“Zacchaeus, the Poor Rich Man”? Towards a Classism-Reflective Exegesis

Abstract

The message of the Bible focuses on the marginalized and disadvantaged. In this sense, it appears to be critical of classism. However, this article shows that a classism-reflective exegesis is still necessary. On the one hand, some texts contain implicit classism, and on the other hand, readers themselves bring their own internalized classism into interpretation. Using the pericope of the tax collector Zacchaeus, the article demonstrates how, through ancient social history and literary discourse, biblical texts can be analyzed in a classism-reflective way – and thus new perspectives for biblical didactics emerge.