Arguably the biggest blockbuster love song ever composed, the Song of Songs holds a unique place in Jewish and Christian canons as the "holiest" book, in the minds of some readers, and the sexiest in its language and imagery. This commentary aims to interpret this vibrant Song in a contemporary feminist key, informed by close linguistic-literary and social-cultural analysis. Though finding much in the Song to celebrate for women (and men) in their embodied, passionate lives, this work also exposes tensions, vulnerabilities, and inequities between the sexes and among society at large-just what we would expect of a perceptive, poignant love ballad that still tops the charts. From the Wisdom Commentary series Feminist biblical interpretation has reached a level of maturity that now makes possible a commentary series on every book of the Bible. It is our hope that Wisdom Commentary, by making the best of current feminist biblical scholarship available in an accessible format to ministers, preachers, teachers, scholars, and students, will aid all readers in their advancement toward God's vision of dignity, equality, and justice for all. The aim of this commentary is to provide feminist interpretation of Scripture in serious, scholarly engagement with the whole text, not only those texts that explicitly mention women. A central concern is the world in front of the text, that is, how the text is heard and appropriated by women. At the same time, this commentary aims to be faithful to the ancient text, to explicate the world behind the text, where appropriate, and not impose contemporary questions onto the ancient texts. The commentary addresses not only issues of gender (which are primary in this project) but also those of power, authority, ethnicity, racism, and classism, which all intersect. Each volume incorporates diverse voices and differing interpretations from different parts of the world, showing the importance of social location in the process of interpretation and that there is no single definitive feminist interpretation of a text.

New volume in the TOTC replacement programme

The second release in a major new series of guides to the books of the Old Testament written in an accessible and anecdotal style. The series is suitable for personal or group use and the format is also appropriate for daily study.

Many of us find the Old testament daunting. It seems long and very distant. If the Old Testament is unknown territory to you, here's just the book to get you into it. Alec Motyer leads us through six key themes of the Old Testament, history, religion, worship, prophecy, wisdom and God himself. Each chapter shows with simplicity and warmth how important these themes are to the Old Testament, and how relevant they are to our lives today. At the end of each chapter the are seven short daily readings with crisp, practical comments, designed to help you explore that chapter's theme for yourself. Read through this book with your Old Testament in front of you and you will be amazed how it speaks directly to us today in our situations and our needs. The Scenic Route is a journey well worth taking. 'Alec Motyer proves again his faithfulness and reliability as a guide to the world of the Old Testament. The potential for confusion, with its ancient history, curious culture and perplexing events, is enormous, but Alec's sure-footed guide takes us on the scenic route. It is remarkable how, in such a brief and entertaining read, he can cover so much ground. Like any tour guide worth his shekels, the author highlights the most important vistas to be surveyed, while also taking us off the beaten track to some lesser-known alleyways of salvation history. The daily devotional Bible readings and notes make this useful for personal or group study and will provide readers not only with a good introduction to the Old Testament but also an opportunity to encounter the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.' - Chris Sinkinson

In Lamentations, we read of the unbearable grief experienced by a group of believers. Leslie Allen suggests the book can be read as the script of a liturgy performed to help the people of God come to terms with the fall of Jerusalem and the national catastrophe it entailed. It reveals God's sometimes hidden support for those who grieve and for their caregivers.
In this unique commentary on Lamentations, respected Old Testament scholar and volunteer hospital chaplain Leslie Allen appropriates this oft-neglected book of the Bible to deal with a universal issue. Incorporating stories of pastoral encounters with hospital patients, Allen integrates Scripture and pastoral care to present a biblical model for helping those coping with grief. The book includes a foreword by Nicholas Wolterstorff, author of "Lament for a Son."

What happened to Adam and Eve after their expulsion from paradise?
Where the biblical narrative fell silent apocryphal writings took up this intriguing question, notably including the Early Christian Latin text, the Life of Adam and Eve. This account describes the (failed) attempt of the couple to return to paradise by fasting whilst immersed in a river, and explores how they coped with new experiences such as childbirth and death.
Brian Murdoch guides the reader through the many variant versions of the Life, demonstrating how it was also adapted into most western and some eastern European languages in the Middle Ages and beyond, constantly developing and changing along the way. The study considers this development of the apocryphal texts whilst presenting a fascinating insight into the flourishing medieval tradition of Adam and Eve. A tradition that the Reformation would largely curtail, stories from the Life were celebrated in European prose, verse and drama in many different languages from Irish to Russian.

