The volume brings together eight new essays on Amos, which focus on a range of issues within the book. They represent a number of different approaches to the text from the text-critical to teh psychoanalytical, and from composition to reception. Arising out of a symposium to honour John Barton for his 60th birthday, the essays all respond, either directly or indirectly, to his Amos's Oracles Against the Nations, and to his lifelong concern with both ethics and method in biblical study.

It is imperative for every growing Christian to study the Bible. Volume one of this new series will enrich both the believer’s knowledge and life with its survey of the Old Testament.

Chapters conclude with projects, questions and exploration activities that not only test readers’ grasp of the materials but also provide opportunity for more detailed and intensive study.

This well-executed work does much to acquaint people with the Old Testament’s major divisions and its amazing unity as a whole–all of which can lead to a deeper faith.

This monograph on biblical linguistics is a highly specialized, pragmatic investigation of the controversial question of 'foregrounding' - the deviation from some norm or convention - in Old Testament narratives. The author presents and examines the two main sources of pragmatic foregrounding: events or states deviating from well-established schemata, structures of reader expectation that can be manipulated by the narrator to highlight specific 'chunks' of discourse; and evaluative devices, which are used by the narrator to indicate to the reader the point of the story and direct its interpretation. Cotrozzi critiques the particular evaluative device known as the 'historic present', a narrative strategy that employs the present tense to describe past event. He tests two main theories that support this device by using a cross-linguistic model of the historical present drawing upon a variety of languages. Cotrozzi ultimately refutes these theories with a thorough examination and detailed refutation. He concludes with a study of a particular Hebraic verb as a particular marker of represented perception, a technique whereby the character's perceptions are expressed directly from its point of view. Over the last 30 years this pioneering series has established an unrivaled reputation for cutting-edge international scholarship in Biblical Studies and has attracted leading authors and editors in the field. The series takes many original and creative approaches to its subjects, including innovative work from historical and theological perspectives, social-scientific and literary theory, and more recent developments in cultural studies and reception history.

Weariness. Wonder. Joy. Longing. Anger. These are the feelings of the Psalms: honest expressions of pain and joy penned by real people in the midst of real life circumstances. Though they were written centuries ago, the Psalms still resonate deeply with us today, giving voice to our thoughts and longings: "Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD." (Psalm 130:1) "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble." (Psalm 46:1) "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God." (Psalm 84:2) In Learning to Pray Through the Psalms, James W. Sire teaches us to take our appreciation for this rich book of Scripture a step further. Choosing ten specific psalms, Sire offers background information that helps us read each one with deeper insight and then lays out a meditative, step-by-step approach to using the psalmists' words as a guide for our own personal conversation with God. A group study is also included in each chapter, along with a guide for praying through the psalm in community. The Lord loves when his people pray. And his Word is a powerful tool for framing honest, intimate prayers. Sire's innovative approach will enrich our minds and our souls as we read more perceptively and pray with all of our emotions.

This volume brings gender studies to bear on Micah's powerful rhetoric, interpreting the book within its ancient and modern contexts. Julia M. O'Brien traces resonances of Micah's language within the Persian Period community in which the book was composed, evaluating recent study of the period and the dynamics of power reflected in ancient sources. Also sampling the book's reception by diverse readers in various time periods, she considers the real-life implications of Micah's gender constructs. By bringing the ancient and modern contexts of Micah into view, the volume encourages readers to reflect on the significance of Micah's construction of the world. Micah's perspective on sin, salvation, the human condition, and the nature of YHWH affects the way people live-in part by shaping their own thought and in part by shaping the power structures in which they live. O'Brien's engagement with Micah invites readers to discern in community their own hopes and dreams: What is justice? What should the future look like? What should we hope for? 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.

The less-discussed character in the Bible is the woman: two talking animals therein have sometimes received more page space. This volume shines the light of close scrutiny in the less-trodden direction and focuses on biblical and allied women, or on the feminine side of Creation. Biblical women are compared to mythical characters from the wider Middle East or from contemporary literature, and feminist/womanist perspectives are discussed alongside traditional and theological perspectives.

