Kategoria BISAC: Religion >> Biblical Criticism & Interpretation - Old Testament

Scholars have long attempted to explain how the Pentateuch was put together. According to the predominant theory--the documentary hypothesis--the material in these books, which varies in historical and theological points of view, came from four hypothetical sources designated as J, E, D, and P. Answering the increasing scholarly call to rethink this theory, Antony Campbell and Mark O'Brien offer a revolutionary explanation for the development of plurality and multiplicity within the text.

Since the middle of the twentieth century, one of biblical scholarship's chief assumptions has been that ancient Israel evolved out of the polytheism of surrounding cultures into an ethical monotheism. However, this consensus has fallen apart in recent years. Scholars now know that early Israel was surrounded by a very polytheistic culture and that many Israelites thought of Yahweh as the chief God among many gods. Furthermore, archaeology has shown that Yahweh was worshiped along with other gods throughout the period after the exile, when many shrines were in honor of "Yahweh and his...

The Old Testament's wisdom literature offers one of the most intriguing collections of biblical books (Proverbs, Job, the Psalms about Torah and wisdom, Ecclesiastes, Qoheleth, Ben Sira, and the Wisdom of Solomon). In this magisterial textbook, preeminent wisdom scholar Leo G. Perdue sets each book of wisdom in its historical context, examining the conditions that produced the book and shaped its thinking. This allows him to show how wisdom thought changed over time in response to shifting historical and social conditions. In addition to analyzing the historical setting of wisdom, Perdue...

Throughout the Old Testament, the stories, laws, and songs not only teach a way of life that requires individuals to be moral, but they demonstrate how. In biblical studies, character ethics has been one of the fastest-growing areas of interest. Whereas ethics usually studies rules of behavior, character ethics focuses on how people are formed to be moral agents in the world. This book presents the most up-to-date academic work in Old Testament character ethics, covering topics throughout the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings, in addition to the use of the Bible in the modern...

This volume, a part of the Old Testament Library series, explores the book of Deuteronomy.

The Old Testament Library provides fresh and authoritative treatments of important aspects of Old Testament study through commentaries and general surveys. The contributors are scholars of international standing.

Taking a pioneering approach to commentary writing, Brevard Childs gives an entirely original treatment to the book of Exodus. Apart from the philological notes and translation, this commentary includes a form-critical section, looking at the growth of the tradition in its previous stages; a consideration of the meaning of the text in its present form; and a consideration of its meaning in its total Old Testament context.

The Old Testament Library provides fresh and authoritative treatments of important aspects of Old Testament study through commentaries and general surveys. The...

In this accessible volume, Adele Berlin explicates the five poems of Lamentations and builds a convincing case for Lamentations' immense power to address violence and grief.

The Old Testament Library provides fresh and authoritative treatments of important aspects of Old Testament study through commentaries and general surveys. The contributors are scholars of international standing.

In different ways, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all trace their beginnings to Abraham. His wives, Hagar and Sarah, though also pivotal in the story, have received far less attention. In this book, however, noted Jewish, Christian, and Muslim scholars focus on Hagar, Sarah, and their children, from Ishmael and Isaac to their many descendents through the centuries.

Moving from ancient and medieval sources to contemporary appropriations of the Sarah and Hagar story, the authors begin with an overview of the three religions--from their scriptural beginnings to their contemporary...

This groundbreaking book points to a fresh new way of doing biblical theology. Donald Gowan organizes his study of the book of Exodus like a traditional commentary, following the text of Exodus from beginning to end. Unlike a traditional commentary, however, Gowan asks only one question of Exodus: what does this book say about God? He then traces the major affirmations about God found in Exodus through the rest of the scripture and into the theologies of Judaism and Christianity. This study will be of interest to any who wish to rethink the ways that biblical theology is done.

Written by two leading Old Testament scholars and widely used throughout the world, Philip Davies and John Rogerson's The Old Testament World describes the historical, social, and cultural setting in which the Old Testament was written and examines the major genres of literature that it contains. Ideally suited for college-level introductory classes, it illuminates the literature of the Old Testament by showing how it was shaped by the events, social structures, and religious and intellectual ideas of the ancient civilizations and cultures in which it was produced.

In Mandate to Difference, renowned theologian Walter Brueggemann sets forth a new vision of the Christian church in today's world. Based on speaking engagements surrounding his critical passion and conviction that the church in this moment must set itself in tension with the rest of the world, these essays call the church to courageously defy political polarization, consumerism, and militarism.

It was in the sixth century BCE that the state of Judah fell and along with it the temple of Yahweh, the place of divine presence offering divine protection. This introductory textbook throws fresh light on this crucial period in the history and theological development of ancient Israel and Judah. Taking into account new archaeological evidence regarding the exile, The Templeless Age offers an up-to-date and compelling overview of the formative events of the sixth century BCE.

The family narratives in the book of Genesis are important in understanding the meaning of the book and are fundamental to the unfolding story of the birth of the Israelite nation. Devora Steinmetz sees kinship in ancient narratives as a symbolic structure representing the ability of the emerging culture to survive despite conflict that threatened society's existence. The family narratives in Genesis reflect a culture's capacity to survive as a united people.

The Literary Currents in Biblical Interpretation series explores current trends within the discipline of biblical...

Prominent biblical scholar and author Walter Brueggemann studies three passages from the books of Samuel, using the methods of literary criticism and rhetorical analysis. He examines the ways the themes of power, divine providence, and David's personality cohere in the biblical narrative to explain David's rise to power and assumption of the kingship and his dominance over Saul.

The prophetic message awakens the people of God and calls them back from their perverse ways. But the history of the investigation of prophecy shows that the understanding of these messages has changed profoundly over time. Claus Westermann provides indications of the astonishing differences in the conceptions of prophecy in the history of its interpretation.

Intertextuality (the reading of one text in terms of another) is a diverse practice. It is a central and prevalent subject in poststructuralist literary theory. Reading between Texts is the first book to address intertextuality as it relates specifically to interpretation of the Hebrew Bible. The contributors bring together lucid theoretical discussion and sophisticated interpretations from a variety of backgrounds, offering biblical scholars and students a helpful and thorough introduction to the issues and possibilities of intertextuality.

The Literary Currents in Biblical...

Writing from a Jewish perspective, Jon Levenson reviews many often neglected theoretical questions. He focuses on the relationship between two interpretive communities--the community of scholars who are committed to the historical-critical method of biblical interpretation and the community responsible for the canonization and preservation of the Bible.

Joshua to Chronicles surveys the rich literature of the Old Testament books Joshua, Judges, Ruth, I and II Samuel, I and II Kings, and I and II Chronicles. Campbell argues that while these books may appear historical, they are more theological--better understood as Israel's efforts to interpret their people's experience. The book is helpfully structured with overview and review sections.

Biblical Studies

Biblical texts create worlds of meaning, and invite readers to enter them. When readers enter such textual worlds, which are often strange and complex, they are confronted with theological claims. With this in mind, the purpose of the Interpreting Biblical Texts series is to help serious readers in their experience of reading and interpreting by providing guides for their journeys into textual worlds. The controlling perspective is expressed in the operative word of the title--interpreting. The primary focus of the series is not so much on the world behind the texts...