Divine Presence and Absence in Exilic and
Post-Exilic Judaism
Studies of the Sofja Kovalevskaja Research Group on Early
Jewish Monotheism Vol. II
Ed. by Nathan MacDonald and Izaak J. de Hulster
[Göttliche Präsenz und Abwesenheit im exilischen und nach-exilischen Judentum.]
2013. XVI, 323 pages.
FAT II 61
ISBN 978-3-16-152433-2
sewn paper 79,00 €
ISBN 978-3-16-152434-9
eBook PDF 79,00 €
Published in English.
The catastrophic events at the beginning of the sixth century BCE resulted in a theological crisis
for the Judean elite. The end of the only surviving Hebrew kingdom was explained by a
theology of divine abandonment, a motif widely understood in the ancient Near East. Many
years later Jewish exiles would return to rebuild and settle Jerusalem. During their time in
Babylonia and in the Persian period this group rede ned the traditional understanding of
divine presence and developed various new understandings that could explain YHWH's
commitment to Jerusalem as well as the cataclysmic events that they had experienced. This
collection of essays from a conference held in Göttingen in May 2011 examines changing ideas
of divine presence and absence in late biblical texts. The essays tackle subjects such as the
understanding of divine presence in Deuteronomy, Ezekiel, the Psalms and Ezra-Nehemiah, as
well as topics such as divine abandonment, aniconism, the exaltation of Torah and the spirit of
God. These Judean perspectives are contextualized by essays that examine ideas of divine
presence elsewhere in the ancient Levant and the Near East, and modern theological and
philosophical attempts to speak about the presence or absence of God. This volume is the rst
publication in the context of the Sofja-Kovalevskaja Research Group under the leadership of
Nathan MacDonald. This research group seeks to examine the considerable diversity in Israelite
and Jewish monotheistic thought and practice during the exilic and Persian periods, particularly
through an examination of the relevant biblical texts. The project consists of a small team of
post-doctoral and doctoral researchers based at the Georg-August Universität Göttingen. The
project has a strong contemporary resonance because of concerns expressed about the
relationship between monotheism, hegemony and violence.
Survey of contents
Table of Contents: Nathan MacDonald: Introduction – Trevor Hart: Complicating Presence:
Interdisciplinary Perspectives on a Theological Question – Johannes Zachhuber: Transzendenz
und Immanenz als Interpretationskategorien antiken Denkens im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert –
Claus Ambos: Tempel, Kultbild, Priester – Überlegungen zu den Voraussetzungen für göttliche
Präsenz im Alten Orient und zu den Gefahren ihrer Beeinträchtigung – Angelika Berlejung:
Divine Presence for Everybody: Presence Theology in Everyday Life – Nathan MacDonald: The
Spirit of YHWH: An Overlooked Conceptualization of Divine Presence in the Persian Period –
Stephen Cook: God's Real Absence and Real Presence in Deuteronomy and Deuteronomism –
William Tooman: Waiting for God: Conditions for the Restoration of the Divine Presence in
Ezekiel – Jill Middlemas: Multiple Imaging as Literary Aniconism in the Prophets – Joel Burnett:
The Anticipated Rebuilding of the Jerusalem Temple as Re ected in the Elohistic Psalter and its
Background in Mesopotamian Hymn Tradition – Michael Emmendör er: Das Gebet in der Krise
oder die Abwesenheit Jahwes als Thema der Psalmen – Bob Becking: Silent Witness: The
Symbolic Presence of God in the Temple Vessels in Ezra-Nehemiah – Lisbeth S. Fried: The Torah
of God as God: The Exaltation of the Written Law Code in Ezra-Nehemiah
Mohr Siebeck GmbH & Co. KG
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D-72010 Tübingen
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Izaak J. de Hulster Born 1979; 2008 PhD; since 2014 University Researcher at the University of
Helsinki.
Nathan MacDonald Born 1975; studied theology and classical Hebrew in Cambridge and
Durham; currently University Lecturer in Hebrew Bible at the University of Cambridge and
Fellow of St John's College.
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D-72010 Tübingen
[email protected]
www.mohr.de