How can the struggles of a great biblical figure help you
to improve your life today?

To help us cope with the burdens of our own Egypts, author Levi Meier brings to life the struggles, failures, and triumphs that reveal the human side of Moses, a central figure in Jewish, Christian and Islamic traditions. Engaging, empowering and insightful, "Moses The Prince, the Prophet "shows how personal struggle and perseverance create a foundation for liberation and change while teaching us about ourselves our role in life, our struggles and our relationship with God.

More than a biography, "Moses The Prince, the Prophet "is a personal guide to growth for each of us. It explores a life intertwined with the story of a people from the Israelite Exodus from Egypt and the birth of a new nation, to the Divine revelation at Mount Sinai.

Author Levi Meier chaplain, clinical psychologist, and rabbi knows how people struggle for healing and meaning in their lives. He brings the drama of these events from biblical history into today to show the very human side of Moses a person who, like ourselves, experienced self-doubt, fear, suffering, failure and success.

Through examining Moses s experiences and the common threads they share with ours, we are taught lessons for our lives. Drawing on the stories in the Book of Exodus, "midrash" (finding contemporary meaning from ancient Jewish texts), the teachings of Jewish mystics, modern texts and psychotherapy, Meier offers new ways to create our own path to self-knowledge, self-fulfillment and self-actualization and face life s difficulties head-on.

Abram to Abraham explores the Abraham saga (11:27-22:24) through a literary lens, following the legendary figure of Abraham as he navigates the arduous odyssey to nationhood. Rather than overlook the textual discrepancies, repetitions and contradictions long noted by diachronic scholars, this study tackles them directly, demonstrating how many problems of the ancient text in fact hold the key to deeper understanding of the narrative and its objectives. Therefore, the book frequently notes the classic division of the text according to primary sources, but offers an alternative, more harmonious reading based on the assumption that the narrative forms a single, intentionally designed unit. The narrative's artistic design is especially evident in its arrangement of the two halves of the story around the protagonists' change of name. The stories of Abram and Sarai in the first half of the cycle (11:27-16:16) are parallel to the stories of Abraham and Sarah in the second half (18:1-22:24). A close reading of this transformation in the biblical narrative illuminates the moral and theological values championed by the figure of Abraham as luminary, soldier, family man, and loyal subject of God.

This is an examination of Ancient Israel and the Hebrew Bible through the lens of Postcolonial interpretation and Empire Studies. "Israel and Empire" introduces students to the history, literature, and theology of the Hebrew Bible and texts of early Judaism, enabling them to read these texts through the lens of postcolonial interpretation. This approach should allow students to recognize not only how cultural and socio-political forces shaped ancient Israel and the worldviews of the early Jews but also the impact of imperialism on modern readings of the Bible. Perdue and Niang cover a broad sweep of history, from 1300 BCE to 72 CE, including the late Bronze age, Egyptian imperialism, Israel's entrance into Canaan, the Davidic-Solomonic Empire, the Assyrian Empire, the Babylonian Empire, the Persian Empire, the Greek Empire, the Maccabean Empire, and Roman rule. Additionally the authors show how earlier examples of imperialism in the Ancient Near East provide a window through which to see the forces and effects of imperialism in modern history.

Jewish Theology Unbound challenges the widespread misinterpretation of Judaism as a religion of law as opposed to theology. James A. Diamond provides close readings of the Bible, classical rabbinic texts, Jewish philosophers, and mystics from the ancient, medieval, and modern period, which communicate a profound Jewish philosophical theology on human nature, God, and the relationship between the two. The study begins with an examination of questioning in the Hebrew Bible, demonstrating that what the Bible encourages is independent philosophical inquiry into how to situate oneself in the world ethically, spiritually, and teleologically. It explores such themes as the nature of God through the various names by which God is known in the Jewish intellectual tradition, love of others and of God, death, martyrdom, freedom, angels, the philosophical quest, the Holocaust, and the state of Israel, all in light of the Hebrew Bible and the way it is filtered through the rabbinic, philosophical, and mystical traditions.

