When God Wanted to Destroy the Chosen People : : Biblical Traditions and Theology on the Move / / Gili Kugler.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter DG Plus DeG Package 2019 Part 1
• VerfasserIn: Kugler, Gili,
• Place / Publishing House: Berlin ;, Boston : : De Gruyter, , [2019]; ©2019
• Year of Publication: 2019
• Language: English
• Series: Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft , 515
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (XI, 223 p.)

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.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Acknowledgements -- Contents -- 1. Introduction -- 2. A superfluous threat of annihilation – God’s reaction to the building of the Golden Calf: Exodus 32 -- 3. Punishment and threat of destruction in the story of the spies: Varied theological views in two parallel narratives -- 4. The annihilation-threat tradition -- 5. Told by the protagonists: Retelling episodes of the time in the desert -- 6. Reviewing the past in light of the present plight: Nehemiah 9 -- 7. The past in the service of God’s name: Ezekiel 20 -- 8. Past precedents pave the way for current pleas: Psalm 106 -- 9. Conclusions -- List of abbreviations -- Bibliography -- Subject index -- Ancient sources index -- Author index