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Sequencing the Hebrew Bible: The Order of the Books
Published: July 2021
Original price was: £55.00.£23.00Current price is: £23.00.
If the order of the Hebrew Bible's books is significant, as many believe, why did differing arrangements of the Hebrew Bible emerge over time? This is a crucial question for Bible readers generally and especially for scholars of compilational criticism —the study of how the books of the Hebrew Bible were arranged in their various orders. Yet few compilational critics offer a solution to this problem and several fail even to recognize the issue. Sequencing the Hebrew Bible makes the novel proposal that multiple orders are part of the compositional intent of the framers of the Hebrew Bible. That is, those responsible for producing the final form of the Hebrew Bible's text created multiple ways in which its books could be meaningfully arranged. No single arrangement, as found in ancient manuscripts and lists of the books, can fully account for the compositional intent of these framers. The task of the compilational critic is to identify these arrangements, classify them, and evaluate the effect of these varying arrangements. This solution has implications both for the production of modern Bibles and for biblical theology. While some interested in compilational criticism argue that modern Bibles should be reorganized to reflect earlier arrangements of the biblical books, this study would suggest that such attempts would be limited in value. For only one of the several attested arrangements could be presented in any printed Bible. As for the idea of attempting to arrange the Bible chronologically, this study argues that to do so would inhibit the reader's understanding of the design of the biblical authors. Since biblical theology bridges the gap between historical-critical and theological studies, internal tensions between historical and theological analyses are often apparent within biblical theology. Compilational criticism helps to relieve these tensions by showing how theology underlies the formation of the Hebrew Bible.
Sale
Sequencing the Hebrew Bible: The Order of the Books
Original price was: £55.00.£23.00Current price is: £23.00.
If the order of the Hebrew Bible's books is significant, as many believe, why did differing arrangements of the Hebrew Bible emerge over time? This is a crucial question for Bible readers generally and especially for scholars of compilational criticism —the study of how the books of the Hebrew Bible were arranged in their various orders. Yet few compilational critics offer a solution to this problem and several fail even to recognize the issue. Sequencing the Hebrew Bible makes the novel proposal that multiple orders are part of the compositional intent of the framers of the Hebrew Bible. That is, those responsible for producing the final form of the Hebrew Bible's text created multiple ways in which its books could be meaningfully arranged. No single arrangement, as found in ancient manuscripts and lists of the books, can fully account for the compositional intent of these framers. The task of the compilational critic is to identify these arrangements, classify them, and evaluate the effect of these varying arrangements. This solution has implications both for the production of modern Bibles and for biblical theology. While some interested in compilational criticism argue that modern Bibles should be reorganized to reflect earlier arrangements of the biblical books, this study would suggest that such attempts would be limited in value. For only one of the several attested arrangements could be presented in any printed Bible. As for the idea of attempting to arrange the Bible chronologically, this study argues that to do so would inhibit the reader's understanding of the design of the biblical authors. Since biblical theology bridges the gap between historical-critical and theological studies, internal tensions between historical and theological analyses are often apparent within biblical theology. Compilational criticism helps to relieve these tensions by showing how theology underlies the formation of the Hebrew Bible.
Sale
The Ancient Near East in the Nineteenth Century: III. Fantasy and Alternative Histories
Published: Mar 2021
Price range: £19.50 through £30.00
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, little was known of the ancient Near East except for what was preserved in the Bible and classical literature. By the end of the nineteenth century, an amazing transformation had occurred: the basic outline of ancient Near Eastern history was understood and the material culture of the region was recognizable to the general public. This three-volume study explores the various ways that non-specialists would have encountered ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Holy Land and how they derived and constructed meaning from those discoveries. McGeough challenges the simplistic view that the experience of the ancient Near East was solely a matter of 'othering' and shows how different people claimed the Near East as their own space and how connections were drawn between the ancient and contemporary worlds.
Volume III argues that fiction and fantasy play an important role in establishing expectations about the past. Changing sensitivities towards realism in art meant that imaginary visions were charged with an archaeological aesthetic. Orientalist painting offered seemingly realistic glimpses of ancient life. Stage plays and opera used the ancient Near East for performances that explored contemporary issues. Mummy stories evolved from humorous time-travel tales into horror fiction rooted in fears of materialism, and adventure novels ruminated on the obligations and dangers of empire.
Alongside these explicitly fictional modes of thinking about the past, the nineteenth century saw a rise in popularity of esoteric thinking. People offered alternative versions of ancient history, imagining that ancient religious practices continued into the present, through secret societies like the Freemasons and the Rosicrucians or in the new movements of Mormonism and Theosophy. Volume III ends by examining the interpretations of the Near East offered by Sigmund Freud and H.P. Lovecraft, showing how these two figures influenced later popular experiences of the ancient Near East.
Sale
The Ancient Near East in the Nineteenth Century: III. Fantasy and Alternative Histories
Price range: £19.50 through £30.00
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, little was known of the ancient Near East except for what was preserved in the Bible and classical literature. By the end of the nineteenth century, an amazing transformation had occurred: the basic outline of ancient Near Eastern history was understood and the material culture of the region was recognizable to the general public. This three-volume study explores the various ways that non-specialists would have encountered ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Holy Land and how they derived and constructed meaning from those discoveries. McGeough challenges the simplistic view that the experience of the ancient Near East was solely a matter of 'othering' and shows how different people claimed the Near East as their own space and how connections were drawn between the ancient and contemporary worlds.
