to the guiding question of this study is therefore proposed by the author as, 'The Divine Knowledge for Administering Reward and Punishment.' Ergo, the Eden Narrative tells a story of how humans partly attain divinity becoming like YHWH and the divine beings (Gen 3:5; 3:22; Ps 82) in having acquired the forbidden divine knowledge for wielding ultimate power.

Download or read book The Hebrew Bible and Environmental Ethics written by Mari Joerstad and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2019-05-23 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The environmental crisis has prompted religious leaders and lay people to look to their traditions for resources to respond to environmental degradation. In this book, Mari Joerstad contributes to this effort by examining an ignored feature of the Hebrew Bible: its attribution of activity and affect to trees, fields, soil, and mountains. The Bible presents a social cosmos, in which humans are one kind of person among many. Using a combination of the tools of biblical studies and anthropological writings on animism, Joerstad traces the activity of non-animal nature through the canon. She shows how biblical writers go beyond sustainable development, asking us to be good neighbors to mountains and trees, and to be generous to our fields and vineyards. They envision human communities that are sources of joy to plants and animals. The Biblical writers' attention to inhabited spaces is particularly salient for contemporary environmental ethics in their insistence that our cities, suburbs, and villages contribute to flourishing landscapes.

Download or read book Hollow Men Strange Women written by Robin Baker and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2016-07-11 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Hollow Men, Strange Women, Robin Baker provides a masterly reappraisal of Israel's experience during its Settlement of Canaan as narrated in the Book of Judges. Written under Assyrian suzerainty in the reign of Manasseh, Judges is both a theological commentary on the Settlement and an esoteric work of prophecy. Its apparent historicity subtly encrypts a grim forewarning of Judah's future, and, in its extensive treatment of otherness, Judges explores the meaning of God’s covenant with Israel. Robin Baker's scholarly and perceptive reading draws on a deep understanding of ancient Hebrew and Mesopotamian symbolic codes to interpret the riddles in this many-layered text. The Book of Judges reveals complex literary configurations from which past, present, and future are simultaneously presented.

Download or read book The Dictionary of the Bible and Ancient Media written by Tom Thatcher and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2017-10-19 with total page 499 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Dictionary of the Bible and Ancient Media is a convenient and authoritative reference tool, introducing specific terms and concepts helpful to the study of the Bible and related literature in ancient communications culture. Since the early 1980s, biblical scholars have begun to explore the potentials of interdisciplinary theories of oral tradition, oral performance, personal and collective memory, ancient literacy and scribality, visual culture and ritual. Over time these theories have been combined with considerations of critical and exegetical problems in the study of the Bible, the history of Israel, Christian origins, and rabbinics. The Dictionary of the Bible and Ancient Media responds to the rapid growth of the field by providing a source of reference that offers clear definitions, and in-depth discussions of relevant terms and concepts, and the relationships between them. The volume begins with an overview of 'ancient media studies' and a brief history of research to orient the reader to the field and the broader research context of the book, with individual entries on terms and topics commonly encountered in studies of the Bible in ancient media culture. Each entry defines the term/ concept under consideration, then offers more sustained discussion of the topic, paying particular attention to its relevance for the study of the Bible and related literature