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The Messianic Feeding of the Masses: an Analysis of John 6 In 8 BiAS - Bible in Africa Studies THE MESSIANIC FEEDING OF THE MASSES An Analysis of John 6 in the Context of Messianic Leadership in Post-Colonial Zimbabwe Francis Machingura UNIVERSITY OF BAMBERG PRESS Bible in Africa Studies Études sur la Bible en Afrique Bibel-in-Afrika-Studien 8 Gedruckt mit Unterstützung des Deutschen Akademischen Austauschdienstes (DAAD) Bible in Africa Studies Études sur la Bible en Afrique Bibel-in-Afrika-Studien edited by Joachim Kügler, Lovemore Togarasei, Masiiwa R. Gunda, Eric Souga Onomo in cooperation with Ezra Chitando and Nisbert Taringa Volume 8 University of Bamberg Press 2012 The Messianic Feeding of the Masses An Analysis of John 6 in the Context of Messianic Leadership in Post-Colonial Zimbabwe by Francis Machingura University of Bamberg Press 2012 Bibliographische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliographie; detaillierte bibliographische Informationen sind im Internet über http://dnb.ddb.de/ abrufbar Diese Arbeit wurde von der Fakultät Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaft der Universität Bayreuth als Doktorarbeit unter dem Titel “Messiahship and Feeding of the Masses: An Analysis of John 6 in the Con- text of Messianic Leadership in Post-Colonial Zimbabwe” angenommen. 1. Gutachter: Prof. Dr. Joachim Kügler 2. Gutachter: PD Dr. habil. Ursula Rapp Tag der mündlichen Promotionsprüfung: 06.02.2012 Dieses Werk ist als freie Onlineversion über den Hochschulschriften-Server (OPUS; http://www.opus-bayern.de/uni-bamberg/) der Universitätsbiblio- thek Bamberg erreichbar. Kopien und Ausdrucke dürfen nur zum privaten und sonstigen eigenen Gebrauch angefertigt werden. Herstellung und Druck: Digital Print Group, Nürnberg Umschlagfoto: © http://photos.wfp.org Umschlaggestaltung: Joachim Kügler/Dezernat Kommunikation und Alumni der Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg Text-Formatierung: F. Machingura/I. Loch/J. Kügler © University of Bamberg Press Bamberg 2012 http://www.uni-bamberg.de/ubp/ ISSN: 2190-4944 ISBN: 978-3-86309-064-7 eISBN: 978-3-86309-065-4 URN: urn:nbn:de:bvb:473-opus-4032 TABLE OF CONTENTS Abbreviations ...................................................................................11 Acknowledgements..........................................................................12 PART I: GENERAL INTRODUCTION...........................................................13 CHAPTER 1: STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM ...................................................13 The Concept of Messiahship or Kingship, Definition of Terms and Challenges ..................................................16 Mugabe and ‘Divine’ Election............................................................20 Documentation on the public Discourse and Mugabology.................................................................................23 State of Research: Literature Review on Feeding ..............................29 ObJectives...........................................................................................32 Relevance of the Study .......................................................................33 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGICAL QUESTIONS................................................35 Methodology....................................................................................35 Postcolonial Criticism and Its Contribution......................................36 Qualitative Research Method as Research Technique (QRM)...............................................................38 The Procedure for this Study..............................................................40 PART II: THE KINGSHIP OF JESUS IN JOHN 6 AND ITS HISTORICAL BACKGROUND................................................................................42 CHAPTER 1: THE DIVINE KING IN ANCIENT NEAR EAST ...............................42 The concept of divine kingship in Mesopotamia ..............................42 The Myths about the births of Kings .................................................43 5 Imageries, Hymns, Royal Inscriptions and Installation of the King ...................................................................... 45 The Mesopotamian Kings and Feeding ............................................ 47 The Concept of Kingship in Egypt ..................................................... 49 The Egyptian Kings and Feeding ....................................................... 52 Conclusion ......................................................................................... 57 CHAPTER 2: THE DIVINE KING IN THE OT AND EARLY JUDAISM.................58 Status and Role of the Divine King in the OT ................................... 58 The Davidic Dynasty (2 Samuel 7:11-14) .......................................... 