Violence, Otherness and Identity in Isaiah 63: 1-6: The Trampling One Coming from Edom Contributor(s): Irudayaraj, Dominic S. (Author) |
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ISBN: 0567671461 ISBN-13: 9780567671462 Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC OUR PRICE: $173.25 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: April 2017 |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Religion | Biblical Studies - Old Testament - Prophets - Religion | Biblical Criticism & Interpretation - Old Testament |
Dewey: 224.106 |
LCCN: 2017297049 |
Series: Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies |
Physical Information: 0.9" H x 6.1" W x 9.3" (1.05 lbs) 224 pages |
Themes: - Religious Orientation - Christian |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: Violence disturbs. And violent depictions, when encountered in the biblical texts, are all the more disconcerting. Isaiah 63:1-6 is an illustrative instance. The prophetic text presents the Arriving One in gory details ('trampling down people'; 'pouring out their lifeblood' v.6). Further, the introductory note that the Arriving One is "coming from Edom" (cf. v.1) may suggest Israel's unrelenting animosity towards Edom. These two themes: the gory depiction and coming from Edom are addressed in this book. Irudayaraj uses a social identity reading to show how Edom is consistently pictured as Israel's proximate and yet 'other'-ed entity. Approaching Edom as such thus helps situate the animosity within a larger prophetic vision of identity construction in the postexilic Third Isaian context. By adopting an iconographic reading of Isaiah 63:1-6, Irudayaraj shows how the prophetic portrayal of the 'Arriving One' in descriptions where it is clear that the 'Arriving One' is a marginalised identity correlates with the experiences of the stooped exiles (cf 51:14). He also demonstrates that the text leaves behind emphatic affirmations ('mighty' and 'splendidly robed' cf. v.1; "alone" cf. v.3), by which the relegated voice of the divine reasserts itself. It is in this divine reassertion that the hope of the Isaian community's reclamation of its own identity rests. |
Contributor Bio(s): Irudayaraj, Dominic S.: - Dominic S. Irudayaraj S.J. teaches in Hekima University College, Nairobi, Kenya. |