"And God Separated the Light from the Darkness" (Gen 1:4) - On the Role of Borders in the Priestly Texts of the Pentateuch (2016) (original) (raw)
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Theology of the geopolitics of Israel-Palestinian conflict, 2021
As Israeli attacks on Palestine escalate, it is important to dig into the history of the whole issue. Based on theological grounds, the boundaries of Israel have always remained a big jigsaw puzzle with some of the pieces lost, some hidden and others not part of the puzzle at all. This article is an attempt to trace the theological grounds of the worst geopolitical conflict of the modern world.
Borders and Bordering in Jewish Geopolitical Space
Geopolitics (this is the accepted manuscript. see reference to published article below), 2018
Cultural and religious concepts of space inform contemporary social and political identities, confirming the inherent embeddedness of borders in social life. This study analyzes concepts bordering and bordering processes in socially heterogeneous and politically sensitive environments, as portrayed in classic Jewish texts. Jewish-legal rabbinic writings dated from the first to the fifth century reveal perceptions of both concrete and metaphysical aspects of a territorial homeland and of social-spatial bordering. These perceptions are echoed in contemporary debates of national sovereignty and borders. Like most legal systems, Jewish law prefers clear spatial separations and creates dichotomous spatial-legal distinctions. Yet textual analysis through lenses of geopolitics and law reveals nuanced concepts of borders and surprising perceptions of flexible and permeable borders despite this preference for clarity. This adaptability stands in contrast to widespread presumptions of religion rigidity. Classic texts enrich social and political discourse in multi-cultural societies, particularly regarding holy territory. Their interpretation offer prospects of de-linking concepts of sanctity from sovereignty, thus presenting innovative channels to perceive and experience one's homeland. Paradoxically, religious texts offer 41 pragmatic geo-political insights which could enrich contemporary discourse, challenged by over-simplistic perceptions of borders and bordering.
Landscapes of Korean and Korean American Biblical Interpretation, 2019
This paper is a hermeneutical attempt at cross-cultural comparison as a suggestion for cross-fertilization between two cultures through a multidimensional reading of Galatians regarding the theme of borders and barriers. Order and border, although etymologically distant, are nearly synonymous in the biblical creation narratives as well as in anthropological studies of human cultures, the most notable among which may still be Mary Douglas’s Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo (1966). The paper points out that borders and boundary-setting are at the origin and at the heart of the Jewish tradition, the very tradition that led Paul to persecute the church of God (Gal 1.13) and the same tradition within which he argued for the unity in Christ of both Jewish and Gentile believers (e.g., Gal 3.28). The paper then entertains Paul’s argument in Galatians regarding the truth of the gospel and the Jewish practice of circumcision. Understanding Paul’s argument in Galatians within the context of the larger biblical horizon and also the still larger anthropological horizon regarding borders and boundaries, the paper offers some ancient insights from the dao in East-Asian philosophies that can enrich our (mis)perceptions and (mis)conceptions about borders—i.e., definitions, delineations or differences—and what it means to cross them. The paper presents what insights could emerge when we cross the borders between the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, between biblical and anthropological disciplines, and between the so-called Western and Eastern philosophical perspectives. The aim is to point out what one might see in Galatians from the perspective of differing worldviews, particularly those native to Korea and the so-called Far East. When reading with a little imagination, we can appreciate the common humanity, from and into which Paul writes his letter to the Galatians, which in turn can challenge us to imagine our world and experiences in a more enriched way, and perhaps toward more humane and peaceful coexistence.
Previous as well as recent discussions of the composition, genre and historical background of the itinerary in Num 33:1–49 and of the description of the promised land in Num 34:1–12 have highlighted the pre-exilic nature of these texts. This paper discusses what challenge this observation offers to recent theories of the formation of the Pentateuch. On the one hand, it is still hard to detect the specific sources behind the itinerary list of Num 33. On the other hand much information is available with regard to the tradition history of the geographical concept that is used in Num 34:1–12, Josh 13:2–6, Judg 3:3 and Ezek 47:15–20. In addition, this pre-exilic material turns out to be remarkably well integrated into Num 26– 36 as a whole. These observations pose serious problems to several literary-critical criteria and to the suggestion that the chapters belong to a post-priestly compositional layer; they suggest that different, less deductive alternatives, exploring the possibility of a tradition regarding an earlier blending of D-and P-like vocabulary and style, need to be found.