ABSTRACT
It is often said that the Bible is the top-selling book of all time. While that may be true to a certain extent, technically the Bible is not one book but rather an anthology of books written, collected, redacted, transcribed, and translated over millennia (Coogan 2016). Different religious communities vary in which books they include in the Bible and how they are arranged; this variety is partly due to the complex and lengthy process of how the Bible was formed. The official list of which books are included is often referred to as a canon (ibid., 3–4). Within the Bible many modes and literary forms are utilized, including prophetic oracles, law codes, poetry, biographies, letters, and apocalyptic symbolism; however, the most prevalent genre within the Bible is the narrative (Ryken 1994). Narratives (or stories) are universally attractive; readers like to hear other people’s stories and like to tell their own. Narratives help connect us all to our past identities and propel us towards future identities; the same can be said with the Bible. Narratives are used to shepherd the history and identity of the Israelite past through a ‘present’ lens, which in turn helps mould and guard the future of Israelite (and later Christian) identity. Many themes and motifs within biblical narratives are used to accomplish this, but one significant lens is that of food. Yet, the production, preparation, distribution, and consumption of food and its connection to the formation and preservation of individual and group identity as seen through the canonical biblical text are often overlooked. This chapter will present an overview of the role food plays in the narratives of the Bible and how its role helps understand the evolution of Judeo/Christian identity.
