Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Trevor & Julie Peterson" <spedrson AT thesimpsons.com>]

Have you read "A Whirlpool of Torment?" (Fortress) by James Crenshaw?  The
subtitle is "Israelite traditions of God as an Oppressive Presence," and it
fits very well with your inquiry.  (Actually, I think a chapter is devoted
to each of the issues you raised.)  I got it a year or two ago on a pretty
good discount, but I don't remember where.  It must have been CBD, Amazon
(not likely), or Eisenbrauns, but I don't remember offhand which one.  It's
a short book, probably around 100 pp., but its worth far outweighs its
deceptive size.  As I recall, there are some relevant essays in "Shall Not
the Judge of All the Earth Do What is Right?" a recently published
Festschrift to Dr. Crenshaw from Eisenbrauns.  It's also a collection worth
having.

Hope that's somewhat helpful.

Trevor Peterson
Adjunct Prof. of Bible
Washington Bible College, Lanham, MD

-----Original Message-----
From: Jim West [mailto:jwest AT highland.net]
Sent: Wednesday, May 17, 2000 10:04 AM
To: Biblical Hebrew
Subject: god's presence as oppression


Colleagues...
I think we are all aware that for most Biblical Literature God's presence is
perceived as a blessing.  Yet, there seem to be a number of places where the
presence of God becomes an oppressive and nearly unbearable burden.

In particular, God's command to Abraham to sacrifice Isaac seems to imply
that God has become an oppressor.  Likewise, Jeremiah's confession that God
had "overpowered" (literally- raped) him and forced him into the prophetic
office seems to indicate that God's presence is no blessing at all but
rather a curse.  Similarly Job says "turn your face away long enough for me
to swallow my spit".  This too I take as an indication that God's presence
is a curse rather than a blessing.

Im sure there must be other examples of God's presence as oppressiveness.
Can you think of any?

Thanks,

Jim
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

" The righteous man looks after his own soul, and the bodies of others,
whereas the hypocrite looks after his own body, and the souls of others"
Rabbi Lionel Blue

Jim West, ThD
jwest AT highland.net
http://web.infoave.net/~jwest



---
You are currently subscribed to b-hebrew as: spedrson AT thesimpsons.com
To unsubscribe, forward this message to
$subst('Email.Unsub')
To subscribe, send an email to join-b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu.