@article{ART003388921},
author={이윤경},
title={Reading Nehemiah’s Reforms through Mobility Discourse},
journal={Korean Journal of Old Testament Studies},
issn={1229-0521},
year={2026},
volume={32},
number={3},
pages={144-171},
doi={10.24333/jkots.2026.32.3.144}
TY - JOUR
AU - 이윤경
TI - Reading Nehemiah’s Reforms through Mobility Discourse
JO - Korean Journal of Old Testament Studies
PY - 2026
VL - 32
IS - 3
PB - Korean Society of Old Testament Studies
SP - 144
EP - 171
SN - 1229-0521
AB - To read the Book of Nehemiah exclusively as a religious document or a post-exilic socio-political text is to fall short of properly elucidating its ideological complexity. When we give priority to Nehemiah as a mobile figure, viewed through the lens of mobility discourse, we become able to understand his so-called reform policies as directed at a post-exilic Judean community composed of intricately diverse groups. Moving back and forth between Susa and Jerusalem, Nehemiah, as an agent of the empire, carried out a mission consonant with the “Persian peace” (Pax Persica), constituting Jerusalem at once as the homeland of the ancestors and as a faithful province of the empire. By physically building the walls, socially enforcing population resettlement, and, above all, biopolitically prohibiting intermarriage, Nehemiah strictly controlled the mobility of the social strata represented by those inside and outside the walls. The force of his reform lay precisely in the integration of these various control mechanisms. Namely, by combining spatial control over movement (walls, gates, and the redistribution of residents) with social control over boundary-crossing (the ban on intermarriage as a means to block movement across bloodlines and groups) into a cohesive system, physical and social mobility were made to operate as a unified mechanism serving imperial interests. The ultimate aim of this control of movement was to make those who possessed the experience of exile take their dual belonging—to Yehud and Persia, to province and empire—as the very core of their identity. The returnees now become not people confined to a single place, but people who internalize a translocal identity as their own distinctive identity. Jerusalem becomes a space of exclusion and severance in which movement between strata is thoroughly controlled. By focusing on the dimension of mobility, reading Nehemiah through the lens of mobility discourse brings into sharp relief the deeply entangled relationship between mobility, power, and imperial operations—an aspect hitherto neglected. Ultimately, this perspective provides an accurate understanding of Nehemiah’s reform as a project that synchronized the interests of the empire with those of the province.
KW - Nehemiah;Mobility Discourse;Wall building;Distribution of population;Prohibition of intermarriage
DO - 10.24333/jkots.2026.32.3.144
ER -
이윤경. (2026). Reading Nehemiah’s Reforms through Mobility Discourse. Korean Journal of Old Testament Studies, 32(3), 144-171.
이윤경. 2026, "Reading Nehemiah’s Reforms through Mobility Discourse", Korean Journal of Old Testament Studies, vol.32, no.3 pp.144-171. Available from: doi:10.24333/jkots.2026.32.3.144
이윤경 "Reading Nehemiah’s Reforms through Mobility Discourse" Korean Journal of Old Testament Studies 32.3 pp.144-171 (2026) : 144.
이윤경. Reading Nehemiah’s Reforms through Mobility Discourse. 2026; 32(3), 144-171. Available from: doi:10.24333/jkots.2026.32.3.144
이윤경. "Reading Nehemiah’s Reforms through Mobility Discourse" Korean Journal of Old Testament Studies 32, no.3 (2026) : 144-171.doi: 10.24333/jkots.2026.32.3.144
이윤경. Reading Nehemiah’s Reforms through Mobility Discourse. Korean Journal of Old Testament Studies, 32(3), 144-171. doi: 10.24333/jkots.2026.32.3.144
이윤경. Reading Nehemiah’s Reforms through Mobility Discourse. Korean Journal of Old Testament Studies. 2026; 32(3) 144-171. doi: 10.24333/jkots.2026.32.3.144
이윤경. Reading Nehemiah’s Reforms through Mobility Discourse. 2026; 32(3), 144-171. Available from: doi:10.24333/jkots.2026.32.3.144
이윤경. "Reading Nehemiah’s Reforms through Mobility Discourse" Korean Journal of Old Testament Studies 32, no.3 (2026) : 144-171.doi: 10.24333/jkots.2026.32.3.144
