appropriating judean post-exilic literature in a postcolonial

332 Pages·2013·1.7 MB·English

APPROPRIATING JUDEAN POST-EXILIC LITERATURE IN A
POSTCOLONIAL DISCOURSE - A CASE FOR ZIMBABWE

by

TEMBA RUGWIJI

Submitted in accordance with the requirements
for the degree of

DOCTOR OF LITERATURE AND PHILOSOPHY

in the subject

BIBLICAL STUDIES

at the

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA

PROMOTER: PROF E H SCHEFFLER

JUNE 2013
ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION x
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS xi
LIST OF (FOREIGN) TERMS xv
DEDICATION xviii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS xix
SUMMARY xxi
KEY TERMS xxii

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1

1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY 1
2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 5
2.1 Introduction 5
2.2 Research questions 7
3 AIM AND MOTIVATION OF THE STUDY 7
3.1 Aim of the study 7
3.2 Motivation of the study 8
4 HYPOTHESIS 11
iii

4.1 Argument against the “myth” of freedom in Persian-controlled Yehud 12
4.2 Suffering and poverty were exacerbated by the Judean governors 13
5 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 13
5.1 Research methods 14
5.1.1 Literary-rhetorical approach 14
5.1.2 Criteria of appropriating themes within postexilic literature in a Zimbabwean
context 15
5.1.3 Hermeneutics of appropriation as an approach 17
5.2 Data collecting instruments 18
5.2.1 MA thesis 18
5.3 Qualitative research 19
5.3.1 Interviewing 20
5.3.1.1 Questionnaire 20
5.3.1.2 Closed questions 21
5.3.1.3 Multiple-choice questions 21
5.3.1.4 Open-ended questions 21
5.3.1.5 Anonymous interviewees/informants 22
6 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS 22
6.1 Informed consent 22
6.2 Privacy and confidentiality: Pseudonyms 23
7 PREVIOUS RESEARCH 24
8 LIMITATIONS TO THE STUDY 34
iv

8.1 Unfriendly political environment in Zimbabwe 34
9 STRUCTURE OF THE THESIS 35

CHAPTER 2 JUDEAN POSTEXILIC EXPERIENCES DURING THE
PERSIAN PERIOD (539–333 BCE) 37

1 INTRODUCTION 37
2 THE BABYLONIAN INVASION OF JUDAH: THE EXILIC EXPERIENCE 40
2.1 The Babylonian invasion of Judah 40
3 THE JUDEAN EXPERIENCES IN PERSIAN-CONTROLLED YEHUD 43
3.1 Yehud as province of the Persian Empire 44
4 THE ECONOMIC SITUATION IN YEHUD 48
5 THE RELIGIOUS SITUATION IN YEHUD 54
5.1 The function of the deities in the economic stability of Judah 54
6 IDENTITY MARKERS 59
v

6.1 The temple 59
6.2 The ark 62
6.3 The synagogue 65
6.4 The Sabbath 67
6.5 The law 69
6.6 Monotheism or exclusivism of Yahwism 70
6.7 Circumcision 74
6.8 Prohibition against “mixed” marriages 78
7 INTERNAL CONFLICT IN YEHUD 82
7.1 Rebuilding the temple 82
7.2 Rebuilding the wall 84
8 THE ESCALATION OF POVERTY AMONG THE JUDEANS 87
8.1 Slavery and usury: Nehemiah’s response 88
9 CONCLUSION 92

CHAPTER 3 TOWARDS APPROPRIATING THE JUDEAN
POSTEXILIC NARRATIVES IN THE CONTEXT OF
POSTCOLONIAL ZIMBABWE (1980–2012) 95

1 INTRODUCTION 95
2 “POSTCOLONIAL” OR “POSTCOLONIALITY” 99
3 TOWARDS DEFINING A HERMENEUTICS OF APPROPTIATION 104
3.1 Various definitions of hermeneutics of appropriation 104
3.2 Theoretical examples of hermeneutics of appropriation 106
vi

3.3 Theology of reconstruction: Mugambi, Villa-Vicencio and Maluleke 111
3.4 Criticism of Villa-vicencio, Mugambi and Maluleke 117
4 THE JUDEANS STRUGGLE FOR SURVIVAL IN YEHUD 119
5 THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC SITUATION IN POSTINDEPENDENCE ZIMBABWE
(1980–2008) 121
6 CONCLUSION: ASPECTS OF THE APPROPRIATING PROCESS 124
6.1 Success of a hermeneutics of appropriation in this study 131

