This book is the first in-depth comparative analysis of envy, jealousy, and vengefulness experienced by divine personalities in the Hebrew Bible and ancient Greek texts and the functions served by attributing negative emotions and traits to one’s gods.
Readers are informed about the vigorous debates concerning the nature of emotion, a field with rapidly growing interest, including the specific emotions of envy, jealousy, and vengefulness. The book charts the complex, multi-faceted presentation of divine beings in the Hebrew Bible and ancient Greek literature, including their negative emotions. While the detailed readings of key biblical and Greek texts can stand on their own, Lasine’s comparative analyses allow readers to appreciate the uniqueness of each tradition. Finally, examining the functions served by envisioning one’s God or gods as jealous, envious, and vengeful offers readers a fresh perspective on biblical theology and the ways in which Greek poets and dramatists imagined the nature of their deities.
Divine Envy, Jealousy, and Vengefulness in Ancient Israel and Greece is intended for biblical, classical, and literary scholars, as well as the general reader interested in the Hebrew Bible and/or ancient Greek literature.
By:
Stuart Lasine (Wichita State University USA.)
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 234mm,
Width: 156mm,
Weight: 400g
ISBN: 9781032263274
ISBN 10: 103226327X
Pages: 200
Publication Date: 28 October 2024
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Primary
,
Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
1. INTRODUCTION: THEORIES AND METHODS; 2. DIVINE ENVY, JEALOUSY, AND VENGEANCE IN ANCIENT ISRAEL AND GREECE; 3. YAHWEH AS A JEALOUS AND ENVIOUS GOD; 4. JEALOUSY FOR YAHWEH AND DIVINE VENGEANCE; 5. DIVINE ENVY AND VENGEANCE IN HOMER AND HERODOTUS’ HISTORIES; 6. DIVINE ENVY AND VENGEANCE IN GREEK TRAGEDY; 7. COMPARING DIVINE VENGEANCE AND ENVY IN HEBREW AND GREEK TEXTS; 8. THE FUNCTIONS OF DIVINE IMPERFECTION.
Stuart Lasine is Professor Emeritus of Religion at Wichita State University, USA. He is the author of Knowing Kings: Knowledge, Power and Narcissism in the Hebrew Bible; Weighing Hearts: Character, Judgment, and the Ethics of Reading the Bible, and Jonah and the Human Condition.
Reviews for Divine Envy, Jealousy, and Vengefulness in Ancient Israel and Greece
""This valuable in-depth comparative study is both well written and well researched, and will be of interest to classical, literary and biblical scholars."" - Journal for the Study of the Old Testament
