"To Your Offspring I Will Give this Land" (Genesis 12,7). The Theme of the Promised Land in the Biblical Tradition
Although the English designation 'Promised Land' is not used as such in the Old Testament, the theological motif of the land being promised by God to Israel is undoubtedly one of the main themes that connects most books of the Old Testament. However, due to the fact that these books have b...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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| Published: |
Aveiro
Universidade de Aveiro
2018
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| In: | Sonderdruck aus: Forme Breve (1645-927X) Vol. 15, p. 13-26 (2018) |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | Although the English designation 'Promised Land' is not used as such in the Old Testament, the theological motif of the land being promised by God to Israel is undoubtedly one of the main themes that connects most books of the Old Testament. However, due to the fact that these books have been composed by various authors in very different historical contexts, there is no single uniform treatment of this motif within the Bible. Whereas some biblical pericopes speak about an unconditional gift of the land by God's grace, others stipulate that not obeying God’s commandments will lead to the loss of the Promised Land, a land that originally was not Israel's own. Moreover, even if promised to be possessed by Israel, several texts accentuate that, in the end, it remains God’s land: Israel can make use of it, but the land itself belongs to God. The present paper will deal with both literary and historical questions with respect to this theological motif, that is ubiquitous within the Old Testament. After some concise remarks regarding the terminology ‘Promised Land’, the following topics are dealt with: the addressees of God’s promise of the land; the myth of the empty land; the fate of the autochthonous possessors of the land, the characterisation of the land as being 'of milk and honey'; God as the ultimate owner of the land; Israel’s taking possession of the ‘Promised Land’, and the extent of the 'Promised Land'. |
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| ISSN: | 1645-927X |
| Persistent identifiers: | HDL: 2078.1/208682 |