The Old Testament: An Introduction to the Hebrew Bible / Edition 2

by Robert Platzner, Stephen Harris

Overview

Designed for students undertaking their first systematic study of the Hebrew Bible, this text has two goals: to acquaint readers with the content and major themes of the biblical documents, and to introduce them to issues in biblical scholarship. Pedagogically rich and reader-friendly, this text was designed for conventional introductory courses using historical-critical methodology, and will also be useful in courses studying the Bible as literature, or as a reference text in the study of ancient religion.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780072990515
Publisher:	McGraw Hill LLC
Publication date:	09/11/2007
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	528
Product dimensions:	7.50(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Stephen L. Harris is Professor Emeritus of Humanities and Religious Studies at California State University, Sacramento, where he served ten years as department chair. A Woodrow Wilson Fellow, he received his M.A. and Ph.D. from Cornell University. A member of the Society of Biblical Literature, his publications include Understanding the Bible (8th edition, 2011); The Old Testament: An Introduction to the Hebrew Bible (with Robert Platzner); Classical Mythology: Images and Insights (with Gloria Platzner); Exploring the Bible; and Fire Mountains of the West: The Cascade and Mono Lake Volcanoes, a survey of volcanic hazards on the U.S. Pacific Coast; and for National Geographic Books, Restless Earth, a study of global earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions. He contributed the chapter on “Archaeology and Volcanism” to the Encyclopedia of Volcanoes (Academic Press, 2000).

Table of Contents

(hfour) Part I: The Hebrew Bible: An Overview (/hfour)(hfour) 1. The Hebrew Bible: A Composite Portrait of God and the Divine-Human Relationship (/hfour)(hfour) 2. The Process of Formation: The Transmission, Canonization, and Translation of the Hebrew Bible (/hfour)(hfour) Part II: The Biblical World: Culture and Religion (/hfour)(hfour) 3. The Ancient Near East: The Environment that Produced the Bible (/hfour)(hfour) 4. The Land and Archaeology of Ancient Israel: Historical Origins of the Covenant People (/hfour)(hfour) 5. The God of Israel: An Evolving Portrait (/hfour)(hfour) Part III: The Torah (/hfour)(hfour) 6. Who Wrote the "Books of Moses"? (/hfour)(hfour) 7. The Five Books of Torah (Divine Instruction) (/hfour)(hfour) 8. In the Beginning: The Book of Genesis (/hfour)(hfour) 9. Freedom and Responsibility: The Book of Exodus (/hfour)(hfour) 10. Regulating the Divine-Human Bond: The Books of Leviticus and Numbers (/hfour)(hfour) 11. A Mosaic Legacy: The Book of Deuteronomy (/hfour)(hfour) Part IV: The Prophets (Nevi'im) I (/hfour)(hfour) 12. Introduction to the Deuteronomistic History (/hfour)(hfour) 13. The Book of Joshua (/hfour)(hfour) 14. YHWH's Warriors: The Book of Judges (/hfour)(hfour) 15. The Birth of the Monarchy: The Books of 1 and 2 Samuel (/hfour)(hfour) 16. Parallel Stories of Israel and Judah: The Books of 1 and 2 Kings (/hfour)(hfour) Part V: The Prophets (Nevi'im) II (/hfour)(hfour) 17. The Nature and Function of Israelite Prophecy: Spokespersons for God (/hfour)(hfour) 18. Prophets to the Northern Kingdom: The Books of Amos and Hosea (/hfour)(hfour) 19. The Assyrian Crisis: Isaiah of Jerusalem, Micah, Zephaniah, and Nahum (/hfour)(hfour) 20. The Babylonian Threat: The Books of Jeremiah, Habakkuk, and Obadiah (/hfour)(hfour) 21. Prophets in Exile: The Book of Ezekiel and Second Isaiah (/hfour)(hfour) 22. After the Exile: Israel's Last Prophets—Haggai, Zechariah, Third Isaiah, Joel, Malachi, and Jonah (/hfour)(hfour) Part VI: The Writings (Kethuvim) (/hfour) (hfour) 23. Introduction to the Writings: Reevaluating Israel's Life with God (/hfour)(hfour) 24. The Postexilic Readjustment: The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah (/hfour)(hfour) 25. Worshiping at the Second Temple: Hebrew Poetry and the Book of Psalms (/hfour)(hfour) 26. Israel's Wisdom Writers: The Books of Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes (/hfour)(hfour) 27. Four Books of the Megillot (Festival Scrolls): Ruth, Lamentations, Songs of Songs, and Esther (/hfour)(hfour) 28. Reinterpreting Israel's History: The Books of 1 and 2 Chronicles (/hfour)(hfour) 29. Keeping Torah in a Hostile World: The Diaspora, the Maccabean Revolt, Apocalyptism, and the Visions of Daniel (/hfour)(hfour) Part VII: Additions to the Hebrew Bible: The Deuterocanonical and Extracanonical Books (/hfour)(hfour) 30. The "Second Canon": Books of the Apocrypha (/hfour)(hfour) 31. The Pseudepigrapha: Noncanonical Writings of the Late Biblical Period (/hfour)(hfour) 32. From the Maccabees to Jesus of Nazareth: Victory, Defeat, and teh Emergence of Postbiblical Judaism and Early Christianity (/hfour)(hfour) Glossary of Major Old Testament Characters, Terms, and Concepts (/hfour)(hfour) Selected Bibliography (/hfour)(hfour) Credits (/hfour)(hfour) Index (/hfour)