Discover what the Bible says--not what someone else thinks it says--and develop the skills and desire to dig even deeper into God's Word. With this book, readers will gain an in-depth understanding of the books of Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, and Micah. The book also contains study notes and questions for insight and reflection.

In this new addition to the Old Testament Library series, Graeme Auld writes, "This book is about David." The author demonstrates how all the other personalities in First and Second Samuel--including Samuel, for whom the books were named--are present so that we may see and know David better. These fascinating stories detail the lives of David, his predecessors, and their families. Auld explains that though we read these books from beginning to end, we need to understand that they were composed from end to beginning. By reconstructing what must have gone before, the story of David sets up and explains the succeeding story of monarchy in Israel.

In the Book of Judges the narrator presents an image of the good parent YHWH whose enduring love and loyalty is offset by his wayward child Israel who defaults on the relationship repeatedly. Biblical scholars have largely concurred, demonstrating the many faults of Israel while siding with YHWH's privileged viewpoint. When object-relations theory (which examines how human beings relate to each other) is applied to Judges, a different story emerges. In its capacity to illuminate why and how relationships can be intense, problematic, rewarding, and enduring, object-relations theory reveals how both YHWH and Israel have attachment needs that are played out vividly in the story world. Deryn Guest reveals how its narrator engages in a variety of psychological strategies to mask suppressed rage as he engages in an intriguing but rather dysfunctional masochistic dance with a dominant deity who has reputation needs.

This book is an exploration and interpretation of the diverse symbols and images that represent the sacred presence of God in the Book of Psalms. These images of sacred spaces and objects represent diverse conceptions of "the sanctuary" or sacred spaces, objects and texts that mediate God's presence and bridge the gap between the ineffable nature of God as transcendent and beyond human comprehension and as immanently and intimately present in human experience. I explore the multivalent ways in which images of sacred spaces and objects facilitate prayer and contemplation. This book represents a valuable contribution to the study of Psalms and biblical theology, spirituality and prayer.

Can a book about suffering sparkle with warmth, humor, and encouragement? Yes, it can-and Ray Stedman's Let God Be God is that book. So turn the page and prepare to be instructed, inspired, and comforted by the life-changing truths of one of the oldest and greatest stories in human history-the story of Job.

The environmental crisis has prompted religious leaders and lay people to look to their traditions for resources to respond to environmental degradation. In this book, Mari Joerstad contributes to this effort by examining an ignored feature of the Hebrew Bible: its attribution of activity and affect to trees, fields, soil, and mountains. The Bible presents a social cosmos, in which humans are one kind of person among many. Using a combination of the tools of biblical studies and anthropological writings on animism, Joerstad traces the activity of non-animal nature through the canon. She shows how biblical writers go beyond sustainable development, asking us to be good neighbors to mountains and trees, and to be generous to our fields and vineyards. They envision human communities that are sources of joy to plants and animals. The Biblical writers' attention to inhabited spaces is particularly salient for contemporary environmental ethics in their insistence that our cities, suburbs, and villages contribute to flourishing landscapes.

The Mudil Codex from the late 4th century contains the Biblical Psalms in Coptic. However, the text differs significantly from familiar versions of the Psalms, giving rise to the question of whether we are dealing with an original form of the text. The comprehensive analysis presented here demonstrates the tradition in which this fascinating text is located, how it arose, and what significance it has for research into the Psalms generally and the Coptic Bible manuscripts in particular.

? As long as the TUAT has not been completed and remains hardly affordable for students, this continues to be a useful collection for instruction purposes. Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Christoph Markschies"

The Word Biblical Commentary delivers the best in biblical scholarship, from the leading scholars of our day who share a commitment to Scripture as divine revelation. This series emphasizes a thorough analysis of textual, linguistic, structural, and theological evidence. The result is judicious and balanced insight into the meanings of the text in the framework of biblical theology. These widely acclaimed commentaries serve as exceptional resources for the professional theologian and instructor, the seminary or university student, the working minister, and everyone concerned with building theological understanding from a solid base of biblical scholarship. Overview of Commentary Organization Introduction-covers issues pertaining to the whole book, including context, date, authorship, composition, interpretive issues, purpose, and theology. Each section of the commentary includes: Pericope Bibliography-a helpful resource containing the most important works that pertain to each particular pericope. Translation-the author's own translation of the biblical text, reflecting the end result of exegesis and attending to Hebrew and Greek idiomatic usage of words, phrases, and tenses, yet in reasonably good English. Notes-the author's notes to the translation that address any textual variants, grammatical forms, syntactical constructions, basic meanings of words, and problems of translation. Form/Structure/Setting-a discussion of redaction, genre, sources, and tradition as they concern the origin of the pericope, its canonical form, and its relation to the biblical and extra-biblical contexts in order to illuminate the structure and character of the pericope. Rhetorical or compositional features important to understanding the passage are also introduced here. Comment-verse-by-verse interpretation of the text and dialogue with other interpreters, engaging with current opinion and scholarly research. Explanation-brings together all the results of the discussion in previous sections to expose the meaning and intention of the text at several levels: (1) within the context of the book itself; (2) its meaning in the OT or NT; (3) its place in the entire canon; (4) theological relevance to broader OT or NT issues. General Bibliography-occurring at the end of each volume, this extensive bibliographycontains all sources used anywhere in the commentary.