Volume III argues that fiction and fantasy play an important role in establishing expectations about the past. Changing sensitivities towards realism in art meant that imaginary visions were charged with an archaeological aesthetic. Orientalist painting offered seemingly realistic glimpses of ancient life. Stage plays and opera used the ancient Near East for performances that explored contemporary issues. Mummy stories evolved from humorous time-travel tales into horror fiction rooted in fears of materialism, and adventure novels ruminated on the obligations and dangers of empire.
Alongside these explicitly fictional modes of thinking about the past, the nineteenth century saw a rise in popularity of esoteric thinking. People offered alternative versions of ancient history, imagining that ancient religious practices continued into the present, through secret societies like the Freemasons and the Rosicrucians or in the new movements of Mormonism and Theosophy. Volume III ends by examining the interpretations of the Near East offered by Sigmund Freud and H.P. Lovecraft, showing how these two figures influenced later popular experiences of the ancient Near East.
Sale
The Ancient Near East in the Nineteenth Century: II. Collecting, Constructing, and Curating
Published: Mar 2021
Price range: £20.00 through £30.00
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, little was known of the ancient Near East except for what was preserved in the Bible and classical literature. By the end of the nineteenth century, an amazing transformation had occurred: the basic outline of ancient Near Eastern history was understood and the material culture of the region was recognizable to the general public. This three-volume study explores the various ways that non-specialists would have encountered ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Holy Land and how they derived and constructed meaning from those discoveries. McGeough challenges the simplistic view that the experience of the ancient Near East was solely a matter of 'othering' and shows how different people claimed the Near East as their own space and how connections were drawn between the ancient and contemporary worlds.
Volume II examines the different ways that non-specialists encountered the materiality of the ancient Near East over the course of the nineteenth century. During this time, people collected artifacts while traveling in the region or paid to see the collections that others brought back. The public experienced the ancient world in museum exhibits that privileged 'real' artifacts in a new context or in hyper-real displays (like the Crystal Palace) where whole buildings from the ancient Near East were reconstructed. Men and women dressed as biblical characters in travelling fairs or spent an evening unwrapping a mummy. Individuals bought Assyriological souvenirs and employed Egyptian styles in their design, first in higher quality designer products and later in novelty items. Egyptian temples provided the architectural inspiration for buildings in London and the ancient use of colour was a strong argument for reimagining Victorian style. The adoption of Egypt, especially, in the world's-fair phenomenon linked the ancient Near East with a global future in which change was naturalized and consumers were taught not to be afraid of the transformations brought by the industrial age.
Sale
The Ancient Near East in the Nineteenth Century: II. Collecting, Constructing, and Curating
Price range: £20.00 through £30.00
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, little was known of the ancient Near East except for what was preserved in the Bible and classical literature. By the end of the nineteenth century, an amazing transformation had occurred: the basic outline of ancient Near Eastern history was understood and the material culture of the region was recognizable to the general public. This three-volume study explores the various ways that non-specialists would have encountered ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Holy Land and how they derived and constructed meaning from those discoveries. McGeough challenges the simplistic view that the experience of the ancient Near East was solely a matter of 'othering' and shows how different people claimed the Near East as their own space and how connections were drawn between the ancient and contemporary worlds.
Volume II examines the different ways that non-specialists encountered the materiality of the ancient Near East over the course of the nineteenth century. During this time, people collected artifacts while traveling in the region or paid to see the collections that others brought back. The public experienced the ancient world in museum exhibits that privileged 'real' artifacts in a new context or in hyper-real displays (like the Crystal Palace) where whole buildings from the ancient Near East were reconstructed. Men and women dressed as biblical characters in travelling fairs or spent an evening unwrapping a mummy. Individuals bought Assyriological souvenirs and employed Egyptian styles in their design, first in higher quality designer products and later in novelty items. Egyptian temples provided the architectural inspiration for buildings in London and the ancient use of colour was a strong argument for reimagining Victorian style. The adoption of Egypt, especially, in the world's-fair phenomenon linked the ancient Near East with a global future in which change was naturalized and consumers were taught not to be afraid of the transformations brought by the industrial age.
Sale
The Bible and Money: Economy and Socioeconomic Ethics in the Bible
Published: Nov 2020
Original price was: £70.00.£30.00Current price is: £30.00.
What does the Bible say about money? This volume presents the researches of 18 international biblical scholars at Ansgarskolen«s Norwegian Summer Academy for Biblical Studies. Papers include:
The Prophets on Trade: Did They Consider it a Canaanite Affair?
Two Categories of Loans in the Old Testament á Give Willingly and Do Not Expect Anything? A Biblical View on Loans and Interest
Government and Economy in the Hebrew Bible: Taxes and Related Issues á State and Temple Economy in the Levant in the Persian and Hellenistic Periods
Economics and Poverty: Negotiating the Spectrum of Personal Wealth or Shared Resources
Proportionate and Sufficient Wealth: Financial Transparency in Paul's Collection for the Saints in Jerusalem á Engaging the New Testament and the Welfare State
Divine Plenty, Human Thriftiness: A Canonical Reading of (Un)Limited Resources This unusual volume is a useful resource for researchers, but also a coursebook to be used in the classroom and a comprehensive introduction to biblical economic ethics in general.
