Amanda Mbuvi's provocative book critiques the oft repeated claim that the Bible's genealogies, along with its recurring affirmation that the descendants of Abraham are God's chosen people, demonstrate ancient Israel's ethnocentrism and inevitably result in religious strife against all outsiders. Belonging in Genesis seeks to recover the Bible's novel and iconoclastic understanding of identity formation and human interrelationship, thus providing a theological vision for transforming our fractured world.
~Joel S. Kaminsky, Morningstar Family Professor of Jewish Studies and Professor of Bible, Smith College
Belonging in Genesis is a provocative and rigorous challenge to social hierarchies influenced by the Westernization of the Bible. The book is a must read for anyone interested in Jewish studies, biblical criticism, critical race theory, postcolonialism, and religious studies.
~Santiago Slabodsky, Florence and Robert Kaufman chair in Jewish Studies, Hofstra University
Academically rigorous and coherent
~Ryan T. O’Leary, The Christian Century
Mbuvi has produced an engaging and challenging exploration of Genesis, one that focuses on often neglected aspects of Genesis (such as genealogies), while also challenging deeply embedded assumptions of Western readers. Though relatively brief, the study covers much ground, probing notions of identity in light of race, gender, ethnicity, and colonialism.
~Bradford Anderson, Reading Religion
This book is a fascinating literary reading of Genesis that is informed by scholarship on identity formation, oral cultures, and social anthropology and is recommended for scholars, preachers, teachers, and students of Genesis.
~Benjamin D. Giffone, Review of Biblical Literature
A quality study based on a clearly articulated approach of applying family narratives to Genesis.
~Danny Mathews, Catholic Biblical Quarterly
A very welcome addition to recent scholarship about Genesis and about the politics of text and identity more generally.
~Megan Warner, Journal of Theological Studies
…this book asks important and timely questions about Genesis and contemporary concepts of difference.
~David M. Carr, Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology
