A review of Walter Brueggemann's major work, Theology of the Old Testament: Testimony, Dispute, Advocacy

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This work by Walter Brueggemann is perhaps his most comprehensive view of the Old Testament to date. As the title implies, this is a Christian reading of the Old Testament scriptures (for scholars who approach the collection from a more objective standpoint prefer to avoid the use of the term 'Old Testament' in favour of the term 'Hebrew Scriptures'). However, Brueggemann is sensitive to the contemporary context of the scriptures and places them firmly in their rightful place for analysis.

Brueggemann concentrates on Yahweh -- there are other formulations of God in the text (Elohim, for example, or El-Shaddai in Job) but these don't tend to be dominant, so Brueggemann doesn't treat them so. As the subtitle suggests -- Testimony, Dispute, Advocacy -- Brueggemann uses an overall framework of a jury trial, with the presentation of evidence, argument, interpretation, and witnesses.

The first and final sections of the book are analytical and place this book in proper context of the history of OT research and writing, and where this is likely to continue, particularly with the idea of interpretation in a pluralistic context, which is fitting considering the plurality of voices present in the scriptures.

The first witness, of course, is Israel. Israel's experience in the scriptures, however, provides it with both a core testimony of God, as well as a counter-testimony of God. Brueggemann is good about maintaining a tension between poles in his writings, and here he has Israel's testimony pitted against itself, looking for Yahweh in the tension between.

Then there are components of unsolicited testimony, those of creation, humanity, the nations. Following are the concepts of mediators -- Torah, King, Prophet, Cult, Sage -- each of these things mediates the way in which God interacts with the community, and how the community receives and perceives God.

God is seen as a verb, a doer, Yahweh is the one who ... And yet, to have God fully uttered, fully named, a complete grammar must be built.

Perhaps this small bit has given you a flavour of the nearly 800 pages of this work. Brueggemann looks to provide a way of looking at God, without becoming rigid and inflexible. As a companion to this work, I would recommend God in the Fray which is a tribute to Walter Brueggemann published shortly after Theology of the Old Testament, and has scholarly reactions to some of his major points.

To me, by far the most important part is the centre section of the book, upon which I expand at length following. This will also give a good sense of the text itself.

The Nature of Unsolicited Testimony (and beyond)
In a court of law, it is fairly common for the oath to be taken 'to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth'. However, 'the truth' often gets lost as lawyers strives to limit the testimony in court. Witnesses are admonished to 'answer only what is asked; do not volunteer any testimony beyond circumspect answers to the questions.' (p. 407) Insofar as the task of an Old Testament theology is concerned only with what the text has to say, ‘ “The court” has made clear that its only interest is in how Israel speaks about God, and has sought to limit Israel’s testimony to that single question.’ (p. 408) However, there is more to God than just Israel's relationship with Yahweh.

Are you not like Ethiopians to me,
O people of Israel? says the Lord.
Did I not bring Israel up from the land of Egypt,
and the Philistines from Caphtor
and the Arameans from Kir? (Amos 9:7)

The utterance of this verse in Amos collection does nothing to undermine or question the positive claim that Yahweh is a God who saves, rescues, and liberates, or that Yahweh has enacted those verbs for Israel. ... What is challenged is Israel’s attempt to monopolize the verbs, to imagine that as Yahweh is the only Subject of the verbs, so Israel is the only object. (p. 520)

Thus it become more clearly seen that there is more to God than meets the eye, that the reality of God extends beyond the pages of the Old Testament, beyond the testimony of Israel, and that any theology of the Old Testament can never be the final and complete word on the character of God. At many times through the text, Brueggemann states that the only thing that can be taken into consideration in the development of a proper discernment of the character of Yahweh is the text of the Old Testament itself, yet this very same text gives clues to other witness which cannot be called before the court.