Sale
The Bible and Money: Economy and Socioeconomic Ethics in the Bible
Original price was: £70.00.£30.00Current price is: £30.00.
What does the Bible say about money? This volume presents the researches of 18 international biblical scholars at Ansgarskolen«s Norwegian Summer Academy for Biblical Studies. Papers include:
The Prophets on Trade: Did They Consider it a Canaanite Affair?
Two Categories of Loans in the Old Testament á Give Willingly and Do Not Expect Anything? A Biblical View on Loans and Interest
Government and Economy in the Hebrew Bible: Taxes and Related Issues á State and Temple Economy in the Levant in the Persian and Hellenistic Periods
Economics and Poverty: Negotiating the Spectrum of Personal Wealth or Shared Resources
Proportionate and Sufficient Wealth: Financial Transparency in Paul's Collection for the Saints in Jerusalem á Engaging the New Testament and the Welfare State
Divine Plenty, Human Thriftiness: A Canonical Reading of (Un)Limited Resources This unusual volume is a useful resource for researchers, but also a coursebook to be used in the classroom and a comprehensive introduction to biblical economic ethics in general.
Sale
Writing and Reading to Survive: Biblical and Contemporary Trauma Narratives in Conversation
Published: July 2020
Original price was: £50.00.£20.00Current price is: £20.00.
Writing and Reading to Survive brings a number of trauma narratives from the Hebrew Bible into conversation with contemporary trauma narratives, exploring how these ancient and modern-day stories mitigate the experiences of pain and suffering in the face of trauma.
Focusing on the intersection between trauma and gender, the trauma narratives here include biblical narratives emerging from the cataclysmic events that all but destroyed the people of Judah at the time of the sixth-century bce invasion and exile. They also include examples of 'hidden' or 'common' or 'more mundane quiet' traumas that are reflective of women's experience. In both biblical as well as contemporary trauma narratives, one sees evidence of insidious trauma associated with the systemic violence of a deeply patriarchal society; the secret trauma of reproductive loss that connects with many women's lives both then and now; the ever-present reality of gender-based violence.
To read contemporary trauma narratives alongside biblical trauma narratives can have the effect of expanding readers' vision, perhaps introducing them to texts that yield fresh insights into often painful topics associated with women's experience of trauma. Continuing the conversation on the importance of trauma hermeneutics for reading biblical literature, the trauma narratives represented in this monograph serve as a safe haven for those, in past and present contexts, who are reeling from the effects of severe trauma, to voice the unspeakable, and to move towards healing and recovery by writing and reading to survive.
Writing and Reading to Survive is the first volume in a new series from Sheffield Phoenix Press, the Trauma Bible.
Sale
Writing and Reading to Survive: Biblical and Contemporary Trauma Narratives in Conversation
Original price was: £50.00.£20.00Current price is: £20.00.
Writing and Reading to Survive brings a number of trauma narratives from the Hebrew Bible into conversation with contemporary trauma narratives, exploring how these ancient and modern-day stories mitigate the experiences of pain and suffering in the face of trauma.
Focusing on the intersection between trauma and gender, the trauma narratives here include biblical narratives emerging from the cataclysmic events that all but destroyed the people of Judah at the time of the sixth-century bce invasion and exile. They also include examples of 'hidden' or 'common' or 'more mundane quiet' traumas that are reflective of women's experience. In both biblical as well as contemporary trauma narratives, one sees evidence of insidious trauma associated with the systemic violence of a deeply patriarchal society; the secret trauma of reproductive loss that connects with many women's lives both then and now; the ever-present reality of gender-based violence.
To read contemporary trauma narratives alongside biblical trauma narratives can have the effect of expanding readers' vision, perhaps introducing them to texts that yield fresh insights into often painful topics associated with women's experience of trauma. Continuing the conversation on the importance of trauma hermeneutics for reading biblical literature, the trauma narratives represented in this monograph serve as a safe haven for those, in past and present contexts, who are reeling from the effects of severe trauma, to voice the unspeakable, and to move towards healing and recovery by writing and reading to survive.
Writing and Reading to Survive is the first volume in a new series from Sheffield Phoenix Press, the Trauma Bible.
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An Encomium for Jesus: Luke, Rhetoric, and the Story of Jesus
Published: May 2020
Original price was: £50.00.£20.00Current price is: £20.00.
Luke's narrative about Jesus followed the conventions for ancient biography. Trained in rhetoric, Luke employed the genre of the encomium, which regularly used to showcase biographical aspects of a person's life worthy of honour. An Encomium for Jesus argues that Luke mastered the genre, its conventional topics, and specific instructions for composing one.
The usual topics of an encomium served as Luke's template to organize and narrate the life of Jesus. The first topic,'origins', displayed Jesus' worth in terms of his geographical origins (Bethlehem) and generational origins (son of David, heir to his throne). His genealogy confirms a very noble ancestry. Angels and prophets speak to the importance of his birth, all conventional items.
Second, Jesus was raised as an observant Israelite: circumcised, dedicated, and an annual participant at Passover; he customarily attended synagogue. Although precocious, he lacked training in a familial virtue, which he learned subsequently by obedience to his parents.
