Gerlinde Baumann

Love and Violence: Marriage As Metaphor for the Relationship Between Yhwh and Israel in the Prophetic Books Gerlinde Baumann

Love and Violence offers a critical reading of the marriage metaphor in Hosea, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Lamentations, Isaiah, and the book of the Twelve Prophets as a means to depict the relationship between God and Israel established in the gender assumptions of the Bible. It examines the tension between the use of the marriage metaphor in ancient Israel and contemporary perspectives, and aids in the discovery, naming, and alleviation of violence?and its consequences?in Scripture and modern-day life.

Chapters under Part I: The Prophetic Marriage Imagery: Research and Background are "Overview of Recent Scholarly Discussion and Definition of the Author?s Position," "Understanding the Imagery," "Marriage, Adultery, ?Harlotry?: The Vocabulary of the Prophetic Marriage Imagery," "Theological Location of the Prophetic Marriage Imagery: Berit as a Related Idea," and "Ancient Near Eastern Ideas as Background for Prophetic Marriage Imagery." Chapters under Part II: Textual Studies are "Hosea: ?Primal Text? of the Prophetic Marriage Imagery," "Jeremiah: YHWH?s Marriages with Israel and Judah," "Ezekial: Climax of the Marriage Imagery," "Isaiah: Destruction for Babylon, Salvation for Zion," and "The Twelve Prophets: The Marriage Imagery Completed." Chapters under Part III: Summary and Conclusion are "The Marriage Imagery in the Individual Prophetic Books," "Dealing wth the Texts of the Prophetic Marriage Imagery: Critical Reading," "The Problem of the God-Image," and "A Look Ahead! ."