The Sanctuary of Bethel and the Configuration of Israelite Identity

Download or read book The Sanctuary of Bethel and the Configuration of Israelite Identity written by Jules Francis Gomes and published by Walter de Gruyter. This book was released on 2012-02-14 with total page 325 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After Jerusalem, Bethel is the most frequently cited sanctuary in the Hebrew Bible. The book offers a detailed analysis of Bethel and its sanctuary from archaeological and biblical evidence. It reconstructs the history of Bethel and by analysing the presence of pro- and anti-Bethel propaganda, it argues that the latter, with its own pro-Jerusalem/Judah bias, has resulted in an unfair denigration of Bethel as an idolatrous place of worship. The study suggests that Bethel was a legitimate Yahwistic shrine and continued to be so even after the fall of the Northern Kingdom of Israel to the Assyrians. Hence, Bethel in a real sense was the principal means of configuring Israelite identity.