An encomium focused on a person's actions, generally described in terms of the canonical virtues, wisdom, courage, justice and self-control. Luke adeptly portrayed Jesus' actions according to these virtues, correctly presuming that his audience would label this or that action as virtuous, a safe assumption. Jesus was wise in understanding people, courageous in facing death, just in his teaching, and moderate in controlling emotional reactions.
An encomium should also speak of a person's death, a conventional feature in funeral oratory. Luke employed the tradition of the 'noble death' to highlight aspects of Jesus' death, especially its voluntary and beneficial aspects. Most importantly, he narrated the many posthumous honours awarded Jesus, as cited in Acts: he did not see death; God vindicated and enthroned him; and he became the Author of salvation. Thus Luke composed a conventional Encomium for Jesus.
Sale
An Encomium for Jesus: Luke, Rhetoric, and the Story of Jesus
Original price was: £50.00.£20.00Current price is: £20.00.
Luke's narrative about Jesus followed the conventions for ancient biography. Trained in rhetoric, Luke employed the genre of the encomium, which regularly used to showcase biographical aspects of a person's life worthy of honour. An Encomium for Jesus argues that Luke mastered the genre, its conventional topics, and specific instructions for composing one.
The usual topics of an encomium served as Luke's template to organize and narrate the life of Jesus. The first topic,'origins', displayed Jesus' worth in terms of his geographical origins (Bethlehem) and generational origins (son of David, heir to his throne). His genealogy confirms a very noble ancestry. Angels and prophets speak to the importance of his birth, all conventional items.
Second, Jesus was raised as an observant Israelite: circumcised, dedicated, and an annual participant at Passover; he customarily attended synagogue. Although precocious, he lacked training in a familial virtue, which he learned subsequently by obedience to his parents.
An encomium focused on a person's actions, generally described in terms of the canonical virtues, wisdom, courage, justice and self-control. Luke adeptly portrayed Jesus' actions according to these virtues, correctly presuming that his audience would label this or that action as virtuous, a safe assumption. Jesus was wise in understanding people, courageous in facing death, just in his teaching, and moderate in controlling emotional reactions.
An encomium should also speak of a person's death, a conventional feature in funeral oratory. Luke employed the tradition of the 'noble death' to highlight aspects of Jesus' death, especially its voluntary and beneficial aspects. Most importantly, he narrated the many posthumous honours awarded Jesus, as cited in Acts: he did not see death; God vindicated and enthroned him; and he became the Author of salvation. Thus Luke composed a conventional Encomium for Jesus.
Sale
Toward a Canon-Conscious Reading of the Bible: Exploring the History and Hermeneutics of the Canon
Published: Mar 2020
Price range: £21.00 through £30.00
Two distinct questions about the canon of the Bible can be raised: (1) How did the biblical canon come to be?, and (2) What effect does that canon have on its readers? The former is a historical question about the formation of the biblical canon; the latter is a hermeneutical question about the function of the biblical canon. Though these questions have often been pursued in virtual isolation from one another, Spellman argues that there are considerable gains from observing the interconnections between the two lines of inquiry.
On the historical question of the origin of the canon, Spellman asks, Is the shape of this collection an accident of history or a result of intelligent design? He concludes that canon-consciousness played an important role in the formation of the canon, even impinging on the work of the biblical authors themselves. On the hermeneutical question, the communities of readers of the Bible may also be shown to have been directed by their own canon-consciousness, using it as a guide in their interpretative task.
In this interdisciplinary work, Spellman marshals historical, theological and hermeneutical resources in order to paint a picture of how the concept of canon can enrich reading communities of today.
Sale
Toward a Canon-Conscious Reading of the Bible: Exploring the History and Hermeneutics of the Canon
Price range: £21.00 through £30.00
Two distinct questions about the canon of the Bible can be raised: (1) How did the biblical canon come to be?, and (2) What effect does that canon have on its readers? The former is a historical question about the formation of the biblical canon; the latter is a hermeneutical question about the function of the biblical canon. Though these questions have often been pursued in virtual isolation from one another, Spellman argues that there are considerable gains from observing the interconnections between the two lines of inquiry.
On the historical question of the origin of the canon, Spellman asks, Is the shape of this collection an accident of history or a result of intelligent design? He concludes that canon-consciousness played an important role in the formation of the canon, even impinging on the work of the biblical authors themselves. On the hermeneutical question, the communities of readers of the Bible may also be shown to have been directed by their own canon-consciousness, using it as a guide in their interpretative task.
In this interdisciplinary work, Spellman marshals historical, theological and hermeneutical resources in order to paint a picture of how the concept of canon can enrich reading communities of today.
Sale
The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew Revised. II. Beth-Waw
Published: Nov 2019
Original price was: £150.00.£75.00Current price is: £75.00.
