Matthew J. M. CoomberJan 3, 2023

Key to #Deuteronomy 16’s & 26’s demands to include the #impoverished & #disadvantaged (widows, orphans, sojourners) at festivals is to ensure that the #marginalized are seen

#SystemicPoverty thrives on making the poor the “other” and, when possible, keeping impoverished folks away from those with means/influence

These Deut statutes encourage interaction, community-building, and care

#BiblicalStudies #liberation #BiblicalEthics #BiblicalEconomics

Show threadhelmsinepu
@MatthewJMCoomber
I think free food and drink was common at festivals in the ancient world.
You could certainly expect free food and beer at Egyptian festivals, and the calendar was loaded with them.
Jan 5, 2023 at 1:06pmWeb
Show threadMatthew J. M. CoomberJan 5, 2023
@helmsinepu Indeed. Certainly in monarchical texts dating back to the Old Kingdom of Egypt there were demands that pharaohs judge rightly for the disenfranchised and ensure their care, too. As in early Babylonian texts
Show threadMatthew J. M. CoomberJan 5, 2023
@helmsinepu In fact, a lot of my research on biblical ethics focuses on how much biblical authors borrowed. What’s so interesting to me are the roots of these texts in subsistence-based societies. Separates by culture location, and time we see a lot of strategies to keep one group from dominating others. With the rise of empires, these ideals are so interwoven into the cultural fabric that they carry over, but are often then used as ways to placate rather than protect
Show threadhelmsinepuJan 6, 2023
@MatthewJMCoomber
The Dawn of Everything by Graeber and Wengrow is quite interesting for that, if you haven't read it.
Show threadMatthew J. M. CoomberJan 6, 2023
@helmsinepu cheers!
Show threadhelmsinepuJan 17, 2023

@MatthewJMCoomber
I think the last third of the book is footnotes, so it's not as forbidding as it looks.

I liked the contrast between "Play kings and real freedom" and "Real freedom and play kings."