Abstract

KANG, Bin. The Positive Role of Shame for Post-exilic Returnees in Ezra/Nehemiah. Old testam. essays [online]. 2020, vol.33, n.2, pp.250-265. ISSN 2312-3621.  http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2312-3621/2020/v33n2a6.

While shame is often cast in a negative light as a response accompanied by destructive forces in modern culture, this article examines a different phenomenon and argues that shame plays an important positive role for post-exilic returnees in Ezra/Nehemiah. Shame can be progressive and edifying if it is oriented in the right direction. This article surveys key shame terms in Ezra/Nehemiah by examining ”•—“ I in Ezra 8:22, ”•—“ I and •–– in Ezra 9:6-7, •—–• in Neh 1:3; 2:17 and ”••• in Neh 3:36 (Eng. 4:4) for their semantics and concludes that shame plays a positive role in social control for the post-exilic returnees. Shame, in each of these cases, motivated the people of God not for bad but for good; it contributed to the rebuilding of the temple of the Lord, the rebuilding of the wall, and the restoration of a holy people to the Lord in the midst of fierce opposition.

Keywords : Shame; Positive role; Disgrace; Reproach; Contempt; Exile; Returnees; Holy Seed; Rebuilding; Ezra; Nehemiah.

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