Social Criticism and Social Vision in Ancient Israel [Paperback]

Containing essays originally published in Festschriften—many of which were very difficult to obtain—this collection of essays, Social Criticism and Social Vision in Ancient Israel, forwards buried nuggets of interpretive wisdom and exegetical insight from distinguished Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann.

While this socially oriented collection of essays ranges across various parts of the scriptural canon, at its center is Brueggemann's understanding of the prophetic task—an understanding that is reflected in the title of the collection. Brueggemann suggests that it is "evident that the themes of 'judgment and hope' dominate the prophetic vision." The varied range of the essays suggests that Israel's imagination over the centuries was endlessly shaped by these two themes and, that these are themes urgent in our present social circumstances. For seminarians, scholars, pastors, and teachers alike, Social Criticism and Social Vision in Ancient Israel is a powerful and compelling resource for biblical studies.

Contents include:

1. Social Criticism and Social Vision in the Deuteronomic Formula of the Judges

2. A Poem of Summons (Isa 55:1-3), a Narrative of Resistance (Dan 1:1-21)

3. Psalms 9-10: A Counter to Conventional Social Reality

4. Prophetic Imagination toward Social Flourishing

5. A Royal Miracle and Its Nachleben

6. The Living Afterlife of a Dead Prophet: Words That Keep Speaking

7. The Tearing of the Curtain: Matthew 27:51

8. Five Strong Rereadings of the Book of Isaiah