The Hebrew Bible and Environmental Ethics

'In this groundbreaking study, Mari Joerstad has found a new convergence between biblical studies and ecology. Exploring the 'living landscapes' of the Bible, from the creation texts of Genesis to the Song of Songs, Joerstad has charted a new landscape of research as well as a new pathway for action, one that has a distinctly aesthetic trajectory. In this work, the author proves to be both an artist and an exegete, a welcome combination.' William P. Brown, William Marcellus McPheeters Professor of Old Testament, Columbia Theological Seminary 'This book is a wide-ranging and important study of environmental ethics in relation to the Hebrew Bible but in the broad context of studies in animism, anthropology and metaphor theory. It is at the cutting edge of ideas about the role of nature in human life and thought and the way that is depicted through metaphorical language in the Hebrew Bible. It is a highly readable book, with the author persuading us that the topic is integral to our understanding of ourselves as human beings both in relationship to, and with responsibility for, the world around us.' Katharine J. Dell, University of Cambridge 'Her book offers scriptural groundwork for cultivating the kind of religious imagination that makes sense of the spiritual need people have for a holy space in which to confess environmental sins together and repent for the harm they've caused.' Isaac S. Villegas, The Christian Century 'This is a stunning book. It will challenge and teach you; it is both academic and radical. It will alter the way that you approach and read the Hebrew Scriptures, as well as at least the gospels and Revelation in the New Testament. It will make you think afresh about the world we live in, the food you eat, the clothes you wear, even the place you live in. This book is important because it is ground-breaking. It gathers together cohering lines of biblical investigation and Hebrew scholarship with some key environmental issues, and spiritual/faith questions within biblical exegesis and discovery, which each of us must wrestle with. The text fulfils the inclusivity of the book's title.' Andrew Francis, Anabaptism Today '... the book is a lively, thought-provoking contribution to a green hermeneutic.' A Journal of Bible and Theology