The Gift of the Land and the Fate of the Canaanites in Jeish Thought [Paperback]

This volume of essays presents a compelling and comprehensive analysis of the intriguing issue of the gift of the land of Israel and the fate of the Canaanites as presented in diverse biblical sources. Jewish thought has long grappled with the moral and theological implications and challenges of this issue. Innovative interpretive strategies and philosophical reflections were offered, modified, and sometimes rejected over the centuries. Leading contemporary scholars follow these threads of interpretation offered by Jewish thinkersfrom antiquity to modern times.

Contributors
Abbreviations
Introduction -Katell Berthelot, Joseph E. David and Marc Hirshman

Dwelling in the Land: Theological and Ethical Issues
1. Everything was fulfilled versus the Land that still remains : Contrasting Conceptions of the Fulfillment of the Promise in the Book of Joshua -Nili Wazana
2. Land Theology in Josephus: A Reappraisal -Michael Avioz
3. Idolatry and the Biblical Concept of Herem in Tannaitic Midrash -Ishay Rosen-Zvi
4. The Emergence of the Polemic Concerning the Fate of the Canaanites: Motives and Motifs -Menahem Kister
5. ''God would not give the Land, but to the obedient'': The Response of Mediaeval Karaite Exegetes to the Curse of Canaan in Genesis 9 -Meira Polliack and Marzena Zawanowska
6. And Yet, the Texts Remain: The Problem of the Command to Destroy the Canaanites -Menachem Kellner
7. Land, Territory and Divine Law: Nahmanides' Idea of the Lord's Land -Joseph E. David
8. The Relation between the Land of Canaan and the Land of Israel according to the Hasidic School of Gur -Yoram Jacobson
9. The Biblical Conquest of Canaan in the Eyes of German-Jewish Orthodoxy -Matthias Morgenstern

The Changing Uses of the Category ''Canaanites''
10. Where May Canaanites Be Found? Canaanites, Phoenicians and OlÓ