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Books > Religion & Spirituality > Christianity > The Bible > Old Testament > General
The story of Abraham and Isaac is a story of near universal
importance. Sitting near the core of three of the world's great
religious traditions, this nineteen verse story opens a world of
interpretive possibilities, raising questions of family, loyalty,
faith, and choices that are common to all.This collection of essays
takes up the question of how our interpretation of this pivotal
text has changed over time, and how, even in unlikely intellectual
places, the story influences our thought.It begins by exploring
various readings of Abraham and the Akedah story throughout the
traditional lenses of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. From there,
it moves into modern and postmodern readings, including how such
varied thinkers as Kant and Kierkegaard, Kafka and Derrida have
enaged the text.The book demonstrates the diversity of
interpretations, and the dramatic impact of the story on the
western intellectual tradition.
Since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, scholars have traced
out the rich and complex traditions of biblical interpretation in
Second Temple Judaism. Little attention has been given to date to
Psalm 80, however. Andrew Streett demonstrates that the Psalm,
which combines the story of Israel as a vine ravaged by others with
hope for a "son" of God, a "son of man" who will restore the
people's fortunes, became a rich trove for eschatological hope.This
study traces interpretations of the Psalm, from the addition of
verse 16b to its placement in the Psalter, its role as a source for
Daniel 7, its interpretation in the Septuagint, and its use in the
Dead Sea Scrolls (1QH XVI), the Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum, 2
Baruch, and later the Targum of the Psalms and Leviticus Rabbah.
Further, Streett argues that the Psalm was an important biblical
text through which early Christians understood the Christ event.
Micah Kiel discusses the overly simplistic nomenclature
('Deuteronomistic') given to Tobit's perspective on retribution and
attempts to show, by coordinating it with Sirach and parts of 1
Enoch, how the book's view is much more complex than is normally
asserted. Kiel argues that the return of Tobit's sight is a
catalyst that ushers in new theological insight, specifically, that
the world does not run to the tightly mechanized scheme of act and
consequence. Kiel's close comparison between Tobit and selected
contemporaneous literature provides context and support for such
narrative observations. Sirach and parts of 1 Enoch demonstrate how
authors at the time of Tobit were expressing their views of
retribution in the realm of creation theology. The created order in
Tobit is unruly and rises up in opposition to God's righteous
characters. By way of this quirky tale, the author of Tobit
suggests that God does not function strictly according to old
formulae. Instead, a divine incursion into human reality is
necessary for the reversal of suffering.
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Jeremiah
(Paperback)
Derek Kidner
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Preaching's Preacher's Guide to the Best Bible Reference The
prophet Jeremiah and King Josiah were born at the end of the
longest, darkest reign in Judah's history. Human sacrifice and
practice of the black arts were just two features of the wickedness
that filled Jerusalem from one end to the other with innocent
blood. As outspoken prophet and reforming king, these two men gave
their country its finest opportunity of renewal and its last hope
of surviving as the kingdom of David. The book of Jeremiah is full
of turmoil and national tragedy, the story of key people like
Baruch, Gedaliah and Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, and the drama of
rediscovering the forgotten book of Mosaic law. National events
interweave with the lives of individuals; the rediscovered book of
God's law transforms Josiah, Jeremiah and the future of the world.
Derek Kidner, in this volume that was formerly part of the widely
respected The Bible Speaks Today series, gives careful attention to
the text and reveals its startling relevance to our own troubled
time.
The Church has rendered God safe. His wrath is a matter relegated
to days of antiquity. It seems rare that we connect the brevity and
frailty of this existence with His overflowing anger at sin.
Unfortunately, having dispensed with His wrath we've also
diminished His holiness and His majesty, and made the cross less
necessary. This study invites the reader to take a second look at
God and His wrath-and His Christ-through the eyes of Moses.
Suitable for individuals or groups.
These essays explore new methods and overlooked traditions that
appear to shed light on how the founders of the Christian movement
understood the older sacred tradition and sought new and creative
ways to let it speak to their own times. Gurtner discusses the
Matthean version of the temptation narrative. Chandler investigates
the exhortation to 'love your neighbour as yourself' from Lev.
19.18b. Talbot re-examines Jesus' offer of rest in Mt. 11.28-30.
Myers explores the ways Matthew's appeal to Isa. 42.1-4 in Mt.
