Bere'shit (Genesis 1:1-6:8) and Haftarah (Isaiah 42:5-43:10): The JPS B'nai Mitzvah Torah Commentary shows teens in their own language how Torah addresses the issues in their world. The conversational tone is inviting and dignified, concise and substantial, direct and informative. Each pamphlet includes a general introduction, two model divrei Torah on the weekly Torah portion, and one model davar Torah on the weekly Haftarah portion. Jewish learning-for young people and adults-will never be the same. The complete set of weekly portions is available in Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin's book The JPS B'nai Mitzvah Torah Commentary (JPS, 2017).

This book is concerned with ascertaining the value of having two versions of the same monarchic history of Israel within the Hebrew Bible (focusing on the books of Kings and Chronicles). It is furthermore concerned with how the book of Chronicles is read in relation to the book of Kings as Chronicles is so often considered to be a later rewritten text drawing upon an earlier version of the Masoretic Text of Samuel and Kings. The predominant scholarly approach to reading the book of Chronicles is to read it in light of how the Chronicler emended his source texts (additions, omissions, harmonizations). This approach has yielded great success in our understanding of the Chronicler's theology and rhetoric. However, Cook asserts, it has also failed to consider how the book of Chronicles can be read as an autonomous and coherent document. That is, a diachronic approach to reading Chronicles sometimes misses the theological and rhetorical features of the text in its final form. This book shows the great benefit of reading these narratives as autonomous and coherent by using the Solomon narratives as a case study. These narratives are first read individually, and then together, so as to ascertain their uniqueness vis-a-vis one another. Finally, Cook addresses questions related to the concordance of these narratives as well as their purposes within their respective larger literary contexts.

David Janzen argues that the Book of Chronicles is a document with a political message as well as a theological one and moreover, that the book's politics explain its theology. The author of Chronicles was part of a 4th century B.C.E. group within the post-exilic Judean community that hoped to see the Davidides restored to power, and he or she composed this work to promote a restoration of this house to the position of a client monarchy within the Persian Empire. Once this is understood as the political motivation for the work's composition, the reasons behind the Chronicler's particular alterations to source material and emphasis of certain issues becomes clear. The doctrine of immediate retribution, the role of 'all Israel' at important junctures in Judah's past, the promotion of Levitical status and authority, the virtual joint reign of David and Solomon, and the decision to begin the narrative with Saul's death can all be explained as ways in which the Chronicler tries to assure the 4th century assembly that a change in local government to Davidic client rule would benefit them. It is not necessary to argue that Chronicles is either pro-Davidic or pro-Levitical; it is both, and the attention Chronicles pays to the Levites is done in the service of winning over a group within the temple personnel to the pro-Davidic cause, just as many of its other features were designed to appeal to other interest groups within the assembly.

One hundred and fifty years of sustained archaeological investigation has yielded a more complete picture of the ancient Near East. The Old Testament in Archaeology and History combines the most significant of these archaeological findings with those of modern historical and literary analysis of the Bible to recount the history of ancient Israel and its neighboring nations and empires. Eighteen international authorities contribute chapters to this introductory volume. After exploring the history of modern archaeological research in the Near East and the evolution of "biblical archaeology" as a discipline, this textbook follows the Old Testament's general chronological order, covering such key aspects as the exodus from Egypt, Israel's settlement in Canaan, the rise of the monarchy under David and Solomon, the period of the two kingdoms and their encounters with Assyrian power, the kingdoms' ultimate demise, the exile of Judahites to Babylonia, and the Judahites' return to Jerusalem under the Persians along with the advent of "Jewish" identity.Each chapter is tailored for an audience new to the history of ancient Israel in its biblical and ancient Near Eastern setting. The end result is an introduction to ancient Israel combined with and illuminated by more than a century of archaeological research. The volume brings together the strongest results of modern research into the biblical text and narrative with archaeological and historical analysis to create an understanding of ancient Israel as a political and religious entity based on the broadest foundation of evidence. This combination of literary and archaeological data provides new insights into the complex reality experienced by the peoples reflected in the biblical narratives.

In this book Barbara Green demonstrates how David is shown and can be read as emerging from a young naive, whose early successes grow into a tendency for actions of contempt and arrogance, of blindness and even cruelty, particularly in matters of cult. However, Green also shows that over time David moves closer to the demeanor and actions of wise compassion, more closely aligned with God. Leaving aside questions of historicity as basically undecidable Green's focus in her approach to the material is on contemporary literature. Green reads the David story in order, applying seven specific tools which she names, describes and exemplifies as she interprets the text. She also uses relevant hermeneutical theory, specifically a bridge between general hermeneutics and the specific challenges of the individual (and socially located) reader. As a result, Green argues that characters in the David narrative can proffer occasions for insight, wisdom, and compassion. Acknowledging the unlikelihood that characters like David and his peers, steeped in patriarchy and power, can be shown to learn and extend wise compassion, Green is careful to make explicit her reading strategies and offer space for dialogue and disagreement.

