Divine Election in the Hebrew Bible by Hallvard Hagelia (review)

The theme of election has proven to be a perpetual subject of study throughout the history of biblical scholarship, and one can point to the twentieth century as an important era in that history. In fact, H. H. Rowley's 1950 study The Biblical Doctrine of Election (London: Lutterworth) as well as H. D. Preuss's two-volume Old Testament Theology (trans. Leo G. Perdue; OTL; Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1995–96) still function as important points of departure despite their relative age. It is undeniable, however, that more recent studies by Joel Kaminsky (Yet I Loved Jacob: Reclaiming the Biblical Concept of Election [Nashville: Abingdon, 2007]), Joel Lohr (Chosen and Unchosen: Conceptions of Election in the Pentateuch and Jewish-Christian Interpretation [Siphrut 2; Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2009]), and Michael Coogan (God's Favorites: Judaism, Christianity, and the Myth of Divine Chosenness [Boston: Beacon, 2019]) have breathed new life into the discussion. Consequently, Hagelia's work finds a place in the context of a perpetual debate that is currently experiencing a new wave of interest. Yet H.'s voice is limited. There is no Forschungsgeschichte, as H. defers to the work of Lohr and others. Moreover, the work is a "survey of texts" in the form of a "literary-historical-lexical study" (p. 4). H. observes trends and governing contours in the discussion, but there are several places where the reader feels the conversation ends abruptly or that important nuances are glossed over.

Hagelia's organization is useful. Instead of a few, potentially complicated, and lengthy chapters, he offers fourteen chapters each of which is devoted to a certain category within the larger conversation of election. For example, there are chapters devoted to the election of the patriarchs (4), Moses and Joshua (5), David and Solomon (6), and other people (11). In addition, other chapters round out the survey by discussing the election of land (7), Jerusalem (8), and Israel (9–10). This results in a list of manageable chapters addressing the larger concept of election. Nevertheless, the summary chapter (14) misses an opportunity. At only four pages, H.'s presentation would have benefited from a deeper discussion of the nuances involved with how specific categories interact to produce one of the most complex theological constructs in the Bible.

Among the most important conclusions of the study, H. emphasizes the dominance of this theme across the OT:

The idea of divine election is present and dominant throughout the Hebrew Bible in a series of different connections and in almost every text tradition. The idea of Israel being YHWH's divinely elected people is alive throughout the Deuteronomist's and the Chronicler's histories, throughout the cultic traditions, the royal traditions, and the prophetic traditions, excepting only in the wisdom traditions where it is almost absent—at least not very visible.

(p. 239)

Hagelia maintains, however, that this dominant theme is also complex and potentially awkward, echoing the sentiments of others that any conversation about divine election must ultimately entertain the juxtaposition of elect versus non-elect/anti-elect. Thus, "If somebody is elected, some others are not elected" (p. 241). Consequently, this study accomplishes what every survey should. It invites the reader to go beyond the data presented and ponder further implications.

Most interestingly, H. inserts the variables of responsibility and definiteness into the discussion. He emphasizes not only that a sense of responsibility accompanies one's election and that skirting this responsibility normally ends badly but also that there is evidence to suggest that one's election could be forfeit. Nevertheless, H.'s conversation on the potential forfeiture of election is an element that remains underdeveloped. For example, it seems that the juxtaposition of Rahab and Achan in Joshua exists as a prime opportunity to speak about the potential forfeiture of election, not to mention the associated questions of whether there can be movement between the elect and the non-elect as well as election's relationship with the concept of ("holy war"). Indeed...