Scripture, Culture, and Agriculture: An Agrarian Reading of the Bible

255 Pages·2008·1.71 MB·English

by  Ellen F. Davis

scripture,culture,andagriculture
Thisbookexaminesthetheologyandethicsoflanduse,especiallythepractices
of modern industrialized agriculture, in light of critical biblical exegesis. Nine
interrelated essays explore the biblical writers’ pervasive concern for the care
of arable land against the background of the geography, social structures, and
religiousthoughtofancientIsrael.Thisapproachconsistentlybringsoutneglected
aspectsoftexts,bothpoetryandprose,thatarecentraltoJewishandChristian
traditions.Ratherthanseekingsolutionsfromthepast,EllenF.Daviscreatesa
conversationbetweenancienttextsandcontemporaryagrarianwriters;thusshe
provides a fresh perspective from which to view the destructive practices and
assumptionsthatnowdominatetheglobalfoodeconomy.Thebiblicalexegesisis
wide-rangingandsophisticated;thelanguageisliterateandaccessibletoabroad
audience.
EllenF.DavisisProfessorofBibleandPracticalTheologyatDukeDivinitySchool.
ShehaspreviouslytaughtatUnionTheologicalSeminary,YaleDivinitySchool,
andVirginiaTheologicalSeminary.Sheistheauthorofeightbooks,including
WondrousDepth:OldTestamentPreaching(2005)andGettingInvolvedwithGod
(2001).AlayEpiscopalian,DavisisamemberoftheArchbishopofCanterbury’s
BuildingBridgesSeminar.

Scripture, Culture, and Agriculture
An Agrarian Reading of the Bible
.
ELLEN F DAVIS
DukeDivinitySchool
ForewordbyWendellBerry
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo
Cambridge University Press
The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK
Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York
www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521518345
© Ellen F. Davis 2009
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the
provision of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part
may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published in print format 2008
ISBN-13 978-0-511-43707-6 eBook (EBL)
ISBN-13 978-0-521-51834-5 hardback
Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy
of urls for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication,
and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain,
accurate or appropriate.
F
orDwayne,Ellie,Raphael,Luca,Ezra,Isaac,Paiter,andNicolaas,
withthanksandthanksgiving.
(cid:2)

Contents
ForewordbyWendellBerry pageix
Acknowledgments xv
Abbreviations xvii
Introduction 1
1. RuptureandRe-membering 8
2. ReadingtheBibleThroughAgrarianEyes 21
3. SeeingwithGod:Israel’sPoemofCreation 42
4. LeavingEgyptBehind:EmbracingtheWildernessEconomy 66
5. AWholesomeMateriality:ReadingLeviticus 80
6. CovenantalEconomics:TheBiblicalCaseforaLocalEconomy 101
7. RunningonPoetry:TheAgrarianProphets 120
8. WisdomorSloth?TheCharacterofWork 139
9. TheFaithfulCity 155
Postscript 179
Notes 181
ScriptureIndex 223
Index 231
vii

Foreword
ThisbookwillbewelcomedgladlybyreadersinterestedintheBible’ssense
ofoureconomiclifeandourecologicalresponsibilities.Readingitisaplea-
sure and a help. Ellen Davis’s premise is that “the message of the earliest
propheticwritersoftheBiblewasdistinctly‘agrarian.’”Hersupportingargu-
mentislearned,perceptive,meticulouslydetailed,and,tomymind,utterly
convincing.ProfessorDavis,moreover,offersherbookasapartofthepresent
and ongoing “agrarian conversation” among some writers, some scientists,
andthemultitudeofpatrioticcitizensnowworkingtobuildorrebuildlocal
economiesoffoodandfarming.
The human situation, as understood by both biblical agrarians and con-
temporary ones, is about as follows. We are, howbeit only in part, earthly
creatures. We have been given the earth to live, not on, but with and from,
andonlyontheconditionthatwecareproperlyforit.Wedidnotmakeit,
andweknowlittleaboutit.Infact,wedon’t,andwillnever,knowenough
aboutittomakeoursurvivalsureorourlivescarefree.Ourrelationtoour
landwillalwaysremain,toasignificantextent,mysterious.Therefore,ouruse
ofitmustbedeterminedmorebyreverenceandhumility,bylocalmemory
and affection, than by the knowledge that we now call “objective” or “sci-
entific.” Above all, we must not damage it permanently or compromise its
naturalmeansofsustainingitself.Thebestfarmershavealwaysacceptedthis
situationasagiven,andtheyhavehonoredtheissuesofproprietyandscale
thatiturgentlyraises.
Byrecognizingourinescapabledependenceandourfinallyinsurmountable
ignorance,weopenthesubjectofagriculture(as,Ithink,allothersubjects)
to questions of every kind. This book seems to have begun with Professor
Davis’srealizationthat
food production entails at every stage judgments and practices that bear
directly onthehealthoftheearthandlivingcreatures,ontheemotional,
ix