This book offers a historical-materialist reading of the opening chapters of the book of Genesis in an attempt to revive their potential to engage people in truthful discussions about power and pleasure.

For the past two millennia, biblical stories have been told and discussed in countless settings; whether one lives in Europe or in a country that was colonized by Europeans, the biblical symbolic universe remains present. This book offers a method to explore the social and political meanings of its most theological content by visiting two historical settings in which biblical modes of expression intersected with the demands of an economic-political process: Jerusalem and its province during the Persian period (5th?4th centuries bce) and Brazil of the early colonial period (16th century ce). Though distant in time and space, both were moments of comparable transformation: individuals with financial resources and military power arrived from the East to seize control over lands and means of production, subjugating the population to a distant king. By turning to these two historical settings, Ron Naiweld examines how the narratives of Genesis resonated in these environments, how they were used to legitimize imperial power structures, and how they opened these structures to scrutiny. The volume is part of a larger trend of reading the Bible with a historical-materialist approach that allows us to grasp the power of its symbolic universe to inspire both utopia and barbarism, especially in colonial contexts.

This book is suitable for students and scholars interested in the biblical symbolic universe and Jewish and Christian history. It is also of interest to those working on the history of Brazil, comparative literature, and the intersection of religion, economy, and politics.

Table of Contents:

Acknowledgments viii Preface ix Introduction 1 A. The Purpose of the Book 1 B. Where I Try to Situate This Work Academically and Present a Method of Reading Genesis?Kings 5 C. Where I Present the Structure of the Book, Introduce Its Content, and Explain Its Title 9 PART I Words of Slaves 21 1 The Hidden Message of Aristeas 23 2 Yhwh as Ideology and Critique 26 Yhwh as a Figure of Speech in the First Temple Period 27 The Persian Period 28 Yhwh and the Satan 30 Between Yhwh and Elohim 33 Ezra?s Mission 36 3 In the Great Assembly 39 The First Ceremony ? the Reading of "the Torah" 39 The Levites as Go-Betweens 40 Critique of Colonialism 41 The Kings Who "Rule Over Our Corpses" 44 The Levites and the Writing of the Books 45 Yhwh in the Torah 47 PART II War on Brazil 51 4 In Lisbon 53 5 A New Province 57 The Gentiles and the Missionaries 58 6 A Jewish Digression 62 The Word of Yhwh 63 Between Missionaries and Rabbis 67 7 The First Letter 70 The People of the Land 70 The Father, the Lord, and the Language 73 8 Israel in Brazil 78 The Letter to the Settlers of Pernambuco 79 The Suffering Servants 81 9 Satan in the Kingdom 85 Nóbrega?s Conversion 85 In the Workshop 89 10 The Sunday Jacket 100 The Poem 101 The Play and the Cross 103 11 Hungry Christ 107 The Sermon on the Conversion of Saint Paul 107 The Two Standards 109 The Wolf and the Lion 111 On the Road to Damascus 112 Conversing with Christ 114 Issue for Violence 116 Food for God 118 PART III When Enemies Became Brothers 123 12 The Brothers and the King 125 13 The Irresponsible Father 131 The Wise Woman 132 Elohim and the King in the Woman?s Discourse 134 14 The King and the Snake 137 The Birth of the King 137 Bathsheba, David, and the War against Amon 139 15 In Yhwh?s Domain 145 A Story of Power 146 Back to Cain and Abel 151 Epilogue 158 Bibliography 163 Index 169

Religious sciences in general

Bibles and bible interpretations

History in general, methods

Ancient History (until the fall of the Roman Empire)

Judaism

Further, non-christian religions

Religious sciences in general (charity campaign)

Bibles and bible interpretations (charity campaign)

History in general, methods (charity campaign)

Ancient History (until the fall of the Roman Empire) (charity campaign)

Judaism (charity campaign)

Further, non-christian religions (charity campaign)

A Historical-Materialist Reading of Genesis 1-4