The Sanctuary of Bethel and the Configuration of Israelite Identity

Name: The Sanctuary of Bethel and the Configuration of Israelite Identity
Price: 122.95 GBP
Availability: InStock
Author: Jules Francis Gomes
ISBN: 9783110189933

by Jules Francis Gomes

Hardback
303 pages
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter& Co
15.6 x 23.4 x 2 cm

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After Jerusalem, Bethel is the most frequently cited sanctuary in the Hebrew Bible. The book offers a detailed analysis of Bethel and its sanctuary from archaeological and biblical evidence. It reconstructs the history of Bethel and by analysing the presence of pro- and anti-Bethel propaganda, it argues that the latter, with its own pro- Jerusalem/Judah bias, has resulted in an unfair denigration of Bethel as an idolatrous place of worship. The study suggests that Bethel was a legitimate Yahwistic shrine and continued to be so even after the fall of the Northern Kingdom of Israel to the Assyrians. Hence, Bethel in a real sense was the principal means of configuring Israelite identity.