You Are My Slaves - (Jewish and Christian Perspectives) by Martijn J Stoutjesdijk (Hardcover)

About the Book

This work offers a comparative study of early Christian and early rabbinic slavery parables in their Greco-Roman context and investigates the reasons for and meaning of using the master-slave metaphor in the parables to refer to God and his people.

Book Synopsis

Some of the slavery parables in the New Testament have been called "texts of terror," as the slaves who are portrayed in them are beaten or even cut in two. Despite - or because - their violence, slavery parables are often used in early Christian and early rabbinic literature to illustrate the unique relationship between God and his people. This study investigates the reasons for and meaning of using the master-slave metaphor in the parables: what does it tell us about early Christian and early rabbinic theology, including possibilities for critique and resistance vis-à-vis the divine, and what does it say about slavery in the ancient world?

About the Author

Martijn J. Stoutjesdijk, Ph.D. (2021), is currently working as a postdoctoral researcher at the Protestant Theological University in Utrecht (the Netherlands) on the role of the Bible in Dutch colonial slavery debates. He obtained his PhD degree with a study on slavery in early rabbinic and early Christian parables.