Ben Sira is properly regarded as one of the most significant representatives of Jewish wisdom literature. Georg Sauer, the renowned Viennese Old Testament scholar, addresses the many sides of these scriptural writings in the present volume. He explores text-immanent questions regarding the structure, content, and theological meaning of Ben Sira s book in consideration of evidence from Hebrew and Greek texts. In addition, this study illuminates the historical background and context for Ben Sira s work as well as explores questions about the history of its interpretation in Judaism and Christianity.

"Philo's Portrayal of Moses in the Context of Ancient Judaism "presents the most comprehensive study of Philo's "De Vita Mosis" that exists in any language. Feldman, well known for his work on Josephus and ancient Judaism, here paves new ground using rabbinic material with philological precision to illuminate important parallels and differences between Philo's writing on Moses and rabbinic literature.One way in which Hellenistic culture marginalized Judaism was by exposing the apparent defects in Moses' life and character. Philo's "De vita Mosis" is a counterattack to these charges and is a vital piece of his attempt to reconcile Judaism and Hellenism. Feldman rigorously examines the text and shows how Philo presents an aretalogy similar to that of a mythical divine and heroic figure, by glorifying the birth, education, and virtues of Moses. Feldman demonstrates that Philo is careful to explain in a scientific way those portions of the Bible, particularly miracles, that appear incredible to his skeptical Hellenistic readers. Through Feldman's careful analysis, Moses emerges as unique among ancient lawgivers. "Philo's Portrayal of Moses in the Context of Ancient Judaism "mirrors the organization of Philo's biography of Moses, which is in two books, the first, in the style of Plutarch, proceeding chronologically, and the second, in the style of Suetonius, arranged topically. Feldman's book discusses the life of Moses chronologically and in the third chapter examines his virtues topically. Feldman compares the particular features of Philo's portrait of Moses with the way in which Moses is viewed both by Jewish sources in antiquity (including Pseudo-Philo; Josephus; Graeco-Jewish historians, poets, and philosophers; and in the Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha, Samaritan tradition, Dead Sea Scrolls, and rabbinic tradition) and by non-Jewish sources, notably the Greek and Roman writers who mention him. "This book is a gold mine of information. In two sections that follow the arrangement of Philo's two treatises on the life of Moses, Feldman expertly sets forth an impressive array of material from Philo, other Jewish sources, and non-Jewish sources. Each section on the life of Moses and on his virtues is clearly and helpfully organized into many subsections, and Feldman discusses each topic with characteristic erudition. This is the first book-length study to focus on these Philonic and other traditions about Moses, and readers from a variety of disciplines will find much here to appreciate." --Ellen Birnbaum, author of" The Place of Judaism in Philo's Thought: Israel, Jews, and Proselytes" "Feldman provides a characteristically thorough, even exhaustive, discussion of Philo's Life of Moses, informed by his unsurpassed knowledge of both Jewish and classical literature. This is a very substantial and welcome contribution to the detailed analysis of the major Jewish philosopher of antiquity." --John J. Collins, Yale Divinity School "This book represents the first full-length treatment of Philo's portrait of Moses in the De vita Moysis. The work is erudite and careful. As is characteristic of Professor Feldman's work as a whole, the strongest quality of this book is it comprehensive nature and encyclopedic learning. It will appeal to a significant number of scholars and students from a wide range of disciplines, including Second Temple Judaism, Rabbinic Judaism, New Testament, and the Early Church." --Gregory E. Sterling, associate professor of theology, University of Notre Dame

The Septuagint - the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible - was an influential translation for Jews and Christians of the first century. When the New Testament writers quoted the Old Testament, they most often used the Septuagint (abbreviated LXX) translation. Thus the vocabulary and thought forms of the LXX had a significant impact on the development of New Testament theology. Although the LXX and the New Testament were both written in Koine Greek, much of their vocabulary and word forms are different. Thus students and scholars who desire to read the LXX need a reliable reference guide that will help them decode the host of word forms and meanings that go beyond New Testament Greek. The Analytical Lexicon to the Septuagint lists alphabetically every Greek word form found in the standard Rahlfs LXX text, along with a detailed parsing of each form. Besides correcting errors found in the previous (1994) edition, this expanded edition also includes basic glosses (definitions) for each Greek word from Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, compiled by Johan Lust, Erik Eynikel, and Katrin Hauspie. These glosses are translation equivalents rather than technical definitions, and provide literal meanings as well as metaphorical ones. In many cases, the glosses are accompanied by grammatical and contextual information that sheds additional light on the word's meaning. The combination of the exhaustive grammatical analysis of the Analytical Lexicon and the helpful glosses of the Greek-English Lexicon make this expanded edition an indispensible tool for everyone engaged in the study of the Septuagint.

