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The role of imperial decrees in Ezra-Nehemiah : an ideological and exegetical analysis
Bibliography: leaves 297-317.
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Department of Religious Studies
2015
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| _version_ | 1867613237888942080 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Richards, Ruben Robert |
| author2 | Mosala, Itumeleng J |
| author_browse | Mosala, Itumeleng J Richards, Ruben Robert |
| author_facet | Mosala, Itumeleng J Richards, Ruben Robert |
| author_sort | Richards, Ruben Robert |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | Bibliography: leaves 297-317. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/14744 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:32:57.328Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publishDateRange | 2015 |
| publishDateSort | 2015 |
| publisher | Department of Religious Studies |
| publisherStr | Department of Religious Studies |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/14744 The role of imperial decrees in Ezra-Nehemiah : an ideological and exegetical analysis Richards, Ruben Robert Mosala, Itumeleng J Religious Studies Bibliography: leaves 297-317. This dissertation is an ideological and exegetical analysis of the role of the imperial decrees of Persia in Ezra- Nehemiah (hereafter E-N). The imperial decrees, to date, have not been considered to play any significant role in both the compilation and the interpretation of E-N because they have been analysed, almost exclusively, in terms of their literary form and character and not in terms of their political-ideological function within the E-N narrative. Consequently, an alternative approach to the E-N text seemed necessary. This study develops a literary- ideological methodological paradigm which has its primary interest in the ideological character and function of a text; a mode of reading the text which gives expression to the nexus of political ideology and religio-cultural (i.e. theological) concerns within a single narrative complex, such as E-N. Thus, matters relative to politics, power, and ideology, and the manner in which they are imprinted on the production of a text, become extremely important. The application of this methodology to E-N yields two conclusions which need special mention. One conclusion is that the imperial decrees, on a literary-structural level, function as the organising centre for the tri-partite narrative design of E-N. In fact, this work demonstrates that the imperial decrees, not only drive the literary production of E-N, but also provide the narrative its ideological cohesion. The second conclusion of this study is that the imperial decrees, more than any other aspect of E-N, facilitates an adequate decoding of the political and conflict discourse inherent in E-N. By refocusing E-N research toward an appreciation of the centrality of the decrees, the dissertation brings into focus, rather sharply, the symbiotic relationship between official Persian colonial documents on the one hand, and the religio-cultural text of E- N, on the other, by demonstrating that there exists a dialectical relationship between the imperial decrees, and the E-N narrative in which they are set. The religio-cultural text, E-N, lends religio-cultural legitimacy to the political decrees of the colonial empire, Persia, while the imperial decrees in turn provide political, military and economic authority and legitimacy to the Golah-led reconstruction of post-Babylonian Palestine. Such a symbiotic relationship illustrates the ideological collusion of the E-N text with Persian colonial ideology. Finally, this study, by virtue of its focus on the role of the imperial decrees in E-N, lays the necessary foundation for further and more in depth exegetical analyses of the E-N literature in terms of an appreciation for those forces (e.g. political, ideological, religious, economic, cultural) which impact its literary production in the context of Persian colonial domination. 2015-11-08T05:12:45Z 2015-11-08T05:12:45Z 1995 Doctoral Thesis Doctoral PhD http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14744 eng application/pdf Department of Religious Studies Faculty of Humanities University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Religious Studies Richards, Ruben Robert The role of imperial decrees in Ezra-Nehemiah : an ideological and exegetical analysis |
| thesis_degree_str | Doctoral |
| title | The role of imperial decrees in Ezra-Nehemiah : an ideological and exegetical analysis |
| title_full | The role of imperial decrees in Ezra-Nehemiah : an ideological and exegetical analysis |
| title_fullStr | The role of imperial decrees in Ezra-Nehemiah : an ideological and exegetical analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | The role of imperial decrees in Ezra-Nehemiah : an ideological and exegetical analysis |
| title_short | The role of imperial decrees in Ezra-Nehemiah : an ideological and exegetical analysis |
| title_sort | role of imperial decrees in ezra nehemiah an ideological and exegetical analysis |
| topic | Religious Studies |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14744 |
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