12.17-21 affects the characterization of Jesus in his Gospel.
Hamilton explores 1 Enoch 6-11 as a retelling of Genesis 3-6.
Herzer seeks to explain varuiys aspects of Mt. 27.51b-53. McWhirter
explores the citation of Exod 23.20, Mal. 3.1, and Isa. 40.3 in Mk
1.2-3. Hopkins investigates the manner in which Jesus engages
questions and persons regarding purity and impurity. Miller notes
that victory songs are a generally acknowledges category of Hebrew
poetry. Gregerman argues that studies of early Christian
proselytism to Gentiles are largely focussed on missionary methods
of converts.
2013 Reprint of 1963 Edition. Full facsimile of the original
edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. K. C.
Pillai (1900-1970) was a Bishop-at-large of the Indian Orthodox
Church in Madras India. He spent the last twenty years of his life
in the United States of America on a special mission to acquaint
Christians with the orientalisms and customs of the Bible. He wrote
books and worked with western Christians to help clarify what he
believed were difficult Scriptural passages through an
understanding of the eastern manners and customs. During his time
in the United States, he became associated with Victor Paul
Wierwille, with whom he worked through every orientalism in the
Bible from Genesis through Revelation over a six-week period in
1953.
King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, called this his 'Song
of Songs.' But through the centuries many have struggled to make
sense of it. Who is the mysterious woman with whom the king is so
in love? What is her story - and why is it in the Bible? In this
devotional exposition and modern English translation, we follow the
heart-searching highs and lows of their relationship as we unravel
the answers to these questions. We see how lovingly and patiently
Solomon wins her heart and confidence until finally, freed from her
past, she becomes the magnificent queen that he first saw her to
be. But what of Solomon himself? He is not what we would expect: at
heart a shepherd, an adventurer, a lover of wild, open spaces. And
as the story progresses we come to understand the prophetic
significance of Solomon's vision of the 'shepherd king' - and why
his attempts to fulfill it himself caused his downfall. Yet, more
importantly, we see how perfectly it is fulfilled, and all out
deepest needs met, in the ultimate 'Good Shepherd' and 'King of
Love, ' Jesus Christ.
Memory and Covenant combines a close reading of texts in the
deuteronomic, priestly, and holiness traditions with analysis of
ritual and scrutiny of the different terminology used in each
tradition regarding memory. Ellman demonstrates that the
exploration of the concept of memory is critical to understanding
the overall cosmologies, theologies, and religious programs of
these distinct traditions. All three regard memory as a vital
element of religious practice and as the principal instrument of
covenant fidelity - but in very different ways. Ellman shows that
for the deuteronomic tradition, memory is an epistemological and
pedagogical means for keeping Israel faithful to its God and God's
commandments, even when Israelites are far from the temple and its
worship. The priestly tradition, however, understands that the
covenant depends on God's memory, which must be aroused by the
sensory stimuli of the temple cult. The holiness school
incorporates the priestly idea of sensory memory but places
responsibility for remembering on Israel. A subsequent layer of
priestly tradition revives the centrality of God's memory within a
thorough-going theology uniting temple worship with creation.
Was Esther unique - an anomaly in patriarchal society?
Conventionally, scholars see ancient Israelite and Jewish women as
excluded from the public world, their power concentrated instead in
the domestic realm and exercised through familial structures.
Rebecca S. Hancock demonstrates, in contrast, that because of the
patrimonial character of ancient Jewish society, the state was
often organized along familial lines. The presence of women in
roles of queen consort or queen is therefore a key political, and
not simply domestic, feature.Attention to the narrative of Esther
and comparison with Hellenistic and Persian historiography
depicting "wise women" acting in royal contexts reveals that Esther
is in fact representative of a wider tradition. Women could
participate in political life structured along familial and kinship
lines. Further, Hancock's demonstration qualifies the bifurcation
of "public" (male-dominated) and "private" (female-dominated) space
in the ancient Near East.