The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew Revised (DCHR) is a complete revision (2018–2028) in nine volumes, with over 100,000 improvements, of the original DCH, i.e. Dictionary of Classical Hebrew (1993–2016). This second Volume contains some 2,071 words (lemmas), of which 838 are 'new words' (i.e. not in the standard lexicon of BDB); DCHR II thus adds c. 60% to the number of words for Beth —Waw that are to be found in other Hebrew dictionaries. This revised volume is 40% longer than DCH II (1995), which it replaces. The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew Revised , when completed, will contain more than 6,420 Hebrew words not in BDB, and will refer to many newly published texts, including 540 Dead Sea Scrolls and 4,000 ancient Hebrew inscriptions. New features in DCHR include: a notation of 4,285 byforms (words with the same meaning and similar form) identified for the first time; 717 verbal nouns (nouns derived from a verb) with their own articles (not previously shown in Hebrew lexica), 345 denominative verbs (verbs derived from a noun), and the semantic field to which every word belongs (a totally new feature for Hebrew dictionaries). Data on synonyms have been greatly expanded, and loanwords from other languages included. Articles on personal names show (for the first time) all short forms, long forms, and alternative forms of each name, the Bibliography has been updated and expanded, and 35,000 emendations of biblical texts noted. Every occurrence of each word in Classical Hebrew is noted. All the subjects and objects of verbs are listed, and the verbs used with each noun, as well as all nouns used in a construct (genitive) relation with another noun. As with DCH , every Hebrew word in the Dictionary (except for the variant forms of a word, the byforms and the sections on synonyms) is followed immediately by an English translation, so that the Dictionary can be easily understood by a person with little or no Hebrew. When completed, DCHR will be 5 million words in length (equivalent to 50 standard-size books), 25% longer than DCH , and 4 times the length of BDB and HALOT . The nine volumes of DCHR are expected to be published at intervals of approximately one year after the first volume in August 2018. There is a special discount price for customers subscribing to the DCHR set, and an easy payment plan (details from phoenix.bibs@sheffield.ac.uk).
Sale
The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew Revised. II. Beth-Waw
Original price was: £150.00.£75.00Current price is: £75.00.
The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew Revised (DCHR) is a complete revision (2018–2028) in nine volumes, with over 100,000 improvements, of the original DCH, i.e. Dictionary of Classical Hebrew (1993–2016). This second Volume contains some 2,071 words (lemmas), of which 838 are 'new words' (i.e. not in the standard lexicon of BDB); DCHR II thus adds c. 60% to the number of words for Beth —Waw that are to be found in other Hebrew dictionaries. This revised volume is 40% longer than DCH II (1995), which it replaces. The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew Revised , when completed, will contain more than 6,420 Hebrew words not in BDB, and will refer to many newly published texts, including 540 Dead Sea Scrolls and 4,000 ancient Hebrew inscriptions. New features in DCHR include: a notation of 4,285 byforms (words with the same meaning and similar form) identified for the first time; 717 verbal nouns (nouns derived from a verb) with their own articles (not previously shown in Hebrew lexica), 345 denominative verbs (verbs derived from a noun), and the semantic field to which every word belongs (a totally new feature for Hebrew dictionaries). Data on synonyms have been greatly expanded, and loanwords from other languages included. Articles on personal names show (for the first time) all short forms, long forms, and alternative forms of each name, the Bibliography has been updated and expanded, and 35,000 emendations of biblical texts noted. Every occurrence of each word in Classical Hebrew is noted. All the subjects and objects of verbs are listed, and the verbs used with each noun, as well as all nouns used in a construct (genitive) relation with another noun. As with DCH , every Hebrew word in the Dictionary (except for the variant forms of a word, the byforms and the sections on synonyms) is followed immediately by an English translation, so that the Dictionary can be easily understood by a person with little or no Hebrew. When completed, DCHR will be 5 million words in length (equivalent to 50 standard-size books), 25% longer than DCH , and 4 times the length of BDB and HALOT . The nine volumes of DCHR are expected to be published at intervals of approximately one year after the first volume in August 2018. There is a special discount price for customers subscribing to the DCHR set, and an easy payment plan (details from phoenix.bibs@sheffield.ac.uk).
Sale
The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew. I. Aleph. Revised Edition
Published: July 2018
Original price was: £150.00.£75.00Current price is: £75.00.
The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew Revised (DCHR ) is a complete revision, with over 100,000 improvements, of the original Dictionary of Classical Hebrew (1993 —2016).
It contains 6,300 Hebrew words not in the standard lexicon of BDB, and refers to many newly published texts, including 540 Dead Sea Scrolls and 4,000 ancient Hebrew inscriptions. New features include: a notation of 3,700 byforms (words with the same meaning and similar form) identified for the first time; 700 verbal nouns (nouns derived from a verb) with their own articles (not previously shown in Hebrew lexica), 330 denominative verbs (verbs derived from a noun), and the semantic field to which every word belongs (a totally new feature for Hebrew dictionaries).
Data on synonyms have been greatly expanded, and loanwords from other languages included. Articles on personal names show (for the first time) all short forms, long forms, and alternative forms of the name, bibliographies have been updated and expanded, and 35,000 emendations of biblical texts noted. Every occurrence of each word in Classical Hebrew is noted.
All the subjects and objects of verbs are listed, and the verbs used with each noun, as well as all nouns used in a construct (genitive) relation with another noun. As with DCH, every Hebrew word in the Dictionary (except for the sections on synonyms) is followed immediately by an English translation, so that the Dictionary can be easily understood by a person with little or no Hebrew. When completed, DCHR will be 5 million words in length (equivalent to 50 standard-size books), 25% longer than DCH, and 4 times the length of BDB and HALOT.
There is a special discount price for customers subscribing to the DCHR set, and an easy payment plan (details from phoenix.bibs@sheffield.ac.uk).
