Opening Israel's Scriptures

Opening Israel's Scriptures is a collection of thirty-six essays on the Hebrew Bible, from Genesis to Chronicles, which gives powerful insight into the complexity and inexhaustibility of the Hebrew Scriptures as a theological resource. Based on more than two decades of lectures on Old Testament interpretation, Ellen F. Davis offers a selective yet comprehensive guide to the core concepts, literary patterns, storylines, and theological perspectives that are central to Israel's Scriptures. Underlying the whole study is the primary assumption that each book of the canon has literary and theological coherence, though not uniformity. In both her close readings of individual texts and in her broad demonstrations of the coherence of whole books, Davis models the best practices of contemporary exegesis, integrating the insights of contemporary scholars with those of classical theological resources in Jewish and Christian traditions. Throughout, she keeps an eye to the experiences and concerns of contemporary readers, showing through multiple examples that the critical interpretation of texts is provisional, open-ended work--a collaboration across generations and cultures. Ultimately what she offers is an invitation into the more spacious world that the Bible discloses, which challenges ordinary conceptions of how things "really" are.

Auteur

Ellen F. Davis is Amos Ragan Kearns Distinguished Professor of Bible and Practical Theology at Duke University. She has previously held positions at Union Theological Seminary, Yale University, and Virginia Theological Seminary. She is a theological consultant within the Anglican Communion and the author of Preaching the Luminous Word, Biblical Prophecy, and Scripture, Culture, and Agriculture: an Agrarian Reading of the Bible.

Contenu

Introduction Doing Justice: The Practical and Critical Interpretation of Scripture 1 Genesis "As Our Image" - Genesis 1:1-2:3 Complementarity and Rupture - Genesis 2:4-11:32 Beginning with Blessing - Genesis 12-50 2 Exodus Getting Out of Egypt - Exodus 1-15 Becoming God's People - Exodus 16-40 3 Leviticus Embodying Holiness - Leviticus 1-15 At-Onement with YHWH and with Land - Leviticus 16-27 4 Numbers Marked for Blessing, Plagued by Sin - Numbers 11-24 Slowing Down for Violence - Numbers 5 and 25 5 Deuteronomy Learning to Love and to Fear - Deuteronomy 1-11 Torah and Life in the Land - Deuteronomy 12-34 6 Joshua The Un-Conquest Narrative - Joshua The Big Upheaval: Canaan in the Thirteenth Century - Excursus 7 Judges Leadership and Its Discontents - Judges 8 Ruth Vulnerable Protectors - Ruth 9 1-2 Samuel & 1 Kings The United Monarchy: The Hope That (Mostly) Failed - Preface The Tragedy of the Chosen: Saul's Kingship - 1 Samuel David in Perspective - 2 Samuel Wisdom, Power, Worship: Solomon's Reign - 1 Kings 1-12 The Sovereignty of the Prophetic Word - 1 Kings 13-21 10 Minor Prophets An Eighth-Century Poetry Jam: Prophetic Performances - Preface Questioning Prosperity - Amos Justice and Intimacy - Micah and Hosea Hating Our Enemies - 2 Kings, Nahum, and Jonah 11 Isaiah Seeing the King - Isaiah 1-39 The Vision Expands - Isaiah 40-66 12 Jeremiah & Lamentations Well Acquainted with Grief - Preface Telling God the Truth - Jeremiah The Love Poetry of Disaster - Lamentations 13 Ezekiel Prophecy at the End of the World - Ezekiel and Haggai 14 The Psalms Reality and Praise - Psalms The Wisdom of Lament - Psalms 15 Proverbs & Ecclesiastes The Poetry of the Ordinary - Proverbs and Ecclesiastes 16 Job & the Song of Songs Intimacy with God: The Agony and the Ecstasy - Preface Learning to Struggle with God - Job The Ecstasy of Intimacy - Song of Songs 17 Esther & Daniel Equipping Jewish Imagination in a Gentile World - Preface Joking about Genocide - Esther Surviving the Furnace of History - Daniel 18 Ezra-Nehemiah & 1-2 Chronicles Negotiating Identity - Preface Settling the Land a Second Time - Ezra-Nehemiah Reading the Story Once More - 1-2 Chronicles Glossary Scripture Index Index