ABSTRACT
The summons and nurture, formation and enhancement of an alternative community of praise and obedience depends upon the clear articulation of an either/or, the offer of a choice and the requirement of a decision that is theologically rooted and ethically exhibited, that touches and pervades every facet of the life of the community and its members. It is in such an environment of hegemony-cum-despair that the utterance of either/or takes place. It is the utterance of either/or that shapes the perceptual field of Israel anew, to become aware of resources not recognized, of dangers not acknowledged, and of choices that had not seemed available. It is the second layer of utterance in this poetry that interests me, namely that the Israelites are summoned by the poet to be witnesses, to give testimony about the Yahwistic alternative about which they did not know and which the Babylonians certainly could never tolerate.
