THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE ENEMY CITY IN THE HEBREW BIBLE: A CASE OF THIRDSPACING
THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE ENEMY CITY IN THE HEBREW BIBLE: A CASE OF THIRDSPACING

Summary/Abstract: Scholarship defines Thirdspace as the production of space through usage(Lefebvre) and as a spatial concept in which traditional binary oppositions dissolve(Soja). At first sight, the enemy city in the Hebrew Bible does not seem to fulfill theserequirements. It is mostly regarded as a stereotype of evil, thus a Secondspace, andas the opponent of God and/or the Israelites, thus part of a dichotomy. In this article,I argue that the textual construction of the enemy city is nevertheless a case ofThirdspacing. First, the stereotype (‘the city in the mind’) blends with the new imagecreated by the text. Second, the newly created space unites what is perceived as realand what is considered imagined. And third, the textual city space is one where theenemy city (the Other) and Jerusalem (Us) are presented as analogous. Therefore, theconstruction of the biblical enemy city forms an excellent example of Thirdspacewhere material and mental city become one, real and imagined stand side by side, andthe Other resembles Us and vice versa.

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