Browsing by Author "Gertzen, Marius"

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    For king and country: an ideological critical study of covenant in Jeremiah 11:1-17 and Kingship in Jeremiah 22:1-23:8 as examples of cultural violence
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2019-12) Gertzen, Marius; Claassens, L. Juliana M.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Theology. Dept. of Old and New Testament.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study offers an ideological critical investigation of the notion of covenant in Jeremiah 11:1-17 and kingship in Jeremiah 22:1-23:8 as examples of cultural violence. Employing the theoretical framework of Johan Galtung with reference to direct, structural and cultural violence, the ideological-literary aspects and ideological-contextual aspects of the world in, behind and in front of these texts are explored. In Chapter 2 of this study the theoretical framework of Galtung pertaining to direct, structural and cultural violence is critically discussed. Cultural violence as exemplified by, for instance, religion and ideology is shown by Galtung to justify or legitimise direct or structural violence. Cultural violence makes direct and structural violence look, even feel, right – or at least not wrong. Cultural violence thus plays a crucial role in legitimising acts of direct violence, and rendering the fact of structural violence acceptable in society. In Chapter 3, the world of Jeremiah is investigated. Textual aspects of structure, genre and the Deuteronomistic source informing Jeremiah are brought into conversation with the historical, social and religious aspects of the world of Jeremiah. In Chapter 4 the notion of covenant is defined and interrogated. After offering a diachronic as well as a synchronic analysis of covenant in the Hebrew Bible in its Ancient Near Eastern (ANE) context, this chapter addresses the way in which covenant features in Jeremiah 11:1-17. This includes the ideological-literary manifestation of judgement; the text’s close affinity to the Deuteronomistic ideological worldview; and Jeremiah 11’s correspondence with the temple sermon of Jeremiah 7. These aspects are then used to investigate the ways in which the temple in Jerusalem can be perceived as an example of structural violence and the process of the centralisation of the cult as an example of direct violence. Thereafter, covenant as cultural violence is explored in terms of the covenantal ideology of election; the covenantal ideology of Zion; and the covenantal ideology of the Deuteronomistic. Lastly, it is demonstrated how the direct, structural and cultural violence of covenant in Jeremiah 11:1-17 are closely related to each other by utilising the violence triangle and violence strata image of Galtung. In Chapter 5 of this study the notion of kingship is defined and interrogated. The monarchical state is identified as a theoretical vehicle that is useful for investigating kingship in Israel. The synchronic focus of kingship on divine election and the upholding of justice in the ANE and Israel is investigated, where after diachronic aspects of the divine election and the upholding of justice of selected kings of Israel are explored in conjunction with aspects of direct and structural violence pertaining to the monarchical states during the reign of these kings. The direct violence of the monarchical state of Jehoiakim is discussed in terms of the practise of corvée labour, as well as the structural violence of the monarchical state pertaining to functions of the state as introduced by Solomon but continuing to the time of Jehoiakim. The theology of kingship is discussed especially with reference to the way in which the future promise of a just king is used in Jeremiah 22:1-23:8 to save the institution of kingship. Mention is also made of how the royal psalms can be seen as the popular discourse that kept the elective position of the king before YHWH alive, even if the prophets saw this relationship as a thing of the past. Lastly, the direct, structural and cultural violence of kingship in Jeremiah 22:1-23:8 are once again brought into conversation with each other by employing the violence triangle and violence strata image of Galtung. Finally, the study shows how an understanding of the theoretical framework of Galtung regarding violence may help one to better understand the direct, structural and cultural violence of the ideology of Apartheid in a contemporary South African context. The study concludes by showing the dangers of an inerrant view of Scripture, but also cautions against limiting the violence of Scripture to only texts that contain visible direct violence.
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    Geweld en Patriargie in Esegiel 16 en 23 in die Suid-Afrikaanse konteks van geweld teen vroue en kinders
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2014-04) Gertzen, Marius; Claassens, L. Juliana M.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Theology. Dept. of Old and New Testament.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis is an ideological critical analysis of Ezekiel 16 and 23 in the South African context of Intimate Partner Violence. The ideology of patriarchy and the ideology of violence were used as a hermeneutical framework in the interpretation of the occurrences patriarchy and violence in Ezekiel 16 and 23. The ideological critical analysis of Ezekiel 16 and 23 consist of an extrinsic and intrinsic analysis. Accordingly it is assumed that the presumed audience is the ruling class in exile. In the extrinsic analysis the semantic, syntactic, and morphological occurrences of the marriage metaphor, adultery/prostitution, sexuality, violence metaphors, rape, and shame in Ezekiel 16 and 23 was researched. It was found that adultery/prostitution fulfills a central role in these texts. Therefore, the sexuality in the texts operates as a transition to the violence in Ezekiel 16 and 23. The research of the social context of the abovementioned themes made it clear that the covenant making aspect of the marriage is an important theme in Ezekiel 16 and 23, and that adultery is seen in a worse light than prostitution because of the detrimental effect adultery had on the covenant part of the marriage. It was further found that sexuality was socially strictly controlled, and that the ideology of violence occurred among the ruling class as an honorable form of war. In the intrinsic analysis the rhetorical and theological power of the abovementioned themes was researched. It was found that the vehicle of the implicit patriarchy of the marriage has the ability to provide the tenor of the marriage metaphor namely the YHWH-Israel relationship (the covenant), with more rhetorical and theological power. In the proposals for a contextual reading of Ezekiel 16 and 23, the problem of a violent God was considered, arguing that the covenant creates a space for this understanding of God, but also that this divine image can by ethically reinterpreted in connection to the covenant. The idea of a violent God was further discussed in terms of the Theodicy question. An ideological critical analysis is able to acknowledge the anger of God, but also the anger of humans. In connection to Intimate Partner Violence the metaphors in Ezekiel 16 and 23 cannot be seen as innocent and ought to be critically evaluated.