The People Called

In this unique work, Paul Hanson traces the concept of "community" from its early biblical origins through the end of the apostolic age. This edition includes a chapter devoted to the contemporary implications of this concept and in his new introduction, the author further explores the importance of this theme.

Paul D. Hanson is Florence Corliss Lamont Professor of Divinity and Professor of Old Testament at Harvard Divinity School and the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations.

Preface

x

Introduction

xii

Abbreviations

xix

The Nature of This Study

1

(9)

The Birth of the Yahwistic Notion of Community (Genesis 12-39, Exodus 1-15)

10

(20)

The Biblical Sources and the Historical Question

10

(3)

Ancestral (Patriarchal) Background

13

(7)

Out of the House of Bondage: The Exodus

20

(1)

Encounter with the Deliverer God Yahweh as Catalyst of the Yahwistic Notion of Community

21

(9)

Worship as Response to God's Antecedent Grace

24

(2)

Yahweh Majestic in Holiness

26

(1)

Yahweh's Steadfast Love

27

(3)

The Growth of a Triadic Notion of Community (Exodus 19-23, Joshua, and Judges)

30

(57)

Conquest Traditions in Joshua

31

(3)

Israel's Judges

34

(4)

Evidence for the Forms of Worship and Tora in the Early Yahwistic Community

38

(31)

Forms of Worship: Exodus 19:3-8 and 24:3-8

39

(2)

Tora: Faith Coming to Expression in Communal Forms and Structures

41

(1)

The Book of the Covenant: Exodus 20:21-23:19

42

(11)

The Decalogue

53

(10)

The Distribution of Land according to the Nahala

63

(2)

A Celebration of Israel's Early Notion of Community: The Song of Hannah

65

(4)

Summary of the Characteristics of the Early Yahwistic Notion of Community

69

(18)

Community as Response to God's Initiating Saving Activity

69

(1)

Devotion to the One True God as the Unifying Heart of Community

69

(1)

The Community Defined by the Triad of Righteousness, Compassion, and Worship

70

(1)

Righteousness

71

(1)

Compassion

72

(1)

Worship

73

(2)

The Dynamic Interrelationships among Righteousness, Compassion, and Worship

75

(3)

Implications of the Yahwistic Notion of Community for Contemporary Communities of Faith

78

(9)

The Yahwistic Notion of Community Tested and Refined: The Age of Kings and Prophets (1 and 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, and the Psalms)

87

(49)

From Early Yahwism to Prophetic Yahwism

87

(2)

Saul and Samuel

89

(11)

David and Nathan

100

(4)

Solomon

104

(23)

Forms of Worship

107

(5)

Structures of Society

112

(15)

The Theme of Creation: A Community Describes Its Home in Nature

127

(5)

The Divided Kingdom

132

(4)

Growth through Adversity: Prophecy and Kingship in the Northern Kingdom (Deuteronomy, 1 Kings, Amos, and Hosea)

136

(41)

The Prophetic Response to Jeroboam's Cult

137

(3)

Ahab and His Prophetic Adversary Elijah

140

(7)

The Prophetic Reform Movement Exploited by the Cynical King Jehu

147

(1)

Amos Attacks a Perverted Cult on Behalf of the God Seeking True Worship Expressed in Compassion and Justice

148

(10)

Hosea: ``Israel Has Forgotten His Maker''

158

(9)

Deuteronomy: A New Formulation of the Community of Faith

167

(10)

A Variegated Portrait: The Contribution of Southern Kings, Prophets, and Sages to the Yahwistic Notion of Community (Kings, Chronicles, Isaiah, Micah, Jeremiah, Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes)

177

(38)

An Overview of the Seventh and Sixth Centuries in Judah

178

(3)

Isaiah

181

(13)

Micah

194

(3)

The Reform Efforts of Faithful Kings

197

(1)

The Prophet Jeremiah and Josiah's Cultic Reform

198

(10)

Community of Faith in Israelite Wisdom Tradition

208

(7)

The Exile: Crisis and Reformulation (Ezekiel, the Priestly Writing, Isaiah 40-55)

215

(38)

The Traditional Notion of Covenant Community Called into Question

215

(1)

Ezekiel: A Program for the Restoration of Purity

216

(8)