Those in the present, acting as a jury, are not a sequestered jury. We have access to the testimony outside the text, and thus must make decisions based on our broader knowledge. One such decision is, does the jury accept any input from these outside sources? Or must the jury remain focussed solely on the direct and solicited testimony as presented in the text of the Old Testament? Brueggemann seems to want to remain concerned only with the text -- however, even the title of the book, Theology of the Old Testament, betrays a tendency, however subtle, to look beyond or outside the text. For the Old Testament is only 'the Old Testament' in relation to another, outside source -- the New Testament. Otherwise, it becomes something different.

Brueggemann begins to look beyond the text by looking at the things beyond Israel which are significant in the text, those being Yahweh's relationship with human beings generally, nations other than Israel, and creation as a whole. Below is a brief discussion regarding the last two of these, with the relationship of human beings discussed as appropriate within these two topics. This separation is made because, Israelites are human beings -- thus, at least some human beings to get a chance at direct testimony. The other nations, and the more general creation, have no such voice -- even their unsolicited testimony is small in comparison to the 'real world' significance of the two. A sequestered jury might never even realise the extent of these by relying solely on the text.

The Nations
It is never very clear in the text the precise relationships of Yahweh to these 'outsiders'. So much is defined on Yahweh's commitment to Israel, and Israel's commitment to Yahweh. 'As covenant partner of Yahweh, Israel is a people defined by obedience.’ (p. 417) Israel, however, is not made a covenant partner for its own sake alone. ‘Israel is a community put in the world, so the testimony suggests, for the sake of justice.’ (p. 421) Israel is called to be a blessing to the nations. ‘Hans Walter Wolff has shown how this theme of “blessing to the nations” runs as a leitmotif throughout the ancestral narrative.’ (p. 432)

As the leaders of Israel encounter just rulers of other lands, they extend the blessing of Yahweh to them, for instance, Jacob's meeting with Pharaoh. ‘The narrative culminates so that the old man Jacob, carrier of the blessing, at long last is ushered into the regal presence of the pharaoh, who is here emblematic of the nations.’ (p. 432) The covenant with Abraham, the covenant at Sinai, are of crucial importance to Israel, and as such is seen as being of similar import to the whole world. ‘Israel’s obligation to Yahweh reaches well beyond justice in the community and holiness in the sanctuary. Indeed, Israel is said to have as part of its vocation and destiny a role in the well-being of the world.’ (p. 430)

Part of this vocation is to ensure the right relationships of communities in the world. Brueggemann frequently states the call to justice being a defining characteristic of the covenant with Israel. ‘The command to justice is understood as marking the polity of the community of Israel.’ (p. 423) Brueggemann discusses the relationship of Yahweh and Israel with the other superpowers of the world at the time. Yahweh is concerned about them. ‘The nations are a proper subject of Yahweh’s attention.’ (p. 495) They take the form both of being tools of Yahweh as well as the objects of Yahweh's displeasure. However, so far as Israel is concerned, while the nations might not be 'godless' or beyond the help of Yahweh, they necessarily have a different character of relationship with Yahweh. ‘The nations must make their way, according to this unsolicited testimony, in a world of Israel’s preferential status with Yahweh.’ (p. 495)

There are certain universals, however. For instance, the ‘...Noachic covenant applies to all of the nations.’ (p. 494) Indeed, this covenant extends beyond just the relationships of the nations, but to all of creation. ‘Yahweh makes an “everlasting covenant” with Noah and Noah’s descendants, with “every animal of the earth,” with the whole of creation.’ (p. 494) This point will be discussed at greater length later. Suffice it here to say that the blessing of Yahweh extending beyond the confines of Israel is established early in the Torah -- the covenant with creation precedes the covenant with Israel.

There is a certain tension in the way Israel approaches the notion of Yahweh's relationship with other nations, however. While it is recognised that these outsiders are not part of the Abrahamic covenant or the covenant of Sinai, it is likewise testified that they are not necessarily beyond the covenant. Indeed, in several instances the imagery of all the nations of the world accepting a role in the covenant is demonstrated:

All the nations you have made shall come
and bow down before you, O Lord,
and shall glorify your name. (Ps 86:9)

Clearly, in this psalm Israel ‘...envisions a whole earth and all its peoples now gladly affirming Yahweh’s sovereignty and gratefully receiving from Yahweh all the blessings of a rightly governed creation.’ (p. 501) If the nations were truly destined to have no part in relationship with Yahweh, such testimony would not be found.

