Why the Bible began : an alternative history of scripture and its origins

Title:

Author:

Wright, Jacob L., author.

ISBN:

9781108490931

9781108796682

Personal Author:

Wright, Jacob L., author.

Edition:

First edition.

Physical Description:

xvii, 482 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

General Note:

Source of cataloging data: WCP

Abstract:

"Why did no other ancient society produce something like the Bible? That a tiny, out of the way community could have created a literary corpus so determinative for peoples across the globe seems improbable. For Jacob Wright, the Bible is not only a testimony of survival, but also an unparalleled achievement in human history. Forged after Babylon's devastation of Jerusalem, it makes not victory but total humiliation the foundation of a new idea of belonging. Lamenting the destruction of their homeland, scribes who composed the Bible imagined a promise-filled past while reflecting deeply on abject failure. More than just religious scripture, the Bible began as a trailblazing blueprint for a new form of political community. Its response to catastrophe offers a powerful message of hope and restoration that is unique in the Ancient Near Eastern and Greco-Roman worlds. Wright's Bible is thus a social, political, and even economic roadmap - one that enabled a small and obscure community located on the periphery of leading civilizations and empires not just to come back from the brink, but ultimately to shape the world's destiny. The Bible speaks ultimately of being a united yet diverse people, and its pages present a manual of pragmatic survival strategies for communities confronting societal collapse." -- Provided by publisher

Contents:

Part I : The Rise and Fall. Abraham and Sarah : From One to the Many -- Miriam : Empire and Exodus -- Deborah : A New Dawn -- King David : Between North and South -- Ahab and Jezebel : Putting Israel on the Map -- Jehu and Elisha : Israel's Downfall and Judah's Jubilation -- Hezekiah and Isaiah : Putting Judah on the Map -- Josiah and Huldah : Judah's Downfall and Deportation -- Part II. Admitting Defeat. Daughter Zion : Finding One's Voice -- The Creator : Comforting the Afflicted -- Haggai the Prophet : Laying the Foundation -- Nehemiah the Builder : Restoring Judean Pride -- Ezra the Educator : Forming a People of the Book -- Hoshayahu the Soldier : Peoplehood as a Pedagogical Project -- Part III : A New Narrative. Jeremiah and Baruch : A Monument to Defeat -- Isaac and Rebekah : The Family Story -- Moses and Joshua : The People's History -- Hannah and Samuel : The Palace History -- Solomon and the Queen of Sheba : The National Narrative -- Jonah and the Whale : The Prophets as Survival Literature -- Yhwh and His People : Codes, Covenant, and Kinship -- Part IV : A People of Protest. The Matriarch : Women and the Biblical Agenda -- The Hero : Redefining Gender Roles -- The Other : Tales of War, Outsiders, and Allegiance -- The Soldier : Sacrificial Death and Eternal Life -- The Prophet and the Priest : Open Access, Public Transparency, and Separation of Powers -- The Sage : Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes -- The Poet : The Song of Songs and Psalms -- The Queen : Peoplehood without Piety -- Conclusions : Nations, Nationalism, and New Bibles.

Subject Term:

Jews -- History -- To 70 A.D.

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
Searching... Sugar Grove - Todd Library	Book	BS1130 .W75 2023	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

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Summary

Why did no other ancient society produce something like the Bible? That a tiny, out of the way community could have created a literary corpus so determinative for peoples across the globe seems improbable. For Jacob Wright, the Bible is not only a testimony of survival, but also an unparalleled achievement in human history. Forged after Babylon's devastation of Jerusalem, it makes not victory but total humiliation the foundation of a new idea of belonging. Lamenting the destruction of their homeland, scribes who composed the Bible imagined a promise-filled past while reflecting deeply on abject failure. More than just religious scripture, the Bible began as a trailblazing blueprint for a new form of political community. Its response to catastrophe offers a powerful message of hope and restoration that is unique in the Ancient Near Eastern and Greco-Roman worlds. Wright's Bible is thus a social, political, and even economic roadmap - one that enabled a small and obscure community located on the periphery of leading civilizations and empires not just to come back from the brink, but ultimately to shape the world's destiny. The Bible speaks ultimately of being a united yet diverse people, and its pages present a manual of pragmatic survival strategies for communities confronting societal collapse.

Reviews (1)

Publisher's Weekly Review

In this landmark study, Wright (War, Memory, and National Identity in the Hebrew Bible), an associate professor of the Hebrew Bible at Emory University, analyzes why and how "the most influential corpus of literature the world has ever known" originated in "a remote region of the ancient world, rather than... the centers of civilization." According to Wright, scribes began working on the Torah following the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE and intentionally wove their peoples' subjugation by the Babylonian Empire into the narrative, creating a history that reexamined "every facet of their existence." Mostly, though, the "biblical project" was an answer to the smoldering rifts between the Northern kingdom (of Israel) and the Southern kingdom (of Judah), in hopes that the vision of "a nation that transcends the borders of its kingdoms" would prove "the populations of these two rival states could be one people." Wright paints a fascinating and multilayered portrait of the scriptural authors, who "built questioning into the system of the Bible" (interspersing scripture with "contradictions that undermine their overall message, requiring the reader to ponder the problems and take a personal stance") and whose writings provide the modern reader with insights into "questions of corporate life, common welfare, and collective survival." Thought-provoking and scrupulously researched, this is a tour de force. (Oct.)