The Positive Role of Shame for Post-exilic Returnees in Ezra/Nehemiah
While shame is often cast in a negative light as a response accompanied by destructive forces in modern culture, this article examines a different phenomenon and argues that shame plays an important positive role for post-exilic returnees in Ezra/Nehemiah. Shame can be progressive and edifying if it is oriented in the right direction. This article surveys key shame terms in Ezra/Nehemiah by examining I in Ezra 8:22, I and in Ezra 9:6-7, in Neh 1:3; 2:17 and in Neh 3:36 (Eng. 4:4) for their semantics and concludes that shame plays a positive role in social control for the post-exilic returnees. Shame, in each of these cases, motivated the people of God not for bad but for good; it contributed to the rebuilding of the temple of the Lord, the rebuilding of the wall, and the restoration of a holy people to the Lord in the midst of fierce opposition.
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| Format: | Digital revista |
| Language: | English |
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The Old Testament Society of Southern Africa (OTSSA)
2020
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| Online Access: | http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1010-99192020000200005 |
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