And, it is not just relationship with Yahweh, but participation in the covenant, by recognition of the importance of Torah, that the testimony continues toward. The sovereignty of Yahweh surpasses even the political sovereignty of the House of David. ‘...it is important to note that in this oracle, nothing is made of the Davidic connection. The focus is on the Torah that is situated in Jerusalem, to which the nations come for instruction:’

Many peoples shall come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob;
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.” (Isa 2:3) (p. 501)

If the sovereignty of Yahweh surpasses that of David, the great king and chosen of God, certainly no other earthly power can claim sovereignty greater than this.

Israel can foresee a shift in the political nature of the superpowers surrounding it. ‘...in the process of coming gladly, it is affirmed that the nations, like Israel, are subject to the Torah of Yahweh. That is, the Torah is as pertinent to the nations as it is to Israel.’ (p. 501) Akin to modern political sociological analysis, the prophets of Israel can envision a shift from the recognition of one kind of authority to another. Max Weber states there are three pure types of legitimate authority, those being authority which rests on rational grounds, traditional grounds, or charismatic grounds. (Weber, PS, pp. 35-36) Authority is not in question, but rather, the kind of authority -- and it need not be the same shift for every nation. Perhaps some nations would come to see Torah as a rational way of constructing the life of the community; perhaps some nations would be brought to a recognition of Yahweh through the charisma of a leader. In particular, the relationship of Persia may fall under this category, where the decision of the leaders (Cyrus and Darius) brought the community into favour.

Darius the Persian is able to enter fully into praise of the God of Israel. ... On the horizon of this testimony, the Persians are not recalcitrant vassals of Yahweh, need not be broken by Yahweh, and so need no Yahwistic recovery. In this modeling of nations as partners, Persia is the exemplar of a positive, responsive partner. (p. 518)

However, even this is not the full extent of Yahweh's relationship with other nations. The unsequestered jury might ask, what about those nations and communities with no contact with Israel whatsoever. Are they to be forever outside the possibility of Yahweh's grace, his call for justice and mercy? Again, referring back to the passage from Amos, the jury would probably conclude that Yahweh is in some sense accessible to other nations in different ways, that ‘...Yahweh’s sovereignty extended directly to the nations, without mediating reference to Israel either as a vehicle of blessing to the nations or as the agent of destruction, or even as the locus of Torah.’ (p. 502)

The call of Israel to be a blessing to the nations is strong enough that ‘Israel could imagine that the nations could share willingly in the service of Yahweh, becoming part of Yahweh’s community of praise and obedience.’ (p. 499) Israel is called to be a participant in the world, even when it is without military or political power; that ‘even as a slave community, [carries] the power of blessing on which the superpower depends.’ (p. 433)

That superpowers become drunk with their own power and sense of importance is readily seen throughout all political history. They often succumb to ‘...the temptation to absolutize power that appears to be absolute but is not. Clearly such absolutizing is impossible in a world where Yahweh’s sovereignty is said to be beyond challenge.’ (p. 518) Without Yahweh, or in the event that nations ignore Yahweh, ‘the international system, whether it is dominated for a time by six Great Powers or only two, remains anarchical—that is, there is no greater authority than the sovereign, egoistical nation-state.’ (Kennedy, p. 440) Brueggemann states that Yahweh uses the tendencies of superpowers as he mediates justice through the world, both with regard to Israel, and among the nations themselves. ‘Thus Yahweh is the guarantor, not only of Israel, but of the nations in their treatment of each other.’ (p. 503) Assyria, Yahweh's partner for one task, falls to Babylon because it oversteps its charge. ‘Thus Assyrian imperialism is contained Yahwistically in the categories of mandate-violation of mandate-sanctions. The empire cannot outflank Yahweh, who wills compassion in the political process.’ (p. 509) No power can overpower Yahweh; no superpower, however strong, can hope to survive while violating Yahweh's will, even if that will is not made explicitly apparent to the nations. ‘Superpowers like Babylon have a Yahwistic warrant in geopolitics, according to this witness, but a Yahwistic restraint applies to them, beyond which they cannot go in brutalizing autonomy.’ (p. 511)

