In Israel and Judah Redefined, C. L. Crouch uses trauma studies, postcolonial theory, and social-scientific research on migration to analyse the impact of mass displacements and imperial power on Israelite and Judahite identity in the sixth century BCE. Crouch argues that the trauma of deportation affected Israelite identity differently depending on resettlement context. Deportees resettled in rural Babylonia took an isolationist approach to Israelite identity, whereas deportees resettled in urban contexts took a more integrationist approach. Crouch also emphasises the impact of mass displacement on identity concerns in the homeland, demonstrating that displacement and the experience of Babylonian imperial rule together facilitated major developments in Judahite identity. The diverse experiences of this period produced bitter conflict between Israelites and Judahites, as well as diverse attempts to resolve this conflict. Inspired by studies of forced migration and by postcolonial analyses of imperial domination, Crouch's book highlights the crucial contribution of this era to the story of Israel and Judah.

The 2000-year story of Babylon sees it moving from a city-state to the centre of a great empire of the ancient world. It remained a centre of kingship under the empires of Assyria, Nebuchadnezzar, Darius, Alexander the Great, the Seleucids and the Parthians. Its city walls were declared to be a Wonder of the World while its ziggurat won fame as the Tower of Babel. Visitors to Berlin can admire its Ishtar Gate, and the supposed location of its elusive Hanging Garden is explained. Worship of its patron god Marduk spread widely while its well-trained scholars communicated legal, administrative and literary works throughout the ancient world, some of which provide a backdrop to Old Testament and Hittite texts. Its science also laid the foundations for Greek and Arab astronomy through a millennium of continuous astronomical observations. This accessible and up-to-date account is by one of the world's leading authorities.

The 2000-year story of Babylon sees it moving from a city-state to the centre of a great empire of the ancient world. It remained a centre of kingship under the empires of Assyria, Nebuchadnezzar, Darius, Alexander the Great, the Seleucids and the Parthians. Its city walls were declared to be a Wonder of the World while its ziggurat won fame as the Tower of Babel. Visitors to Berlin can admire its Ishtar Gate, and the supposed location of its elusive Hanging Garden is explained. Worship of its patron god Marduk spread widely while its well-trained scholars communicated legal, administrative and literary works throughout the ancient world, some of which provide a backdrop to Old Testament and Hittite texts. Its science also laid the foundations for Greek and Arab astronomy through a millennium of continuous astronomical observations. This accessible and up-to-date account is by one of the world's leading authorities.

In Biblical Philosophy, Dru Johnson examines how the texts of Christian Scripture argue philosophically with ancient and modern readers alike. He demonstrates how biblical literature bears the distinct markers of a philosophical style in its use of literary and philosophical strategies to reason about the nature of reality and our place within it. Johnson questions traditional definitions of philosophy and compares the Hebraic style of philosophy with the intellectual projects of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Hellenism. Identifying the genetic features of the Hebraic philosophical style, Johnson traces its development from its hybridization in Hellenistic Judaism to its retrieval by the New Testament authors. He also shows how the Gospels and letters of Paul exhibit the same genetic markers, modes of argument, particular argument forms, and philosophical convictions that define the Hebraic style, while they engaged with Hellenistic rhetoric. His volume offers a model for thinking about philosophical styles in comparative philosophical discussions.

In Biblical Philosophy, Dru Johnson examines how the texts of Christian Scripture argue philosophically with ancient and modern readers alike. He demonstrates how biblical literature bears the distinct markers of a philosophical style in its use of literary and philosophical strategies to reason about the nature of reality and our place within it. Johnson questions traditional definitions of philosophy and compares the Hebraic style of philosophy with the intellectual projects of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Hellenism. Identifying the genetic features of the Hebraic philosophical style, Johnson traces its development from its hybridization in Hellenistic Judaism to its retrieval by the New Testament authors. He also shows how the Gospels and letters of Paul exhibit the same genetic markers, modes of argument, particular argument forms, and philosophical convictions that define the Hebraic style, while they engaged with Hellenistic rhetoric. His volume offers a model for thinking about philosophical styles in comparative philosophical discussions.

