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 this comprehensive introduction to the book of Isaiah, Old Testament scholar Bryan Beyer surveys the book??'s content, its meaning in its original context, and its application for people today. He presents the prophet??'s recurring themes and gives special attention to Isaiah??'s use of geographical issues to illustrate his message, Isaiah??'s place in the canon of Scripture, and the implications of the book for mission.

???The book of Isaiah is easy to get lost in, so having a knowledgeable guide can be crucial. Bryan Beyer has provided just such a service in this accessible tour of one of the most complex and magisterial books of the canon. His judicious discussions show a depth of knowledge and a balanced assessment of difficult issues. The student of Isaiah will find the book opened up in ways that will promote scholarship as well as faith.??????John H. Walton, professor of Old Testament, Wheaton College

???Although not a traditional verse-by-verse commentary, Bryan E. Beyer??'s "Encountering the Book of Isaiah" does a good job of discussing the major themes and issues contained in this most important of the Old Testament prophetic books. Especially commendable are Beyer??'s numerous explanatory sidebars as well as his chapter objectives and study questions geared to helping the reader apply Isaiah??'s teachings to contemporary Christian life and ministry. He is also eminently fair in analyzing and evaluating divergent viewpoints with respect to authorship, date, and other disputed matters before stating his own conclusions. Whether beginners or veterans in encountering the book of Isaiah, readers of this volume will be grateful to its author for his careful and thoughtfultreatment of the writings of Isaiah, the ???Prince among the Prophets.?????????Ronald Youngblood, professor emeritus of Old Testament and Hebrew, Bethel Seminary San Diego

???Bryan Beyer has done a service for all those who struggle to understand the complex book of Isaiah. In clear yet engaging prose he has made the profound theology of the book available to all of us. In addition, he goes the next step, addressing the related questions that study of the book raises. This is the best general handbook to Isaiah that is currently available.??????John N. Oswalt, research professor of Old Testament, Wesley Biblical Seminary

Essential to a proper understanding of the Old Testament is a knowledge of the political, historical, and theological environment of the ancient Near East. While there is an abundance of material explaining this environment, primary source texts are often unavailable or inaccessible to the beginning Old Testament student.
This volume in the Encountering Biblical Studies series fills that void. "Readings from the Ancient Near East" takes the student through a wide variety of primary source texts from the ancient Near East that illuminate every book of the Old Testament. It is the companion volume to "Encountering the Old Testament," coauthored by Bill Arnold and Bryan Beyer.
The editors have compiled this volume with the beginning Old Testament student in mind. The selections are intended to move a learner with little or no knowledge of the ancient Near East to a basic understanding of its significant texts and authors.
Texts spanning more than two thousand years include Sumerian creation accounts, epic literature from Mesopotamia, cultic ritual texts from Egypt, and prophetic references from Syria. "Readings from the Ancient Near East" will surely become a standard text for professors, students, pastors, Sunday school teachers, and serious lay readers.