Va-yishlah (Genesis 32:4-36:43) and Haftarah (Obadiah 1:1-21): The JPS B'nai Mitzvah Torah Commentary shows teens in their own language how Torah addresses the issues in their world. The conversational tone is inviting and dignified, concise and substantial, direct and informative. Each pamphlet includes a general introduction, two model divrei Torah on the weekly Torah portion, and one model davar Torah on the weekly Haftarah portion. Jewish learning-for young people and adults-will never be the same. The complete set of weekly portions is available in Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin's book The JPS B'nai Mitzvah Torah Commentary (JPS, 2017).

If Zechariah's vision report (Zechariah 1.8-6.8) reflects the seer's visionary experience, how does that impact our understanding of the gradual growth of the text? Lena-Sofia Tiemeyer builds on the work done in her previous book Zechariah and His Visions (Bloomsbury-T&T Clark, 2014), to demonstrate that the visionary material forms the primary textual layer. The oracular texts constitute chronologically later interpretations. Zechariah and/or later authors/editors sought guidance in the earlier vision accounts, and the oracular material reflects these endeavours. Tiemeyer's investigation is guided by the question: what is the latter material doing with the former? Is it enforcing, contradicting, or adding to it? Using a ratio composed of the difference between the intratexts and intertexts of Zech 1-8, Tiemeyer shows how this ratio is higher in the oracular material than in the visionary material. This difference points to the different origin and the different purpose of the two sets of material. While the earlier vision report draws on images found primarily in other biblical vision reports, the later oracular material has the characteristics of scribal interpretation. By drawing on earlier material, it seeks to anchor its proposed interpretations of the various vision accounts within the Israelite textual tradition. It is clear that the divine oracles were added to give, modify, and specify the meaning of the earlier vision report.

Violence disturbs. And violent depictions, when encountered in the biblical texts, are all the more disconcerting. Isaiah 63:1-6 is an illustrative instance. The prophetic text presents the "Arriving One" in gory details ('trampling down people'; 'pouring out their lifeblood' v.6). Further, the introductory note that the Arriving One is "coming from Edom" (cf. v.1) may suggest Israel's unrelenting animosity towards Edom. These two themes: the "gory depiction" and "coming from Edom" are addressed in this book. Irudayaraj uses a social identity reading to show how Edom is consistently pictured as Israel's proximate and yet 'other'-ed entity. Approaching Edom as such thus helps situate the animosity within a larger prophetic vision of identity construction in the postexilic Third Isaian context. By adopting an iconographic reading of Isaiah 63:1-6, Irudayaraj shows how the prophetic portrayal of the 'Arriving One' in descriptions where it is clear that the 'Arriving One' is a marginalised identity correlates with the experiences of the "stooped" exiles (cf 51:14). He also demonstrates that the text leaves behind emphatic affirmations ('mighty' and 'splendidly robed' cf. v.1; "alone" cf. v.3), by which the relegated voice of the divine reasserts itself. It is in this divine reassertion that the hope of the Isaian community's reclamation of its own identity rests.

Lekh Lekha (Genesis 12:1-17:27) and Haftarah (Isaiah 40:27-41:16): The JPS B'nai Mitzvah Torah Commentary shows teens in their own language how Torah addresses the issues in their world. The conversational tone is inviting and dignified, concise and substantial, direct and informative. Each pamphlet includes a general introduction, two model divrei Torah on the weekly Torah portion, and one model davar Torah on the weekly Haftarah portion. Jewish learning-for young people and adults-will never be the same. The complete set of weekly portions is available in Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin's book The JPS B'nai Mitzvah Torah Commentary (JPS, 2017).

Va-yetse' (Genesis 28:10-32:3) and Haftarah (Hosea 12:13-14:10): The JPS B'nai Mitzvah Torah Commentary shows teens in their own language how Torah addresses the issues in their world. The conversational tone is inviting and dignified, concise and substantial, direct and informative. Each pamphlet includes a general introduction, two model divrei Torah on the weekly Torah portion, and one model davar Torah on the weekly Haftarah portion. Jewish learning-for young people and adults-will never be the same. The complete set of weekly portions is available in Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin's book The JPS B'nai Mitzvah Torah Commentary (JPS, 2017).

