Statehood and Jerusalem in Ancient Israel: Myths And Realities

2004 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 222-253
Author(s):  
H. Eberhard von Waldow
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Jewish History ◽  
Jewish People ◽  
Religious Community ◽  
Spiritual Community ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Political Reality ◽  
The People ◽  
Ancient Israel ◽  
Holy City

The Old Testament people of Israel entered the political reality of ancient Palestine as a spiritual community held together by worshipping Yahweh in ‘the God-given land’. When it became a state with a king this spiritual character was threatened or lost. The capital was always the holy city of Jerusalem, as the spiritual—not political—centre o f Yahweh's people, and it survived all political catastrophes, even after the homeland was lost. The people of Israel survived not as a nation but rather as a religious community (Judaism). Only as such can today's Jews legitimately reclaim Eretz Yisrael. Certain claims made by the modern secular Jewish nation-state—for example, that Jerusalem always was and always will be the capital of the Jewish people—are not only problematic, but have no foundation, either in the Bible or in Jewish history: they are fabricated modern myths.

Yahwistic Religion in the Assyrian and Babylonian Periods

2020 ◽  
pp. 240-253
Author(s):  
Richard S. Hess
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Religious Practice ◽  
Religious Expression ◽  
Historical Texts ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The People ◽  
Ancient Israel ◽  
Biblical Perspective

The question of religious practice in the historical texts of the Bible not only considers what the texts may have intended to portray as the correct religion but also the reality behind the texts: what did the people of ancient Israel actually believe and practice during the ninth, eighth, seventh, and early sixth centuries bce? In considering the major textual, archaeological, iconographic, and onomastic sources for this period, we will argue that ancient Israel practiced a variety of religious expressions that can be plotted on a continuum from the biblical perspective. There were those who practiced religious forms unrelated to biblical orthodoxy, those who saw YHWH as a chief deity governing a pantheon of lesser deities, and those who worshiped YHWH alone. All three categories have biblical and extrabiblical testimony from both the Historical Books of the Old Testament and from the categories of evidence mentioned above. Having made this point, however, it will be argued that the extrabiblical evidence also witnesses divergences from the Historical Books in terms of new categories of religious expression and in terms of an overall evolution in the movement toward worship of YHWH alone.

History of Ancient Israel

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. G. M. Williamson
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Literary Analysis ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The People ◽  
Ancient Israel ◽  
History Of ◽  
External Sources ◽  
Historical Reliability ◽  
The 19Th Century

The history of ancient Israel is best known to most people from the narratives in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. There, however, the name “Israel” covers a wide diversity of social and political entities over the course of many centuries. The first attestation of the name outside the Bible (on the Egyptian stela of Merneptah, c. 1208 bce) seems to refer at most to some ill-defined tribal federation. It then served for at least two different monarchies and later again as a social or religious title for the people who inhabited the Achaemenid (Persian) province of Yehud. The value of the biblical written records varies considerably with regard to historical content, and this must further be evaluated on the basis of internal literary analysis and in the light of evidence that comes from archaeological research, including in particular from epigraphic sources both from Israel itself and from many near and more distant nations. How to combine these differing forms of evidence has been the topic of lively and sometimes rancorous debate, which varies in its detail from one period to another, often depending on the extent to which external sources are immediately available. Solutions are not always available, but exploration into the nature of these problems and misunderstandings in the application of appropriate methods reveal where the problems lie and, in some cases, what are plausible solutions. Until the 19th century, the history of ancient Israel was, for most people, coterminous with the familiar narrative of the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible. No relevant external sources were known, and there was no reason to doubt its essential historical reliability, allowance made, of course, for those who could not accept the miraculous as historically factual. Archaeological and epigraphical discoveries over the last two centuries or so, together with the introduction more recently of new and different historical methods, have led to aspects of this topic being fiercely contested in current scholarship. Taking a general familiarity with the outline “story” for granted, the following analysis will present some of the major topics on which new data have become available and on which opinion remains divided.

