Pentateuch

by Laffey, Alice L.

• ISBN13: 9780800628727
• ISBN10: 0800628721
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-09-01
• Publisher: Fortress Pr

Summary

Alice Laffey's rereading of the major themes of the first five books of the Bible will enable readers not only to gain a firm grasp of the contents of this major literary corpus. Like other volumes in this series, it will also point the way to a different reading of Scripture, one that raises today's questions -- power, liberation, justice, and preeminently connectedness. Laffey highlights neglected resources in the text in order "to approach these texts from the perspective of a respectfully interdependent worldview" In this work we witness a radical expansion and transformation of feminist biblical criticism to incorporate concern for all humans, all animals, all nature in a global, even cosmic way.

Table of Contents

Introduction	1	(6)
PART ONE	7	(74)
1. COSMIC AND HUMAN INTERDEPENDENCE	7	(44)
Creation Stories	7	(11)
Salvific Wood, Conservation, and Destructive Water	18	(7)
Re-creation	25	(2)
Covenant	27	(2)
Thirsty Camels, Watering Sheep, and Brides	29	(3)
Concern for the Weak	32	(2)
Reconciliation	34	(7)
Sleek Cows, Gaunt Cows	41	(2)
Sharing Resources and Preserving Life	43	(2)
Provision for All	45	(1)
Blessings	46	(2)
Neighborliness	48	(3)
2. USE, NOT ABUSE	51	(12)
An Ark for Protection	51	(2)
Animals for Food	53	(1)
Bread, Clothing, and Water	54	(3)
Trees	57	(2)
Able, God-Fearing Men to Judge the People	59	(4)
3. THE LAND: A PROMISED TREASURE	63	(18)
Sacred Land between Bethel and Ai	63	(1)
Sacred Land at Mamre	64	(1)
Covenanted Land	64	(2)
Inherited Land	66	(2)
Of Milk and Honey	68	(3)
Filled with Abundance	71	(4)
Sabbath for the Land	75	(1)
The Extent of the Land	76	(1)
Distributing the Land	77	(4)
PART TWO	81	(52)
4. SIN: THE LEGITIMATION OF PATRIARCHY	81	(30)
Judgment	81	(3)
Genealogies	84	(8)
My Wife/My Sister	92	(6)
Rape	98	(1)
Rivalries between Females	99	(4)
A Levirate Marriage	103	(3)
A Jealous Husband	106	(5)
5. SIN: THE LEGITIMATION OF HIERARCHY	111	(22)
Sibling Rivalry	111	(6)
War	117	(2)
Economics, Competition, and Greed	119	(6)
Slavery	125	(1)
Water Pollution	126	(1)
Ecological Imbalance	127	(6)
PART THREE	133	(60)
6. LIBERATION	133	(10)
Courageous Midwives	133	(2)
A Burning Bush, a Sacred Mountain	135	(2)
Liberating Water	137	(1)
Manna and Quail	138	(2)
Returning to Family and Property	140	(1)
Returning to God	141	(2)
7. BELONGING: COVENANTAL RELATIONSHIP	143	(10)
Circumcision	143	(2)
Covenant: Remembrance, Reading, Renewal	145	(2)
An Obedient Kingdom of Priests	147	(1)
The Sabbath	147	(2)
Forgiveness and Reconciliation	149	(2)
For the Future Also	151	(2)
8. RECIPROCITY	153	(40)
Loving	153	(4)
Making and Being Holy	157	(5)
Doing Justice	162	(4)
Showing Reverence for God	166	(13)
Showing Reverence for Others	179	(11)
Showing Reverence for All Life and All Things	190	(3)
Conclusion	193	(2)
Bibliography	195	(8)
Index of Biblical References	203	(6)
Index of Subjects	209