Steven McKenzie here surveys the historical books of the Old Testament Joshua through Ezra-Nehemiah for their historical context, contents, form, and themes, communicating them clearly and succinctly for an introductory audience. / By providing a better understanding of biblical history writing in its ancient context, McKenzie helps readers come to terms with tensions between the Bible s accoun…
Comprehensive, up-to-date collection of primary source documents (creation accounts, epic literature, etc.) gives insight into the Ancient Near East and the Old Testament.
Although scholars have for centuries primarily been interested in using the study of ancient Israel to explain, illuminate, and clarify the biblical story, Megan Bishop Moore and Brad E. Kelle describe how scholars today seek more and more to tell the story of the past on its own terms, drawing from both biblical and extrabiblical sources to illuminate ancient Israel and its neighbors without p…
Beginning with methods and sources, this Handbook looks at the Biblical text, archaeology, other texts, and iconography. It explores varying exegetical methods, including historical criticism, canonical approach, feminist, social scientific and liberation theology. Methods in archaeology, Hebrew epigraphic and iconography are also covered. The second section is devoted to the history and religi…
Mykytiuk (library science, Purdue U.) has developed an identification system to compare and verify names in the Hebrew Bible with those in Northwest Semitic inscriptions. Here, he describes that system in detail, showing the criteria he uses to establish the level of certainty of identification. Next he shows how he has applied this system in the c
That many ancient toponyms in the Holy Land have survived for thousands of years, right up to modern times, is a remarkable and unique phenomenon, unparalleled in neighboring countries, such as Egypt, Mesopotamia, or Asia Minor. Preserved toponymy provides a basis for research in the historical geography of the country and is also of major importance for studies in the history of Hebrew and Ara…
The Hebrew Bible represents no mere collection of books but a stunning array of literary genres. To fully illuminate the history and culture of the Old Testament, it is necessary to compare these ancient writings to similar texts written concurrently by Israel's neighbors. Beginning with an overview of the important literary archives of the ancient Near East, Sparks provides exhaustive referenc…
Dealing with a wide spectrum of war ideologies in the Hebrew Bible, this study seeks to discover why and how these views might have made sense to biblical writers. It challenges the stereotype of the "violent" Old Testament.