The Land: Place As Gift, Promise, and Challenge in Biblical Faith

by Brueggemann, Walter

• ISBN13: 9780800634629
• ISBN10: 0800634624
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-09-01
• Publisher: Augsburg Fortress Pub

Summary

The land was one of the most vibrant symbols for the people of ancient Israel. In the land -- gift, promise, and challenge -- was found the physical source of Israel's fertility and life, and a place for the gathering of the hopes of the covenant people. In this careful treatment, Walter Brueggemann follows the development of his theme through the major blocks of Israel's traditions. The book provides a point of entrance both to the theology of the Old Testament and to aspects of the New Testament -- even as it illuminates crucial issues of the contemporary scene. In this fully revised version, Brueggemann provides new insights, as well as updating the discussion, notes, and bibliography.

Table of Contents

Abbreviations	ix
Preface to the Second Edition	xi
Preface to the First Edition	xxv
Land as Promise and as Problem	1	(14)
Land as a Prism for Biblical Faith	3	(2)
Israel as God's Homeless People	5	(3)
Israel as God's Landed People	8	(7)
``To the Land I Will Show You''	15	(12)
Abraham and the History of Landlessness	16	(6)
The Promise and the Heirs of Abraham	22	(5)
``You Lacked Nothing''	27	(16)
Exodus 16: Nourished though Alienated	29	(4)
Numbers 14: The Two Histories in the Wilderness	33	(5)
The Crisis of Presence	38	(2)
On Lacking Nothing	40	(3)
Reflections at the Boundary	43	(24)
The Land as Gift	45	(5)
The Land as Temptation	50	(6)
The Land as Task	56	(6)
The Land as Threat	62	(5)
``One from among Your Brethren''	67	(18)
On Managing the Land	69	(5)
Alternatives to Royal Management	74	(3)
Land between Word and Memo	77	(8)
``Because You Forgot Me''	85	(16)
The Land, the Prophet, and the King	86	(1)
1 Kings 21: The Land, the Torah, and Coveting	87	(6)
The Royal Road to Exile	93	(8)
The Push toward Landlessness---and Beyond	101	(22)
Jeremiah and the Terror of Land-Loss	101	(7)
Kings as a Way to Land-Loss	108	(7)
Exile and the New History	115	(8)
``None to Comfort''	123	(20)
Lamentations and the ``No'' of God	124	(1)
``I Will Restore Your Fortunes''	125	(4)
``This Land Shall Fall as Your Inheritance''	129	(6)
``Subdue and Fill the Land''	135	(2)
Not Comforted---Comforted	137	(6)
Jealous for Jerusalem	143	(14)
Separatism as a Way to Save the Land	143	(7)
Hellenization and Syncretism Revisited	150	(7)
``Blessed Are the Meek''	157	(16)
On Gift and Grasp	157	(8)
Johannine and Pauline Uses of Land Imagery	165	(4)
Crucifixion-Resurrection through the Prism of Land	169	(4)
Land: Fertility and Justice	173	(24)
Women and Land	173	(2)
Sexuality and Economics	175	(2)
The Right of Enclosure	177	(6)
You Shall Not Covet	183	(4)
Defilement of the Land	187	(4)
Land Management	191	(6)
Concluding Hermeneutical Reflections	197	(12)
Land and Our Hermeneutical Categories	197	(5)
The Prospect for New Interfaces	202	(7)
Select Bibliography on the Bible and the Land	209	(4)
Index of Ancient Sources	213	(8)
Index of Authors	221