The Land is Mine (Overtures to Biblical Theology): Norman C. Habel: 9780800626648: Amazon.com: Books
Norman C. Habel
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The Land is Mine (Overtures to Biblical Theology) Paperback – December 1, 1993
by Norman C. Habel (Author)
4.5 out of 5 stars 3 ratings
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Editorial Reviews
From the Back Cover
Norman C. Habel identifies six discrete ideologies in the Hebrew Bible regarding land: royal, agrarian, theocratic, prophetic, ancestral household, and immigrant.
About the Author
Norman Habel is Professor of Religious Studies, University of South Australia.
Product details
Series: Overtures to Biblical Theology
Paperback: 212 pages
Publisher: Fortress Press (December 1, 1993)
Language: English
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Customer reviews
4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
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Top Reviews
Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Four StarsReviewed in the United States on March 10, 2016
Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase
A good book to read.
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Clint Walker
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book on history and spirituality of Hebrews and the LandReviewed in the United States on October 11, 2013
Format: Paperback
Summary:
Building off of the fine work that Walter Bruggemann did in The Land, Norman Habel goes in depth in his study of the Israelite people's relationship to the land, and discovers six ideologies of land and its meaning to the Israelite people in the Hebrew Testament.
The ideologies are as follows:
· The Land as the Source of Wealth (for the nation)
o Views land as trust of the king (as representative of the nation)
o Land is given to build nation as empire
o Wealth trickles down to people
o Scriptures: I Kings 3-10
· The Land as Conditional Grant
o God has conquered the land for Israel
o He gives it to the Israelites on an indefinite loan
o Israel needs to obey God and do his will in order to keep the land and be blessed by it
o Scripture: Book of Deuteronomy
· Land as Family Lots
o Land assigned by God
o Up to each tribe to subdue the land and claim it for God's people
o The tribe is central then, to Israelite land claims and loyalty
o Scripture: Book of Joshua (especially the end)
· The Land as God's inheritance
o God, Israel and Land are bound together
o The land suffers because of Israel's sin
o The land, ultimately, is God's
o The healing of the land is coming
o Scriptures: prophets, especially Jeremiah
· The Land as Sabbath Bound
o God is owner of the land
o Israelites are tenant farmers
o Land is promised Sabbath, including Sabbath years and jubilee
o The health of the people and land is tied to this Sabbath practice
o Priests are accountable to keep this land ethic before the people
o Scriptures: Leviticus 25-27
· The Land as Host Country
o People of God came from another place
o The land existed before the people
o The people of God are responsible for remembering that they were immigrants and wanderers
o Scriptures: Exodus, Abraham narratives
Response:
This is such a fun, thoughtful book. It is academic and deep as well. It carefully scours to discover the multiple threads of people's understanding their land in relationship to the God of the Bible. As one reads this fine book, it is not long before one realizes that the Israelite understanding of land formed their identity, changed and evolved over time, and at the same time was a layered, multivalent ideology filled with power and conflict. For me, and my interests in land and spirituality, this is a must have on my desk. For others, it would be an interesting way to understand Hebrew througt from a new and enlightening perspective.
Star Rating (out of 5 stars):
Five stars
Best Audience:
Pastors who like to think, academics, and those interested in Middle-Eastern politics.
3 people found this helpful
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Top international reviews
St. Cuthman of Sussex
5.0 out of 5 stars Whose land is it anyway? By might, right, or refugee flight?Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 20, 2013
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
This book is an excellent introduction to land theology, and a must-read for anyone who is wrestling with land issues and historical injustices. Thus it is pertinent to the situation in many ex-colonies in Africa; as well as Australia and New Zealand, and also for the USA and Tibet.
Habel identifies six different land ideologies in the Old Testament, and concludes that even if one disagrees with his categories it is unarguable that “there is no monolithic concept of land in the Hebrew Scriptures.”
This reviewer agrees.
Given the simplistic levels of thinking and preaching in many churches about the Conquest of Canaan and the modern State of Israel, this book challenges us to really think and not adopt a position based on partial – in both senses of that term - readings of Scripture.
Habel highlights stark differences between the six dominant images of land.
