Britain, the Bible, and Balfour

In 1917 only Britain would have taken the decision to favor a Jewish “national home” when the opportunity occurred to dismantle the Ottoman Empire, for it had been interlocked with the Hebrew Bible since political and theological crises in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century England released the so-called Old Testament from its defined role as a christological premonition of the New Testament. Britain, the Bible, and Balfour unpacks the tumultuous history of the idea of a unique Jewish home state—and the development of Zionism—as it took shape over the course of several centuries in England. The author argues that, in fact, the theopolitical vision of Zionism is a peculiarly British phenomenon with roots that go back to the English Reformation. The religious and political battles over the Bible, the role of Hebrew scripture, the monarchy, and national identity provided the fortuitous, if providential, groundwork for the recovery of a vision of the Jewish people as a unique community with a mandated home. Zionism emerged from this context as a powerful movement that advocated for the return of the land and the people as a divinely ordained religious and political project. Yet, as this volume demonstrates, that idea is explicable only on the basis of the contextual events in early modern England, and would take nearly five hundred years to become a geopolitical reality. This volume provides a critically important genealogical account and illuminates the fascinating history of how England became the surprising progenitor of a revolutionary idea.

There could not be a better or more authoritative book to emerge in this centenary year of the Balfour Declaration than Jonathan Immanuel’s extraordinarily scholarly yet highly readable analysis of how it came about. Connecting the Bible and Zionism with British thinkers and statesmen stretching back over centuries, Immanuel builds a truly compelling argument about British Zionism, both Jewish and non-Jewish, that will fascinate and convince. Far from being either cynical or miraculous, the genesis of the Declaration was logical and, as Immanuel categorically proves, steeped in the best motives and instincts of Britain’s long history., I do think you show that the restorationist tradition, if effaced, did continue through the 18th century and act as a link between the earlier and later phases. There’s so much fascinating material there, and it’s well put across. Obviously, I’m no expert on the earlier part, but do think the argument about English Protestantism and Judaism being linked from the beginning of the Reformation by Henry VIII seeking Old Testament/Jewish support for the divorce is very important. The unfolding story of Puritanism and its links with Judaism from then on makes perfect sense. From the Reformation to Puritanism through the 18th century to that remarkable stuff on Coleridge the main theme comes across very clearly and cogently. I learned a lot.

Jonathan Immanuel is a fellow of the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute in Jerusalem.