Marxist Criticism of the Hebrew Bible: Second Edition

Roland Boer is Professor of Literature at Renmin University of China, Beijing, and a senior researcher at the University of Newcastle, Australia.

• Introduction: Touchstones for Marxist Criticism1. Louis Althusser: The Difficult Birth of Israel in Genesis2. Antonio Gramsci: The Emergence of the ‘Prince’ in Exodus3. Deleuze and Guattari: Scapegoats and Resistance4. Terry Eagleton: The Class Struggles of Ruth5. Henri Lefebvre (and David Harvey): The Production of Space in 1 Samuel6. Georg Lukács: The Contradictory World of Kings7. Theodor Adorno: The Logic of Divine Justice in Isaiah8. Ernst Bloch: Anti-Yahwism in Ezekiel9. Antonio Negri: Job: Bending Transcendence to Immanence10. Fredric Jameson: The Contradictions of Form in the Psalms11. Walter Benjamin: The Impossible Apocalyptic of DanielConclusion: Marxism and the Sacred Economy

Thoroughly rewriting his 2003 work with the biblical scholar and student in mind, Roland Boer presents a wide-range of Marxist critical theorists on biblical texts from Genesis to Daniel. The admirable result is a variety of provocative readings of dialectical richness. Boer offers an excellent entrée into the depth and complexities of these philosophical thinkers, who tackled issues of economic exploitation and injustice head-on. His readings provide biblical scholars new ways of approaching texts that have been used in oppressive struggles throughout the course of history.