Va-yeshev (Genesis 37:1-40:23) and Haftarah (Amos 2:6-3:8): The JPS B'nai Mitzvah Torah Commentary shows teens in their own language how Torah addresses the issues in their world. The conversational tone is inviting and dignified, concise and substantial, direct and informative. Each pamphlet includes a general introduction, two model divrei Torah on the weekly Torah portion, and one model davar Torah on the weekly Haftarah portion. Jewish learning-for young people and adults-will never be the same. The complete set of weekly portions is available in Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin's book The JPS B'nai Mitzvah Torah Commentary (JPS, 2017).

Mikkets (Genesis 41:1-44:17) and Haftarah (1 Kings 3:15-28; 4:1): The JPS B'nai Mitzvah Torah Commentary shows teens in their own language how Torah addresses the issues in their world. The conversational tone is inviting and dignified, concise and substantial, direct and informative. Each pamphlet includes a general introduction, two model divrei Torah on the weekly Torah portion, and one model davar Torah on the weekly Haftarah portion. Jewish learning-for young people and adults-will never be the same. The complete set of weekly portions is available in Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin's book The JPS B'nai Mitzvah Torah Commentary (JPS, 2017).

Tetsavveh (Exodus 27:20-30:10) and Haftarah (Ezekiel 43:10-27): The JPS B'nai Mitzvah Torah Commentary shows teens in their own language how Torah addresses the issues in their world. The conversational tone is inviting and dignified, concise and substantial, direct and informative. Each pamphlet includes a general introduction, two model divrei Torah on the weekly Torah portion, and one model davar Torah on the weekly Haftarah portion. Jewish learning-for young people and adults-will never be the same. The complete set of weekly portions is available in Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin's book The JPS B'nai Mitzvah Torah Commentary (JPS, 2017).

Pekudei (Exodus 38:21-40:38) and Haftarah (1 Kings 7:40-50): The JPS B'nai Mitzvah Torah Commentary shows teens in their own language how Torah addresses the issues in their world. The conversational tone is inviting and dignified, concise and substantial, direct and informative. Each pamphlet includes a general introduction, two model divrei Torah on the weekly Torah portion, and one model davar Torah on the weekly Haftarah portion. Jewish learning-for young people and adults-will never be the same. The complete set of weekly portions is available in Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin's book The JPS B'nai Mitzvah Torah Commentary (JPS, 2017).

The book of Chronicles, the last book of the Hebrew Bible and a central historical book of the Christian Old Testament, has in recent decades gone from being "the Cinderella of biblical studies" to being one of the most researched books of the Bible. The anonymous author, often simply called "the Chronicler" by modern scholars, looks back at the old Israelite monarchy, before the Babylonian exile, from his vantage point in the post-exilic early Second Temple Period, and attempts to "update" the older historiographies of Samuel and Kings in order to elucidate their meaning to the people of his own time. In The Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, Yigal Levin does the same for the modern reader. He offers a brand-new translation and commentary on 2 Chronicles chapters 10-36, tracing the "sacred history" of the monarchy from the division of Solomon's kingdom to the final exile and return. Each chapter is translated from the original Hebrew into an English that is both faithful to the original and easy for the modern reader to follow. Extensive footnotes provide full explanations of the translator's choices and of linguistic and literary issues, taking note of alternative versions offered by a wide array of ancient and modern versions and translations. The comprehensive commentary on each section provides historical background and explains the text both on a literary and a historical level, making full use of the most up-to-date research on the text, literature, history, geography and on the archaeological background of the biblical world. The Chronicles of the Kings of Judah is to be followed by The Chronicles of David and Solomon on 1 Chronicles 10 - 2 Chronicles 9, and then by The Chronicles of All Israel on the genealogies of 1 Chronicles 1-9 and including comprehensive essays on the book of Chronicles, its time, purposes, methods and meanings.

The Book of Isaiah is considered one of the greatest prophetic works in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. The complex history of the book's composition, over several time periods, can often perplex and enthrall. The editors to this volume encourage readers to engage deeply with the text in order to get a grasp of the traces and signs within it that can be seen to point to the book's process of composition and ongoing reinterpretation over time. The contributions discuss suggested segments of composition and levels of interpretation, both within the book of Isaiah and its history of reception. The book is divided into two sections: in the first part certain motifs that have come to Isaiah from a distant past are traced through to their origins. Arguments for a suggested 'Josianic edition' are carefully evaluated, and the relationship between the second part of Isaiah and the Book of Psalms is discussed, as are the motifs of election and the themes of Zion theology and the temple. The second part of the book focuses on the history of reception and looks at Paul's use of the book of Isaiah, and how the book is used, and perhaps misused in a contemporary setting in the growing churches in Africa. With a range of international specialists, including Hugh Williamson, Tommy Wasserman, and Knut Holter, this is an excellent resource for scholars seeking to understand Isaiah in a greater depth.

