Disloyalty and Destruction: Religion and Politics in Deuteronomy and the Modern World(The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies)

About the Book

The goal of the work is a heuristic reading strategy for a modern reader to engage with YHWH's threats against Israel in Deuteronomy. This goal is accomplished in three steps. First, the biblical text is considered through close reading to discern the logic of YHWH's threats: what motivates the threats, what form the threats take, and what effect the threats expect to produce. Second, a modern analogy is sought that most helpfully matches the structure and logic observed in the biblical text. A number of common modern analogies for the divine-human relationship (e.g., parent-child, master-slave, husband-wife) are deemed unhelpful because they cannot support the features of the biblical pattern. However, the threats of the modern state against those who threaten it are found to bear significant resemblance. Finally, this analogy is developed for each of several significant passages of Deuteronomy.





In order to justify and substantiate the analogy, this book examines the religious and political background surrounding both Deuteronomy and the modern state through historical reflection. Since there are significant differences between the religio-political situations, sociological perspectives are used to provide patterns that can be applied within both the ancient and modern contexts.





Finally, although the focus of the work is on establishing an analogy between YHWH's threats and those of the modern state, the book dedicates one chapter to discussing dis-analogous features to avoid over-emphasizing the similarity between the two.

Table of Contents:

Chapter 1. YHWH's Violence: The Problem and Approaches
Interpretive Approaches
My Scope
My Approach
Summary of Argument and Contribution

Chapter 2. Introductory Considerations
Religion and Politics in the Modern World
Religion and Politics in Deuteronomy
Other Gods, Divine Anger, and Destruction

Chapter 3. The Basic Threat: Idolatry and Destruction
Introduction: The Alien Category of Idolatry
Deuteronomy 9-10: The Golden Calf
The Golden Calf Incident as National Myth
Idolatry and Treason

Chapter 4. Destruction and Restoration as Coercion
Deuteronomy 4: Loyalty to YHWH
Deuteronomy 32: A Song of Disloyalty
Freedom and Coercion in the Ancient and Modern Worlds

Chapter 5. Rebellion: The Individual and the Nation
Introduction
Deuteronomy 13: Incitement to Idolatry
The Anger of YHWH: National and Individual
Modern Response to Rebellion on Different Scales
Conclusion

Chapter 6. The Horrors of Destruction
Deuteronomy 28: The Covenant Curses
Historical and Canonical Considerations
Understanding the Curses
Modern Curses in Warfare

Chapter 7. The Politics of YHWH and "Other Gods"
Introduction
Kings and Gods in Israel's Surrounding Cultures
Deuteronomy 17: The Politics of YHWH
The Politics of "Other Gods"
What are YHWH's People to Do?
The Modern Nation-State and the "Other Gods"

Chapter 8. Conclusions

Bibliography

About the Author :
Rob Barrett is a post-doctoral research fellow at Georg-August-Universität, Göttingen, Germany and visiting lecturer in Hebrew and Old Testament at Westminster Theological Centre, London, UK.

Review :
"Revising his 2007 doctoral dissertation at Durham University, Barrett approaches Old Testament accounts of God killing, destroying, and threatening Israel, with engagement and provisional sympathy, and without selectively suppressing objectionable passages. He covers previous approaches, introductory considerations, the basic threat of idolatry and destruction, destruction and restoration as coercion, the rebellion by traitors, the horrors of destruction, and the politics of Yhwh and other gods. Among more detailed discussions are canon and history, religion and politics in Deuteronomy and the modern world, the golden calf incident as national myth, modern responses to rebellion, understanding the curses, and the modern state and other gods." -Eithne O'Leyne, BOOK NEWS, Inc. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to read this thoughtful and thought-provoking work. I look forward to further reflection from its author’s pen.