The interpretation of certain key texts in the Bible by two Dominican Friars: the celebrated preacher and author Timothy Radcliffe and the Director of the Biblical Institute in Jerusalem Lukasz Popko. When the Lord first spoke to Samuel in the Old Testament, he did not understand. So it is in the modern secular world that we too have muffled our ears. How are we, like Samuel, to hear God speaking to us in the words of hope and joy in a way that will make our ears tingle? As the Psalmist says, we have 'ears and hear not'. Some people dismiss such sentiments in the Bible as products of long-dead cultures that have nothing to do with us. As with other religions, which have sacred texts, many hear them as celestial commandments demanding unthinking submission. But God does not address us through a celestial megaphone. Revelation is God's conversation with his people through which they may become the friends of God. The novelty of Biblical revelation consists in the fact that God becomes known to us through the dialogue which he desires to have with us. How can we learn to listen to our God and join Him in the conversation?

Violence and Personhood in Ancient Israel and Comparative Contexts is the first book-length work on personhood in ancient Israel. T. M. Lemos reveals widespread intersections between violence and personhood in both this society and the wider region. Relations of domination and subordination were incredibly important to the culture and social organization of ancient Israel often resulting in these relations becoming determined by the boundaries of personhood itself. Personhood was malleable-it could be and was violently erased in many social contexts. This study exposes a violence-personhood-masculinity nexus in which domination allowed those in control to animalize and brutalize the bodies of subordinates. Lemos argues that in particular social contexts in the contemporary "western" world, this same nexus operates, holding devastating consequences for particular social groups.

This book plays with the notion of the laughter of delight, and the way in which it has gone largely unheard in the Western interpretative tradition. The scope of the work stretches from the ancient to the modern, but it has a consistent leitmotif: the delighted laughter of the matriarch Sarah in the book of Genesis, when she gives birth to her son Isaac. This laughter is "heard" first through biblical commentaries, then through twentieth-century theorists of laughter; finally, contemporary feminist theorists are used to help realize the radical openness of the laughter of delight.

Telling Terror in Judges 19 explores the value of performing a 'reparative reading' of the terror-filled story of the Levite's pilegesh (commonly referred to as the Levite's concubine) in Judges 19, and how such a reparative reading can be brought to bear upon elements of modern rape culture. Historically, the story has been used as a morality tale to warn young women about what constitutes appropriate behaviour. More recently, (mainly male) commentators have tended to write the woman out of the story, by making claims about its purpose and theme which bear no relation to her suffering. In response to this, feminist critics have attempted to write the woman back into the story, generally using the hermeneutics of suspicion. This book begins by surveying some of the traditional commentators, and the three great feminist commentators of the text (Bal, Exum and Trible). It then offers a reparative reading by attending to the pilegesh's surprising prominence, her moral and marital agency, and her speaking voice. In the final chapter, there is a detailed comparison of the story with elements of modern rape culture.

This major work explores the message and meaning of Ezekiel, one of the longest and most difficult of the prophetic books. An introduction explains what is involved in reading a prophetic book, and how the book of Ezekiel was put together and structured. It looks at the form of speech used and discusses Ezekiel's author and those who transmitted, edited, and enlarged upon what he had to say. The destruction of Jerusalem is a primary concern, and attention is focused on the political and social situation of the time in order to provide a clear understanding of the political and religious crisis facing the prophet's contemporaries.

Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching is a distinctive resource for those who interpret the Bible in the church. Planned and written specifically for teaching and preaching needs, this critically acclaimed biblical commentary is a major contribution to scholarship and ministry.

The promise of land and progeny to the patriarchs-Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob-is a central, recurring feature of the Pentateuch. From the beginning of the story of Abraham to the last moment of Moses's life, this promise forms the guiding theological statement for each narrative. Yet literary and historical inquiries ascribe the promise texts to a variety of sources, layers, and redactions, raising questions about how the promise functioned in its original manifestations and how it can be used to understand the formation of the Pentateuch as a whole. Joel S. Baden reexamines the patriarchal promise in its historical and contemporaneous contexts, evaluating the benefits and drawbacks of both final-form and literary-historical approaches to the promise. He pays close attention to the methodologies employed in both documentary and non-documentary analyses and aims to bring source-critical analysis of the promise to bear on the understanding of the canonical text for contemporary readers. The Promise to the Patriarchs addresses the question of how the literary-historical perspective can illuminate and even deepen the theological meaning of the Pentateuch, particularly of the promise at the heart of this central biblical corpus.

