E-grāmata: Violent Gift: Trauma's Subversion of the Deuteronomistic History's Narrative

Book by book, Janzen argues that the main - and expected - narrative line is disrupted by stories and evaluations in tension with it. What emerges is a fresh and thought-provoking reading of each of the books, with many a striking observation. -- Graeme Auld, School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh, UK * The Expository Times * Summarized * Old Testament Abstracts * Janzen states that the traumatic events of the siege of Jerusalem and the exile that followed it are not marginal to the Deuteronomistic History but are at its core. He then shows how this is the case in two radically different ways. First, he maintains that Deuteronomy is an exilic work written by a survivor of the tragedy or an immediate descendant of a survivor. Second, he argues that it was actually trauma that shaped the reports, not memory. In Chapter Two Janzen provides an explanation of trauma theory. He then employs this theory as he moves through each book of Deuteronomy, explaining how trauma interrupts and subverts the logic of the narrative. This is a very critical study, dense and detailed in its explanation. However, it opens this section of the Old Testament in a very interesting way. Those who work through it carefully will be well rewarded. * Bible Today *