Ethnicity and identity in ancient Israel : prolegomena to the study of ethnic sentiments and their expression in the Hebrew Bible / Kenton L. Sparks.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sparks, Kenton L.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Bible. Old Testament--Social scientific criticism.

Bible.

Ethnicity in the Bible.

Jews--Identity--History.

Jews.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (360 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Winona Lake, Ind. : Eisenbrauns, 1998.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

From the introduction:"When we speak of ethnicity, we bring into view a particular kind of sentiment about group identity wherein groups of individuals view themselves as being alike by virtue of their common ancestry. It is something of a truism to point out that ethnicity has played an important role in the history of Judaism, both in the postbiblical era and prior to it.The reason for this interest is twofold. First, in virtually every discipline of the humanities, there seems to be a general unhappiness with the superficial way that scholars have handled the issues of culture and identity. More specifically, with respect to ancient Israel, recent biblical scholarly activity-both literary and historical-has raised serious doubts about the supposed origins and antiquity of Israelite ethnicity."With this agenda in view, Kent Sparks provides a summary of current studies in ethnicity and ethnic identity, then moves to a discussion of Israel's ancient Near Eastern context and expressions of ethnic identity in the written remains from surrounding nations. Turning next to ancient Israel itself, he examines texts generally considered early in Israel's history for information relevant to Israel's ethnic identity. Sparks then investigates the witness of the prophets and the historical materials relating to the Judean monarchy and the exilic period, looking for expressions of ethnic sentiment. His research will likely prove to be the foundation on which future study of the topic will be built.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Abbreviations

Preface

1. Introduction

2. Ethnicity and Identity in Israel’s Ancient Context

3. Merneptah’s Stele and Deborah’s Song

4. Ethnicity and Identity in the Assyrian Period

5. Ethnicity and Identity in the Judean Monarchy

6. Ethnicity and Identity in the Exilic Period

7. Summary and Conclusions

Index of Authors

Index of Scripture

Notes:

Rev. ed. of the author's thesis (University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, 1996).

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

ISBN:

9781575065168

1575065169

OCLC:

747412010