Divine Rejection: Explorations in the Biblical Portrayals of Esau and King Saul

by R. J. Balfour

Overview

Among the most enigmatic passages in the Bible are those featuring God's election of some and rejection of others. While many interpreters appeal to mystery or divine sovereignty as solutions to these difficult passages, intensive evaluation and sustained reflection on these passages and their implications can benefit both the church and the academy. In Divine Rejection, R. J. Balfour provides such evaluation and reflection on the notion of divine rejection in Christian theology through close readings of two paradigmatic biblical accounts of divine rejection, namely, the narratives of Esau and Saul.

Balfour contributes to the scholarly understanding of these narratives in their received form while providing extensive Christian theological reflection on the notion of divine rejection. Balfour's reading is carried out in conversation with significant historic and contemporary interpreters in order to exemplify what sustained theological interpretation might look like. By adopting this structure, Balfour seeks to model a retrieval of historic theological interpretations that is sensitive to the concerns and interests of the contemporary academy.

Balfour ultimately argues that these two narratives display differing accounts of divine decision-making. In the narrative of Saul's rejection, YHWH rejects Saul in an explicit fashion in response to his actions. By contrast, the grammatical ambiguity of the oracle at the outset of the Esau narrative (Gen 25:23), combined with the inversion of roles in the narrative's climax (Gen 32-33), prevents the reader from drawing strong conclusions as to the terms and nature of Esau's rejection. The book concludes with a series of reflections on how both aspects of divine decision-making have been incorporated into a Christian doctrine of election and how they might stimulate fresh Christian theological reflection on this important doctrine.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781481320511
Publisher:	Baylor University Press
Publication date:	08/15/2024
Series:	Explorations in Theological Interpretation
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

R. J. Balfour is Lecturer in Old Testament at London School of Theology

Table of Contents

Introduction

I The Rejection of Esau
1 Esau and John Calvin
2 Esau and Jon D. Levenson
3 Esau in Genesis
4 Esau in Retrospect

II The Rejection of Saul
5 Saul and Karl Barth
6 Saul and Tragedy
7 Saul in 1 Samuel
8 Saul in Retrospect

Conclusion

What People are Saying About This

Matthew Levering

One of the most hopeful developments in Christian reading of Scripture in recent decades has been the steady stream of scholars mentored by Walter Moberly—among whom R. J. Balfour now must receive an eminent place. With profundity and serenity, Balfour dives into one of the most vexed domains of Christian theology: the issue of reprobation, and thus predestination as well. Alert to Calvin's and Barth's exegesis as well as to recent Old Testament scholarship and contemporary theology, he demonstrates that careful reading of the stories of Esau and Saul can provide crucial guiderails and cautions for all who wish to speak rightly about this issue. A brilliant book, shimmering with exegetical and theological insight.

Joel S. Kaminsky

The theme of election is central to the Bible but troubling to many today inasmuch as God’s favor toward some and non-favor or even disfavor toward others seems arbitrary and inegalitarian.  Divine Rejection is a learned and probing meditation on the narratives surrounding Esau and Saul in sustained conversation with three interpreters whose work is centered on the Bible's election theology: John Calvin, Karl Barth, and Jon Levenson. Readers will learn a great deal from this rare work of biblical theology that both deeply engages the biblical text and later Jewish and Christian theological thinking.

Stephen B. Chapman

Balfour offers an impressive example of theologically focused exegesis and a sustained meditation on the mystery of divine favor. He stresses how the biblical narratives of Esau and Saul testify to this mystery even as they steadily insist on human responsibility and divine responsiveness. His readings of the biblical narratives provide rich insights and his engagements with key interpreters (e.g., Barth, Calvin, Levenson) yield methodological and conceptual refinements. This is thoughtful, stimulating work at the intersection of biblical interpretation and Christian doctrine.

Brent A. Strawn

The best interpretations depend on fine distinctions. In this carefully argued volume, Balfour shows himself capable of the finest of distinctions on the way to offering a profound, even moving interpretation of 'the central mystery of divine rejection' as presented in the rejection—if that is, at the end of the day, an apt descriptor—of Esau and Saul. Balfour brilliantly describes a 'surplus of intricacy' in these accounts and, in dialogue with interlocutors like Calvin, Barth, and Levenson (among others), investigates the ambiguity and responsivity that press against 'arbitrary divine decision making and bare determinism' in these deeply important and yet deeply vexing stories. A most helpful treatment.