Utopian Studies and the Hebrew Bible

Interest from biblical scholars in the concept of utopia and the discipline of utopian studies has steadily risen in the last 30 years. This article examines how these discussions have thus far taken place with regard to the Hebrew Bible. Chronologically surveying the small set of published works demonstrates that Hebrew Bible scholars are actively engaging with a variety of theories and definitions from utopian studies to inform their interpretations. This article highlights that while this discussion focuses on the books of Chronicles at present, there are further fruitful areas of research emerging from the current consultation at the Society of Biblical Literature (2021–2024), particularly an opportunity to consider biblical law as utopian.