The Land: Place as Gift, Promise, and Challenge in Biblical Faith

by Walter Brueggemann

Publisher:

Fortress Press

, 2003

Overview

Known as one of America’s best theologians and one of the world’s foremost scholars on the Old Testament, Walter Brueggemann has inspired young scholars and students and driven the discourse on theology with some of the biggest players in contemporary Bible scholarship.

The land was one of the most vibrant symbols for the people of ancient Israel. In the land—gift, promise, and challenge—was found the physical source of Israel’s fertility and life, and a place for the gathering of the hopes of the covenant people. In this careful treatment, Walter Brueggemann follows the development of his theme through the major blocks of Israel’s traditions. The book provides a point of entrance both to the theology of the Old Testament and to aspects of the New Testament—even as it illuminates crucial issues of the contemporary scene. In this fully revised version, Brueggemann provides new insights, as well as updating the discussion, notes, and bibliography.

With the Logos Bible Software edition, you can journey through this volume with today’s most advanced tools for reading and studying God’s Word. All Scripture passages are linked to your library’s original language texts and English translations. Enhance your study with Logos’ advanced features—search by topic to find out what Brueggemann teaches on the Exodus, or find every mention of “Psalm 91” throughout his works.

Key Features

• Provides essential Old Testament scholarship from one of the most prominent living scholars
• Contains clear and deep insight on theology, history, hermeneutics, ancient sociology, and Scripture
• Includes material perfect for pastors, professors, counselors, and Old Testament scholars

Contents

• Land as Promise and Land as Problem
• “To the Land I Will Show You”
• “You Lacked Nothing”
• Reflections at the Boundary
• “One from among Your Brethren”
• “Because You Forgot Me”
• The Push toward Landlessness—and Beyond
• “None to Comfort”
• Jealous for Jerusalem
• “Blessed are the Meek”
• Land: Fertility and Justice
• Concluding Hermeneutical Reflections

Praise for the Print Edition

Here was the story of the Hebrew slaves escaping from the hierarchical dictatorship of Pharaoh’s Egypt to a land where they would not be slaves but landowners. What sort of land would they create? Would it be a society that was just like Egypt but with themselves in charge and some other poor beggars at the bottom? Or, would it be a different sort of society altogether? The thread that runs through it all is: ‘It shall not be for you as it was in Egypt.’ A radical new vision is spelled out for a new society. A vision which included: better ways of treating each other, better ways of using the resources of the land, better understanding of the law and better rules for those in power; all encapsulated in the covenant between God and the people. And yet, in the end, Pharaoh’s way did re-assert itself. The covenant was forgotten leaving the prophets to dream of a new covenant that was to come.

—Graham Cook, retired United Reformed Church minister

Product Details

• Title: The Land: Place as Gift, Promise, and Challenge in Biblical Faith
• Author: Walter Brueggemann
• Edition: 2nd
• Series: Overtures to Biblical Theology Series
• Publisher: Augsburg Fortress
• Publication Date: 2002
• Pages: 256

About Walter Brueggemann

Walter Brueggemann through his teaching, lecturing, and writing, has effectively demonstrated the significance of the Old Testament for our fractured world today. Recognized as the preeminent interpreter of the ancient texts in relation to questions posed by a variety of academic disciplines, he has shown the way toward a compelling understanding of the major components of the faith and life of ancient Israel, especially its Psalms, the prophets, and the narratives. His award-winning Theology of the Old Testament quickly became a foundational work in the field.

Brueggemann, who holds a ThD from Union Seminary, New York, and a PhD from St. Louis University, is William Marcellus McPheeters Professor of Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, Georgia. He was previously professor of Old Testament at Eden Theological Seminary, St. Louis. His many Fortress Press books, including The Threat of Life: Sermons on Pain, Power, and Weakness, exhibit a fecund combination of imaginative power, sound scholarship, and a passion of justice and redemption.

Contents

Top Highlights

“Land is a central, if not the central theme of biblical faith. Biblical faith is a pursuit of historical belonging that includes a sense of destiny derived from such belonging. In what follows I suggest that land might be a way of organizing biblical theology.” (Page 3)

“It is now clear that a sense of place is a human hunger that the urban promise has not met. And a fresh look at the Bible suggests that a sense of place is a primary category of faith.” (Page 4)

“Israel’s third memory of landlessness is the exile.” (Page 7)

“It was in that context that I begin to see that the Old Testament, in its theological articulation, was not all about ‘deeds,’ but was concerned with place, specific real estate that was invested with powerful promises and with strategic arrangements for presence in the place as well. Once I had seen that much, then it was a ready development to see the dialectic in Israel’s fortunes between landlessness (wilderness, exile) and landedness, the latter either as possession of the land, as anticipation of the land, or as grief about loss of the land; it was on that basis that my argument in the book took shape, all aspects of land being referred to the God of covenant Torah.” (Pages xi–xii)

“Other kings incline to control the land as a possession. This king is to manage the land as a gift entrusted to him but never possessed by him.” (Page 70)

Product Details

• Title: The Land: Place as Gift, Promise, and Challenge in Biblical Faith
• Author: Walter Brueggemann
• Edition: Second Edition
• Series: Overtures to Biblical Theology
• Publisher: Fortress Press
• Print Publication Date: 2003
• Logos Release Date: 2013
• Era: era:Contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Bible › Theology; Religion and geography
• Resource ID: LLS:THELAND
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-02-12T06:16:34Z

About Walter Brueggemann

Walter Brueggemann is William Marcellus McPheeters Professor of Old Testament Emeritus at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia. He is past president of the Society of Biblical Literature and the author of numerous books, including David’s Truth: In Israel’s Imagination and Memory, Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching Genesis, and The Message of the Psalms: A Theological Commentary.