Fourth Maccabees is a superbly craft ed oration that presents a case for the Jewish way of life couched almost entirely in terms of Greek ethical ideals. Using an expansion upon previous scriptural narratives as an opportunity for philosophical exposition, its author delights in the Torah, the Law of Moses, as the divinely given path to becoming our best selves now. Moreover, drawing upon Greek logic tradition, he develops an elaborate rationalisation of that law based upon the promise of eternal life with God. In this collection of essays spanning two decades of study, David deSilva examines the formative training that produced such an author, the rhetorical craft present in his work, and the author's creative use of both Jewish and Greek literary resources. Finally, he demonstrates the book's enduring message and legacy in the Christian church, from theological influence on Origen to textual relations within Codex Sinaiticus.

The Cambridge Companion to the Hebrew Bible and Ethics offers an engaging and informative response to a wide range of ethical issues. Drawing connections between ancient and contemporary ethical problems, the essays address a variety of topics, including student loan debt, criminal justice reform, ethnicity and inclusion, family systems, and military violence. The volume emphasizes the contextual nature of ethical reflection, stressing the importance of historical knowledge and understanding in illuminating the concerns, the logic, and the intentions of the biblical texts. Twenty essays, all specially commissioned for this volume, address the texts' historical and literary contexts and identify key social, political, and cultural factors affecting their ethical ideas. They also explore how these texts can contribute to contemporary ethical discussions. The Cambridge Companion to the Hebrew Bible and Ethics is suitable for use in undergraduate and graduate courses in liberal arts colleges and universities, as well as seminaries.

The Cambridge Companion to the Hebrew Bible and Ethics offers an engaging and informative response to a wide range of ethical issues. Drawing connections between ancient and contemporary ethical problems, the essays address a variety of topics, including student loan debt, criminal justice reform, ethnicity and inclusion, family systems, and military violence. The volume emphasizes the contextual nature of ethical reflection, stressing the importance of historical knowledge and understanding in illuminating the concerns, the logic, and the intentions of the biblical texts. Twenty essays, all specially commissioned for this volume, address the texts' historical and literary contexts and identify key social, political, and cultural factors affecting their ethical ideas. They also explore how these texts can contribute to contemporary ethical discussions. The Cambridge Companion to the Hebrew Bible and Ethics is suitable for use in undergraduate and graduate courses in liberal arts colleges and universities, as well as seminaries.

Understanding a text from the narrator's point of view is crucial for the tasks of interpreting and translating the Bible. In this volume, Ethiopian scholar Daniel Hankore clarifi es the reading of Scripture by studying it in the light of Ethiopian Hadiyya culture and relevance theory, which facilitate Scriptural interpretation and translation. Hankore's analysis recognises the text of the Bible as a literary document or discourse while also considering its cultural context. He demonstrates that a correct understanding of the concept of the ancient Israelite vow in the framework of a social institution is key to facilitating an accurate reading and translation of this section of Genesis. The conclusion we can draw from this understanding is that the narrative of Jacob is a coherent whole. Furthermore the Dinah story is of vital importance to the narrative, a fact which has frequently been overlooked as has the connection between its different parts. Genesis 28:10-35:15 is revealed in a new light in this detailed study which focuses on relevance theory informed by Ethiopian cultural context and provides original theories about the place of the Dinah story in the narrative of Jacob. Daniel Hankore is Bible Translation Consultant at SIL Ethiopia Branch. 'This is a fresh and original contribution to the interpretation of Genesis. It also contains a full and thorough evaluation of more traditional, critical, and historical approaches to the issues raised by Genesis 25-35. It deserves to be taken most seriously by future scholars trying to understand these chapters of Scripture.' Gordon Wenham, Tutor at Trinity College, Bristol

In this book, Daniel J. D. Stulac brings a canonical-agrarian approach to the Elijah narratives and demonstrates the rhetorical and theological contribution of these texts to the Book of Kings. This unique perspective yields insights into Elijah's iconographical character (1 Kings 17-19), which is contrasted sharply against the Omride dynasty (1 Kings 20-2 Kings 1). It also serves as a template for Elisha's activities in chapters to follow (2 Kings 2-8). Under circumstances that foreshadow the removal of both monarchy and temple, the book's middle third (1 Kings 17-2 Kings 8) proclaims Yhwh's enduring care for Israel's land and people through various portraits of resurrection, even in a world where Israel's sacred institutions have been stripped away. Elijah emerges as the archetypal ancestor of a royal-prophetic remnant with which the reader is encouraged to identify.

