Abstract

BOLOJE, Blessing O.. Towards an Ethic of Family Solidarity: An Intertextual Reading of Family Fragmentation (Mic 7:5-6) and Family Reconciliation (Mal 3:23-24). Old testam. essays [online]. 2025, vol.38, n.1, pp.1-22. ISSN 2312-3621.  https://doi.org/10.17159/2312-3621/2025/v38n1a2.

The era of inevitable fragmentation and severance offamily solidarity, forcing people to take sides and break family bonds, is an essential prophetic motifin the Book of the Twelve. By means of intertextuality, this article examines the collapse of family solidarity and family reconciliation in the books of Micah and Malachi, where fragmented family conflicts are observed, together with several prophetic laments that describe situations of complete social polarisation, which have shattered the moral andfamilial fabric of society. Such collapse offamily solidarity and tranquillity, according to these prophets, is a symptom of society's moral degeneration. Since marriage and family life are significant issues in biblical, theological and moral discourse, this article probes the prophetic laments in the books of Micah and Malachi, providing contemporary readers with ethical insights within the larger domain of biblical theology and anthropology.

Keywords : Micah and Malachi; Intertextuality; Family fragmentation and severance; Family solidarity; Prophetic laments and rhetorical concerns.

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