Altmann Economics in Persian-Period Biblical Texts

Their Interactions with Economic Developments in the Persian Period and Earlier Biblical Traditions
1. Auflage 2016
ISBN: 978-3-16-154938-0
Verlag: Mohr Siebeck
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, Band 109, 354 Seiten

Reihe: Forschungen zum Alten Testament

Large-scale economic change such as the rise of coinage occurred during the Persian-dominated centuries (6th -4th centuries BCE) in the Eastern Mediterranean and ancient Near East. How do the biblical texts of the time respond to such developments? In this study, Peter Altmann lays out foundational economic conceptions from the ancient Near East and earlier biblical traditions in order to show how Persian-period biblical texts build on these traditions to address the challenges of their day. Economic issues are central to the way that Ezra and Nehemiah approach the topics of temple building and of Judean self-understanding. Economic terminology and considerations also appear in Second Isaiah and the "Holiness Code." Following significant interaction with the material culture and extra-biblical texts, the author devotes special attention to the ascendancy of economics and its theological and identity implications as structuring metaphors for divine action and human community in the Persian period.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Altmann, Peter

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Jüdische Studien Jüdische Studien Heilige & Traditionstexte: Torah, Talmud, Mischna, Halacha
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Wirtschaftsgeschichte
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Wirtschaftswissenschaften Wirtschaftsgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Bibelwissenschaften Altes Testament: Exegese, Geschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Alte Geschichte & Archäologie Altorientalische Geschichte & Archäologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Cover;1
2;Preface;6
3;Table of Contents;8
4;Abbreviations;12
5;Chapter 0: Introduction;14
6;Chapter 1: History of Scholarship and Methodology;18
6.1;1.1. Taking an Outside View;18
6.1.1;1.1.1. Economics in Old Testament Studies;18
6.2;1.2. Philosophical Methodology;24
6.3;1.3. Approaching a Definition and Methodology for Understanding the Economy and Economic Structures of Ancient Israel;29
6.3.1;1.3.1. Definitions of ‘Economics’ and ‘Value’;29
6.3.2;1.3.2. Current Approaches to Ancient Economics: Modernist, Marxist, and Substantivist Analysis;33
6.3.3;1.3.3. A Way Forward: New Institutional Economics;42
7;Chapter 2: The Traditionally Royal Role of Economics in Mesopotamia;46
7.1;2.1. Prices;49
7.2;2.2. Wages;53
7.3;2.3. Debt and Interest;54
7.4;2.4. Conclusions;59
8;Chapter 3: Economics, Cult, and Society in Preexilic Biblical Texts;61
8.1;3.1. Economics in Preexilic Israel and Syro-Palestine;62
8.2;Excurses: Prices and Exchange;74
8.3;3.2. Economics in Preexilic Biblical Texts;78
8.3.1;3.2.1. Prophets;79
8.3.2;3.2.2. Legal texts;83
8.3.3;3.2.3. Kings;88
8.4;3.3. Conclusions;90
9;Chapter 4: The Economic Background of the Persian Period;92
9.1;4.1. The Babylonian Period in Yehud;93
9.2;4.2. The Transition to Persian Hegemony;95
9.3;4.3. Persian Imperial Economy;102
9.3.1;4.3.1 The Rise of Coinage: Historical and Methodological Reflections;108
9.3.2;4.3.2. The Coinage of the Greater Persian Economy;113
9.3.3;4.3.3. Persepolis;118
9.3.4;4.3.4. Babylonia;125
9.3.5;4.3.5. The “Greek World”;141
9.3.6;4.3.6. The Phoenician City-States;148
9.3.7;4.3.7. The Philistine Coast;153
9.3.8;4.3.8. Egypt and Elephantine;158
9.3.9;4.3.9. Samaria and Wadi Daliyeh;163
9.3.10;4.3.10. Idumea;168
9.3.11;4.3.11. Conclusions;172
9.4;4.4. Yehud: The Record of its Material Culture in the Persian Period;172
9.4.1;4.4.1. The Rebuilding of the Temple, the City of Jerusalem, and Demography;177
9.4.2;4.4.2. Yehud Coinage;181
9.4.3;4.4.3. Changes in the Fourth Century – Historical and Economic;186
9.4.4;4.4.4. Conclusions from the Material Culture and Coins;188
9.5;4.5. Persian-Period Economics in Yehud;190
10;Chapter 5: Economics in Persian Period Biblical Texts: Broad Contexts;201
10.1;5.1. Chronicles;202
10.2;5.2. Priestly Document;205
10.3;5.3. The “Holiness Code”;209
10.4;5.4. Deutero-Isaiah;214
10.5;5.5. Haggai and Zechariah;219
10.6;5.6. Trends and Conclusions;222
11;Chapter 6: The Historical and Composition-Critical Setting of Ezra-Nehemiah;223
12;Chapter 7: Who Pays? The Economics of a Theological Question in Ezra 1–8;234
12.1;7.1. Ezra 2:68–69;236
12.2;7.2. Ezra 3:7;238
12.3;7.3. Ezra 4:13, 20;242
12.4;7.4. Ezra 6:4, 8–10, 13;246
12.5;7.5. Ezra 7:14–24;250
12.6;7.6. Conclusions from the Book of Ezra;255
13;Chapter 8: Nehemiah: The Community-Defining Economic Ethics of Tithes, Taxes, Commerce, and Debt;257
13.1;8.1. Nehemiah 3: Pelek as Work or Military Service;259
13.2;8.2. Nehemiah 5:1–13: Lending and Judean Identity;262
13.2.1;8.2.1. Philological Reflections on Economic Terms in Neh 5:1–13;265
13.2.2;8.2.2. Compositional and Historical Location of Neh 5:1–13;272
13.2.3;8.2.3. Interpretation of Neh 5:1–13;279
13.3;8.3. Nehemiah 5:14–19: The Economics of Nehemiah’s Table;283
13.3.1;8.3.1 Philological, Text-Critical, and Composition-critical Observations;284
13.3.2;8.3.2. The View from Persepolis;291
13.3.3;8.3.3. Greek Views of Persian Feasting;295
13.3.4;8.3.4. Nehemiah’s Feasting – The Economics of Distribution;297
13.4;8.4. Nehemiah 13:4–14: The Economics of Temple Affiliation;300
13.5;8.5. Nehemiah 13:15–22: Economics and Sacred Time;306
13.6;8.6. Conclusions from the Book of Nehemiah;311
14;Chapter 9: Conclusion;313
15;Bibliography;318

Über Autor(innen)

Altmann, Peter
Born 1974; 2004 ThM and 2010 PhD in Old Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary; 2016 Habilitation from the University of Zurich; since 2008 doctoral and then post-doctoral researcher in Hebrew Bible Studies at the University of Zurich.