The Bible and Israeli Identity

AJS Review ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anita Shapira
Keyword(s):  
Jewish People ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Holy Trinity ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Historical Continuity ◽  
The People ◽  
The Status ◽  
National Life ◽  
National Romanticism ◽  
Land Of Israel

ldquo;In our two thousand years of exile, we have not totally lost our creativity, but the sheen of the Bible dulled in exile, as did the sheen of the Jewish people. Only with the renewal of the homeland and Hebrew independence have we been able to reassess the Bible in its true, full light,” Israel's first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, wrote in 1953. This statement illustrates several core attitudes of the Jewish national renaissance movement towards the Bible. Ben-Gurion depicted a direct relationship between the state of the Jewish people and the status of the Bible: The two rose and fell together. His words are reminiscent of philosopher Martin Buber, Revisionist leader Zeءev Jabotinsky, and others, all of whom postulated a symbiotic relationship between the Jewish people and the land of Israel: “Just as the Jewish people need the land to live a full life, so the land needs the Jewish people to be complete” wrote Buber. The Bible, according to Ben-Gurion, was the third component of the Jewish “holy trinity” of people, land, and book. It served as testimony of Jewish national life in the land of Israel in former times, as a blueprint for reestablishing this way of life, as proof of a glorious past and promise for the future. It nurtured a national romanticism and both inspired and buttressed universal ideas; it was the bedrock of myth and epos, of earthliness and valor, and also of a system of ethics and faith that rein in and restrain muscle and brawn. It was paradoxical proof of both Jewish uniqueness and Jewish similitude, “like all the nations” (I Samuel 8:5); “materialism” and “spirituality”; historical continuity and historical severance between the people and the land.

Fr. Tadeusz Sroka. Dziennik izraelski czyli religijny wymiar ludzkiego losu (An Israeli diary, or the religious dimension of man's fate). Warsaw: Spokania. 1985.

2004 ◽  
pp. 411-415
Author(s):  
Stanisław Krajewski
Keyword(s):  
Capital Punishment ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Jewish History ◽  
Jewish People ◽  
Human Condition ◽  
Religious Dimension ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Political Events ◽  
The Holocaust ◽  
The World

This chapter looks at Fr. Tadeusz Sroka's An Israeli Diary, or the Religious Dimension of Man's Fate (1985). An Israeli Diary takes the form of excerpts from a diary written in the years 1970–71. Each entry opens with press news about political events in the Middle East, followed by pondering over the Bible or the fate of the Jewish people. There are hardly any data concerning contemporary Israel, except a few facts showing Arab intransigence and the hopeless situation of Israel ‘in human terms’. The author says very little about Jewish history and nothing about Judaism; the Talmud is not mentioned, even in places where it could have been useful, for example in reflecting on capital punishment. The author's perspective is metaphysical; he assumes that the election of Israel is eternal. This, incidentally, is the official standpoint of the Catholic Church today, confirmed more than once by John Paul II. As a result, Israel is seen as the centre of the world. Next, the fate of the Jews reveals the ultimate perspectives of the human condition: on one pole the Holocaust, on the other the re-creation of the state by visionaries, in defiance of reason. Israel is a sign for the world, and today's secular Israel is an appropriate sign for the contemporary materialistic world.

Egypt in the Old Testament

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Hays
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Direct Evidence ◽  
Direct Action ◽  
Buffer Zone ◽  
Military Aid ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Ancient Israel ◽  
Egyptian Religion ◽  
The Relationship

The relationship between Egypt and ancient Israel and Judah was far more complex than is often recognized. Egypt figures prominently in their national myths of origin as a way station for the patriarchs and as the “house of slaves” and starting point of the Exodus. Although no Exodus event can be confirmed from extrabiblical sources, its significance in the Bible suggests an historical kernel. The diverse existing traditions about Egypt in the texts of the Pentateuch and other early biblical writings, combined and written down at a later date, seem to reflect different experiences on the part of the groups that coalesced into Israel By the time of the monarchy, there is more direct evidence for Egyptian influence on Israelite culture, particularly in administrative affairs. It is also clear that Egyptian religion was practiced in the Levant at this time and would have been known in Israel and Judah. By the time of the divided monarchy, the historical picture comes into better focus. Relations between Egypt, Israel, and Judah were quite variable. Although Egypt’s New Kingdom empire in the Levant had ended, the region continued to be a useful trading outlet, and the pharaohs were not above raiding to assert their power. However, there are numerous examples of fugitives from the Levant finding refuge from their enemies in Egypt. In the interest of maintaining a buffer zone against the northern empires that encroached, Egypt and Kush gave military aid to Israel and Judah at times, through both direct action and supplies. The prophets had not forgotten Egypt’s role as an oppressor and frequently condemned it, as well as the tendency of Israelite and Judahite rulers to seek its help. But at times the prophets also envisioned peace with Egypt. There are a number of specific Egyptian texts that supply mutually illuminating points of comparison with biblical texts, including wisdom instructions, prayers, hymns, creation accounts, and autobiographies. These are indications of the extensive, ongoing, cultural interactions between Egypt and the cultures that produced the Old Testament.

