This wide-rangingReader provides a comprehensive survey of the interaction between postcolonial criticism and biblical studies.Examines how various empires such as the Persian and Roman affected biblical narratives.Demonstrates how different biblical writers such as Paul, Matthew and Mark handled the challenges of empire.Includes examples of the practical application of postcolonial criticism to biblical texts.Considers contemporary issues such as diaspora, race, representation and territory.Editorial commentary draws out the key points to be made and creates a coherent narrative.

R. S. Sugirtharajah is Professor of Biblical Hermeneutics at the University of Birmingham. Prior to his current appointment, he was Senior Lecturer in Third World Theologies at Selly Oak Colleges, Birmingham. His previous publications includePostcolonial Reconfigurations (2003),Postcolonial Criticism and Biblical Interpretation (2002),The Bible and the Third World (2001), andThe Bible and Empire: Postcolonial Explorations (2005).

List of Contributors viii

Acknowledgments x

Introduction 1R. S. Sugirtharajah

Part I: Theoretical Practices 3

Introduction: Theoretical Practices 5R. S. Sugirtharajah

1 Charting the Aftermath: A Review of Postcolonial Criticism 7R. S. Sugirtharajah

2 Biblical Criticism and Postcolonial Studies: Toward a Postcolonial Optic 33Fernando F. Segovia

3 Making the Connections: Postcolonial Studies and Feminist Biblical Interpretation 45Kwok Pui-lan

Part II: Empires Old and New 65

Introduction: Empires Old and New 67R. S. Sugirtharajah

4 Renewal Movements and Resistance to Empire in Ancient Judea 69Richard A. Horsley

5 Postcolonialism and Imperial Motives for Canonization 78Jon L. Berquist

6 Roman Imperialism and Early Christian Scribality 96Werner H. Kelber

7 Desiring War: Apocalypse, Commodity Fetish, and the End of History 112Erin Runions

Part III: Empire and Exegesis 129

Introduction: Empire and Exegesis 131R. S. Sugirtharajah

8 The Implications of the Text of Esther for African Womens Struggle for Liberation in South Africa 134Itumeleng J. Mosala

9 Rahab Says Hello to Judith: A Decolonizing Feminist Reading 142Musa W. Dube

10 The Sign of Orpah: Reading Ruth through Native Eyes 159Laura E. Donaldson

11 On Naming the Subject: Postcolonial Reading of Daniel 1 171Philip Chia

12 Decolonizing Yahweh: A Postcolonial Reading of 2 Kings 2425 186Kari Latvus

13 Mark and Empire: Zealot and Postcolonial Readings 193Stephen D. Moore

14 Tyranny, Boundary, and Might: Colonial Mimicry in Marks Gospel 206Tat-siong Benny Liew

15 Maori Jews and a Resistant Reading of John 5.1047 224Mary Huie-Jolly

16 God at the Crossroads: A Postcolonial Reading of Sophia 238Mayra Rivera

Part IV: Postcolonial Concerns 255

Introduction: Postcolonial Concerns 257R. S. Sugirtharajah

17 How Local Divine Powers were Suppressed: A Case of Mwari of the Shona 259Dora R. Mbuwayesango

18 Cutchery Tamil versus Pure Tamil: Contesting Language Use in the Translated Bible in the Early Nineteenth-Century Protestant Tamil Community 269Hephzibah Israel

19 Canonization and Marginalization: Mary of Magdala 284Karen L. King

20 Exodus-toward-Egypt: Filipino-Americans Struggle to Realize the Promised Land in America 291Eleazar S. Fernandez

Index of Biblical References 305

Index of Names and Subjects 313