This new edition of a bestselling evangelical survey of the Old Testament (over 180,000 copies sold) has been thoroughly updated and features a beautiful new interior design. It is lavishly illustrated with four-color images, maps, and charts and retains the pedagogical features that have made the book so popular: * chapter outlines, objectives, and summaries * study questions * sidebars featuring primary source material, ethical and theological issues, and contemporary applications * lists of key terms, people, and places * further reading recommendations * endnotes and indexes The book is supplemented by web-based resources through Baker Academic's Textbook eSources, offering course help for professors and study aids for students.

In Sex, Wives, and Warriors, our understanding of Old Testament narrative is expanded though Phillip Francis Esler's application of an intercultural reading of the texts, focusing on the question: "What would ancient readers have understood from these stories?" This approach reveals previously undiscovered levels of meaning in the Old Testament which readers all too often fail to place in its original cultural and historical context. Esler draws on a wide range of disciplines, and in particular brings the techniques and insights of the social sciences to bear in his analysis. Not only is this reading contextualised and its significance for the Ancient Israelites explored, but Esler utilises scholarship on myth structure and Jungian archetypes to further clarify this original understanding. This is a book ideal for anyone wishing a closer engagement with the biblical texts. Esler makes the narratives resonate with pivotal stories from the Christian and Jewish tradition and in doing so inspires us with their imaginative and literary power and enhances our capacity for intercultural understanding.

ECPA Top Shelf Award Winner Is it really possible to enjoy the Old Testament? Christians know they are supposed to read the Old Testament. Yet many struggle to do so. They often find it confusing, theologically troubling, or just uninteresting. Eric Seibert understands this dilemma and provides a solution. His goal is to help people learn to love the Old Testament and actually want to read it. Seibert demonstrates how this part of the Bible is extremely valuable for Christians and offers dozens of practical suggestions and creative activities for hands-on interaction with the biblical text. Equipped with a variety of tools and approaches, readers discover how even the most seemingly dry passages can come to life. With Enjoying the Old Testament, readers of all ages will be inspired to pick up the Old Testament over and over again.

In this book, Molly Zahn investigates how early Jewish scribes rewrote their authoritative traditions in the course of transmitting them, from minor edits in the course of copying to whole new compositions based on prior works. Scholars have detected evidence for rewriting in a wide variety of textual contexts, but Zahn's is the first book to map manuscripts and translations of biblical books, so-called 'parabiblical' compositions, and the sectarian literature from Qumran in relation to one another. She introduces a new, adaptable set of terms for talking about rewriting, using the idea of genre as a tool to compare and contrast different cases. Although rewriting has generally been understood as a vehicle for biblical interpretation, Zahn moves beyond that framework to demonstrate that rewriting was a pervasive textual strategy in the Second Temple period. Her book contributes to a powerful new model of early Jewish textuality, illuminating the rich and diverse culture out of which both rabbinic Judaism and early Christianity eventually emerged.

This volume includes nine essays that move Ezekiel's creative reuse of older materials to the foreground of discussion. The essays highlight the transformation of earlier texts, traditions, and theology in Ezekiel. They explore the diverse ways that Ezekiel reshapes Israel's legal texts, rituals, oracles against foreign nations, royal ideology, conception of the individual, remembrance of the past, and hope for the future. The work concludes by noting the subsequent transformation of Ezekiel in scribal transmission and in the New Testament.

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.

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.

