The Hebrew Bible

This fully revised edition provides a brief, up-to-date introduction to the Hebrew/Bible Old Testament placed in a broader context of world history.  It tells a story of the emergence of the Bible, organizing coverage of Biblical books along a historical framework.  The major scenes of the story are the various empires that shaped the Hebrew Bible: Mesopotamian and Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, and Hellenistic.  It also shows ways that the Bible was interpreted quite differently by Jews and Christians in later historical contexts, as each community used the same traditions to guide and make sense of their lives.  And it introduces the reader to a multiplicity of scholarly methods used to explore the formation of the Hebrew Bible and its subsequent interpretation.

List of Figures vi

List of Maps viii

List of Boxes ix

Preface xii

Acknowledgments xiv

List of Abbreviations xvi

Overview of the Historical Period xvii

Timeline xviii

Prologue: Orientation to Multiple Bibles and Multiple Translations 1

1 Studying the Bible in Its Ancient Context(s) 15

2 The Emergence of Ancient Israel and Its First Oral Traditions 33

3 Beginnings of the Monarchy and Royal and Zion Texts 53

4 Echoes of Past Empires in Biblical Wisdom, Love Poetry, Law, and Narrative 71

5 Narrative and Prophecy amidst the Rise and Fall of the Northern Kingdom 91

6 Micah, Isaiah, and the Southern Prophetic Encounter with Assyria 115

7 Torah and History in the Wake of the Assyrian Empire 131

8 Prophecy in the Transition from Assyrian to Babylonian Domination 153

9 Laments, History, and Prophecies after the Destruction of Jerusalem 165

10 Torah and Trauma 187

11 The Torah, the Psalms, and the Persian-Sponsored Rebuilding of Judah 207

12 Other Texts Formed in the Crucible of Post-Exilic Rebuilding 229

13 Hellenistic Empires and the Formation of Multiple Scriptures 245

Glossary 264

Index 273