Abstract Political theology includes critical reflection on the intersections of religious, political, and economic life, and in the Hebrew Bible, it is articulated in many different ways. Examining a range of key topics—sovereignty, leadership, law, peoplehood, hospitality, redemption, creation, and eschatology—this book focuses in particular on conceptions of nationhood and empire, showing how they have figured in the forming and re-forming of ancient Israel’s social body in a number of geographical settings. The argument suggests that the national imaginary and its imperial alternatives were woven into the biblical traditions by authors who enjoyed very little in the way of political sovereignty. Eight different political theologies are outlined, articulated in the diverse genres of historiography, law, prophecy, and wisdom. The classic biblical literature has shaped the social imaginations of many peoples from ancient Canaan to global Christianity today, so attention is also given to key developments in the history of the Bible’s reception, particularly in the rise of modern polities, and in a variety of colonial projects. Understanding the inner-biblical debates and their later interpretations will continue to be relevant for those who still live within the Bible’s history of reception.
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