A CONCISE HISTORY OF ISRAEL COVERING THE ANCESTRAL PERIOD, CONQUEST AND SETTLEMENT, THE MONARCHY, AND BOTH THE EXILIC AND POSTEXILIC PERIODS. WITH AN ACCESSIBLE YET HIGH-QUALITY INTRODUCTION, A BRIEF HISTORY OF ANCIENT ISRAEL WILL BE OF IMMENSE VALUE TO BOTH STUDENTS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT AND THE SCHOLARS WHO TEACH THEM.

Preaching's Preacher's Guide to the Best Bible Reference for 2014 (General Reference) How can we account for the "Book of the Law" suddenly being discovered during Josiah's renovation of the temple (2 Chron 34:14)? We know from Egypt and Mesopotamia that it was common to seal important documents--including theological documents--in the masonry or foundations of a palace or temple in order to inform a future king who might undertake restoration of the building. What might the psalmist have had in mind when praising God for removing our transgressions "as far as the east...

Getting a fix on the social context of the Hebrew Bible is imperative for anyone reconstructing either the "story" of the text or the "history" behind the text. Resources in this area often prove overspecialized and arcane, and can require highly sophisticated skills in cultural anthropology or Semitic languages just to read the table of contents. Social World of Ancient Israel, 1250-587 BCE offers those interested in learning about the biblical world a more user-friendly framework for viewing the broader picture; at the same time it relies upon the latest methodologies of cultural...