How did the New Testament writers and the earliest Christians come
to adopt the Jewish scriptures as their first Old Testament? And
why are our modern Bibles related more to the Rabbinic Hebrew Bible
than to the Greek Bible of the early Church? The Septuagint, the
name given to the translation of the Hebrew scriptures between the
third century BC and the second century AD, played a central role
in the Bible's history. Many of the Hebrew scriptures were still
evolving when they were translated into Greek, and these Greek
translations, along with several new Greek writings, became Holy
Scripture in the early Church. Yet, gradually the Septuagint lost
its place at the heart of Western Christianity. At the end of the
fourth century, one of antiquity's brightest minds rejected the
Septuagint in favor of the Bible of the rabbis. After Jerome, the
Septuagint never regained the position it once had. Timothy Michael
Law recounts the story of the Septuagint's origins, its
relationship to the Hebrew Bible, and the adoption and abandonment
of the first Christian Old Testament.
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.
An unusual and innovative way to increase our Bible knowledge - by
stepping into a metaphorical time machine.
This volume in the Old Testament for Everyone series covers one of
the most popular books of the Old Testament, a book known for its
themes of suffering and doubt. Taking the form of a play, with
different characters relating different themes, the book of Job
tells the story of one man whose life fell apart, who went to the
depths and questioned God, and whose life was eventually rebuilt.
Goldingay's careful and compelling commentary explores the book of
Job's enduring message and is perfect for daily devotion, Sunday
school preparation, or brief visits with the Bible.
On the occasion of the twenty-first conference of the International
Organization for the Study of the Old Testament, Brill and the
editorial board of Vetus Testamentum present this publication of
ten articles published in the journal between 1950 and today. Most
of them have been seminal in one way or another, and all, we think,
continue to repay close study. The selection was made so as to
illustrate the diversity of subject matter, scholarly approach, and
geographic provenance that characterizes Vetus Testamentum.
The Vital Issues Series draws upon the insights and study of
numerous evangelical scholars and writers to address the practical
questions and issues of contemporary life. Chosen from past issues
of Bibliotheca Sacra, these volumes address questions faced by
every believer who sincerely desires to please God and to be more
Christ-like.
About the Contributor(s): Rabbi Edward Feld is the senior editor of
Mahzor Lev Shalem (2010) and the author of The Spirit of Renewal:
Finding Faith after the Holocaust (1994). He has served as
Rabbi-in-Residence at the Jewish Theological Seminary and as Hillel
Director and Chaplain to the College at Princeton University and
Smith and Amherst Colleges. As the Educational Director of Rabbis
for Human Rights he developed a curriculum for teaching "Judaism
and Human Rights."
This volume contains 20 articles by leading scholars on the king
and Messiah, mostly in the Old Testament, but also in the ancient
Near East and post-biblical Judaism and New Testament. This volume
is a major contribution to the study of kingship and messianism in
the Old Testament in particular, but also in the ancient Near East
more generally, and in post-biblical Judaism and the New Testament.
It contains contributions by 20 scholars originally presented to
the Oxford Old Testament Seminar. Part I, on the ancient Near East,
has contributions by John Baines and W.G. Lambert. Part II, on the
Old Testament, has essays by John Day, Gary Knoppers, Alison
Salvesen, Carol Smith, Katharine Dell, Deborah Rooke, S.E.
Gillingham, H.G.M. Williamson, J.G. McConville, Knut Heim, Paul
Joyce, Rex Mason, John Barton and David Reimer. Part III, on
post-biblical Judaism and the New Testament, is by William Horbury,
George Brooke, Philip Alexander and Christopher Rowland. This
noteworthy volume has many fresh insights and is essential reading
for all concerned with kingship and messianism.
Zechariah 1-6 is unlike most of the prophets in the Hebrew Bible.
He is pro-establishment and he conveys his message mostly with
visions. These observations have led to scholarly disagreements as
to how one should understand his role. Antonios Finitsis mediates
this disagreement by triangulating the relationship of Zechariah's
visionary mode of expression, his message and his function.
Zechariah has often been seen as a link between prophecy and
apocalypticism. However, Finitsis argues again assuming the
presence of this link - warning against the potential for
reductionist thinking. Furthermore, Proto-Zechariah's viewpoint is
particular to the post-exilic social setting. His visions are
influenced by the social circumstances in which they are expressed.
Proto-Zechariah refers to the near future using elements from the
community's present. Therefore, Finitsis defines the message of
Proto-Zechariah one of restoration eschatology, suggesting that the
text is addressed to a small province plagued by inner-community
conflicts. The text succeeds in alleviating social discord by
empowering the people to rebuild their community. This presents a
unique and challenging understand of Zechariah's prophetic role.
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