Dynamics of Diselection
Ambiguity in Genesis 12-36 and Ethnic Boundaries in Post-Exilic Judah

Back cover/catalog description of the book published by the Society of Biblical Literature, 2001

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

R. Christopher Heard is Assistant Professor of Bible at Milligan College, just outside of Johnson City, Tennessee.

Abstract of the book

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 hav de-emphasized 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-a-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.”

H. Wallace, Society for the Study of the Old Testament Book List (2002) 81: “The case is clearly argued ...”