Old Testament Survey

Old Testament Survey
Author: William Sanford La Sor
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Total Pages: 886
Release: 1996-09-03
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780802837882

McKenna, and William B. Nelson Jr.".

The Bible in Its World

The Bible in Its World
Author: K. A. Kitchen
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 168
Release: 2004-04-20
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1592446183

This book is a solid exposition of the relationship between the ancient near eastern world and ancient Israel. Contrary to popular conceptions that biblical literature was a response to the post-exilic condition, Kitchen demonstrates that in the light of the explosion of knowledge on the ancient near east it has become impossible to maintain critical and minimalist positions on the history and development of Israel and its religion. If one does decide to hold such a view, Kitchen explains that doing so makes Israel the only ancient nation incapable of transmitting its history and having elaborate religious rituals, which we now know were common characteristics of ancient civilizations from even before the time of Moses. Kitchen further explains that the modern minimalist views were born out of 19th century German critical theory, at a time when such knowledge of the ancient world simply did not exist. As a result, such scholars had to perform their research in a historical vacuum, and thus reconstructed the history of ancient Israel which has turned out, in the light of later research, to totally contradict the rest of the entire ancient near east. The momentum of this 19th century research, Kitchen explains, has carried on into the 20th (and 21st) centuries, coloring the views of many modern archaeologists and Old Testament scholars. This book is very important in the light of recent literature on the subject.

Yahweh and the Gods and Goddesses of Canaan

Yahweh and the Gods and Goddesses of Canaan
Author: John Day
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 289
Release: 2010-06-15
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0567537838

This masterly book is the climax of over twenty-five years of study of the impact of Canaanite religion and mythology on ancient Israel and the Old Testament. It is John Day's magnum opus in which he sets forth all his main arguments and conclusions on the subject. The work considers in detail the relationship between Yahweh and the various gods and goddesses of Canaan, including the leading gods El and Baal, the great goddesses (Asherah, Astarte and Anat), astral deities (Sun, Moon and Lucifer), and underworld deities (Mot, Resheph, Molech and the Rephaim). Day assesses both what Yahwism assimilated from these deities and what it came to reject. More generally he discusses the impact of Canaanite polytheism on ancient Israel and how monotheism was eventually achieved.

Looking Back for Jehoiachin

Looking Back for Jehoiachin
Author: James R. Critchlow
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 210
Release: 2013-01-15
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1725247380

Looking Back for Jehoiachin examines the life and legacy of the last living Davidic king during the Babylonian captivity. It investigates the names Yehoyachin, Yeconiah, and Coniahu in the Hebrew Bible, Yechonias in the Septuagint, Intertestamental literature, and the New Testament. It also surveys those extrabiblical inscriptions that contribute to a thorough account of this king. The ninety- to one-hundred-day "evil" tenure of Jehoiachin and his exile to Babylon should have finalized the evaluation of his reign, but the revision of his legacy into a thoroughgoing hagiography in Josephus, the rabbinic writings, and the New Testament is notable. Jehoiachin's is the linking name between Abraham, David, and Jesus Christ in the genealogy list of Matthew 1. Jehoiachin's captivity provides a fascinating study on the longevity of the promises of the Old Testament for a future, eternal King of Judah and Israel.

The Book of Amos in Emergent Judah

The Book of Amos in Emergent Judah
Author: Jason Radine
Publisher: Mohr Siebeck
Total Pages: 292
Release: 2010
Genre: Bible
ISBN: 9783161501142

Originally presented as the author's thesis (doctoral)--University of Michigan, 2007.

The Sanctuary of Bethel and the Configuration of Israelite Identity

The Sanctuary of Bethel and the Configuration of Israelite Identity
Author: Jules Francis Gomes
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
Total Pages: 325
Release: 2012-02-14
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 3110925184

After Jerusalem, Bethel is the most frequently cited sanctuary in the Hebrew Bible. The book offers a detailed analysis of Bethel and its sanctuary from archaeological and biblical evidence. It reconstructs the history of Bethel and by analysing the presence of pro- and anti-Bethel propaganda, it argues that the latter, with its own pro-Jerusalem/Judah bias, has resulted in an unfair denigration of Bethel as an idolatrous place of worship. The study suggests that Bethel was a legitimate Yahwistic shrine and continued to be so even after the fall of the Northern Kingdom of Israel to the Assyrians. Hence, Bethel in a real sense was the principal means of configuring Israelite identity.

Out of the Desert

Out of the Desert
Author: William H. Stiebing
Publisher: Prometheus Books
Total Pages: 266
Release: 2012-07-03
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1615926887

Two of the best-known stories in the Bible are those of Moses leading his people out of Egypt and Joshua's conquest of the Promised Land. Indeed, they form one of the cornerstones of the Judeo-Christian tradition. But is the Bible a reliable source of information for Israel's early history? Are the Exodus and Conquest actual historical events? And if they are, when and where did they occur? Out of the Desert? rigorously examines accounts of these historic events and traces the authenticity, dates, and explanations for the Israelites' departure from Egypt and subsequent conquest of Canaan. Clarifying these events in a straightforward, informative manner, Out of the Desert? includes a generous number of charts and illustrations. William H. Stiebing, Jr. places the Exodus within its cultural context during the beginning of the Iron Age (1200-1100 B.C.), a time of drought, famine and collapse of social order, which gave way to the emergence and dominance of the tribes that joined forces to become the confederation of Israel. Many conventional ideas concerning the Exodus and Conquest are radically challenged in Out of the Desert?. Stiebing's accounts of archaeological digs and rival theories make the narrative lively and engrossing; his unique insight into the field of modern archaeology provides a rare glimpse into the wonders of man's history.