An updated and corrected edition of a classic work, with new material. This book is an up-to-date translation and commentary on the Ugaritic texts. Of interest and importance for a general readership, as well as students and specialists in biblical, classical and religious studies. As well as being intrinsically fascinating, the Ugaritic texts have long been recognized as basic background material for Old Testament study. Ugaritic deities, myths, religious terminology, poetic techniques and general vocabulary are widely encountered by the attentive reader of the Hebrew Bible. The present...

A twentieth-anniversary reprint of the landmark book that launched the current explosion of social-scientific studies in the biblical field. It sets forth a cultural-material methodology for reconstructing the origins of ancient Israel and offers the hypothesis that Israel emerged as an indigenous social revolutionary peasant movement. In a new preface, written for this edition, Gottwald takes account of the 'sea change' in biblical studies since 1979 as he reviews the impact of his work on church and academy, assesses its merits and limitations, indicates his present thinking on the...

This Dictionary is designed to increase awareness of Bible origins, introduce readers to the variety of versions and manuscripts that lie behind the familiar English translation(s). It also provides, in alphabetical order, 'student notes' on texts, versions, manuscripts, persons, places and terminology, covering the origins of the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and the English Bible, including recent translations. Generally, this book will facilitate a more intelligent understanding of the Bible among lay people by removing some of the mystique and prejudices associated with it. Entries...

This book is about the theme of innocent suffering in the ancient world. After an introduction to the topic, and an overview of the Greek, Roman and biblical traditions, successive chapters deal with the Iliad (Sarpedon and Hector); Heracles/Hercules; Socrates, the (Roman) Stoics; the Wisdom of Solomon and finally Early Christianity, with a concluding reflection. A rare comparative treatment of a universal theological, philosophical and dramatic problem in the ancient world no less than the modern.

Scholarly discussions of biblical interpretation often ignore the fact that language and literature form an integral part of a people's culture, that interpretation therefore implies the total cultural system of the relevant literature, and that biblical interpretation consequently implies inter-cultural communication. This book explores the theoretical and practical implications of this observation from a cultural anthropological perspective, looks at recent anthropological studies of ancient Israelite society, supplies practical examples of a cultural interpretation of ancient Hebrew...

This is a volume of cross-disciplinary essays focused on the enigmatic story of the woman taken in adultery (John 7.53--8.11). Explorations of the background, history and interpretation of the passage are offered, including investigations of the adulterous woman motif in Old Testament, New Testament, rabbinic, patristic and mediaeval writings. There are also treatments of the motif as it appears in other cultural expressions, such as Nathaniel Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter, and assessments of the theme's significance for contemporary theologies, in particular for feminist and pastoral...

Biblical Semantic Logic first appeared in 1981, and seeks to show that the study of biblical and ancient Near Eastern languages and literatures can be established on a logical basis. In a new prologue for this edition, Gibson reviews some of the scholarly treatment of the topic since the appearance of the first edition. He addresses the topics of originality and infinity and also suggests that deep areas of literary creativity resemble cosmology and pure mathematics. Gibson then demonstrates how the central areas of biblical usage (names, predicates expressions of quantity, idioms) can be...

This is both an introduction to the New Testament and a study of its writings in relation to Judaism. The aim is to explore both the clear Jewish roots of the New Testament and its incipient anti-Judaism. The first two chapters give an overview of Jewish life and religion in the Greco-Roman world with special attention to the various groups and schools, among which the Jesus movement originated. Another chapter focusses on the tradition of the words and deeds of Jesus, the enigmatic teacher from Nazareth. The rest of the book studies the range of New Testament writings in their varied...