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The Pro-Social Role of Grief in Ezra’s Penitential Prayer

The Pro-Social Role of Grief in Ezra’s Penitential Prayer This study uses a model of human experience that considers the embodied brain, religion, and social context in an integrated system of bio-cultural approaches. The study of grief and its strategic arousal in ritual contexts can highlight fundamental differences between modern and ancient religious understandings of the self, ultimately helping us to become more aware of our own scholarly biases and anachronisms. Such methods complement traditional historical-critical methods and shed light on how Ezra’s penitential prayer could have functioned in a Second Temple context. This study examines the similarities between the ritual performance of actions and discursive traditions that are said to have been performed by Ezra (Ezra 9–10) and discusses their resemblance to two passages that preserve foundational events of remaking the covenant (Exodus 32–34; Deuteronomy 9) and dedicating the first Temple (1 Kings 8; 2 Chronicles 6–7). The reenactment of scripted grief is identified as a strategy for bridging the breach between foundational events and the authors and readers in the Second Temple period. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Biblical Interpretation Brill

The Pro-Social Role of Grief in Ezra’s Penitential Prayer

Harkins, Angela Kim
Biblical Interpretation , Volume 24 (4-5): 466 – Nov 15, 2016
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References (11)

Publisher
Brill
Copyright
© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
0927-2569
eISSN
1568-5152
DOI
10.1163/15685152-02445p03
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

This study uses a model of human experience that considers the embodied brain, religion, and social context in an integrated system of bio-cultural approaches. The study of grief and its strategic arousal in ritual contexts can highlight fundamental differences between modern and ancient religious understandings of the self, ultimately helping us to become more aware of our own scholarly biases and anachronisms. Such methods complement traditional historical-critical methods and shed light on how Ezra’s penitential prayer could have functioned in a Second Temple context. This study examines the similarities between the ritual performance of actions and discursive traditions that are said to have been performed by Ezra (Ezra 9–10) and discusses their resemblance to two passages that preserve foundational events of remaking the covenant (Exodus 32–34; Deuteronomy 9) and dedicating the first Temple (1 Kings 8; 2 Chronicles 6–7). The reenactment of scripted grief is identified as a strategy for bridging the breach between foundational events and the authors and readers in the Second Temple period.

Journal

Biblical Interpretation – Brill

Published: Nov 15, 2016

Keywords: penitential prayer ; grief ; emotion ; Ezra ; Moses ; Solomon

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