The Message of Jesus and our Customary Theological Language: An Indian Approach to a New Language in Theology and Inculturation

Exchange ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 208-226
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Jewish People ◽  
Good News ◽  
Son Of God ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Paschal Mystery ◽  
Loving Parent ◽  
Asian Context ◽  
Theological Language ◽  
Gospel Message

AbstractThe Asian Context demands a new language in theology, as both the Bible and the past theological formulations are conditioned by their time, place and problems. The Paschal Mystery needs to be understood in the light of the picture of God given by Jesus as an unconditionally loving Parent. Jesus was killed because of the way he lived and spoke of God. Hence we need to look afresh at the sacrificial interpretation of Jesus' death. The title Christ is conditioned by the expectations of the Jewish people, and Jesus, the Son of God we honour, is more and other than what they expected. Past theological developments did not come from this picture of God, and from Jesus' outlook, his options and priorities; they were responses to the problems of their times, conditioned more by Platonic and Aristotelian philosophy, than by the good news that Jesus proclaimed. In the context of the 'Old Testament' of the peoples of these places, with Jesus' option for the poor, we need to announce the simple message of Jesus to let new theologies and liturgies emerge. Certain conditions are necessary for any true inculturation of the gospel message.

scholarly journals PENYEMBUHAN DALAM JEMAAT DITINJAU DARI SUDUT THEOLOGI

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 78-88
Author(s):  
Rencan Carisma Marbun
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Gospel Of John ◽  
Divine Healing ◽  
Mental Life ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The People ◽  
The World ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
General Provision

AbstractIn the Bible, we do not see the description of pain and healing as we haveencountered in the world of medicine. However, from a number of terms thebackground or meaning can be known. In the Old Testament, sickness is due to someone experiencing in their body something incomplete, or “badevents”. He does not experience normal bodily and mental life, perhaps due to infection, imbalance (harmony), or backward health, so he is called sick (holi). We see that healing is one of the responsibilities that humans can do for people who suffer from illness. The role of doctor and his remedybecomes and seems to indicate his responsibility towards the sufferingperson, who is deficient in reaffirming the people (cf. the term “hzk piel” in Jeremiah 30:21; 34: 4). In the New Testament, we do not find theimpression of illness arising as a sign of God's punishment, but instead inJesus’ ministry, He healed people, a sign of reestablishing the order of life with God (cf. Luke 4:18). Healing is generally an act or a way to heal the sick, and it can also be mentioned that healing is divine. Healing in Greek is called in the plural meaning the gifts of healing. The healing of miracles in the Gospel of John emphasizes the dynamic work of God and the sign (Greek: semeia) of His power. Disease is not only a result of sin, but also shows God’s work (9:3). So it is clear that healing miracles is not only valid individually, locally, or temporarily physical meaning, but also in general, provision and spiritual.Keywords: Healing, Congregation

scholarly journals Rebuilding the community and the church post-COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pieter Verster
Keyword(s):  
Jewish History ◽  
Jewish People ◽  
Community Life ◽  
Life And Death ◽  
The People ◽  
Fig Tree ◽  
The Temple ◽  
The Church

The catastrophic destructions of the Temple in Jewish history led to different reactions. Although they left a serious mark on all of Israel’s future endeavours and the prophets warned the people of the coming disasters, they also proclaimed hope, even after the destruction. Some Jews reacted to it by forming close-knit communities and their commitment to the Torah. It remained a serious challenge to their faith and community life. They carefully studied the prophets to understand the implications of the destructions of the temples. Christians explained that Jesus had to be honoured as Lord after the destruction of the Temple. In the Gospels, Jesus foretold the terrible situation of the demise of the Temple and that his body would be the new Temple. New life is possible in Him and in the coming of the Kingdom. Some exegetes link the cursing of the fig tree by Jesus to the destruction of the temple, but others see it as a general warning to the Jewish people to honour God. It is also very important that the resurrection of Jesus is regarded as the rebuilding of the new temple in his body. After the COVID-19 pandemic, believers as servants of the Lord have to build up the church and empower the community again. This should be done in respect of Jesus the crucified and resurrected Lord. The church has a huge task in this regard, not only by proclaiming Jesus as our only comfort in life and death, but also in the commitment to the building up of the community post-Covid-19. This should be accomplished by humbling and fully following Jesus.

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