This book studies how wisdom ideas in Genesis 37-50 relate to the themes and motifs that emerge from the Abrahamic promises. While the Joseph narrative is not simply a wisdom tale, there appear to be many features that are suggestive of wisdom. A literary reading of the chapters examines how these 'wisdom-like elements' relate to the story as a whole. Chapter 37 establishes that God will cause Joseph to rise to prominence. The intriguing story of Tamar in chapter 38 is seen as a kind of microcosm of the entire Joseph story. Joseph's public use of wisdom is considered in chapters 39-41, where he uses power successfully and with discernment. Joseph's private use of wisdom occupies chapters 42-45. Chapters 46-50 complete the story by weaving the concerns of the previous chapters into the fabric of God's purposes for his covenant people. In the final form of the narrative, both the wisdom and the covenant strands are seen to be prominent. The covenant strand is reflected in the connections forged with the rest of Genesis and the wider Pentateuch. The wisdom strand is evident in the public and private arenas, as well as in Joseph's tested character. God's behind-the-scenes activity, coupled with human initiatives, emerges as another 'wisdom-like element.' Both covenant and wisdom retain their distinctive contributions and are complimentary ways of God's establishing his active rule. God uses wise human initiatives to accomplish his overarching purposes.

A modern reader studying biblical narratives encounters various literary approaches and ways of understanding interpretive concepts. Hence an attempt to put forward a comprehensive hermeneutical model of reading biblical narratives. Such a model should aim at a synthesis of various approaches, and show how they are interrelated. The book proposes a hermeneutical theory which uses modern approaches to literary texts for the exegesis of biblical narratives. The book discusses three spheres of the reader's knowledge about reality: immanent, narrative, and transcendental. The move from immanent to transcendental knowledge through the mediation of narrative knowledge results from the mediatory role played by the biblical text, which refers the reader to a transcendent reality. This theory is then applied to the exegesis of Genesis 21:1-21, and involves the evaluation of the New Criticism, rhetorical criticism, structuralism and narrative analysis, reader-response criticism, the historical-critical method, as well as deconstruction. In order to satisfy the postulate of pluralism in interpretation, the hermeneutical theory draws upon a variety of ancient and modern sources such as Aristotle, T. S. Eliot, Hans Urs von Balthasar, and Paul Ricoeur.

Solomon is one of the more complex and fascinating characters in the history of Israel. As a king he is second only to David. As the king who gave Israel its temple he is unsurpassed. As the prototype of the sage his name lives on in numerous biblical and non-biblical writings. As the magician of later tradition he has established himself as a model for many other aspirants in this field. This volume contains the proceedings of an international conference on Solomon that was held at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies of the University of Leuven, September 30 October 2, 2009 and discussed various aspects of this multifaced character as he appears in Jewish, early Christian, and Islamic tradition.

Baruch and the Letter of Jeremiah are among the so-called deuterocanonical books of the Bible, part of the larger Catholic biblical canon. Except for a short article in the Women's Bible Commentary, no detailed or comprehensive feminist commentary on these books is available so far. Marie-Theres Wacker reads both books with an approach that is sensitive to gender and identity issues. The book of Baruch-with its reflections on guilt of the fathers, with its transformation of wisdom into the Book of God's commandments, and with its strong symbol of mother and queen Jerusalem-offers a new and creative digest of Torah, writings, and prophets but seems to address primarily learned men. The so-called Letter of Jeremiah is an impressive document that unmasks pseudo-deities but at the same draws sharp lines between the group's identity and the "others," using women of the "others" as boundary markers.

