Vows in the Hebrew Bible and the Ancient Near East

Vows in the Hebrew Bible and the Ancient Near East
Author: Tony W. Cartledge
Publisher: A&C Black
Total Pages: 232
Release: 1992-11-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9781850752981

Vows, oaths, and curses are all quite separate enterprises in the Bible, and especially in the Old Testament. Unfortunately, the writings of many modern scholars fail to indicate these distinctions. This well-argued book elucidates the distinctive nature of vow-making in the Old Testament milieu, setting it in proper relief against the background of other declaratory statements. The first chapter provides a general introduction to the subject and clarifies the often confused practices of oath-taking and vow making as commonly found in the Hebrew Bible. The remainder of the study refines and defends these distinctions, exploring similar means of assertion in the ancient Near East, and suggesting such theological and literary implications as may result.

The Study of the Ancient Near East in the Twenty-first Century

The Study of the Ancient Near East in the Twenty-first Century
Author: Jerrold S. Cooper
Publisher: Eisenbrauns
Total Pages: 438
Release: 1996
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780931464966

Sixteen essays from the Albright conference held at the Johns Hopkins University charting the course of ancient Near Eastern studies in the twenty-first century. This landmark volume is essential reading for both students and scholars.

The Age of Agade

The Age of Agade
Author: Benjamin R. Foster
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 590
Release: 2015-12-14
Genre: History
ISBN: 1317415515

The Age of Agade is the first book-length study of the Akkadian period of Mesopotamian history, which saw the rise and fall of the world’s first empire during more than a century of extraordinary political, social, and cultural innovation. It draws together more than 40 years of research by one of the world’s leading experts in Assyriology to offer an exhaustive survey of the Akkadian empire. Addressing all aspects of the empire, including its statecraft and military, territory and cities, arts, religion, economy, and production, The Age of Agade considers what can be said of Akkadian political and social history, material culture, and daily life. A final chapter also explores how the empire has been presented in modern historiography, from the decipherment of cuneiform to the present, including the extensive research of Soviet historians, summarized here in English for the first time. Drawing on contemporaneous written and artifactual sources, as well as relevant materials from succeeding generations, Foster introduces the reader to the wealth of evidence available. Accessibly written by a specialist in the field, this book is an engaging examination of a critical era in the history of early Mesopotamia.

The World's Oldest Literature

The World's Oldest Literature
Author: William W. Hallo
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 801
Release: 2010
Genre: History
ISBN: 9004173811

Literature begins at Sumer, we may say. Given that this ancient crossroads of tin and copper produced not only bronze and the entire Bronze Age, but also by neccesity, the first system of record-keeping and the technique of writing. Scribal schools served to propogate the new technique and their curriculum grew to create, preserve and transmit all manner of creative poetry. In a lifetime of research, the author has studied multiple aspects of this most ancient literary oeuvre, including such questions as chronology and bilingualism, as well as contributing fundamental insights into specific genres such as proverbs, letter-prayers and lamentations. In addition, he has drawn conclusions for the comparative or contextual approach to biblical literature. His studies, widely scattered in diverse publications for nearly fifty years, are here assembled in convenient one-volume format, made more user-friendly by extensive cross-references and indices.

כי ברוך הוא

כי ברוך הוא
Author: Baruch A. Levine
Publisher: Eisenbrauns
Total Pages: 712
Release: 1999-01-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1575060302

A huge festschrift comprising 41 essays exploring mainly textual perspectives on Ancient Near Eastern and Jewish history and religious practice.

Judges, Volume 8

Judges, Volume 8
Author: Trent C. Butler
Publisher: Zondervan Academic
Total Pages: 631
Release: 2017-12-12
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0310586364

The Word Biblical Commentary delivers the best in biblical scholarship, from the leading scholars of our day who share a commitment to Scripture as divine revelation. This series emphasizes a thorough analysis of textual, linguistic, structural, and theological evidence. The result is judicious and balanced insight into the meanings of the text in the framework of biblical theology. These widely acclaimed commentaries serve as exceptional resources for the professional theologian and instructor, the seminary or university student, the working minister, and everyone concerned with building theological understanding from a solid base of biblical scholarship. Overview of Commentary Organization Introduction—covers issues pertaining to the whole book, including context, date, authorship, composition, interpretive issues, purpose, and theology. Each section of the commentary includes: Pericope Bibliography—a helpful resource containing the most important works that pertain to each particular pericope. Translation—the author’s own translation of the biblical text, reflecting the end result of exegesis and attending to Hebrew and Greek idiomatic usage of words, phrases, and tenses, yet in reasonably good English. Notes—the author’s notes to the translation that address any textual variants, grammatical forms, syntactical constructions, basic meanings of words, and problems of translation. Form/Structure/Setting—a discussion of redaction, genre, sources, and tradition as they concern the origin of the pericope, its canonical form, and its relation to the biblical and extra-biblical contexts in order to illuminate the structure and character of the pericope. Rhetorical or compositional features important to understanding the passage are also introduced here. Comment—verse-by-verse interpretation of the text and dialogue with other interpreters, engaging with current opinion and scholarly research. Explanation—brings together all the results of the discussion in previous sections to expose the meaning and intention of the text at several levels: (1) within the context of the book itself; (2) its meaning in the OT or NT; (3) its place in the entire canon; (4) theological relevance to broader OT or NT issues. General Bibliography—occurring at the end of each volume, this extensive bibliography contains all sources used anywhere in the commentary.

Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament

Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament
Author: G. Johannes Botterweck
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Total Pages: 592
Release: 1974
Genre: Reference
ISBN: 9780802823328

This is Volume 8 of a major, multivolume reference work in which the key Hebrew and Aramaic words of the Old Testament are discussed in depth with emphasis on meaning. This series is as fundamental for Old Testament studies as its companion set, the Kittel-Friedrich Theological Dictionary of the New Testament has been for study of the New Testament.