Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 The ‘Hebrew slave’: comments on the slave law, Exodus 21:2-11
- 2 The manumission of slaves – the fallow year – the Sabbatical Year – the Jubilee Year
- 3 Andurārum and Mišarum: comments on the problem of social edicts and their application in the ancient Near East
- 4 The Greek ‘amphictyony’: could it be a prototype for Israelite society in the Period of the Judges?
- 5 The chronology in the story of the Flood
- 6 ‘Hebrew’ as a national name for Israel
- 7 Rachel and Leah: on the survival of outdated paradigms in the study of the origin of Israel
- 8 The Old Testament: a Hellenistic book?
- 9 Power and social organization: some misunderstandings and some proposals, or is it all a question of patrons and clients?
- 10 Is it still possible to write a history of ancient Israel?
- 11 Is it still possible to speak about an ‘Israelite religion’? From the perspective of a historian
- 12 Kings and clients: on loyalty between the ruler and the ruled in ancient ‘Israel’
- 13 Justice in western Asia in antiquity, or why no laws were needed!
- 14 From patronage society to patronage society
- 15 Are we Europeans really good readers of biblical texts and interpreters of biblical history?
- 16 History writing in the ancient Near East and Greece
- 17 Good and bad in history: the Greek connection
- 18 On the problems of reconstructing pre-Hellenistic Israelite (Palestinian) history
- 19 How does one date an expression of mental history? The Old Testament and Hellenism
- 20 Chronology and archives: when does the history of Israel and Judah begin?
- 21 ‘Because they have cast away the law of the Lord of Hosts’, or ‘We and the rest of the world’: the authors who ‘wrote’ the Old Testament
- Index of biblical references
- Index of authors
9 - Power and social organization: some misunderstandings and some proposals, or is it all a question of patrons and clients?
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 The ‘Hebrew slave’: comments on the slave law, Exodus 21:2-11
- 2 The manumission of slaves – the fallow year – the Sabbatical Year – the Jubilee Year
- 3 Andurārum and Mišarum: comments on the problem of social edicts and their application in the ancient Near East
- 4 The Greek ‘amphictyony’: could it be a prototype for Israelite society in the Period of the Judges?
- 5 The chronology in the story of the Flood
- 6 ‘Hebrew’ as a national name for Israel
- 7 Rachel and Leah: on the survival of outdated paradigms in the study of the origin of Israel
- 8 The Old Testament: a Hellenistic book?
- 9 Power and social organization: some misunderstandings and some proposals, or is it all a question of patrons and clients?
- 10 Is it still possible to write a history of ancient Israel?
- 11 Is it still possible to speak about an ‘Israelite religion’? From the perspective of a historian
- 12 Kings and clients: on loyalty between the ruler and the ruled in ancient ‘Israel’
- 13 Justice in western Asia in antiquity, or why no laws were needed!
- 14 From patronage society to patronage society
- 15 Are we Europeans really good readers of biblical texts and interpreters of biblical history?
- 16 History writing in the ancient Near East and Greece
- 17 Good and bad in history: the Greek connection
- 18 On the problems of reconstructing pre-Hellenistic Israelite (Palestinian) history
- 19 How does one date an expression of mental history? The Old Testament and Hellenism
- 20 Chronology and archives: when does the history of Israel and Judah begin?
- 21 ‘Because they have cast away the law of the Lord of Hosts’, or ‘We and the rest of the world’: the authors who ‘wrote’ the Old Testament
- Index of biblical references
- Index of authors
Summary
1994
Let me start this lecture by quoting the admonition of God in Exodus 23:20–33 extensively:
And now I am sending an angel before you to guard you on your way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. / Heed him and listen to his voice. Do not defy him; he will not pardon your rebelliousness, for my authority rests in him. / If you will only listen to his voice and do all I tell you, then I shall be an enemy to your enemies, and I shall harass those who harass you. / My angel will go before you and bring you the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites and I will make an end of them. / You are not to bow down to their gods; you are not to worship them or observe their rites. Rather, you must tear down all their images and smash their sacred pillars. / You are to worship the Lord your God and he will bless your bread and your water. I shall take away all sickness out of your mist. / No woman will miscarry or be barren in your land. I shall grant you a full span of life. / I shall send terror of me ahead of you and throw into panic every people you find in your path. I shall make all your enemies turn their backs toward you. […]
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Biblical Studies and the Failure of HistoryChanging Perspectives, pp. 158 - 168Publisher: Acumen PublishingPrint publication year: 2013