Friedl, Johanna2021-10-252021-10-252020Johanna Friedl “Kingship and ‘State’ in Torah, History, and Poetry: Exploring the risk of terminological anachronism in Old Testament scholarship,” Old Testament Essays 33 no. 2 (2020): 232–249. DOI: https://DOI.org/10.17159/2312-3621/2020/v33n2a5.1010-9919 (print)2312-3621 (online)10.17159/2312-3621/2020/v33n2a5http://hdl.handle.net/2263/82236In exploring the constituent elements of our modern-day nation state, this contribution wishes to highlight those areas in which anachronism might arise in Old Testament interpretations of ‘state’. This might happen due to the influence of deeply-rooted modern-day conceptions, according to which a state consists of a people group living within a distinct territory, governed by a body holding jurisdiction over both people and territory. This contribution explores pre-exilic, exilic, and post-exilic biblical texts containing the elements of people, land, and king, asking whether these texts wish to convey a political or rather a theological message.en© Old Testament Society of South Africa (OTSSA). Article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.State theoryLandKingshipTorahHistoryPoetryTerminological anachronismOld Testament scholarshipArticle