The Priestly Writing (``P'')

224

(9)

Second Isaiah

233

(20)

Return from Exile and Attempts to Reconstitute Community (Chronicles, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, Isaiah 24-27, 56-66, and Ezekiel 38-39, 44)

253

(38)

Second Isaiah's Visionary Followers

253

(6)

The Restoration Program of the Zadokites

259

(10)

The Growth of an Apocalyptic Response to Adversity

269

(8)

Malachi

277

(14)

The Consolidation of the Community Around the Torah (Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah)

291

(21)

The Reform under Ezra and Nehemiah)

291

(9)

The Chronicler's History

300

(12)

Witnesses to an Alternative Vision Joel, Ruth, and Jonah)

312

(13)

Joel

313

(1)

Ruth

314

(2)

Jonah

316

(5)

The Theological Importance of the Alternative Vision

321

(4)

The People of the Torah: From Ezra to the Maccabean Revolt (Judith and Ecclesiasticus)

325

(15)

The Encounter with Hellenism

326

(1)

The Samaritans

327

(1)

Pro-Hellenistic Positions

328

(2)

Temple and Torah, Priests and Scribes

330

(2)

Judith

332

(1)

Ecclesiasticus (The Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach)

333

(7)

Diverse Notions of Community in the Last Two Centuries B.C.E. (Daniel, 1 Maccabees)

340

(42)

The Traditional Faith under Siege

340

(3)

The Maccabean Revolt and the Position of the Hasidim

343

(4)

The Emergence of the Threefold Division: Sadducees, Pharisees, and Essenes

347

(2)

The Pharisees

349

(9)

The Essenes

358

(6)

The Apocalyptic Community of the Dead Sea Scrolls

364

(8)

Implications of Second and First Century B.C.E Developments for Later Communities of Faith

372

(10)

Community in the Teaching of Jesus (Matthew, Mark, and Luke)

382

(45)

Continuity and Change

383

(12)

Jesus' Announcement of the Kingdom and A Call to Discipleship as the Primal Events in the Birth of the Church

395

(32)

Jesus Teaches the Way of the Kingdom

398

(15)

Jesus' Life: The Manifestation of the Kingdom

413

(8)

Jesus Dies for the Kingdom

421

(2)

The Renewal of the Triadic Notion of Community

423

(4)

The Birth of the Church as Response to God's New Initiative (Matthew, John, James, 1 and 2 Timothy, and Luke-Acts)

427

(40)

The First Generation

430

(8)

The Pauline Church: A Community Without Distinctions

438

(13)

The Church after the First Jewish Revolt (The Third Generation)

451

(16)

The Biblical Notion of Community: Contemporary Implications

467

(52)

A Summary of the Biblical Legacy

469

(18)

Recapturing a Vision: Faith Communities Today

487

(12)

Community Structure

489

(4)

Relation to Civil Authorities

493

(3)

Jewish-Christian Relations

496

(3)

The Abiding Validity of a Biblical Notion of Community

499

(20)

Life-Sustaining Fellowship

501

(2)

Agent of Healing

503

(16)

Appendix: Underlying Presuppositions and Method

519

(28)

A. World Crisis and the Responsibility of Communities of Faith

519

(1)

B. A Scriptural Basis That Includes the Hebrew Bible

520

(2)

C. The Method Used in This Study

522

(15)

1. Presuppositions

523

(2)

2. The Process of Interpretation and the Importance of the Faith Community as Context

525

(2)

3. A Hermeneutic of Engagement

527

(1)

a. The Nature of This Method of Interpretation

527

(2)

b. Two-Dimensional Exegesis: Word and World

529

(1)

c. Levels of Discernment: Paradigms and a Vision of Divine Purpose

529

(6)

d. A Hermeneutic of Engagement and the Problem of Biblical Authority

535

(2)

D. Why a Historical Study Is Essential to Understanding the Nature of Contemporary Communities of Faith

537

(3)

E. The Historical Relationship between the Communities of the Two Testaments

540

(4)

F. Scripture: The Foundational Chapters in a Faith Community's Autobiography

544

(3)

A Select List of Related Books

547

(6)

General Index

553

(7)

Scripture Index

560

(3)

Index of Authors

563

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Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials