The question of the existence and nature of scribal institutions in ancient Israel has up to now been debated primarily on literary grounds. In placing the question of scribes and schools in a socio-archaeological context, as the present study does, this problem is reformulated. The focus shifts from the question of the prevalence of literary skills to the broader question of the function of those skills within ancient society.
The question of the existence and nature of scribal institutions in ancient Israel has up to now been debated primarily on literary grounds. In placing the question of scribes and schools in a socio-archaeological context, as the present study does, this problem is reformulated. The focus shifts from the question of the prevalence of literary skills to the broader question of the function of those skills within ancient society.
Scribes and Schools is an examination of the processes which led to the canonization of the Hebrew Bible. Philip Davies sheds light on the social reasons for the development of the canon and in so doing presents a clear picture of how the Bible came into being. Volumes in the Library of Ancient Israel draw on multiple disciplines--such as archaeology, anthropology, sociology, linguistics, and literary criticism--to illuminate the everyday realities and social subtleties these ancient cultures experienced. This series employs sophisticated methods resulting in original contributions that depict the reality of the people behind the Hebrew Bible and interprets these insights for a wide variety of readers.
Investigates the Solomonic narrative through the optics of propaganda and, specifically, subversion. This book explores examples of scribal subversion in 1 Kings 1-11. It examines texts that undermine the legitimacy or the legacy of Solomon and explores the social context in which scribal subversion was not only possible, but perhaps necessary.
What are archaeologists and biblical scholars saying about Jerusalem? This volume includes the most up-to-date cross-disciplinary assessment of Biblical Jerusalem (ca. 2000-586 B.C.E.) that represents the views of biblical historians, archaeologists, Assyriologists, and Egyptologists. The archaeological articles both summarize and critique previous theories as well as present previously unpublished archaeological data regarding the highly contested interpretations of First Temple Period Jerusalem. The interpretative essays ask the question, "Can there be any dialogue between archaeologists and biblical scholars in the absence of consensus?" The essays give a clear "yes" to this question, and provide suggestions for how archaeology and biblical studies can and should be in conversation. This book will appeal to advanced scholars, nonspecialists in biblical studies, and lay audiences who are interested in the most recent theories on Jerusalem. The volume will be especially useful as a supplemental textbook for graduate and undergraduate courses on biblical history.
This study analyzes several passages in the Former Prophets (2 Sam 19:12-44; 2 Kgs 2:1-18; Judg 8:4-28) from a literary perspective, and argues that the text presents Transjordan as liminal in Israel's history, a place from which Israel's leaders return with inaugurated or renewed authority. It then traces the redactional development of Samuel-Kings that led to this literary symbolism, and proposes a hypothesis of continual updating and combination of texts, beginning early in Israel's monarchy and continuing until the final formation of the Deuteronomistic History. Several source documents may be isolated, including three narratives of Saul's rise, two distinct histories of David's rise, and a court history that was subsequently revised with pro-Solomonic additions. These texts had been combined already in a Prophetic Record during the 9th c. B.C.E. (with A. F. Campbell), which was received as an integrated unit by the Deuteronomistic Historian. The symbolic geography of the Jordan River and Transjordan, which even extends into the New Testament, was therefore not the product of a deliberate theological formulation, but rather the accidental by-product of the contingency of textual redaction that had as its main goal the historical presentation of Israel's life in the land.
This is a groundbreaking book on the origins of Israel, taking into account the contexts of geography, anthropology, and sociology, and drawing on a careful analysis of archaeological and written evidence. Thompson argues that none of the traditional models for the origin of biblical Israel in terms of conquest, peaceful settlement, or revolution are viable. The ninth and eighth century BC State of Israel is a product of the Mediterranean economy. The development of the ethnic concept of biblical Israel finds its context in history first at the time of the Persian renaissance. The volume presents a clear historical context and an interpretative matrix for the Bible.
In 1961 William L. Morgan published "The Hebrew Language in Its Northwest Semitic Background", in which he presented a state-of-the-art description of the linguistic milieu out of which Biblical Hebrew developed. Moran stressed the features found in earlier Northwest Semitic languages that are similar to Hebrew and he demonstrated how the study of those languages sheds light on Biblical Hebrew. Since Moran wrote, our knowledge of both the Hebrew of the biblical period and of Northwest Semitic has increased considerably. In the lights of new epigraphic finds and the significant advances in the fields of Biblical Hebrew and Northwest Semitic in the past four decades, the Institute for Advanced Studies of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem convened an international research group during the 2001-2002 academic year on the topic "Biblical Hebrew in Its Northwest Semitic setting: Typological and Historical Perspectives." The volume presents the fruits of the year-long collaboration and contains twenty articles based on lectures given during the year by members of the groups and invited guests. A wide array of subjects are discussed, all of which have implications for the study of Biblical Hebrew and Northwest Semitic.
Twenty-three colleagues, friends, and former students of Richard Nelson honor him by contributing essays to this volume. Nelson is the fromer Kraft Professor of Biblical Studies at Lutheran Theological Seminary in Gettysburg, PA, and current W. J. A. Power Professor of Biblical Hebrew and Old Testament Interpretation as well as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas. He is the author of numerous books, commentaries, and articles. Raising Up a Faithful Exegete centers around topics of particular interest to Prof. Nelson, especially Deuteronomy, the Former Prophets, priesthoods, social interactions, and theology. In fact, this book could be seen as a one-volume summation of current thinking on Deuteronomy, the Former Prophets, Deuteronomism, and Biblical Theology, disguised as a Festschrift. “For eleven years, I had the distinct pleasure and honor of having Richard Nelson as a senior faculty colleague. He has served as a fine model of what it means to be a dynamic and innovative teacher, an insightful mentor, a world-class scholar, a supportive friend, a dedicated leader in the church, and a person who takes sheer delight in all facets of his calling.”—Richard P. Carlson, Lutheran Theological Seminary, Gettysburg, PA “Rich Nelson is a truly rare breed of man. He is not only a passionate and respected scholar, thoroughly trained and representative of historical-critical approaches to the Hebrew Bible. But he is also open and interested in the whole spectrum of different ways in which the Bible is read and understood both in the church and the academy. He is a remarkable role-model.”—Roy L. Heller, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas “Rich Nelson was one of the best graduate students I ever taught. In a seemingly effortless manner, he did basic, significant research that provided the grounds for a major but to that point generally undeveloped reading of the Deuteronomistic History. Out of that early study and his later scholarly work, he has rightly become one of our leading interpreters of Deuteronomy and the history that evolved out of its circle.”—Patrick D. Miller, Jr., Princeton Theological Seminary