Hamilton Smith (1862-1943), born in Barnes, Surrey, the son of a sea captain, was employed in the office of his uncle's building firm, where he was later joined by his cousin F B Hole. By 1901, married and living in Sutton, Surrey, with his wife and young family, he had retired from the building trade and entered full-time upon the task of building up the church of God. Later in life, he moved to Weston-super-Mare in Somerset, his wife Rachel's home county. His personal ministry was delivered in the United Kingdom, but his written ministry continues to be read worldwide. Along with H P Barker, A J Pollock, J T Mawson and F B Hole he frequently contributed articles to "Scripture Truth" magazine, which often provided the basis for books later published by the Central Bible Truth Depot. Hamilton Smith's written expositions of the Scriptures are brief: in keeping with a desire "to be nothing and to give Christ all the glory". Yet they are clear and very much to the point: "If we present doctrines with all the arguments for and against, leaving our hearers to judge whether it be true or not, we shall hardly be speaking with authority, but rather as those who are groping for the truth. We are to speak as those who, by grace, know the certainty of the truth they proclaim." He is probably best known for his Old Testament character studies, but he also wrote topical studies and expositions of Bible books. The present volume consists of a verse-by-verse study of chapters 40 to 57 of the Old Testament prophecy of Isaiah. Emphasis is placed on the dispensational approach to its interpretation, distinguishing prophecies as already fulfilled, or yet to be so. The focus of chapters 40 to 48 is seen as the issue of idolatry; and that of chapters 49 to 57 to be the coming of Jesus as the humble servant of God, to be followed by his future return to rule. Throughout the exposition valuable practical lessons are drawn for Christians today.

In Metaphors in the Discussion on Suffering in Job 3-31, Hanneke van Loon offers a new approach to the theme of suffering in the book of Job. Her analysis of metaphors demonstrates that Job goes through different stages of existential suffering in chapters 3-14 and that he addresses the social dimension of his suffering in chapters 17 and 19. Van Loon claims that Job's existential suffering ends in 19:25, and that chapters 23-31 reflect a process in which Job translates his own experience into a call upon the audience to adopt a new attitude toward the unfortunate ones in society. The theoretical approach to metaphors is based on insights from cognitive linguistics.

Mishpatim (Exodus 21:1-24:18) and Haftarah (Jeremiah 34:8-22; 33:25-26): The JPS B'nai Mitzvah Torah Commentary shows teens in their own language how Torah addresses the issues in their world. The conversational tone is inviting and dignified, concise and substantial, direct and informative. Each pamphlet includes a general introduction, two model divrei Torah on the weekly Torah portion, and one model davar Torah on the weekly Haftarah portion. Jewish learning-for young people and adults-will never be the same. The complete set of weekly portions is available in Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin's book The JPS B'nai Mitzvah Torah Commentary (JPS, 2017).

A neglected area of study of the letter to the Hebrews is the function of the Old Testament in the letter's logic. Compton addresses this neglect by looking at two other ideas that have themselves received too little attention, namely (1) the unique and fundamental semantic contribution of Hebrews' exposition (vis-a-vis its exhortation) and (2) the prominence of Ps 110 in the author's exposition. The conclusion becomes clear that Hebrews' exposition-its theological argument-turns, in large part, on successive inferences drawn from Ps 110:1 and 4. Compton observes that the author uses the text in the first part of his exposition to (1) interpret Jesus' resurrection as his messianic enthronement, (2) connect Jesus' enthronement with his fulfillment of Ps 8's vision for humanity and, thus, (3) begin to explain why Jesus was enthroned through suffering. In the second and third parts of his exposition, the author uses the text to corroborate the narrative initially sketched. Thus, he uses the text to (1) show that messiah was expected to be a superior priest and, moreover, (2) show that this messianic priest was expected to solve the human problem through death.

In the Baylor Handbook on the Hebrew Bible's most widely used volume, Dennis Tucker provides a foundational analysis of the text of Jonah.This second edition of Jonah is distinguished by the detailed and comprehensive attention paid to the Hebrew text. Tucker's analysis is a convenient pedagogical and reference tool that explains the form and syntax of the biblical text, offers guidance for deciding between competing semantic analyses, engages important text-critical debates, and addresses questions relating to the Hebrew text that arenot always addressed in standard commentaries. Beyond serving as a succinct and accessible analytic key,Jonahalso reflects the most up-to-dateadvances in scholarship on Hebrew grammar and linguisticsaspecifically, this edition relies onthe methodology of generative grammar utilized in other recent volumes in this series.This handbook proves itself an indispensable tool for anyone committed to a deep reading of the Hebrew biblical text.