Towards an Ethic of Family Solidarity: An Intertextual Reading of Family Fragmentation (Mic 7:5-6) and Family Reconciliation (Mal 3:23-24)
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The era of inevitable fragmentation and severance offamily solidarity, forcing people to take sides and break family bonds, is an essential prophetic motifin the Book of the Twelve. By means of intertextuality, this article examines the collapse of family solidarity and family reconciliation in the books of Micah and Malachi, where fragmented family conflicts are observed, together with several prophetic laments that describe situations of complete social polarisation, which have shattered the moral andfamilial fabric of society. Such collapse offamily solidarity and tranquillity, according to these prophets, is a symptom of society's moral degeneration. Since marriage and family life are significant issues in biblical, theological and moral discourse, this article probes the prophetic laments in the books of Micah and Malachi, providing contemporary readers with ethical insights within the larger domain of biblical theology and anthropology.
Source: Old Testament Essays
Author: Boloje, Blessing O.
Institutions: Delta State University, University of Pretoria
Language: English
Subfield: Religious studies
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $271
OpenAlex ID: W4410479601