This Oxford dissertation offers a fresh redactional analysis of the Book of Amos. It starts with a critical survey of existing approaches and an examination of the methodological issues involved and proceeds with a detailed exegetical analysis of the prophetic text which forms the basis for the redactional conclusions. It steers a middle course between extreme conservative treatments which trace all the material back to the prophet Amos and more radical sceptical approaches which attribute most of the prophetic oracles to the work of later redactors. The composition of the book began with two collections: the Polemical scroll written not long after the end of Amos' ministry and the Repentance scroll composed shortly before 722 BC. The Repentance scroll was reworked in Judah towards the end of the 8th century BC and the two scrolls were combined to form a single work sometime during the 7th century BC. The Book underwent only one redaction during the exilic period which sought to actualise its message in a new historical context. The study pays special attention to the literary structure, aim and probable historical circumstances of the various collections which gradually evolved into the present Book of Amos and seeks to show how the prophetic message lived on and spoke to the various communities which preserved and transmitted it.

From creationism to The God Delusion, the public dialogue of science and religion either uses the early chapters of Genesis in a naive and simplistic way or rejects their relevance to contemporary questions. This is reinforced by the myth that Darwin caused a rejection of a literalistic reading of Genesis 1 and from that point most Christian theology lost any confidence in these texts. The truth is far more complex. Jewish and Christian interpretation of the early chapters of Genesis had a long a fruitful history from the earliest times. In the 19th century, many more important issues were at stake than biblical literalism, and there were many different interpretations of how the discoveries of Darwin helped or hindered the reading of the biblical text. Today, theologians are returning to the importance of Genesis as a partner in dialogue with science, gender, and environmental care. As the distinguished authors of the papers in this volume show, far from Darwin burying these ancient texts, he has liberated them to speak in new and different ways. The volume is divided into three parts. In the first, the authors explore how the scriptures themselves were interpreted before the time of Darwin. The fact that non-literal interpretations were standard in early Jewish and Christian thought is often ignored. In fact, these insightful early interpretations have much to teach us today. Part II presents essays on the real history of the Darwin controversies. Exploding the myths about this period, it is fascinating to see how Darwin was welcomed by many religious thinkers. In Part II, the authors apply the insights of Genesis post Darwin to contemporary issues today, such as: what it means to be human, questions of gender, and of evil and environmental care. The final chapter deals with the rise of creationism in its current social context.

Due to overwhelming popular demand John Wesley prepared these notes towards the end of his life. He intended them for the devout Christian, not the scholar.

Jeremiah's Scriptures focuses on the composition of the biblical book of Jeremiah and its dynamic afterlife in ancient Jewish traditions. Jeremiah is an interpretive text that grew over centuries by means of extensive redactional activities on the part of its tradents. In addition to the books within the book of Jeremiah, other books associated with Jeremiah or Baruch were also generated. All the aforementioned texts constitute what we call "Jeremiah's Scriptures." The papers and responses collected here approach Jeremiah's scriptures from a variety of perspectives in biblical and ancient Jewish sub-fields. One of the authors' goals is to challenge the current fragmentation of the fields of theology, biblical studies, ancient Judaism. This volume focuses on Jeremiah and his legacy.

Due to overwhelming popular demand John Wesley prepared these notes towards the end of his life. He intended them for the devout Christian, not the scholar.This is the second in a three volumes set: Genesis--Chronicles II (978-1-84902-634-5), Ezra-Malachi (978-1-84902-633-8), and The New Testament (978-1-84902-635-2).

This study demonstrates the importance of including narrative ethics in a construction of Old Testament ethics, as a correction for the current state of marginalisation of narrative in this discipline. To this end, the concept of identity is used as a lens through which to understand and derive ethics. Since self-conception in ancient Israel is generally held to be predominantly collectivist in orientation, social identity theory is used to understand ancient Israelite identity. Although collectivist sensitivities are important, a social identity approach also incorporates an understanding of individuality. This approach highlights the social emphases of a biblical text, and consequently assists in understanding a text's original ethical message. The book of Ruth is used as a test case, employing a social identity approach for understanding the narrative, but also to model the approach so that it can be implemented more widely in study of the Old Testament and narrative ethics. Each of the protagonists in the book of Ruth is examined in regards to their personal and social self-components. This study reveals that the narrative functions to shape or reinforce the identity of an ancient Israelite implied reader. Since behavioural norms are an aspect of identity, narrative also influences behaviour. A social identity approach can also highlight the social processes within a society. The social processes taking place in the two most commonly proposed provenances for the book of Ruth are discussed: the Monarchic and Persian Periods. It is found that the social emphases of the book of Ruth most closely correspond to the social undercurrents of the Persian Period. On this basis, a composition for the book of Ruth in the Restoration period is proposed.

