Theology of the Old Testament. Testimony, Dispute, Advocacy

800 Pages·2016·25.79 MB·English

by  Walter Brueggemann

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THEOLOGY
OF THE
OLD
TESTAMENT
WITH CD-ROM
Testimony, Dispute, Advocacy
WALTER
BRUEGGEMANN
Fortress Press
Minneapolis
For Mary
THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, WITH CD-ROM
Testimony, Dispute, Advocacy
Copyright © 1997 Augsburg Fortress. CD-ROM materials copyright © 2005 Augs­
burg Fortress. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical articles or
reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior writ­
ten permission from the publisher. Write to: Permissions, Augsburg Fortress, 426 S.
Fifth St., Box 1209, Minneapolis, MN 55440.
Scripture quotations from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible are copyright
© 1946, 1952, 1971 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council
of the Churches of Christ in the USA and are used by permission.
Scripture quotations from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible are copy­
right © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the
Churches of Christ in the USA and are used by permission.
Paperback edition, with CD-ROM, ISBN 0-8006-3765-8
Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:
Brueggemann, Walter.
Theology of the Old Testament: testimony, dispute, advocacy /
Walter Brueggemann.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
ISBN 0-8006-3087-4 (alk. Paper)
1. Bible. O.T.—Theology. I. Title.
BS1192.5.B79 1997
221.6'01—dc21
97-21888
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of Ameri­
can National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed
Library Materials, ANSI Z329.48-1984
Manufactured in the U.S.A.
Summary of Contents
PREFACE TO THE CD-ROM EDITION xiii
PREFACE XV
ABBREVIATIONS XIX
1. RETROSPECT i: FROM THE BEGINNING
TO THE END OF A GENERATIV E PERIOD
2. RETROSPECT 2: THE CONTEMPORARY SITUATION 61
Parti
ISRAEL'S CORE TESTIMONY
3. ISRAEL'S PRACTICE OF TESTIMONY 117
4. TESTIMONY IN VERBAL SENTENCES 145
5. ADJECTIVES: YAHWEH WITH CHARACTERISTIC MARKINGS 213
6. NOUNS: YAHWEH AS CONSTANT 229
7. YAHWEH FULLY UTTERED 267
Part II
ISRAEL'S COUNTERTESTIMONY
8. CROSS-EXAMINING ISRAEL'S CORE TESTIMONY 317
9. THE HIDDENNESS OF YAHWEH 333
10. AMBIGUITY AND THE CHARACTER OF YAHWEH 359
11. YAHWEH AND NEGATIVITY 373
12. MAINTAINING THE TENSION 400
Part III
ISRAEL'S UNSOLICITED TESTIMONY
13. ISRAEL'S UNSOLICITED TESTIMONY 407
14. ISRAEL AS YAHWEH'S PARTNER 413
vi Summary of Contents
15. THE HUMAN PERSON AS YAHWEH'S PARTNER 450
16. THE NATIONS AS YAHWEH'S PARTNER 492
17. CREATION AS YAHWEH'S PARTNER 528
18. THE DRAMA OF PARTNERSHIP WITH YAHWEH 552
Part IV
ISRAEL'S EMBODIED TESTIMONY
ig. MEDIATING THE PRESENCE OF YAHWEH 567
20. THE TORAH AS MEDIATOR 578
21. THE KING AS MEDIATOR 60 0
22. THE PROPHET AS MEDIATOR 622
23. THE CULT AS MEDIATOR 650
24. THE SAGE AS MEDIATOR 680
25. MODES OF MEDIATION AND LIF E WITH YAHWEH 695
PartV
PROSPECTS FOR THEOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION
26. INTERPRETATION IN A PLURALISTIC CONTEXT 707
27. THE CONSTITUTIVE POWER OF ISRAEL'S TESTIMONY 721
28. SOME PERVASIVE ISSUES 726
29. MOVING TOWARD TRUE SPEECH 743
INDEX OF SCRIPTURAL REFERENCES 751
INDEX OF NAMES 771
Contents
PREFACE TO THE CD-ROM EDITION XIII