Sale
The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew. I. Aleph. Revised Edition
Original price was: £150.00.£75.00Current price is: £75.00.
The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew Revised (DCHR ) is a complete revision, with over 100,000 improvements, of the original Dictionary of Classical Hebrew (1993 —2016).
It contains 6,300 Hebrew words not in the standard lexicon of BDB, and refers to many newly published texts, including 540 Dead Sea Scrolls and 4,000 ancient Hebrew inscriptions. New features include: a notation of 3,700 byforms (words with the same meaning and similar form) identified for the first time; 700 verbal nouns (nouns derived from a verb) with their own articles (not previously shown in Hebrew lexica), 330 denominative verbs (verbs derived from a noun), and the semantic field to which every word belongs (a totally new feature for Hebrew dictionaries).
Data on synonyms have been greatly expanded, and loanwords from other languages included. Articles on personal names show (for the first time) all short forms, long forms, and alternative forms of the name, bibliographies have been updated and expanded, and 35,000 emendations of biblical texts noted. Every occurrence of each word in Classical Hebrew is noted.
All the subjects and objects of verbs are listed, and the verbs used with each noun, as well as all nouns used in a construct (genitive) relation with another noun. As with DCH, every Hebrew word in the Dictionary (except for the sections on synonyms) is followed immediately by an English translation, so that the Dictionary can be easily understood by a person with little or no Hebrew. When completed, DCHR will be 5 million words in length (equivalent to 50 standard-size books), 25% longer than DCH, and 4 times the length of BDB and HALOT.
There is a special discount price for customers subscribing to the DCHR set, and an easy payment plan (details from phoenix.bibs@sheffield.ac.uk).
Sale
Ears That Hear: Explorations in Theological Interpretation of the Bible
Published: Nov 2017
Price range: £15.00 through £25.00
The contemporary renaissance of theological interpretation as an approach to reading the Bible has brought with it a host of questions. Most importantly, what is the relationship between theological interpretation and more traditional forms of historical inquiry characteristic of the field in the modern era? Does theological interpretation require that the church's faith determine the meaning of biblical texts? How does a theological hermeneutic navigate the conventional roles of author, text, and reader? What are the natural intellectual companions of theological interpretation?
Essays in this volume tackle questions like these primarily by engaging directly with biblical texts, both in theological interpretation for its own sake and to see what the texts themselves might suggest about doing theological interpretation. The result is a much-needed exploration of theological interpretation in the hands of biblical scholars, theologians, and linguists occupied with exegesis.
The volume arises from an international colloquium on the theological interpretation of the Bible held at Laidlaw College in Auckland, New Zealand, in August 2011.
Sale
Ears That Hear: Explorations in Theological Interpretation of the Bible
Price range: £15.00 through £25.00
The contemporary renaissance of theological interpretation as an approach to reading the Bible has brought with it a host of questions. Most importantly, what is the relationship between theological interpretation and more traditional forms of historical inquiry characteristic of the field in the modern era? Does theological interpretation require that the church's faith determine the meaning of biblical texts? How does a theological hermeneutic navigate the conventional roles of author, text, and reader? What are the natural intellectual companions of theological interpretation?
Essays in this volume tackle questions like these primarily by engaging directly with biblical texts, both in theological interpretation for its own sake and to see what the texts themselves might suggest about doing theological interpretation. The result is a much-needed exploration of theological interpretation in the hands of biblical scholars, theologians, and linguists occupied with exegesis.
The volume arises from an international colloquium on the theological interpretation of the Bible held at Laidlaw College in Auckland, New Zealand, in August 2011.
Sale
Dictionary of the Bible and Western Culture
Published: Nov 2017
Price range: £15.00 through £20.00
Consumers of culture in the modern world — high culture or popular culture — discover before long that the Bible, its tales and its characters and its idioms, is woven into the culture. Most of us wish we knew the Bible better, and are often at a loss to know what the biblical source or reference is to phrases or ideas we encounter.
The editors of this unique volume have seen the need for an easy-to-use reference guide for those needing to track down information on characters, phrases, places, and concepts originating in the Bible. They assembled 200 scholars to write 1000 encyclopaedia entries on such biblical backgrounds to Western culture. The contributors to the volume have in mind readers without the specialization of formal biblical studies, and even those not familiar with the Bible's basic content. The presentation is twofold: entries begin with discussion of biblical terms in their original settings, and then illustrate occasions when those terms reappear in later cultural artefacts. This volume is then a dictionary of the reception of the Bible in later Western artistic and intellectual expression.
There is a great deal here to explore and discover; turning these pages will prove illuminating not only as an introduction to biblical literature but also as a demonstration of the Bible's persistent contributions to our cultural heritage.
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Dictionary of the Bible and Western Culture
Price range: £15.00 through £20.00
Consumers of culture in the modern world — high culture or popular culture — discover before long that the Bible, its tales and its characters and its idioms, is woven into the culture. Most of us wish we knew the Bible better, and are often at a loss to know what the biblical source or reference is to phrases or ideas we encounter.
