Contending for Justice: Ideologies and Theologies of Social Justice in the Old Testament

298 Pages·2009·29.04 MB·English

by  Walter Houston

CONTENDING FOR JUSTICE
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CON TEND IN G FOR JUSTICE
Ideologies and Theologies of Social Justice
in the Old Testament
WALTER J. HOUSTON
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t&t Clark
Published by T&T Clark
A Continuum imprint
The Tower Building 80 Maiden Lane
11 York Road Suite 704
London SEI 7NX New York, NY 10038
www. land tclark .com
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission
in writing from the publishers.
Copyright © Walter J. Houston 2006
First published in hardback in 2006
Reprinted 2007
Paperback edition 2008
Walter J. Houston has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents
Act. 1988, to be identified as the Author of this work.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 10: 0-567-04373-8 (hardback)
10: 0-567-03354-6 (paperback)
ISBN 13: 978-0-567-04373-3 (hardback)
13: 978-0-567-03354-3 (paperback)
Typeset by RefineCatch Ltd, Bungay. Suffolk
Printed on acid-free paper in Great Britain by MPG Books Ltd., Bodmin, Cornwall
To Fleur
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Contents
Preface to the Revised Edition xi
Preface to the First Edition xiii
A cknowledgements xvii
Abbreviations xix
Chapter 1 1
Texts and Contexts I
1. Introduction 1
1 .a. The Author’s Context 1
I .b. Studies of Social Justice in the Old Testament 3
1 .c. Biblical Justice in Christian Tradition and Today 4
1 .d. The Hermeneutical Problem 5
2. Λ Proposal for Our Method 10
3. Selecting the Objects of Study 16
Chapter 2 18
The Ancient Social Context 18
1. Explaining the Evidence 18
2. Rent Capitalism 26
3. ‘Ancient* Class Society 31
4. The Tributary State 35
5. The Patronage System 44
6. Conclusion 48
Chapter 3 52
Oppression and the Prophets 52
1. Interpreting the Prophets 52
2. Amos 58
2.a. The Message of the Book of Amos 58
2.b. Perceiving Oppression in Amos 60
2.b.l. The Victims 61
2.b.2. The Oppressors 64
2.b.3. The Acts of Oppression 65
vin Contents
2.b.4. The Law and the Prophet
2.c. The Paradox of Amos
3. Surveying the Prophets
4. Micah
5. Isaiah
6. Jeremiah
7. Ezekiel
8. Oppression in the Prophets
8.a. The Victims
8.b. The Oppressors
8.c. The Acts of Oppression
8.C.I. Bloodshed
8.C.2. Violence and Coercion
8.C.3. Extortion, Unjust Gain
8.C.4. Loss of Freedom
8.C.5. Perversion of Right
8.C.6. Indulgence at the Expense of the Poor
9. The Justice of YHWH
10. Conclusions
Chapter 4
Justice and the Patron
1. Introduction
2. Ezekiel 18
3. Exodus 22.21 (Heb. 20)-23.12
4. Proverbs
5. Job
6. The Virtue of Justice
Chapter 5
Justice and the K ing
1. Introduction
2. Criticism of Monarchy?
3. The Royal Ideology
4. Psalm 72 and the Ideology of Royal Justice
5. The Theme of Social Justice in the Royal Traditions
6. Expecting the Just King
Chapter 6
Justice and the People
1. Visions of Justice in the Prophets
l.a. Introduction
1 .b. Visions of Justice in Isaiah
1 .c. Justice in the Vision of Ezekiel
Contents ix
1 .d. A Vision of Justice in Zephaniah 167
I.e. Interpreting Utopia 168
2. The Just Society in the Torah 169
2.a. The Torah as a Whole 169
2.b. Deuteronomy 174
2.b. 1. The Context of Composition 174
2.b.2. General Provisions 179
2.b.3. The Third-year Tithe 180
2.b.4. The Release of Debts 180
2.b.5. The Release of Slaves 186
2.b.6. Deuteronomy. Class and Community 188
2.c. The Law of Jubilee in the Holiness Code 190
Chapter 7 204
The God of Justice 204
1. Introduction 204
2. Impartial and Partial Justice 205
3. Social Affinities 214
3.a. Patronage 214
3.b. Kingship 215
3.c. Synthesis 218
4. Ideological Functions 219
5. Reflections for Today 222
Chapter 8 227
The O ld Testament: A R esource in Contending For Justice? 227
1. Old Testament Justice in Today’s World 227
2. Embodying the Justice of God 230
Bibliography 232
Index of References 255
Index of Semitic Words 265
Index of Authors 267
Subject Index 271