Review of:

Luke Emehiele Ijezieh: The Interpretation of the Hebrew Word ‘am (People) in Samuel-Kings. Bern: Peter Lang, 2007 (European University Studies, Series xxiii, Volume 830). 341 pp. ISBN: 978-3-03911-139-8. Euro: 57,00.

 

Luke Emehiele Ijezie (b. 1962 in Nigeria) did his licence at Biblicum (1995) and his doctorate at Gregoriana (2005), both in Rome, and currently he teaches Sacred Scriptures at the Catholic Institute of West Africa in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. The book is a revised version of his 2005 doctoral dissertation, directed by Professor Stephen Pisano, on the Hebrew word ‘am, in most cases rendered ‘people’.

The main point of this investigation is that the semantic range of ‘am is not always the same as that of ‘people’ in modern use of the term in English; rather, the identity of ‘am is linked to the organisational structure of the type of society projected in the literary context. The book approaches the function of ‘am from three broad perspectives. First, kin-related relations, such as clan and tribe. Secondly, political relations, such as political structures, participants in warfare and participants in governance. And thirdly, religious relations, such as ‘am as a community of Yahweh’s subjects, and Yahweh’s ‘am in relation to the monarchy. It is pointed out that ‘am is not a specifically kinship of military term, as often argued; rather it is used about various functional representatives of society.

Ijezieh’s book is an example of the increased number of monographs published by African scholars within the field of biblical studies. Some have a contextual focus, allowing biblical texts and contemporary African contexts explicitly to interact. Others have a more exegetical focus, analysing the biblical texts from (assumed) ‘pure’ historical perspectives. Still, one may sometimes wonder whether contemporary contextual concerns may play a role here too, under the surface. So is the case here, I think. The book is an exegetical analysis of the manifold meanings of ‘am in Samuel-Kings, but at the same time its focus on the relationship between political and religious aspects of ‘am has important parallels in the relationship between ethnicity, politics and religion in many parts of contemporary Africa. Let it therefore be recommended for African theological research libraries.

Reviewed 2007-06-19 by Knut Holter, School of Mission and Theology, Misjonsvegen 34, N-4024 Stavanger, Norway. E-mail: knut.holter@mhs.no