A Walk on the Wild Side with Yahweh: A Spatial Perspective on the Hebrew Deity in the National Epic

This essay discusses the implications of the wilderness space for the representation of Yahweh in the national epic using social-scientific theories of space and narrative theory. The essay argues that, in the national epic, the wilderness is a primary arena for Yahweh and his revelations, encounters with his people, for his marvels and teachings; the wilderness is where the relation and forms of communication between deity and humans are reflected upon, discussed, and negotiated. The analyses focus especially on the subject matter of Yahwehs marvels in the wilderness and how they have been overlooked as communication about the wilderness and about the deity, and suggest that Yahweh, in the texts analysed, is presented as the lord and donor of agricultural fertility, as well as a mobile deity who may be worshipped and who may act elsewhere than in the land. The national epic wilderness texts create a memorial origin which speaks of Yahweh as a deterritorialized lord of fertility, food and protection; a god wild and itinerant.