With astute attention to Zephaniah’s intertextual relationships with other biblical texts, Nicholas R. Werse explores the implications of Zephaniah as a book in perpetual conversation with other biblical cosmologies and conceptions of the human place in relationship with creation. Werse guides readers to critically examine Zephaniah’s ancient worldview and subsequent legacy in dialog with the world’s modern ecological crises.
Werse argues that Zephaniah begins and ends with the land. It begins with the removal of all life from the land and ends with a proclamation returning the exiles to their ancestral home. Along this journey, all three chapters of Zephaniah systematically reverse language and imagery from Gen 1-11 and draw deeply from the language of earlier prophets to depict the 6th century BCE destruction of Jerusalem as nothing short of the unravelling of creation. While remaining suspicious of Zephaniah’s distinctively androcentric worldview, Werse traces Zephaniah’s rhetorical journey from the deconstruction of creation and the nations, to its proclamations of hope for the future.
By:
Dr Nicholas R. Werse (Baylor University USA) Imprint: T.& T.Clark Ltd Country of Publication: United Kingdom Dimensions:
Height: 234mm,
Width: 156mm,
ISBN:9780567705532 ISBN 10: 0567705536 Series:Earth Bible Commentary Pages: 168 Publication Date:14 November 2024 Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
Format:Hardback Publisher's Status: Active
Dedication Acknowledgments Preface Abbreviations Introduction Chapter One: Zephaniah 1:1–18: Deconstructing Judah and All of Creation Chapter Two: Zephaniah 2:1–15: Deconstructing the Nations Chapter Three: Zephaniah 3:1–8: Deconstructing Judah Among the Nations Chapter Four: Zephaniah 3:9–20: Hope for the Future of Creation Conclusion: Zephaniah in Dialog Bibliography Index
Nicholas R. Werse is the Director of the EdD Research and Writing Development Center and Affiliate Faculty in both the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core and the Environmental Humanities program at Baylor University, USA.