PREFACE XV
ABBREVIATIONS XIX
RETROSPECT i: FROM THE BEGINNING
TO THE END OF A GENERATIVE PERIOD i
Beginnings in the Reformation 1
The Critical Enterprise 6
The Recovery of Theological Interpretation 15
An Ending to a Generative Period 42
RETROSPECT 2: THE CONTEMPORARY SITUATION 61
The Postmodern Interpretive Situation 61
Centrist Enterprises 89
Efforts at the Margin 98
Four Insistent Questions 102
Parti
ISRAEL'S CORE TESTIMONY
ISRAEL'S PRACTICE OF TESTIMONY 117
Testimony and Trial Metaphor 120
Normative Shape of Israel's Utterance 122
Normative Substance of Israel's Utterance 126
Summary 144
TESTIMONY IN VERBAL SENTENCES 145
Yahweh, the God Who Creates 145
Yahweh, the God Who Makes Promises 164
Yahweh, the God Who Delivers 173
Yahweh, the God Who Commands 181
Yahweh, the God Who Leads 201
An Overview of Verbal Testimony 205
Vll
viii Contents
5. ADJECTIVES: YAHWEH WITH CHARACTERISTIC MARKINGS
213
Generalizing Adjectives from Specific Verbal Sentences 213
Exodus 34:6-7: A Credo of Adjectives 215
Representative Uses of the Adjectival Formula 218
Four Provisional Conclusions 224
6. NOUNS: YAHWEH AS CONSTAN T 229
The Testimony of Metaphors 230
Metaphors of Governance 233
Metaphors of Sustenance 250
Overview of Noun Testimony 261
7. YAHWEH FULLY UTTERED 267
The Disjunctive Rendering of Yahweh 268
Responses to the Disjunctive Rendering of Yahweh 275
The Density of Nouns of Sustenance 277
A Proximate Resolution in Righteousness 283
Summary Observations 303
Part II
ISRAEL'S COUNTERTESTIMONY
8. CROSS-EXAMINING ISRAEL'S CORE TESTIMONY 317
Hiddenness, Ambiguity, Negativity 318
Israel's Questions to Yahweh 319
The Context of Cross-Examination 325
9. THE HIDDENNESS OF YAHWEH 333
The Hidden Rule of Yahweh 333
Yahweh's Governance: Personification and Providence 342
Summary 357
10. AMBIGUITY AND THE CHARACTER OF YAHWEH 359
Does Yahweh Abuse? 359
Does Yahweh Contradict? 362
Is Yahweh Unreliable? 367
11. YAHWEH AND NEGATIVITY 373
Covenantal Sanctions 373
Theodicy in the Old Testament 385
12. MAINTAINING THE TENSION 400
Contents ix
Part III
ISRAEL'S UNSOLICITED TESTIMONY
13. ISRAEL'S UNSOLICITED TESTIMONY 407
Possible Motives for Unsolicited Testimony 407
Yahweh's Partners 408
14. ISRAEL AS YAHWEH'S PARTNER 413
Yahweh's Originary Love for Israel 414
Israel's Covenantal Obligation 417
Israel Recalcitrant and Scattered 434
Yahweh's Fresh Turn toward Israel 440
Israel Regathered in Obedience 442
Israel's Narrative Life in Four Texts 447
Israel and, Belatedly, the Church 449
15. THE HUMAN PERSO N AS YAHWEH'S PARTNER 450
Covenantal Notions of Personhood 451
Human Persons Commensurate to Yahweh's Sovereignty
and Mercy 454
Characteristic Markings of Covenantal Humanness 459
Covenantal Existence as Alternative Humanness 485
Covenantal Humanness in Two Texts 487
16. THE NATIONS AS YAHWEH'S PARTNER 492
The Large Horizon of Yahweh's Governance 492
The Nations vis-a-vis Israel 495
Yahweh and the Superpowers 502
The Possibility of Legitimate Power in the World of Yahweh 518
17. CREATION AS YAHWEH'S PARTNER 528
A World Blessed and Fruitful 528
Creation in Jeopardy 534
The World beyond Nullification 543
Creation at Yahweh's Behest 549
18. THE DRAMA OF PARTNERSHIP WITH YAHWEH 552
Recurring Pattern in the Partners 552
Israel's Articulation of Yahweh 556
Materials for a Metanarrative 558