However, the assumption that the will of Yahweh is never made explicit to the nations is an assumption Brueggemann makes because it is not mentioned in the text of the Old Testament. However, is lack of evidence to be taken as positive evidence for absence? It cannot be assumed that such Yahwistic knowledge and direction was made clear to, for instance, the king of Babylon -- however, by the same reasoning, we cannot conclude that he was not so informed, by some prophet, some oracle, or some revelation, or that the ideas of justice and mercy were not somehow made clear, and then rejected. ‘Babylon failed to show the mercy required. As a consequence, Babylon, a power willed to proximate power by Yahweh, forfeits power by overstepping Yahwistic restraint. The pivotal notion is mercy.’ (p. 512)

There is testimony that when Yahweh's will is made clear, sometimes it is heard and acted upon. ‘The one who rules the nations rules in truth and in justice, and even the model superpower now accepts this inescapable reality. The rehabilitation of Nebuchadnezzar, in this astonishing redefinition of world power, is fully authorized by Yahweh, when the kind of Babylon conforms to the reality of Yahweh’s own nonnegotiable intention.’ (p. 515) Jonah's travels to Nineveh, to warn of Yahweh's wrath, ends with the successful (in Nineveh's and Yahweh's judgement, if not Jonah's) rescuing of Nineveh as they pay attention to the warnings of Yahweh -- ‘even hated Nineveh (Assyria), upon repentance, is a possible focus of Yahweh’s steadfast love.’ (p. 519) And the testimony of the Persian recognition of Yahweh's importance, at the very least to the life of Israel, is very clear. ‘The cruciality of Persian support for the reconstructive work of Yahwism is indicated by the fact that in much of this literature, time is reckoned by Persian royal chronology, a concession not granted by Israel to any other superpower.’ (p. 517)

Yahweh's character is not exactly clear in his dealings with the other nations, partly because the testimony, even unsolicited, of Israel is not overly concerned, and partly because it would require the testimony of the other nations, which the jury does not have. However, even if Yahweh's character cannot be clearly discerned, his characteristic actions can be. Yahweh, being a self-proclaimed jealous God, not only does not want other objects of worship in competition from those within covenant, but does not want power-challenges from those outside the covenant:

Such pretensions to power and ambition are workable in a world of raw power and unashamed might. The testimony of Israel, however, counters such a representation of reality with an insistence that raw power and unashamed might are never unchecked, but are always and everywhere subject to the will and restraint of Yahweh. Because of Yahweh’s metahistory, the mighty must surely fall. (p. 511)

And, the mighty must fall because they overstep their bounds, and cease to be concerned with justice and mercy, as Yahweh requires. Within or without covenant, ‘all worldly power is provisional, derivative, and penultimate, and may be given and taken away by the authority of Yahweh.’ (p. 514)

Justice and mercy are very clear within the covenantal witness of Israel. ‘Israel is acutely alert to sociopolitical differentiations and is aware that the strong and the weak, the rich and the poor, live differently and need to be attended to in different ways.’ (pp. 421-2)
This is a Yahwistic requirement not only for Israel, however, but for humanity in general. It goes beyond the focus of the Torah, and is found other, more philosophical scriptures --‘This linkage between Yahwistic obligation and commitment to the well-being of the marginated, while especially featured in the covenantal traditions, is also present on the horizon of the wisdom teachers.’ (p. 422) One need not be in covenant to be wise, and right action becomes a more general claim from the witness of Israel. 'A sapientalization of canonical traditions, including Torah traditions, means that Judaism speaks a wisdom to the world.' (p. 692)

The nations are a reasonable object of Yahweh's attention; unfortunately for the jury, they were not a primary concern for Israel most of the time, save in the instances of direct contact (which were often times of trouble).


Please see part II for the conclusion of this review.