Resistance and Trauma in Chronicles

Judean Identity and Achaemenid Imperialism
Erscheinungsjahr 2026
ISBN: 978-1-047-76321-9
Verlag: Cambridge University Press

Buch, Englisch, 300 Seiten

Reihe: Society for Old Testament Study Monographs

In Resistance and Trauma in Chronicles, David Janzen uses postcolonial and decolonial theory to argue that Chronicles was written in important part to resist and reject the ways in which Achaemenid ideology depicted the subject peoples of the Persian Empire, Judeans among them, as innately immoral and prone to violence, and thus in need of Persian rule. By contrast, Chronicles creates an identity for Judeans that portrays them as inherently moral and able to provide for their own peace and well-being. These were  aspects of life that, the Achaemenids claimed, only Persians could convey to the peoples they dominated. Yet decolonial analysis also warns that indigenous worldviews cannot entirely escape the influence of imperial belief systems. As a result, Chronicles is not always successful in its decolonial portrayal of Judah. It reflects the state of a traumatized community deeply scarred by imperial ideology, an issue that Janzen explores through trauma theory as it is understood within sociology.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Janzen, David

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. Introduction: Chronicles' decolonial rejection of Achaemenid thought; 2. 'This wonder that is seen': the world and the true king in Achaemenid ideology; 3. Judah's peace and happiness in Chronicles; 4. The Davidides, their divine election, and their just rule; 5. Failures of Chronicles' decolonial narrative and competing Judean traumas; 6. Conclusion: Chronicles' decolonial successes and failures; Appendix: The fourth-century date of Ezra-Nehemiah; Bibliography.

Über Autor(innen)

Janzen, David
David Janzen is Professor of Hebrew Bible/ Old Testament at Durham University. He is the author of ten monographs, some of which biblical writings from exilic and post-exilic periods through a variety of hermeneutical lenses, notably The Violent Gift, Trauma and the Failure of History, and The Necessary King.