The editors of this unique volume have seen the need for an easy-to-use reference guide for those needing to track down information on characters, phrases, places, and concepts originating in the Bible. They assembled 200 scholars to write 1000 encyclopaedia entries on such biblical backgrounds to Western culture. The contributors to the volume have in mind readers without the specialization of formal biblical studies, and even those not familiar with the Bible's basic content. The presentation is twofold: entries begin with discussion of biblical terms in their original settings, and then illustrate occasions when those terms reappear in later cultural artefacts. This volume is then a dictionary of the reception of the Bible in later Western artistic and intellectual expression.
There is a great deal here to explore and discover; turning these pages will prove illuminating not only as an introduction to biblical literature but also as a demonstration of the Bible's persistent contributions to our cultural heritage.
Sale
Feminist Interpretation of the Hebrew Bible in Retrospect: II. Social Locations
Published: Nov 2017
Price range: £19.00 through £25.00
This is the second of a set of three volumes reviewing the progress of feminist Hebrew Bible scholarship over the last 40 years. In it, fourteen essayists focus on the feminist work from various geographical areas and different hermeneutical locations.
Each essay explores the range and depth of feminist exegesis, presents substantial yet easily digestible trends, preferences and perspectives in feminist scholarship, and demonstrates that feminist biblical approaches are not monolithic but diverse in feminist conviction, hermeneutics and method.
The result of this collaborative task is a comprehensive though selective survey, which includes suggestions for future feminist engagement. What feminist biblical scholarship has accomplished during the past forty years is no small feat. But it becomes clear from this volume that much remains to be done in the pursuit of dismantling structures of gender domination in Hebrew Bible exegesis and beyond.
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Feminist Interpretation of the Hebrew Bible in Retrospect: II. Social Locations
Price range: £19.00 through £25.00
This is the second of a set of three volumes reviewing the progress of feminist Hebrew Bible scholarship over the last 40 years. In it, fourteen essayists focus on the feminist work from various geographical areas and different hermeneutical locations.
Each essay explores the range and depth of feminist exegesis, presents substantial yet easily digestible trends, preferences and perspectives in feminist scholarship, and demonstrates that feminist biblical approaches are not monolithic but diverse in feminist conviction, hermeneutics and method.
The result of this collaborative task is a comprehensive though selective survey, which includes suggestions for future feminist engagement. What feminist biblical scholarship has accomplished during the past forty years is no small feat. But it becomes clear from this volume that much remains to be done in the pursuit of dismantling structures of gender domination in Hebrew Bible exegesis and beyond.
Sale
Feminist Interpretation of the Hebrew Bible in Retrospect: I. Biblical Books
Published: Oct 2017
Price range: £19.00 through £25.00
This is the first of a set of three volumes reviewing the progress of feminist Hebrew Bible scholarship over the last 40 years. In it, fourteen essayists focus on the feminist work on each of the biblical books.
Each essay explores the range and depth of feminist exegesis, presents substantial yet easily digestible trends, preferences and perspectives in feminist scholarship, and demonstrates that feminist biblical approaches are not monolithic but diverse in feminist conviction, hermeneutics and method.
The result of this collaborative task is a comprehensive though selective survey, which includes suggestions for future feminist engagement. What feminist biblical scholarship has accomplished during the past forty years is no small feat. But it becomes clear from this volume that much remains to be done in the pursuit of dismantling structures of gender domination in Hebrew Bible exegesis and beyond.
Sale
Feminist Interpretation of the Hebrew Bible in Retrospect: I. Biblical Books
Price range: £19.00 through £25.00
This is the first of a set of three volumes reviewing the progress of feminist Hebrew Bible scholarship over the last 40 years. In it, fourteen essayists focus on the feminist work on each of the biblical books.
Each essay explores the range and depth of feminist exegesis, presents substantial yet easily digestible trends, preferences and perspectives in feminist scholarship, and demonstrates that feminist biblical approaches are not monolithic but diverse in feminist conviction, hermeneutics and method.
The result of this collaborative task is a comprehensive though selective survey, which includes suggestions for future feminist engagement. What feminist biblical scholarship has accomplished during the past forty years is no small feat. But it becomes clear from this volume that much remains to be done in the pursuit of dismantling structures of gender domination in Hebrew Bible exegesis and beyond.
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The Decalogue and its Cultural Influence
Published: Oct 2017
Price range: £20.00 through £30.00
Reception history is one of the most inviting, yet also one of the most difficult, fields in the study of the Bible today. It is difficult because it involves so many layers of expertise. The reception-historian does not only need a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the biblical text itself, but also familiarity with the cultures and intellectual background of the many diverse ages in which it has been read and appropriated; and in addition needs to be versed in media other than writing, including the visual and performing arts.
But it is inviting because it carries its practitioners so far beyond the confines of ordinary textual study, with its concern for language and text, and out into an ocean of interdisciplinary engagement with writings that have, after all, stimulated the imaginations as well as the intellects of generations of religious (and non-religious) readers. The Decalogue is an obvious candidate for a reception-historical treatment. It has acquired over the centuries an enormous weight of commentary, and has been assimilated into the most varied cultures. Though a text, it has often also been an icon, appearing on walls in churches and now even in American courthouses. The subject was ripe for study, and the conference at which the papers in this book were delivered marked a significant milestone in biblical reception history' (from John Barton's Preface to the volume).
The 21 papers in this volume offer the richest and most wide-ranging interdisciplinary collection of studies on the reception of the Decalogue in culture, and will prove to be a fundamental resource for students of the biblical text and of the reception of the Bible in general.
