This volume incorporates all the articles and reviews published in volume 14 (2014) of the Journal of Hebrew Scriptures.

"If the promised series of books on the biblical Torah to follow adhere to the high standard of scholarship, simplicity of language, ease of prose, and joy-in-reading of this volume they will be extremely useful." - Jim West, Quartz Hill School of Theology "The work is scholarly but accessible...the introduction makes a valuable contribution. Essential." - Choice Opening the Books of Moses presents an introduction to the first five books of the Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. It is written for any student engaged in the scholarly study of these most important of biblical texts. The aim throughout is to examine the books with a view to illuminating the ideas, beliefs and experiences of the time. The book presents a broad overview, which provides a survey of the current state of Pentateuchal research; an analysis of how the texts were shaped by their time and audience; an outline of Jewish areas in the Persian period; and an examination of key concerns and topics, notably the Torah, geography, ethnicity, Yahweh and other deities, theories of cult, treaties and oaths, and Moses. The book is the first volume in a six volume collection within the BibleWorld series that will explore in detail each of the individual books of the Pentateuch in turn. This first volume sets the stage as serves as a general introduction.

"If the promised series of books on the biblical Torah to follow adhere to the high standard of scholarship, simplicity of language, ease of prose, and joy-in-reading of this volume they will be extremely useful." - Jim West, Quartz Hill School of Theology "The work is scholarly but accessible...the introduction makes a valuable contribution. Essential." - Choice Opening the Books of Moses presents an introduction to the first five books of the Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. It is written for any student engaged in the scholarly study of these most important of biblical texts. The aim throughout is to examine the books with a view to illuminating the ideas, beliefs and experiences of the time. The book presents a broad overview, which provides a survey of the current state of Pentateuchal research; an analysis of how the texts were shaped by their time and audience; an outline of Jewish areas in the Persian period; and an examination of key concerns and topics, notably the Torah, geography, ethnicity, Yahweh and other deities, theories of cult, treaties and oaths, and Moses. The book is the first volume in a six volume collection within the BibleWorld series that will explore in detail each of the individual books of the Pentateuch in turn. This first volume sets the stage as serves as a general introduction.

This multidisciplinary study takes a fresh look at Judean history and biblical literature in the late fourth and third centuries BCE. In a major reappraisal of this era, the contributions to this volume depict it as one in which critical changes took place. Until recently, the period from Alexander’s conquest in 332 BCE to the early years of Seleucid domination following Antiochus III’s conquest in 198 BCE was reputed to be poorly documented in material evidence and textual production, buttressing the view that the era from late Persian to Hasmonean times was one of seamless continuity. Biblical scholars believed that no literary activity belonged to the Hellenistic age, and archaeologists were unable to refine their understanding because of a lack of secure chronological markers. However, recent studies are revealing this period as one of major social changes and intense literary activity. Historians have shed new light on the nature of the Hellenistic empires and the relationship between the central power and local entities in ancient imperial settings, and the redating of several biblical texts to the third century BCE challenges the traditional periodization of Judean history. Bringing together Hellenistic history, the archaeology of Judea, and biblical studies, this volume appraises the early Hellenistic period anew as a time of great transition and change and situates Judea within its broader regional and transregional imperial contexts.

The first five books of the Hebrew Bible contain a significant number of texts describing ritual practices. Yet it is often unclear how these sources would have been understood or used by ancient audiences in the actual performance of cult. This volume explores the processes of ritual textualization (the creation of a written version of a ritual) in ancient Israel by probing the main conceptual and methodological issues that inform the study of this topic in the Pentateuch. This systematic and comparative study of text and ritual in the first five books of the Hebrew Bible maps the main areas of consensus and disagreement among scholars engaged in articulating new models for understanding the relationship between text and ritual and explores the importance of comparative evidence for the study of pentateuchal rituals. Topics include ritual textualization in ancient Anatolia, Egypt, Greece, and Mesopotamia; the importance of archaeology and materiality for the study of text and ritual in ancient Israel; the relationship between ritual textualization and standardization in the Pentateuch; the reception of pentateuchal ritual texts in Second Temple writings and rabbinic literature; and the relationship between text and ritual in the Dead Sea Scrolls. In addition to the editors, the contributors to this volume include Dorothea Erbele-Kuster, Daniel K. Falk, Yitzhaq Feder, Christian Frevel, William K. Gilders, Dominique Jaillard, Giuseppina Lenzo, Lionel Marti, Patrick Michel, Rudiger Schmitt, Jeremy D. Smoak, and James W. Watts.

English summary: This introduction to the Old Testament not only presents the structure and content of the various books but also their central topics, historical background, and questions of authorship. It also contains essays on the history of research and the current discussion around the Pentateuch and the so-called Deuteronomistic historical oeuvre. All essays are written by well-known Old Testament specialists. German text. German description: Diese Einleitung bespricht neben Aufbau und Inhalt der Bucher des Alten Testaments auch ihre zentralen Themen, den geschichtlichen Hintergrund und die Verfasserfrage. Besonders behandelt werden zudem die Forschungsgeschichte und die aktuelle Diskussion um den Pentateuch und das sogenannte deuteronomistische Geschichtswerk. Neu hinzugekommen in der 2. Auflage des franzosischen Originals sind ein ausfuhrlicher Abriss uber die Geschichte Israels und Judas sowie das Kapitel Das Alte Testament der Ostkirchen. Die Beitrage stammen von ausgewiesenen Spezialisten des Alten Testaments: Philippe Abadie, Olivier Artus, Alain Buhlmann, Simon Butticaz, Philippe Guillaume, David Hamidovic, Innocent Himbaza, Ernst Axel Knauf, Michael Langlois, Corinne Lanoir, Thierry Legrand, Jean-Daniel Macchi, Christophe Nihan, Dany Nocquet, Albert de Pury, Thomas Romer, Martin Rose, Adrian Schenker, Konrad Schmid, Arnaud Serandour, Christoph Uehlinger, Jacques Vermeylen. Thomas Romer, Dr. theol., Jahrgang 1955, ist Professsor fur Hebraische Bibel am College de France, Paris, und an der Universitat Lausanne. Jean-Daniel Macchi, Dr. theol., Jahrgang 1963, ist Professor fur Altes Testament an der Faculte de theologie protestante der Universitat Genf. Christophe Nihan, Dr. theol., Jahrgang 1972, ist Professor fur Hebraische Bibel und Geschichte des Alten Israel an der theologischen und religionswissenschaftlichen Fakultat der Universitat Lausanne. DE