* Builds on a successful and respected series * Well-known and respected name in theological circles * 'For everyone' approach: scholarly author with a highly readable style * Ideal for individual or group study

In this study on the kabod of YHWH biblical texts are approached from a canonical perspective, and the synchronic approach prevails over the diachronic. Ben Sira characterized Ezekiel as the prophet who saw the appearance of the glory of God. This characterization is not based on the number of occurrences of kabod in Ezekiel. The peculiarity of Ezekiel is that kabod is used almost exclusively as a hypostasis of YHWH. Ezekiel's description of the kabod of YHWH is more elaborate than any other Old Testament writer's, and it highlights the dual and paradoxical nature of the divine kabod as both defying verbal description and being potentially visible. This research highlights especially the importance of the visible aspect.

Who's Who in the Old Testament brings vividly to life the thousands of characters in the Old Testament, and provides: * nearly 3000 extensive entries covering every character * detailed biographical information on each character, including exactly where to find them in the Bible * the complete historical, geographical and archaeological context of each entry * comprehensive chronology of the times * a section on the Apocrypha - the collection of works that bridges the gap between the Old and New Testaments.

The Oxford Handbook of Religious Conversion offers a comprehensive exploration of the dynamics of religious conversion, which for centuries has profoundly shaped societies, cultures, and individuals throughout the world. Scholars from a wide array of religions and disciplines interpret both the varieties of conversion experiences and the processes that inform this personal and communal phenomenon. This volume examines the experiences of individuals and communities who change religions, those who experience an intensification of their religion of origin, and those who encounter new religions through colonial intrusion, missionary work, and charismatic and revitalization movements. The 32 innovative essays provide overviews of the history of particular religions, disciplinary perspectives on a range of methods and theories deployed in understanding conversion, and insight into various forms of deconversion.

Genesis is a book of origins: of the world, of sin, of God's promise of redemption, and of the people of Israel. It traces God's pledge of a Saviour through Abraham's line down to his great-grandson Judah. It is foundational for the New Testament and its teaching that Jesus is the fulfilment of God's promise to save humankind from sin and death. Andrew Steinmann's thorough exegetical commentary includes a reconstructed timeline of events from Abraham's life through to the death of Joseph.

Apocalypticism arose in ancient Judaism in the last centuries BCE and played a crucial role in the rise of Christianity. It is not only of historical interest: there has been a growing awareness, especially since the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, of the prevalence of apocalyptic beliefs in the contemporary world. To understand these beliefs, it is necessary to appreciate their complex roots in the ancient world, and the multi-faceted character of the phenomenon of apocalypticism. The Oxford Handbook of Apocalyptic Literature is a thematic and phenomenological exploration of apocalypticism in the Judaic and Christian traditions. Most of the volume is devoted to the apocalyptic literature of antiquity. Essays explore the relationship between apocalypticism and prophecy, wisdom and mysticism; the social function of apocalypticism and its role as resistance literature; apocalyptic rhetoric from both historical and postmodern perspectives; and apocalyptic theology, focusing on phenomena of determinism and dualism and exploring apocalyptic theology's role in ancient Judaism, early Christianity, and Gnosticism. The final chapters of the volume are devoted to the appropriation of apocalypticism in the modern world, reviewing the role of apocalypticism in contemporary Judaism and Christianity, and more broadly in popular culture, addressing the increasingly studied relation between apocalypticism and violence, and discussing the relationship between apocalypticism and trauma, which speaks to the underlying causes of the popularity of apocalyptic beliefs. This volume will further the understanding of a vital religious phenomenon too often dismissed as alien and irrational by secular western society.

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.