The Polemics of Exile

Exclusivity and Inclusivity in Post-Monarchic Society and Literature: A Conversation on Dalit Rom-Shiloni's Exclusive Inclusivity: Identity Conflicts between the Exiles and the People Who Remained (6th–5th Centuries BCE)

“…Rom-Shiloni and I are in complete agreement that neither Haggai nor Zechariah explicitly names or identifies any group standing in opposition to the intended audience of either the prophet or the book. 21 Thus, we concur that Hag 2:15-19 is not a rejection of Samaritan aid (pace Johann W. Rothstein, Hans W. Wolff and others), and that Hag 1:12-14 does not distinguish two types of Yahwists (some whose spirits are stirred up by Yahweh and rebuild, and others who do not). 22 We similarly agree that the term ‫הארץ‬ ‫עם‬ ‫כל‬ in Hag 2:4 does not refer to any excluded population as it (or its plural form) does elsewhere.…”

“…According to that latter opposition the denigrating analogy between Israel and the Canaanite peoples was re-adapted to their current conflict between Repatriates and Those (Judeans) Who Remained in the land. Haggai seems to be closer to Zechariah's positioning of the Repatriates as settlers of an empty land, a con- 21 This of course stands in striking contrast to the situation in Jer 24 and 42-44, Ezek 11:14-21; 33:23-29, Ezra 3:3; 4:1-5; 6:21; 9:1-2; 10:2, 10, and Neh 4; 6; 9:2; 10:30; 13:1-14; 23-31. In these texts the "out group" from which the returnees are distinguished is either named or described.…”

“…The book of Jeremiah was arranged in such a way as to demonstrate the equivalency of both the Jehoiachin exiles and those who arrived after Jerusalem's destruction, with derision reserved for the homelanders who shanghaied Jeremiah to Egypt and lost their status as Judahites in so doing. 21 In fact, one might push further with Rom-Shiloni's methodology and suggest that the post-586 Jeremiah authors "flipped the script"they annexed and forged continuity not only with the hoary national traditions of old but also with the identity parameters of the Jehoiachin exiles represented by Ezekiel. I would like to examine an assortment of related passages that Rom-Shiloni has analyzed that show some traces of this process.…”