Lester L. Grabbe provides a concise and up-to-date introduction to the books of Kings, covering all the historical and interpretative issues. Grabbe pays particular attention to how the history of ancient Israel can be reconstructed (or not as the case may be) through the text, and introduces students to the key ways of reading the books of Kings as religious and political history.
Grabbe takes a chronological approach (according to the text) and provides overviews of the key periods of Israel's history. The nature of the 'Deuteronomistic History' and how well this theory of...
Lester L. Grabbe provides a concise and up-to-date introduction to the books of Kings, covering all the historical and interpretative issues. Grabb...
Davies outlines the composition and date of Numbers, and the various attempts that have been made to establish a coherent and meaningful structure in its arrangement. Davies also shows how the application of reader-response criticism, feminist criticism and postcolonial criticism have contributed to our understanding of selected passages in the book. Addressing theological issues, Davies considers three themes that occupy much of the content of Numbers, namely; land, purity and holiness, and rebellion. The concluding chapter considers the contentious issue of the historicity of the book of...
Davies outlines the composition and date of Numbers, and the various attempts that have been made to establish a coherent and meaningful structure ...
The book of Joshua, with its memorable images of the crossing of the River Jordan and the miraculous conquest of the city of Jericho, plays an important part in the Old Testament's narrative and theology of God's promise and gift of the land of Canaan to Israel.
In this guide, Gordon McConville considers the various aspects of interpreting Joshua, including questions of its origins and occasion, its literary formation and its theology. He also looks squarely at the difficulties it poses to the modern reader, and the dangers of simplistic interpretations, especially when allied with...
The book of Joshua, with its memorable images of the crossing of the River Jordan and the miraculous conquest of the city of Jericho, plays an impo...
This guide provides a concise introduction to the ways the book of Jeremiah has been interpreted by scholars, and to new possibilities of interpretation still open to readers. Outlining approaches the reader encountering the book may best adopt, Mary E. Mills moves into the reception of the prophetic book in the modern period. The role of historical criticism has been fundamental but she shows how it should be supplemented by recent explorations into the rhetorical structures and devices by which the book communicates its messages.
Historically oriented scholars drew upon the book...
This guide provides a concise introduction to the ways the book of Jeremiah has been interpreted by scholars, and to new possibilities of interpret...
In the light of dramatic new interpretative approaches to the Bible this guide to Job follows not only a range of new approaches to the text but also addresses the traditional historical questions and other topical issues.
Dell particularly highlights the problem of genre in understanding Job. She shows how problematic the term 'wisdom' is for this unique book, and argues that its radical sentiments earn it, rather, the title of 'parody'. Of all the biblical books it comes closest to tragedy, raising profound questions about its nature and place in the biblical canon.
Job's...
In the light of dramatic new interpretative approaches to the Bible this guide to Job follows not only a range of new approaches to the text but al...
Scholarly study of Samuel continues to wrestle with how we interpret this pivotal text. Even such basic matters as the question of what kind of literature it is remain unresolved while older questions such as the nature of its text and sources are debated anew in the light of material from Qumran and of current approaches to Hebrew narrative. Recognizing the importance of questions such as these, David Firth explores and introduces fresh ways of reading Samuel as a unified and yet complex text, which displays high levels both of literary artistry and of theological...
Scholarly study of Samuel continues to wrestle with how we interpret this pivotal text. Even such basic matters as the question of what kind of lit...
This study guide to Amos is divided into three parts. The first sets out to describe the genre, style, shape and aim of the text, along with its leading ideas, with the help of recent scholarship on the Hebrew Bible in general and the prophets in particular. Special note is taken of the many images of violence in Amos, along with its denunciations of injustice, and its overwhelming emphasis on the ineluctable destruction awaiting Israel.
The second part sets the book in its historical and social context, with particular focus on the social context of the injustices denounced by...
This study guide to Amos is divided into three parts. The first sets out to describe the genre, style, shape and aim of the text, along with its le...
