Jerusalem As Contested Space In Ezekiel

Natalie Mylonas uses Ezekiel 16 as a case study in order to reveal the critical relationship between space, emotion, and identity politics in the Hebrew Bible. Drawing on interdisciplinary research that emphasises how space and emotions are inextricably linked in human experience, Mylonas explores the portrayal of Yhwh's wife, Jerusalem, in Ezekiel 16 as a personified city who feels emotion. She foregrounds purity and gender issues, as well as debates on emotions in the Hebrew Bible, emphasising that spatiality is a key component of how these issues are conceptualised in ancient Israel. This book argues that the power struggle between Jerusalem and Yhwh in Ezekiel 16 is a struggle over the contested space of Jerusalem's body and the city space. Jerusalem's emotions are in a dynamic relationship with the spaces in the text – they are signified by these spaces, shift as the constitution of the spaces shifts, and are shaped by Jerusalem's use of space. Her desire, pride, and shamelessness are communicated spatially through her use of city space, while her representation as disgusting is underscored by her “uncontrollable” female body. Mylonas concludes by showing how Ezekiel's vision of the new Jerusalem in Ezekiel 40-48 re-establishes sacred space through the erasure of the feminine city metaphor coupled with strict boundary policing, which is a far cry from the assault on Jerusalem's boundaries described in Ezekiel 16.

Time and history have occupied a privileged position in social science for at least the past century. In contrast, a number of human geographers have asserted that space, more than time, provides the most revealing insights into behavior. By giving priority to the geographical perspective in her study of Ezekiel 40-48, the author both clarifies aspects of the text which scholars have found problematic and demonstrates a provocative new methodology for biblical studies more generally. Ezekiel 40-48, according to the argument of this book, articulates a vision and rhetorical strategy for organizing a society according to a new set of spatial rules, in response to the experience of exile. "Territoriality," as here defined, is an effort to control access to social space in order to prevent a recurrence of the boundary violations that led to exile. This study will be of interest to students of Ezekiel, human geography, critical methodology, and rhetoric alike.

La 4e de couverture indique : "In this study, Joel B. Kemp reveals that by focusing on legal imagery and juridical diction in Ezekiel 1-33, additional clarity for the meaning, function, and internal logic of several passages emerges. He also shows that the authors of Ezekiel use legal elements to describe Judahite identity post-Babylonian conquest"

Pikor anaylzes the land of Israel in the book of Ezekiel showing how its preoccupation with the Babylonian exile and the loss of the Promised Land that this entails is directly linked to the danger this poses to Israel's covenant with God. Pikor examines the motif of land in its literary and historical contexts and in relation to the oracles of salvation in chapters 34-39 as well as the vision of the new Israel and the return of Yahweh's Glory to the temple. Pikor begins by examining the motif of land in its literary and historical contexts. The main body of the book then addresses specific sections of Ezekiel. Chapter two analyzes the oracles of punishment addressed to Israel, in which the land undergoes a process of anthropomorphization. Chapter three situates the punishment experienced by Ezekiel and his listeners in a broader historical context suggested by the prophet in Ezekiel 20. Chapter four analyses the oracles of salvation in Ezekiel 34–39, in which the restoration of the land of Israel remains intertwined with the promise of the new covenant. Finally, chapter five addresses the closing vision of the new Israel (Ezekiel 40–48), which is characterized by the territorial dimension of the future restoration. This feature is shown via analysis of the rhetoric of the land, the crucial element of which is the return of Yahweh's Glory to the temple. God's presence adds sacral value to the land in which his covenant with his people is to be realized. The covenant will be finalized through Israel's repopulation of the renewed land.

How is Yahweh to be differentiated from other deities? What is Yahweh's relationship to Israel in exile?".

This powerful collection of essays focuses on the representation of God in the Book of Ezekiel. With topics spanning across projections of God, through to the implications of these creations, the question of the divine presence in Ezekiel is explored. Madhavi Nevader analyses Divine Sovereignty and its relation to creation, while Dexter E. Callender Jnr and Ellen van Wolde route their studies in the image of God, as generated by the character of Ezekiel. The assumption of the title is then inverted, as Stephen L. Cook writes on 'The God that the Temple Blueprint Creates', which is taken to its other extreme by Marvin A. Sweeney in his chapter on 'The Ezekiel that God Creates', and finds a nice reconciliation in Daniel I. Block's chapter, 'The God Ezekiel Wants Us to Meet.' Finally, two essays from Christian biblical scholar Nathan MacDonald and Jewish biblical scholar, Rimon Kasher, offer a reflection on the essays about Ezekiel and his God.

Whereas much recent work on the ethics of the Hebrew Bible addresses the theological task of using the Bible as a moral resource for today, this book aims to set Ezekiel's ethics firmly in the social and historical context of the Babylonian Exile. The two 'moral worlds' of Jerusalem and Babylonia provide the key. Ezekiel explains the disaster in terms familiar to his audience's past experience as members of Judah's political elite. He also provides ethical strategies for coping with the more limited possibilities of life in Babylonia, which include the ritualization of ethics, an increasing emphasis on the domestic and personal sphere of action, and a shift towards human passivity in the face of restoration. Thus the prophet's moral concerns and priorities are substantially shaped by the social experience of deportation and resettlement. They also represent a creative response to the crisis, providing significant impetus for social cohesion and the maintenance of a distinctively Jewish community.

The Father’s Heart for Israel and the Church You live in one of the most critical hours in human history… and G-d is calling you to participate! For the body of Christ to be most effective in these last days, unity is essential. We all have key roles to play in the unfolding of G-d’s great agenda for history. Author Grant Berry is on a mission to help you find your place in this hour and see both Jew and Gentile unite to bring G-d’s end-time purposes to fruition. In this critical book, you will discover: Why it is so significant that Israel and the Church strengthens their relationship The unique roles that Jews and Gentiles are purposed to play in the end times G-d’s burning heart to release His Kingdom through a united people This book is a challenge to the global body of Christ. Will we continue with business as usual, or will we embrace the glorious call to see G-d’s family restored in these last days?

Can we live with the God of Ezekiel? Can we relate to a God who has established a multilayered hierarchy that separates the divine from the human, who creates boundaries that segregate people from the temple, the priesthood, and the glory of the Lord? In contrast to those who suggest that Ezekiel should no longer be read as an authoritative part of the canon, the essays in this volume engage Ezekiel's hierarchical world directly, neither dismissing it out of hand nor accepting it uncritically. By wedding theological interest and reflection with serious biblical exegesis and criticism, this work helps readers to understand Ezekiel's hierarchical theology-especially the book's views on creation, priesthood, and land. It thus equips readers to form their own evaluations of the relevance of Ezekiel's theology for today. Contributors include Daniel I. Block, Keith Carley, Stephen L. Cook, Katheryn Pfisterer Darr, Iain M. Duguid, Friedrich Fechter, Julie Galambush, Norman Habel, Risa Levitt Kohn, Corrine L. Patton, David L. Petersen, Baruch J. Schwartz, Daniel L. Smith-Christopher, and Steven Shawn Tuell. Paperback edition is available from the Society of Biblical Literature (www.sbl-site.org)