Conceiving a Nation: The Development of Political Discourse in the Hebrew Bible

Morgenstern, Mira

ISBN 10: 0271034734 / ISBN 13: 9780271034737

Published by Penn State University Press, 2009

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Bibliographic Details

• Title: Conceiving a Nation: The Development of Political Discourse in the Hebrew Bible
• Publisher: Penn State University Press
• Publication Date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0271034734
• ISBN 13: 9780271034737
• Binding: hardcover
• Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

Current conflicts in both national and international arenas have undermined the natural, organic concept of nationhood as conventionally espoused in the nineteenth century. Conceiving a Nation argues that the modern understanding of the nation as a contested concept―as the product of a fluid and ongoing process of negotiation open to a range of livable solutions―is actually rooted in the Bible.

This book draws attention to the contribution that the Bible makes to political discourse about the nation. The Bible is particularly well suited to this open-ended discourse because of its own nature as a text whose ambiguity and laconic quality render it constantly open to new interpretations and applicable to changing circumstances. The Bible offers a pluralistic understanding of different models of political development for different nations, and it depicts altering concepts of national identity over time.

In this book, Morgenstern reads the Bible as the source of a dynamic critique of the ideas that are conventionally considered to be fundamental to national identity, treating in successive chapters the ethnic (Ruth), the cultural (Samson), the political (Jotham), and the territorial (Esther). Throughout, she explores a number of common themes, such as the relationship of women to political authority and the “strangeness” of Israelite political existence. In the Conclusion, she elucidates how biblical analysis can aid in recognition of modern claims to nationhood.

About the Author

Mira Morgenstern is Associate Professor of Political Science at The City College, City University of New York. She is the author of Rousseau and the Politics of Ambiguity: Self, Culture, and Society (Penn State, 1996).