The land is mine : Sephardi Jews and Bible commentary in the Renaissance / Andrew D. Berns.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Berns, Andrew D., 1980- author.

Series:

Jewish culture and contexts.

Jewish culture and contexts

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Jews--Iberian Peninsula--History--15th century.

Jews.

Jews--Iberian Peninsula--History--16th century.

Land use--Iberian Peninsula--History--15th century.

Land use.

Land use--Iberian Peninsula--History--16th century.

Land use--Biblical teaching.

Land use in the Bible.

Bible--Criticism, interpretation, etc--Iberian Peninsula--History--15th century.

Bible.

Bible--Criticism, interpretation, etc--Iberian Peninsula--History--16th century.

Bible. Old Testament--Commentaries--History and criticism.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (216 pages).

Place of Publication:

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania : University of Pennsylvania Press, [2022]

Summary:

"After their expulsion from Spain in 1492, Sephardi Jews such as Isaac Abravanel, Abraham Saba, and Isaac Arama wrote biblical commentaries that stressed the significance of land. They interpreted Judaism as a tradition whose best expression and ultimate fulfillment took place away from cities and in rural settings. Iberian-Jewish authors rooted their moral teachings in an ethical treatment of the natural world, elucidating ancient agricultural laws and scrutinizing the physical context and built environments of Bible stories. The Land Is Mine asks what inspired this and suggests that the answer lies not in timeless exegetical or theological trends, but in the material realities of late medieval and early modern Iberia, during a period of drastic changes in land use. The book uses a highly traditional source base in a decidedly untraditional way. In Jewish Studies, Andrew D. Berns observes, biblical commentary is typically studied as an intramural activity. Though scholars have conceded that Jewish scriptural exegesis welcomes material and ideas from other fields and traditions, little to no work treats premodern Hebrew Bible commentary as also drawing upon Classical and Christian sources as well as contemporary writings on land management and political economy. Abravanel, Saba, and Arama were engaged with questions that had broad resonance during their lives: the proper way to treat the land, the best occupations to pursue, and the ideal setting for human community. Scriptural commentary was the forum in which they addressed these problems and posed solutions to them."-- Provided by publisher.

Based on the biblical commentaries of rabbis and writers who were exiled from Spain in 1492, The Land Is Mine presents late medieval and early modern Iberian Jewish intellectuals as deeply concerned with questions about human relationships to land.

Contents:

Introduction

Life in the City

Life in the Country

“The Root of the Entire Torah”

Pastoralists and Agriculturalists at Odds

Greed and the Land

Epilogue.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

Other Format:

Print version: Berns, Andrew D. The Land Is Mine

ISBN:

9780812298314

0812298314

OCLC:

1294148328