59 The King as Son of God (Psalm 2).................................................... 63 The King as Elohim (Psalm 45:1-10)................................................. 66 The King as the Source of Fertility (Psalm 72).................................. 69 The Old Testament Texts on Feeding ............................................... 71 David’s Duty of Feeding the People (2 Sam 6:19)............................ 72 Joseph as the Breadwinner (Gen 41:41-57) ...................................... 74 The Feeding of the Masses by Moses (Ex 16:1-15) .......................... 80 The Early Judaism Concept of Kingship and Feeding....................... 88 Herod’s feeding of the people........................................................... 88 The Divine Wisdom/Word as Spiritual Bread (Philo) ...................... 91 Jews as Children of God eating the Bread of Life (JosAs) ................ 94 Conclusion ......................................................................................... 96 CHAPTER 3: THE HELLENISTIC AND ROMAN ROYAL IDEOLOGY.................98 Political Background in Antiquity: The Hellenistic Kingship ............ 98 Hellenistic kings as Breadwinners .................................................. 101 The Roman Kingship ....................................................................... 105 The Role of Roman Emperors as Breadwinners ............................. 110 Conclusion ....................................................................................... 115 6 CHAPTER 4: JOHN 6: JESUS’ AS THE SERVANT-KING AND BREADWINNER.............................................................................116 Jesus’ Kingship in the New Testament............................................116 The Baptism of Jesus in the Light of his Kingship (Mk 1:9-11; Mt 3:13-17)..........................................116 The Conception of Jesus in the Light of his Kingship (Mt 1: 18-25; Lk 1:26-35, 44-45)..................................117 The Temptation of Jesus in the Light of his Kingship (Lk 4, Mt 4).118 The Gospel of John: Date, Place and Redaction History.................119 The Pre-Existence of Jesus and the Bosom Royal Ideology ............122 John 6:1-15: Presentation of the Text with Translation ...................127 Exegetical Analysis of John 6:1-15 in the Light of the Feeding Topic.........................................................................128 A Socio-Economical and Political Analysis of John 6 ......................130 The Historical Challenges to Jesus’ Feeding of the Masses ...........143 Jesus’ giving of Bread (6:1-15) in the Context of the Bread of Life (6:25-52) ...........................................................145 The Eucharist and the Feeding Topic (6:51-71) ..............................156 Bread of Life and Shepherdhood of Jesus .......................................163 Conclusion........................................................................................164 PART III: THE ZIMBABWEAN CONTEXT ....................................165 CHAPTER 1: THE SHONA KINGSHIP AND THE ZUNDE RAMAMBO (Chief’s Granary) CONCEPT..........................................................165 Putting the term ‘Chief or King’ in its Perspective ..........................165 The Place of ATR in the Shona Society and the Sacrality of Shona kings ...................................................................167 The Shona Kingship as Hereditary ..................................................168 Coronation/Installation and Divine Kingship .................................171 Hierarchy, Cosmic Order and the Creation of Autocracy ...............174 7 The Shona Kingship and Traditional Democracy: Checks and Balances ....................................................................... 177 Traditional Solidarity (kinship) and the Authority of the King........ 179 The General roles of the Shona Chief.............................................. 180 The Zunde RaMambo Traditional Duty of feeding people.............. 182 The Beneficiaries of the Zunde RaMambo ...................................... 185 The Displacement of the Chief’s influence by the colonial system .......................................................................... 187 The Land Dispossession: Institutionalisation of Hunger and Poverty......................................................................... 188 The Colonial Feeding Programme................................................... 195 The Missionary and Colonial Enterprising Ideologies.................... 197 The Bible as a SubJugating Tool...................................................... 198 The Church Also Played a Part in the Liberation of Zimbabwe ...... 200 The General Protest against the Bible, Christianity and Christians.................................................................................
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