Dynamics of Diselection: Ambiguity in Genesis 12–36 and Ethnic Boundaries in Post-Exilic Judah
Published by the Society of Biblical Literature, 2001.
Back Cover Blurb
In Dynamics of Diselection,
Christopher Heard brings literary-aesthetic and socio-historical
considerations, often practiced in isolation from one
another, into a meaningful synergy that illumines both
the literary features and the social functions of Genesis
12–36. Heard rigorously scrutinizes and focuses
attention upon the ambiguities (some long known, some
heretofore unrecognized) in the characterizations of
Lot, Ishmael, Esau, and Laban. He painstakingly charts
the range of possible resolutions of those ambiguities,
noting the lack of guidance provided by the narrator
for readers negotiating these options. Heard argues
that the narrator’s penchant for leaving these
ambiguities unresolved is neither accidental nor a generic
feature of language, but is instead a strategy giving
robustness to the narratives’ ideological function
in promoting ethnic exclusivity in post-exilic Judah.
Heard’s careful examination thus provides a richer
understanding of why Genesis 12–36 was written
as it was, and thereby gives new depth and vigor to
studies of the form and function of the book of Genesis.
“Christopher Heard’s study
is an exercise of imaginative conception, meticulous
exegesis, and numerous fine judgments. He draws us into
looking more closely than most of us have looked before
at some of the supporting cast of Genesis—Lot, Ishmael,
Esau, and Laban—and challenges us to recognize the
depth to which they are ambiguously characterized. In
contrast he sets a deity who unambiguously elects and
diselects, a deity whose plan coincides with Achaemenid
policy. Heard thus develops a persuasive case for an
ideological location for these texts in a reading of
admirable clarity which offers answers, defers answers,
and presses on crucially important issues for biblical
narratology.”—David M. Gunn, A. A. Bradford
Professor of Religion, Texas Christian University
Abstract
Recently, feminist critics have
focused attention on characters in biblical narrative
who are “other” than the “main”
characters upon whom attention has traditionally focused;
literary (narrative) critics have elucidated key issues
in the study of biblical narrative ambiguity, particularly
the criteria for resolving such ambiguities; and historians
studying biblical narratives have deemphasized attempts
to reconstruct events narrated therein, in favor of
attempts to reconstruct the original social function
of those books as such. This study participates in each
of these trends by examining the social role in Yehud
of ambiguities in the portrayals of the “diselect”
characters Lot, Ishmael, Esau, and Laban in Genesis
12–36.
Lot, Ishmael, Esau, and Laban each
experience a process of differentiation and separation
from one of the “main characters” in Genesis
12–36, namely Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In the case
of Lot, Ishmael, and Esau, this process may be described
as “diselection” because exclusions from God’s
covenant with Abraham and his descendants is consequent
to each character’s separation from his “elect”
counterpart. At the same time, a thorough examination
reveals that the narrator’s portrayal of each of these
characters is deeply ambiguous. From minute lexical
and syntactic ambiguities to omissions of pertinent
information, the narrator leaves many aspects of these
characters open to readers’ judgments.
The book of Genesis has been seen
as a post-exilic Judean attempt to define the boundaries
of “Israelite” ethnicity under Achaemenid
auspices. Extending such analyses, this study suggests
that ambiguities in the portrayals of the diselect characters
in Genesis provide robustness and flexibility to an
exclusivist ethnic identity construction vis-à-vis Yehud’s immediate neighbors, but not its more distant
Mesopotamian neighbors. The portrayals allow a range
of evaluations from very negative to very positive.
While negative evaluations of these characters might
be deployed to justify their diselection, positive evaluations
of these characters do not convincingly de-justify their
diselection. The narrator’s use of irresolvable ambiguities
gives readers maximum flexibility in character evaluation
but minimum flexibility in reconstructing their dis/election.
This serves Achaemenid imperial administrative goals
by promoting ethnic distinctiveness in Yehud without
necessarily inculcating antagonism between Yehud and
neighboring provinces.
Notable Reviews
Éric Bellavance, The
Catholic Biblical Quarterly 64 (2002): 350-351.
“In this insightful and meticulous study ... Heard,
through a persuasive reconstruction ... gives new depth
and vigor to studies of the form and function of Genesis
12–36 and opens new possibilities for biblical
narratology.”
Bernhard Lang, Biblical Interpretation 12 (2004): 326–329. “Christopher Heard has
made an intelligent and substantial contribution to
the study of Genesis.”
E. T. Mullen, Review
of Biblical Literature (October 2002). “Heard’s
literary analyses are insightful and, in general, convincing.
His social analysis of the materials is also very helpful.
... Overall, the book is very well written and clearly
achieves the goals that the author established at the
beginning. ... I agree completely with the author’s
suggestions of how these particular stories might have
functioned to maintain ethnic identity and to form ethnic
boundaries in the Persian period.”