A Companion WORKBOOK to Help You Discover the Great Story of Scripture and Find Your Place in It Living God's Word is your pathway to read the Bible as it was meant to be read: as God's Great Story. This WORKBOOK is designed for use alongside the second edition of Living God's Word. While the textbook helps you see the big picture of what God is doing throughout the Bible, the WORKBOOK lets you reflect on and internalize what you are reading. Many Christians resolve to study the Bible more fervently, but often struggle to grasp the progression of Scripture as a whole. They encounter various passages each week through unrelated readings, studies, and sermons and it all feels disconnected. But once they see the Bible as God's Great Story, they begin to understand how it all fits together and they start see how their own lives fit into what God has done and is doing in the world. In Living God's Word, Second Edition, New Testament scholar J. Scott Duvall and Old Testament expert J. Daniel Hays help Christians consider how their lives can be integrated into the story of the Bible, thus enabling them to live faithfully in deep and important ways. Living God's Word explores the entire Bible through broad themes that trace the progression of God's redemptive plan. Each section deals with a certain portion of Scripture's story and includes: Reading/listening preparation Explanation Summary Observations about theological significance Connections to the Great Story Written assignments for further study These features--combined with the authors' engaging style--make Living God's Word an ideal book for those who want to understand the Bible better, for introductory college courses, Sunday school electives, or small group study. When used alongside the textbook, this workbook is the ideal resource for anyone looking to better understand how the entire Bible fits together as God's Great Story.

The notion of a distinct "wisdom tradition" in ancient Israel has a long history - but does it have a basis in the evidence? Mark R. Sneed argues for a redefinition of the wisdom literature as a loosely cohering collection of books aimed at educating scribal apprentices in moral instruction and the art of living. He presents archaeological and literary data illustrating scribal culture and pedagogy in the ancient Near East and draws a portrait of Israel's scribal culture, on the basis of which he argues that Israel's wisdom literature was meant to complement, not to compete with, other modes of literature in the Hebrew Bible. The result is a surprising new picture of the authors and tridents of the wisdom materials alongside the rich mixture of other traditions in ancient Israel, a presentation carried out with regard to Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Sirach, Wisdom, and the wisdom writings in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Features include informational sidebars, photos, diagrams, and maps illustrating archaeological discoveries.

Never before has the problem of evil been a more urgent subject for our reflection. The Yahwist confronts the issue through a sequence of stories on the progressive deterioration of the divine-human relationship in Genesis 2-11. In Genesis 4 he narrates the initial slaughter of one human being by another, and strikingly, it is described as fratricidal. 'Onslaught Against Innocence: Cain, Abel, and the Yahwist' provides a close reading of J's story by using literary criticism and psychological criticism. It shows that the biblical author has more than an "archaeological" design. His characters - including God, Adam, Eve, Cain, and Abel, plus minor characters - are paradigmatic. They allow J to proceed with a fine analytical feel for the nature of evil as performed by homo as homini lupus. No imaginative "mimesis" of evil has ever been recounted with such an economy of means and such depth of psychological insight. ANDRE LACOCQUE is Professor Emeritus of Old Testament at Chicago Theological Seminary. He is the author of 'The Trial of Innocence'; 'The Feminine Unconventional'; 'Romance, She Wrote'; 'Esther Regina'; and a commentary on Ruth. He is also the coauthor (with Paul Ricoeur) of 'Thinking Biblically: Exegetical and Hermeneutical Studies'. "Among Scripture interpreters, Andre LaCocque is a singular force because of his generative and restless mind that always seeks a new angle on the text. Here he continues his close reading of the early Genesis materials. LaCocque is an urbane intellectual who knows the world of myth and the critical claims of psychology. He is, at the same time, a most able and cunning reader of texts. The outcome of his interpretation is a vigorous, fresh reading of Genesis 4 as a primal statement of failure and possibility in Western culture. This book is an offer of his rich, suggestive interpretation and an example of how to connect what is ancient and thick to contemporary life." - WALTER BRUEGGEMANN "The master of a truly extraordinary range of techniques of interpretation, Andre LaCocque is able to extract deep theological, psychological, and moral meanings out of a deceptively simple and often under-interpreted chapter of the Bible. This sophisticated yet accessible book will repay the attention of many types of readers - Jewish or Christian, religious or secular, with training in Biblical Studies or without."- JON D. LEVENSON, Author of Creation and the Persistence of Evil