CHAPTER 4 RECONSTRUCTION AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
IN THE POST-2008 ERA IN ZIMBABWE: NEHEMIAH’S
INITIATIVES AS EXAMPLES FOR APPROPRIATION 133

1 INTRODUCTION 133
2 “THEMES” THAT CAN BE IDENTIFIED IN THE ZIMBABWEAN RECENT
HISTORY 135
3 THE REBUILDING PROJECT: NEHEMIAH AND THE COMMUNITY
IN YEHUD 138
4 THE ROLE OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY IN REBUILDING
ZIMBABWE 141
4.1 Donor aid 144
5 INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE 146
6 THE INFORMAL BUSINESS SECTOR 153
7 POLITICAL LEADERSHIP 157
vii

8 EDUCATION AND TRAINING 160
9 NEHEMIAH’S SOCIAL JUSTICE REFORMS 163
9.1 A public hearing to rebuke the leadership 165
9.2 Usury was condemned 167
9.3 The government of Zimbabwe and the abuse of tax money 168
9.4 The return of personal property to the owner 169
9.4.1 Reviewing the land reform 172
9.4.2 Agriculture and economic development 173
9.4.3 Negative impact of land invasions 175
9.5 Nehemiah was not greedy to acquire land (Neh 5:16) 177
9.5.1 Need for productive land usage 177
9.5.2 Land allocation to graduates 178
9.5.3 Government should support farming 178
9.5.4 Commercialising agriculture 179
9.5.5 Need for dam construction 180
9.5.6 Sinking of boreholes 180
9.6 Nehemiah donated food to the hungry (Neh 5:17-18) 181
9.6.1 Works of charity in Zimbabwe 182
10 TOWARDS POVERTY ALLEVIATION IN ZIMBABWE 183
10.1 What is poverty and who are the poor? 184
10.2 The causes of poverty in Africa 185
10.2.1 Geography of a country 185
10.2.2 Vandalism and plundering of natural resources 187
viii

10.2.3 Land grabbing and invasions 188
10.2.4 Less tropical rains and drought 188
10.2.5 Exclusion and inclusion 189
10.3 Strategies towards poverty alleviation in Zimbabwe 192
10.3.1 Agriculture 192
10.3.2 Information and communication technology (ICT) 193
10.3.3 The return of human capital 194
10.3.4 The neighbourhood effects 194
10.3.5 The international community 195
11 HEALTH 196
11.1 Improved health education 198
12 ROAD AND RAILWAY NETWORKS 199
13 THE CONSTITUTION 203
14 TOURISM 210
15 THE DIASPORA COMMUNITY 216
16 RECONCILIATION 221
17 THE ROLE OF THE CHURCH 226
18 CONCLUSION 232

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND
PROPOSALS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH 235

1 INTRODUCTION 235
ix

2 CONCLUSIONS 235
2.1 Contributions of the research to scholarship 242
3 RECOMMENDATIONS 245
3.1 An appeal to the Zimbabwean diaspora community 245
3.2 A quest for contesting the “myth” of fear 248
3.3 A new constitution 250
3.4 International bilateral relations 253
3.5 Nehemiah’s social justice reforms in the Zimbabwean unity government 256
4 PROPOSALS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH 258
4.1 Use of archaeological evidence 258
4.2 Critical interpretation of the biblical text for the African readership 258
4.3 Further investigation on the Jewish political freedom 259
4.4 Further research to re-kindle Old Testament scholarship in Zimbabwe 260
5 APPENDICES 263
5.1 Appendix 1: Letter of consent 263
5.2 Appendix 2: Research questionnaire 265
5.3 Appendix 3: Pseudonyms of respondents 269
6 BIBLIOGRAPHY 270
x

DECLARATION Student Number: 34879498

I, Temba Rugwiji, declare that the thesis on the title: APPROPRIATING JUDEAN
POSTEXILIC LITERATURE IN A POSTCOLONIAL DISCOURSE: A CASE FOR
ZIMBABWE, is my own work and that all the sources that I have used or quoted have been
indicated and acknowledged by means of complete references. This thesis or part of it has never
been published for a degree elsewhere.

__________________________ __________________
SIGNATURE DATE
(Rev Temba Rugwiji)