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The Hebrew Bible contains varying opinions concerning which cultic items or objects used in worship were appropriate for use within YHWHism and which were not. By analyzing every passage which mentions "high places" (bamot), sacred trees or poles (asherim), standing stones, altars, and cultic statuary, this study reveals that a remarkable diversity of cultic practices fell within the bounds of acceptability in ancient Israel. Also included are three chapters exploring the particular understandings of these items in the LXX, Vulgate, Targumim, and other early Jewish sources. Opposing the long-held generalization that use of these items was unanimously viewed by biblical authors as syncretistic, this study shows that, with the exception of cultic statuary, all of these items were, at one time or another, legitimate components of Israelite worship. Thus they provide witness to a diversity of theologies and ritual practices within YHWHism previously unappreciated.
This volume updates Metzger's monumental "Index to Periodical Literature on Christ and the Gospels" with approximately 4.800 new references.
Modern study of biblical prophecy frequently defines prophecy as a message from God and has focused almost exclusively on prophets' words. But prophecy was always also embodied. Anathea E. Portier-Young insists on the synergy of word and body in biblical prophecy. Prophets did more than reveal knowledge: the prophetic body connected God and people, making them present to one another, channeling divine power, traveling between realms. Drawing insights from disciplines ranging from neurobiology to cultural studies, the author examines stories of prophetic commissioning, bodily transformation, asceticism and ecstasy, mobility and immobility, affect and emotion, revealing the body's centrality to prophetic mediation.
Do we truly understand the Book of Job? Can we fathom the argumentation set forth in this profound literature? What can it tell us about faith and suffering? To assist us in answering these questions, Roy B. Suck has enlisted the aid of respected Old Testament scholars who have analyzed the Book of Job and garnered keen insights into Job's world and the dialog found in this fascinating book. Among the contributors are D. A. Carson, Edwin Good, R. Laird Harris, Matitiahu Tsevat, Claus Westermann, and others, all of whom have made significant contributions to our understanding of the Book of Job. This collection also draws on commentators of the past. Together they provide a penetrating guide to the salient issues and key texts, giving us an anthology that brings together some of the best thinking available on an often misunderstood book of the Bible. Part 1 of 'Sitting with Job' provides an overview of the structure, purpose, and message of Job; Part 2 focuses on specific themes and passages.
One of the most perplexing and misunderstood books of the Bible, Ezekiel has left many scholars and exegetes scratching their heads regarding its message, coherency, and interpretation. Brian Peterson's look at the book of Ezekiel as a unified whole set within an exilic context helps explain some of the more difficult symbolic aspects in the book and makes Ezekiel as a whole more intelligible. Drawing on ancient Near Eastern concepts and motifs such as covenant and treaty curses, the various gods that made up the Babylonian pantheon, and the position that Israel held as the people of Yahweh, Peterson enlightens readers by showing that Ezekiel can only be understood in its original context. By placing the book first in its historical context, Peterson demonstrates how the original hearers of its message would have understood it, and how this message can be appreciated and applied by people today as well.
This volume honors Dennis G. Pardee, Henry Crown Professor of Hebrew Studies in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago and one of the preeminent experts in Northwest Semitic languages and literatures, particularly Ugaritic studies. The thirty-seven essays by colleagues and former students reflect the wide range of Professor Pardee's research interests and include, among other topics, new readings of inscriptions, studies of poetic structure, and investigations of Late Bronze Age society.
The Second Book of Kings—a book whose very title seems to assert the prerogative of male rule—is in fact filled with fascinating female characters as well as issues related to gender. In this commentary, Song-Mi Suzie Park argues that an interrogation of the masculinity of YHWH, Israel’s deity, functions as the driving force behind the narrative in 2 Kings. While the sufficiency of YHWH’s masculinity is affirmed by his military and reproductive prowess, it is also challenged and deconstructed through the painful defeats that end the book. Through a series of close readings, Park elucidates how the story of Israel’s monarchic past in 2 Kings unfolds through a process of continual reformulation of masculinity and femininity in relation to YHWH and Israel.
Over the past few decades biblical economics has developed into an important subfield of biblical studies. Through examining the economic realities that lay behind Hebrew biblical texts and archaeological findings, biblical economics has led to greater understandings of the cultures and experiences of ancient Hebrew communities, the legal and religious texts they produced, and of how those texts may or may not relate to the experiences of communities who continue to receive them, today. Economics and Empire in the Ancient Near East has brought together ten scholars of biblical economics and one economic anthropologist to create a repository of what is understood about the economic realities of Southwest Asia in the late second and first millennia BCE. In addition to furthering the research and teaching interests of biblical scholars, this volume has also been created for the benefit of economic historians, anthropologists, and sociologists.
The invasion of Sennacherib in 701 BCE is a classic issue for both biblical scholars and historians alike. Extant Assyrian, Biblical and even Greek texts all refer to Sennacherib and many different theories have been put forward in attempts to understand the relationship between these various accounts. Despite the rise of new literary-rhetorical criticism in biblical studies, studies tackling the problem of Sennacherib s invasion have been dominated by historical-critical work on the issue and have virtually ignored rhetorical methodology. Against this trend, this book employs both traditional historical-critical methods and newer rhetorical methods in an effort to utilize the biblical texts in a historical reconstruction of this famous Assyrian assault on ancient Judah.
This book explores Deuteronomy's understanding of exile. While Deuteronomy speaks of a potential historical experience in the nation's future, "exile" is also a dynamic theological concept. In short, exile represents the death of Israel. In losing her land, Israel apparently also loses her identity, history, and covenant relationship with Yahweh. Restoration from exile, then, is a resurrection from death to life. Since exile is a recurring theme in Deuteronomy, the theology of the book must be considered in light of its vision of exile and restoration. The thesis of the following study consists of three major aspects: (1) the theological construct that exile constitutes the death of Israel; ...