Social Criticism and Social Vision in Ancient Israel

Contents 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 These buried nuggets of interpretive wisdom from earlier years by a scholar whose intellectual career could only be described as unique display the arresting combination of exegetical insight hermeneutical energy and ethical intensity long welcomed by students pastors and teachers alike. --Robert B. Coote Old Testament Emeritus San Francisco Theological Seminary Brueggemanns production consistently vouches for its expansiveness and depth. Few are modern scholars with his ability to address both scholars and laypeople. This socially oriented book once more demonstrates the broadness of his horizon and the clarity of his visionary understanding. The reader responds with delight and inspiration. Wipf and Stock is to be congratulated for offering us this insightful contribution by a much-loved exegete and thinker. --Andre LaCocque Emeritus Professor of Hebrew Scriptures Chicago Theological Seminary; author of the trilogy on the early Yahwist (Cascade Books) One of todays most prolific and wide-ranging critics of the Hebrew Bible Walter Brueggemann assembles here eight studies of diverse biblical texts and traditions. They all reflect his consistent interest in sociological analysis and they share in common a focus on the poignant need for justice in the face of power imbalances and social economic and political oppression. A powerful and compelling resource for biblical studies. --Douglas A. Knight Drucilla Moore Buffington Professor of Hebrew Bible Emeritus Vanderbilt University Walter Brueggemann is William Marcellus McPheeters Professor of Old Testament Emeritus at Columbia Theological Seminary Decatur Georgia. He is past President of the Society of Biblical Literature and the author of several books from Cascade Books including: A Pathway of Interpretation David and His Theologian Divine Presence amid Violence Praying the Psalms (2nd ed.) and The Role of Old Testament Theology in Old Testament Interpretation.