What is at the heart of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Songs? A desire for life lived fully and well: life lived wisely; life lived purposefully; life lived in loving, joyful partnership with God and others. At the centre of this abundant life must be for God, for he desires all good things for us. He wants us to know his shalom - harmony, wholeness, health and peace. The wise sayings of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, and the rich, sensual poetry of the Song of Songs remind us how to conduct ourselves with wisdom, and without folly and futility, in the knowledge that we are deeply loved. Using personal anecdote, a witty and lively style, and drawing on his considerable theological knowledge, John Goldingay takes us deep into the unfolding story of the Old Testament. And, as he guides us in our understanding of these time-honoured words and the ancient world they describe, he helps us to apply what we read to our lives.

No extant text gives so vivid a glimpse into the experience of an ancient prisoner as Paul's letter to the Philippians. As a letter from prison, however, it is not what one would expect. For although it is true that Paul, like some other ancient prisoners, speaks in Philippians of his yearning for death, what he expresses most conspicuously is contentment and even joy. Setting aside pious banalities that contrast true joy with happiness, and leaving behind too heroic depictions that take their cue from Acts, Abject Joy offers a reading of Paul's letter as both a means and an artifact of his provisional attempt to make do. By outlining the uses of punitive custody in the administration of Rome's eastern provinces and describing the prison's complex place in the social and moral imagination of the Greek and Roman world, Ryan Schellenberg provides a richly drawn account of Paul's nonelite social context, where bodies and their affects were shaped by acute contingency and habitual susceptibility to violent subjugation. Informed by recent work in the history of emotions, and with comparison to modern prison writing and ethnography provoking new questions and insights, Schellenberg describes Paul's letter as an affective technology, wielded at once on Paul himself and on his addressees, that works to strengthen his grasp on the very joy he names. Abject Joy: Paul, Prison, and the Art of Making Do by Ryan S. Schellenberg is a social history of prison in the Greek and Roman world that takes Paul's letter to the Philippians as its focal instance-or, to put it the other way around, a study of Paul's letter to the Philippians that takes the reality of prison as its starting point. Examining ancient perceptions of confinement, and placing this ancient evidence in dialogue with modern prison writing and ethnography, it describes Paul's urgent and unexpectedly joyful letter as a witness to the perplexing art of survival under constraint.

The psalms have been at the center of Christian faith and piety for centuries. Now, one of the foremost interpreters of the psalms explores how they can still claim that place today. In this commentary, James L. Mays sets forth what the psalms say about God, creation, humanity, and the life of faith. Mays proceeds with an awareness that the psalms were originally composed for worship, and so he provides an understanding of the psalms as praise and prayer. Individual psalms are treated in one of two ways: either in a concise, descriptive fashion or in the form of expository essays. Those receiving fuller treatment consist of psalms that are prominent in the practice of worship, those that are used in the New Testament, those that are most important to the theology of the church, and those that shed the most light on the Psalter as a whole. One of the few single-volume commentaries on the Book of Psalms, this commentary should remain a standard reference for pastors and teachers for years to come.

Psalms, part of the Bringing the Bible to Life series, a companion to Zondervan's NIV Application Commentary, explores both the historical meaning of the biblical text and its contemporary significance. Psalms provides a journey through a selection of Psalms, ten sessions with discussion questions, and a closing section that assists you and your group in responding to God's Word together or individually.

The emergence of monotheism in the Old Testament is closely related to the theodicy question. It is based on doubts about God's power, kindness, and wisdom that haunted the Israelites in exile in Babylon. Deutero-Isaiah answers in the form of a "communal theodicy" by confessing YHWH as the only God. Through his universal work in creation and history, the effectiveness of the prophetic word, his saving intervention through Cyrus and his personal nearness, YHWH proves his uniqueness. In connection with monotheism, the theodicy motif shapes the collection and editing of the historical and prophetic books. The author draws parallels to the "individual theodicy" in the books of Job and Psalms, as well as to the "universal theodicy" in the Prehistory.