Hesed, the Seed of the Biblical Story: New Life for Old Testament Theology - Paperback

by Jennifer M. Matheny (Author)

The Hebrew word hesed is often translated as love, faithfulness, loyalty, or steadfastness of God, but it means so much more. Could hesed be the seed from which the diverse biblical story grows and expands?

Traditionally, Old Testament theology has focused on key themes or a "center" around which to organize the Old Testament. These approaches may help unify the Old Testament, but they also ignore important material and simplify the Old Testament's complexity and diversity. As an alternative to a gravitational center that reduces, Jennifer M. Matheny's argument emphasizes possibilities as she posits that hesed is the relational seed from which the complex and diverse biblical story grows.

In her accessibly written analysis, Matheny engages theologically with the Torah, Prophets, and Writings to trace hesed's relational impact through the Old Testament. Through stories, poems, and songs of broken covenants, war, and exile, Matheny also shows how violence and injustice reign when humanity fails to be keepers and doers of Yhwh's hesed, while justice and hope prevail when humanity chooses courageous acts of hesed.

This fresh, introductory-level approach emphasizes the importance of story, complexity, and diversity--and how we do hesed to others and back to Yhwh.

Back Jacket

"This book is a testament to God's ever-reverberating love"

In this Old Testament theology, Jennifer Matheny presents ḥesed as the seed from which the diverse biblical story grows and expands, offering a needed corrective to common approaches to biblical theology.

"This book is a testament to God's ever-reverberating love, which offers a new lens on the Old Testament as a whole. It should be required reading for every Old Testament theology course!"
--Beth Stovell, Ambrose University

"Decades after foundational works by Glueck and Sakenfeld, several scholars have returned to ponder anew the crucial but elusive Hebrew word ḥesed. Matheny adds her voice to this important discussion, finding in ḥesed not a center for Old Testament theology but a capacious seed that proves generative across the canon. Matheny puts readers in her debt in this helpful and thorough overview and analysis."
--Brent A. Strawn, Duke University

"What if instead of trying to find a central theme that summarizes the entire Old Testament, we started from the idea of ḥesed and traced how both God and humans embodied this core value in action? Matheny's heuristic proposal is that from this generative 'seed' the relational story of Scripture germinates through the diverse genres of the Old Testament."
--J. Richard Middleton, Northeastern Seminary, Roberts Wesleyan University

"Matheny provides an engaging and accessible analysis for ḥesed, which has become a familiar Hebrew word in both the church and academy. Her careful work traces the breadth and possibilities for understanding the diversity and complexity of this term within the fuller context of Scripture. A very helpful and inspiring read!"
--May Young, Taylor University

"This is the book that the study of biblical theology needs today! Readers will benefit from Matheny's close readings of biblical texts and her creative proposals for how to connect them, which are methodologically sophisticated, accessible, and theologically generative."
--Brad E. Kelle, Point Loma Nazarene University

"Matheny shows how ḥesed--both divine and human--helps unlock theological impulses in the Torah, Prophets, and Writings."
--Matthew Lynch, Regent College

Author Biography

Jennifer M. Matheny (PhD, University of Kent) is associate professor of Christian Scriptures at George W. Truett Seminary, Baylor University, in Waco, Texas. She serves as cochair of the biblical studies unit for the Wesleyan Theological Society. Matheny is the author of Illustrated Joshua in Hebrew in the GlossaHouse Illustrated Biblical Texts series, Judges 19-21 and Ruth: Canon as a Voice of Answerability, and Clothing, Dress, and Nudity in the Five Scrolls (forthcoming).