Doctoral Degrees (Old and New Testament)

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Browsing Doctoral Degrees (Old and New Testament) by Subject "Benjamin (Tribe of Israel)"

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    Sit at my right hand : the Chronicler’s portrait of the tribe of Benjamin in the social context of Yehud
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2014-04) Giffone, Benjamin D.; Jonker, Louis C.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Theology. Dept. of Old and New Testament.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The book of Chronicles is a form of consensus-building literature. The Chronicler’s portrayal of Benjamin in relation to Judah reflects an inclusive vision of “all Israel” that walks a fine line: simultaneously valuing Benjamin as an equal partner with Judah (as his “right hand”), yet still protecting the primacy of David as YHWH’s chosen ruler, the Levites as the priestly tribe, and Jerusalem as the proper cultic center. Chronicles’ portrait of Benjamin differs from that of the Deuteronomistic History, which portrays Benjamin’s relation to Judah as varied and complex. The Chronicler attempts to smooth over these difficulties by highlighting the historically close relationship between the two tribes. In this regard his goals and strategy differ from that of the Deuteronomist, who presents both the high and low points of Judah-Benjamin relations. The Chronicler’s reconstrual of the Judah-Benjamin relationship reflects the socio-political situation of late Persian Yehud, in which the relatively poor Jerusalem cult struggled to gain material support from landed nobility in the region. Material evidence indicates that the historically Benjaminite regions prospered during the Neo-Babylonian and early Persian periods. The Jerusalem cult competed with historically Benjaminite and Josephite cultic locations for the support of wealthier Benjaminite landowners. The Chronicler rewrote Israel’s narrative partly in order to garner Benjaminite support for the Jerusalem cult. This study attempts to synthesize both literary and historical observations: demonstrating a literary phenomenon—the divergent portraits of Benjamin in the Deuteronomistic History and Chronicles—and situating that phenomenon within the historical context of Persian Yehud. The study contributes to the understanding of Yehud during this period, elaborates an important motif in these two sections of the Hebrew Bible, and furthers the investigation of the so-called “Benjaminite substratum” in the Hebrew Bible.