Radio messages from J. Vernon McGee delighted and enthralled listeners for years with simple, straightforward language and clear understanding of the Scripture. Now enjoy his personable, yet scholarly, style in a 60-volume set of commentaries that takes you from Genesis to Revelation with new understanding and insight. Each volume includes introductory sections, detailed outlines and a thorough, paragraph-by-paragraph discussion of the text. A great choice for pastors - and even better choice for the average Bible reader and student! Very affordable in a size that can go anywhere, it's available as a complete 60-volume series, in Old Testament or New Testament sets, or individually.

An Invitation to Biblical Poetry is an accessibly written introduction to biblical poetry that emphasizes the aesthetic dimensions of poems and their openness to varieties of context. It demonstrates the irreducible complexity of poetry as a verbal art and considers the intellectual work poems accomplish as they offer aesthetic experiences to people who read or hear them. Chapters walk the reader through some of the diverse ways biblical poems are organized through techniques of voicing, lineation, and form, and describe how the poems' figures are both culturally and historically bound and always dependent on later reception. The discussions consider examples from different texts of the Bible, including poems inset in prose narratives, prophecies, psalms, and wisdom literature. Each chapter ends with a reading of a psalm that offers an acute example of the dimension under discussion. Students and general readers are invited to richer and deeper readings of ancient poems and the subjects, problems, and convictions that occupy their imagination.

Feed your curiosity of the Bible by exploring the deeper meaning behind familiar Old Testament passages. Below the surface of every seemingly ordinary Bible verse lies a deeper meaning just waiting to be discovered. And these hidden insights aren't just reserved for scholars, academics, or pastors. Anyone who knows where to look can uncover the surprisingly significant messages that the biblical authors intended for us to hear. In 30 Old Testament Passages with Deeper Meaning, Michael Williams seeks to lead believers to a deeper comprehension and appreciation of biblical truth. In each easy-to-read chapter, Williams focuses on one Old Testament verse or passage, and: Examines its cultural, historical, linguistic, and/or theological context. Explains how it is enhanced by the added context and perspective. Provides questions to facilitate further reflection, study, and discussion. Helping to bridge the gap between the academy and the church, this broadly accessible and edifying book will help everyday Christians get more out of their Bible. Plus, the insightful questions at the end of each chapter make this an ideal small group, Bible study, or expository preaching resource.

Many Christians wrestle with biblical passages in which God commands the slaughter of the Canaanites - men, women, and children. The issue of the morality of the biblical God is one of the major challenges for faith today. How can such texts be Holy Scripture? In this bold and innovative book, Douglas Earl grasps the bull by the horns and guides readers to new and unexpected ways of looking at the book of Joshua. Drawing on insights from the early church and from modern scholarship, Earl argues that we have mistakenly read Joshua as a straightforward historical account and have ended up with a genocidal God. In contrast, Earl offers a theological interpretation in which the mass killing of Canaanites is a deliberate use of myth to make important theological points that are still valid today. Christopher J. H. Wright then offers a thoughtful response to Earl's provocative views. The book closes with Earl's reply to Wright and readers are encouraged to continue the debate.

In contrast to previous scholarship which has approached loanwords from etymological and lexicographic perspectives, Jonathan Thambyrajah considers them not only as data but as rhetorical elements of the literary texts of which they are a part. In the book, he explains why certain biblical texts strongly prefer to use loanwords whereas others have few. In order to explore this, he studies the loanwords of Esther, Daniel, Ezra and Exodus, considering their impact on audiences and readers. He also analyzes and evaluates the many proposed loan hypotheses in Biblical Hebrew and proposes further or different hypotheses. Loanwords have the potential to carry associations with its culture of origin, and as such are ideal rhetorical tools for shaping a text's audience's view of the nations around them and their own nation. Thambyrajah also focuses on this phenomenon, looking at the court tales in Esther and Daniel, the correspondence in the Hebrew and Aramaic sections of Ezra 1-7, and the accounts of building the tabernacle in Exodus, and paying close attention to how these texts present ethnicity.