[Re]Reading Again: A Mosaic Reading of Numbers 25 (Playing the Texts) - Softcover

Rees, Anthony

Softcover

ISBN 10: 056767181X ISBN 13: 9780567671813

Publisher: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2016

Synopsis

Guided by the metaphor of the art form known as a mosaic, this book advocates a pluralistic approach to biblical studies. Rees argues that the text itself can be described as a 'mosaic', with each new reading adding to the mosaic. Interpretation is therefore both observation and invention, or contribution.When [re]reading the text, one cannot but be aware of what has been seen before, even if it at first may seem unfamiliar. He thus rejects the idea of a definitive reading.

Examining Numbers 25, Rees argues that the various methods employed to interpret this text (narrative, feminist, postcolonial as well as a more 'traditional' historical-critical reading) enable us to see different things as we read from different places. A further analysis of the book's interpretative history, including the rewritten histories of Josephus and Philo, allows us to discover that creativity has forever been a part of the reading process. Moving on to explore the contributions of more recent commentators, Rees concludes that an embrace of diversity, of collegiality, may well point to a new future in Biblical Studies.

About this title

About the Author

Anthony Rees is Research Fellow at the Centre for Public and Contextual Theology of Charles Sturt University, Australia.

Edition details

• Publisher: Bloomsbury T&T Clark
• Publication date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 056767181X
• ISBN 13: 9780567671813
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 202