The book's point of departure is the return from the Exile, which is presented as an opportunity for Jews, primarly those in Judah, to interpret anew the relationship between God and Israel. The relationship had traditionally been thought of as a covenant, and central to the book's thesis is that post-exilic writers used a paradigm that was essentially that of the pre-exilic Mosiac covenant, i.e. a pact between God and humanity conditioned by the latter's observance of the law. The first part of the book describes the process whereby the Mosaic covenant was renovated and its content brought...
The book's point of departure is the return from the Exile, which is presented as an opportunity for Jews, primarly those in Judah, to interpret anew ...
Philosophy and Practice in Writing a History of Ancient Israel elucidates and examines assumptions about history writing that current historians of ancient Israel and Judah employ. It is undertaken in the context of the conflict between so-called "minimalists" and "maximalists" within the discipline today. Though the use of the Bible as evidence is the focal point of the opposition of these two approaches, Moore shows that a number of related philosophical and practical concerns are telescoped in this issue, including concepts of Empiricism, Objectivity, Representation and Language,...
Philosophy and Practice in Writing a History of Ancient Israel elucidates and examines assumptions about history writing that current historians of...
The book of Chronicles is examined using the methodology of utopian literary theory. From this innovative perspective, Chronicles is interpreted as a utopian work that critiques present society and its status quo by presenting a 'better alternative reality.' The author's analysis contends that Chronicles does not reflect the historical situation of a particular time during the Second Temple period in its portrayal of the past, but rather conveys hope for a different future. While some scholars have also affirmed that Chronicles is concerned with the future, the majority of scholars believe...
The book of Chronicles is examined using the methodology of utopian literary theory. From this innovative perspective, Chronicles is interpreted as...
Among the variety of social-political reconstructions of Persian-period Yehud, one "consensus" stands out - one which states that the Jerusalem priesthood enjoyed a prominent level of authority, symbolized in the Jerusalem temple. Unfortunately, this leads easily into conclusions of a theocracy in Yehud. The problem, in part, is due to the immediate association of priests assumed to be authoritative with that of a theocratic governing structure.
To address this problem, at least three aspects of Yehud's governing structure(s) require further attention: (1) the social implications of...
Among the variety of social-political reconstructions of Persian-period Yehud, one "consensus" stands out - one which states that the Jerusalem priest...
Thanks to very peculiar style and theology, Pg was identified as far back as 1869 by Theodor Noldeke and remains one of the last pillars of Pentateuch research after the fall of the Wellhausen model. Its existence is rarely doubted, but its extent is debated. Does it end already in Exodus (Otto, Pola, Bauks) or does it go as far as Deuteronomy (Noth, Frevel) or even into Joshua (Lohfink, Knauf)? The end determines Pg's notion of the land and its conquest, important subjects today for the formation of the Pentateuch (was there first a Hexateuch?).
The 364-day perpetual calendar...
Thanks to very peculiar style and theology, Pg was identified as far back as 1869 by Theodor Noldeke and remains one of the last pillars of Pentate...
Among the many strategies of persuasive speech, biblical prophets often employ a rhetoric of horror. Prophets use verbal threats and graphic images of destruction to terrify their audience. Contemporary horror theory provides insight into the rhetoric of horror employed by the prophets. In this book, Amy Kalmanofsky applies horror theory to the book of Jeremiah and considers the nature of biblical horror and the objects that provoke horror, as well as the ways texts like Jeremiah work to elicit horror from their audience.
Kalmanofsky begins by analyzing the emotional response of...
Among the many strategies of persuasive speech, biblical prophets often employ a rhetoric of horror. Prophets use verbal threats and graphic images...
This work examines some of the stories in 1 Sam. 16-25 with the particular focus placed on Saul, Doeg, Nabal and the "son of Jesse." It seeks to discover new meaning in the structure as well as in the characters' functions in the narratives by studying the stories synchronically and diachronically.
One of the mysterious characters in 1 Samuel that has puzzled many a scholar is Nabal the Calebite. This study scrutinizes the elements of his characterization in 1 Sam. 25 and considers his abuses of the "son of Jesse," the contextual role of the geographic setting and political...
This work examines some of the stories in 1 Sam. 16-25 with the particular focus placed on Saul, Doeg, Nabal and the "son of Jesse." It seeks to di...
The story of Susanna and the Elders is one of the most interpreted and reproduced tales from the Apocrypha, and for good reason. In its compact narrative, it touches on attempted rape, female sexuality, abuse of power, punishment for the wicked, and voyeurism. The Good, the Bold, the Beautiful argues that the story of Susanna was written in the first century BCE, and Clanton provides a brief description of that century. He performs a narrative-rhetorical reading of Susanna and illustrates that the story uses sexual anxiety and desire to set up a moral dilemma for Susanna. That moral dilemma...
The story of Susanna and the Elders is one of the most interpreted and reproduced tales from the Apocrypha, and for good reason. In its compact narrat...
Berossus and Genesis, Manetho and Exodus proposes a provocative new theory regarding the date and circumstances of the composition of the Pentateuch. Gmirkin argues that the Hebrew Pentateuch was composed in its entirety about 273-272 BCE by Jewish scholars at Alexandria that later traditions credited with the Septuagint translation of the Pentateuch into Greek. The primary evidence is literary dependence of Gen. 1-11 on Berossus' Babyloniaca (278 BCE) and of the Exodus story on Manetho's Aegyptiaca (c. 285-280 BCE), and the geo-political data contained in the Table of Nations. A number of...
Berossus and Genesis, Manetho and Exodus proposes a provocative new theory regarding the date and circumstances of the composition of the Pentateuch. ...
This volume is an inquiry into the complex relationship of the prophetic texts and Israelite history. Taken as a whole, the book provides a "round-table" discussion that examines the thesis that the study of prophetic literature (i.e., Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Twelve) and the history of Israel are best undertaken in interaction with one another. This topic appropriately honors John Hayes's long-standing scholarly contributions in prophetic interpretation and historical research, as well as his interest in the possibilities of the intersection of these two areas. The...
This volume is an inquiry into the complex relationship of the prophetic texts and Israelite history. Taken as a whole, the book prov...
