Social Justice in the Ancient Near East and the People of the Bible

1989 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 126
Author(s):  
J. A. Emerton ◽  
L. Epsztein
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Near East ◽  
Ancient Near East ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The People

Prophets in the Hebrew Bible

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jack R. Lundbom
Keyword(s):  
18Th Century ◽  
Near East ◽  
Ancient World ◽  
Ancient Near East ◽  
Jewish Tradition ◽  
Near Eastern ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The People ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Hebrew Prophets

“Prophets” in the ancient world were individuals said to possess an intimate association with God or the gods, and conducted the business of transmitting messages between the divine and earthly realms. They spoke on behalf of God or the gods, and on occasion solicited requests from the deity or brought to the deity requests of others. The discovery of texts from the ancient Near East in the 19th and early 20th centuries has given us a fuller picture of prophets and prophetic activity in the ancient world, adding considerably to reports of prophets serving other gods in the Bible and corroborating details about prophets in the Judeo-Christian tradition. Two collections are important: (1) letters from the 18th-century Mari written during the reigns of Yasmaḫ-Addu (c. 1792–1775) and Zimri-Lim (c. 1774–1760); and (2) the 7th-century annals of Assyrian kings Esarhaddon (680–669) and Assurbanipal (668–627). Prophecies at Mari are favorable for the most part, and censures of the king, when they occur, are not harsh. Many simply remind the king of some neglect or give him some warning. One tells the king to practice righteousness and justice for anyone who has been wronged. None censures the people of Mari as biblical prophecies do the people of Israel. Assyrian oracles are largely oracles of peace and wellbeing, typically giving assurance to the king about matters of succession and success in defeating enemies. If prophets admonish the king, it is a mild rebuke about the king ignoring a prior oracle or not having provided food at the temple. According to the Bible, Israel’s prophetic movement began with Samuel, and it arose at the time when people asked for a king. Prophets appear all throughout the monarchy and into the postexilic period, when Jewish tradition believed prophecy had ceased. Yet, prophets reappear in the New Testament and early church: Anna the prophetess, John the Baptist, Jesus, and others. Paul allows prophets to speak in the churches, ranking them second only to apostles. Hebrew prophets give messages much like those of other ancient Near Eastern prophets, but what makes them different is that they announce considerably more judgment—sometimes very harsh judgment—on Israel’s monarchs, leading citizens, and the nation itself. Israel’s religion had its distinctives. Yahweh was bound to the nation by a covenant containing law that had to be obeyed. Prophets in Israel were therefore much preoccupied with indicting and judging kings, priests, other prophets, and an entire people for covenant disobedience. Also, in Israel the lawgiver was Yahweh, not the king. In Mari, as elsewhere in the ancient Near East, the king was lawgiver. Deuteronomy contains tests for true and false prophets, to which prophets themselves add other disingenuine marks regarding their contemporaneous prophetic colleagues. Hebrew prophets from the time of Amos onward speak in poetry and are skilled in rhetoric, using an array of tropes and knowing how to argue. Their discourse also contains an abundance of humor and drama. Speaking is supplemented with symbolic action, and in some cases the prophets themselves became the symbol.

scholarly journals Re-Examining Israelite Patriarchy through Marriage Laws of Deuteronomy

Spectrum ◽  
2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyun-Joo Lim
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equality ◽  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Near East ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Ancient Near East ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The People ◽  
The Common ◽  
Marriage Laws ◽  
Extensive List

The book of Deuteronomy in the Hebrew Bible contains an extensive list of laws, from cultic regulations tolaws addressing everyday affairs. As a legal collection, it can be observed as a symbol of practices and valuesof the ancient Israelites (the people by and for whom the Hebrew Bible was formed). Many prescriptionsin the Bible are perplexing and controversial according to our modern Western standards, especially thoseregarding gender equality in marital provisions. This essay examines the marriage laws of Deuteronomywithin its specific geographical, cultural, and historical context (the ancient Near East) including comparisonsto various law codes of nearby regional and other Biblical traditions, to argue that perspectives found inDeuteronomy are relatively progressive in protecting women’s rights. I challenge the common and oftenunquestioned assumption amongst scholars, religious followers and general readers that the Bible is sexistand misogynistic. More broadly, I advocate for the need to assess historical and religious works on gender intheir appropriate context, in order to obtain a more complex and earnest understanding of ancient traditions.1

scholarly journals What is it to be the people of God in the Ancient Near East? A recension of SandyJo Rogers’ PhD thesis „A Fresh Start Comes from God: Theological, Historical, and Sociological Background of the Clean-Slate Acts of Leviticus 25 and Deuteronomy 15“

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 27
Author(s):  
Anne-Coralie Bonnaire
Keyword(s):  
Near East ◽  
Ancient Near East ◽  
People Of God ◽  
Fresh Start ◽  
The People ◽  
Phd Thesis

Review  of SandyJo Rogers’ PhD thesis „A Fresh Start Comes from God: Theological, Historical, and Sociological Background of the Clean-Slate Acts of Leviticus 25 and Deuteronomy 15“

The Ultimate Commitment

2021 ◽  
pp. 437-446
Author(s):  
Herbert B. Huffmon
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Near East ◽  
Ancient Near East ◽  
International Treaties ◽  
Central Importance ◽  
New Covenant ◽  
The People ◽  
The Dead ◽  
Book Of The Dead

In the ancient Near East, the “heart” is the center of memory and decision-making, and in Mesopotamian extispicy, the “liver” is the “tablet of the gods” on which the gods inscribe a “true verdict,” providing basic guidance for the people. In international treaties, and especially in Assyrian treaties, emphasis is placed on the importance of “full-hearted” loyalty to the suzerain, going beyond mere “lip service.” The Egyptian “Book of the Dead” likewise emphasizes the central importance of the true testimony of the heart as decisive in the dangerous transit to the afterlife, to becoming an Osiris. These sources combine to emphasize the ultimate commitment expressed by the reference in Jeremiah 31:33 to God’s forthcoming “new covenant” which God will write on the hearts of the people. This is, as it were, a “programming” which transforms them in such a way that they will, by inner necessity, be a loyal people, submitting themselves to God’s guidance and protection.

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