The royal ideology is centrist and absolute- the king is God’s regent on earth, and the land is his to deal with as he pleases.
In contrast, the theocratic ideology grants conditional land usage to people - and their occupancy can be lost if they break the terms of God’s treaty with them.
On the other hand, Jeremiah’s prophetic ideology sees the land as God’s alone, and an entity in its own right, defiled by what its occupying humans do, and needing sabbaticals to recover! Greens and Gaiaists would approve.
A divergent agrarian approach sees the land as God’s garden, allotted to peasant farmers, conserving a Sabbath - and seemingly subsistence - economy.
Peaceworkers who are confronted with the issue of colonial land-grabbing need to read this book, and thus avoid the pitfalls of simplistic proof texts that do nothing to advance peaceful co-existence of humans, whether Christians or not, across tribal and ethnic lines.
This reviewer was sobered by the thought that only a sixth approach, the immigrant ideology embodied in Abraham’s story, actually assists peacemakers in such endeavours. Further, that it is power that appears to fuel the various ideologies, with the royal ideology being both product and apex of hierarchical centralisation.
Yet all of these approaches claim a divine imprimatur!
Habel’s analysis will of course cause affront to those who read Scripture in certain restricted ways- they will find it difficult to accept his argument that we need to consider the identity of the implied audience for Biblical narratives, and the locus of power the author(s) sought to address.
Those who seek monochrome and systematic approaches to the Old Testament may therefore wish to avoid this book. Those who seek to cogitate over the challenge of how we humans are to live together in this increasingly crowded planet, sharing and sustaining resources rather then competing and killing each other, will find this book very helpful.
The author mentions, but does not dwell on the concept of sacred space, nor is he at all poetic or mystic in his presentation. Readers should go to Bruegemann and Wendell Berry for that way of experiencing land!
In summary, Habel identifies and examines six different Biblical approaches to human land ownership and concomitant rights and responsibilities. He offers historical and cultural explanations for these different approaches taken by the Hebrew/Semitic peoples over time and space, and in so doing encourages us to seek our own ethical principles and approaches in the modern world.
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Jun 26, 2017Danny Daley rated it liked it
Norman Habel has written a helpful study on land ideologies in the Hebrew Bible. His sections on household ideology, Sabbath, and land rights are all very well argued, and I agree wholeheartedly with Habel's conclusions regarding Yahweh's perpetual ownership of the land.
My major issue with this study deals with his excursus on "nahala." Habel argues that "inheritance" is not an appropriate term for translation in the majority of cases, and throughout the book he relies mostly on the gloss "entitlement." Habel's principle reason for this is simply that God cannot give an inheritance if he does not die, but Habel never demonstrates that death is required to bequeath an inheritance, and much of his discussion actually bears out that inheritance is precisely the right term (familial and ancestral contexts, and God's unique relationship to his people, to cite two examples).
The book is helpful for understanding key texts on land ideology, but nahala is a major aspect of the study, and I do not think his point was argued effectively. (less)
My major issue with this study deals with his excursus on "nahala." Habel argues that "inheritance" is not an appropriate term for translation in the majority of cases, and throughout the book he relies mostly on the gloss "entitlement." Habel's principle reason for this is simply that God cannot give an inheritance if he does not die, but Habel never demonstrates that death is required to bequeath an inheritance, and much of his discussion actually bears out that inheritance is precisely the right term (familial and ancestral contexts, and God's unique relationship to his people, to cite two examples).
The book is helpful for understanding key texts on land ideology, but nahala is a major aspect of the study, and I do not think his point was argued effectively. (less)
Apr 02, 2013Brian Collins rated it it was ok
Carson’s critique of Niebuhr’s Christ and Culture could easily be adapted to Habel. Habel finds competing land ideologies in different parts of Scripture. As Carson notes with regard to Niebuhr, this prompts "questions about whether they are alternatives or components of a bigger pattern—a pattern that begins to emerge when we follow the Bible’s story line in the categories of biblical theology." It can also raise questions about how accurately Habel is reading the text in some instances. I found the book to have some helpful insights on particular passages here and there, but overall Habel’s conception of the nature of Scripture distorts his approach to Scripture. (less)
