RESISTANCE OR COMPLIANCE: READING DANIEL 1 AS A FAUX-HIDDEN TRANSCRIPT

  • Jonathan Redding Nebraska Wesleyan University
Keywords: Hebrew Bible, Hellenistic Judaism, Daniel, Hidden Transcript, Materialist, Postcolonial

Abstract

This article examines imperial and economic forces of colonisation surrounding post-exilic Israel, specifically the late Persian period (334-330 BCE) transitioning into the Hellenistic era (332-64 BCE), to do a suspicious reading of Daniel 1 as a text of imperial resistance. Using a paradigm constructed from elements of James Scott's theory of hidden transcripts from “Domination and the arts of resistance”, Daniel 1 becomes a Hellenistic text capable of placating and appeasing as much as (or perhaps more than) opposing and resisting empire. This work emphasises suspicious tensions to examine socio-economic class structures in and around the composition of the book of Daniel to interpret Daniel 1 through a hermeneutic of suspicion with a focus on postcolonial theory.

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Author Biography

Jonathan Redding, Nebraska Wesleyan University
PhD Candidate - Vanderbilt UniversityAdjunct Professor - Sewanee: The University of the South and Middle Tennessee State University
Published
2019-09-25
Section
Articles