Sale
The Decalogue and its Cultural Influence
Price range: £20.00 through £30.00
Reception history is one of the most inviting, yet also one of the most difficult, fields in the study of the Bible today. It is difficult because it involves so many layers of expertise. The reception-historian does not only need a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the biblical text itself, but also familiarity with the cultures and intellectual background of the many diverse ages in which it has been read and appropriated; and in addition needs to be versed in media other than writing, including the visual and performing arts.
But it is inviting because it carries its practitioners so far beyond the confines of ordinary textual study, with its concern for language and text, and out into an ocean of interdisciplinary engagement with writings that have, after all, stimulated the imaginations as well as the intellects of generations of religious (and non-religious) readers. The Decalogue is an obvious candidate for a reception-historical treatment. It has acquired over the centuries an enormous weight of commentary, and has been assimilated into the most varied cultures. Though a text, it has often also been an icon, appearing on walls in churches and now even in American courthouses. The subject was ripe for study, and the conference at which the papers in this book were delivered marked a significant milestone in biblical reception history' (from John Barton's Preface to the volume).
The 21 papers in this volume offer the richest and most wide-ranging interdisciplinary collection of studies on the reception of the Decalogue in culture, and will prove to be a fundamental resource for students of the biblical text and of the reception of the Bible in general.
Sale
Feminist Interpretation of the Hebrew Bible in Retrospect. III: Methods
Published: Oct 2017
Price range: £19.00 through £25.00
This is the third of a set of three volumes reviewing the progress of feminist Hebrew Bible scholarship over the last forty years. In this third volume, eighteen contributors focus on the wide range of exegetical methods as they have been productively employed in feminist biblical interpretations.
More specifically, each essay investigates how feminist Hebrew Bible exegetes have worked with exegetical methods. Each essay surveys the method under consideration as it has emerged in academic discourse generally and in biblical studies in particular. Each essay also explains how feminist uses of the various exegetical methods have been deeply embedded within the theological, cultural, and even political expectations and assumptions of readers of the Bible.
This volume asks readers to come to terms with the following question: What are the best methods for feminist exegesis in the light of past and present socio-political, theological, or hermeneutical developments in reading the Bible? After all, feminist theorists have come to recognize that methods are always already situated within powerful epistemological and methodological structures that have their roots in vast arrays of historical, political, economic, social, and religious factors. This volume encourages feminist debate on these complex issues that stand at the heart of biblical exegesis.
Sale
Feminist Interpretation of the Hebrew Bible in Retrospect. III: Methods
Price range: £19.00 through £25.00
This is the third of a set of three volumes reviewing the progress of feminist Hebrew Bible scholarship over the last forty years. In this third volume, eighteen contributors focus on the wide range of exegetical methods as they have been productively employed in feminist biblical interpretations.
More specifically, each essay investigates how feminist Hebrew Bible exegetes have worked with exegetical methods. Each essay surveys the method under consideration as it has emerged in academic discourse generally and in biblical studies in particular. Each essay also explains how feminist uses of the various exegetical methods have been deeply embedded within the theological, cultural, and even political expectations and assumptions of readers of the Bible.
This volume asks readers to come to terms with the following question: What are the best methods for feminist exegesis in the light of past and present socio-political, theological, or hermeneutical developments in reading the Bible? After all, feminist theorists have come to recognize that methods are always already situated within powerful epistemological and methodological structures that have their roots in vast arrays of historical, political, economic, social, and religious factors. This volume encourages feminist debate on these complex issues that stand at the heart of biblical exegesis.
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Biblical Masculinities Foregrounded
Published: Oct 2017
Price range: £19.00 through £30.00
Biblical Masculinities Foregrounded brings together ten innovative studies on varieties of masculinity evidenced in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and other early Christian writings. A sequel to the 2010 collection, Men and Masculinity in the Hebrew Bible and Beyond, this new volume raises important questions about why the study of biblical masculinities matters, what it contributes to our knowledge of the ancient writers' world as well as to our contemporary world, and which methods adequately attend to that study. The volume is designed as a resource for scholars of both Testaments working from a variety of biblical traditions and ideological perspectives on masculinity.
The following studies are offered as companions in the conversation: Yahweh's masculinity in appearances in glory in Exodus and Ezekiel (Alan Hooker); Proverbs' (de)construction of masculinity (Hilary Lipka); Saul's troubled masculinity in 1 —2 Samuel (Marcel M€Äcelaru); weeping men in the Torah and the Deuteronomistic history (Milena Kirova); Athaliah's manly rule (Stuart Macwilliam); Joseph of Nazareth as an everyday man (Justin Glessner); being a male disciple in Matthew's 'antitheses' (Hans-Ulrich Weidemann); eunuch masculinity in Matthew's Gospel (Susanna Asikainen); masculinity and circumcision in the first century (Karin Neutel and Matthew Anderson); and Thecla's masculinity in the Acts of Thecla (Peter-Ben Smit). Ovidiu Creangă opens the volume with a critical appraisal of the current state of play in the field, while Martti Nissinen and Bjorn Krondorfer offer closing critical reflections that situate the book's topics within broader debates regarding masculinities in religious studies.
Sale
Biblical Masculinities Foregrounded
Price range: £19.00 through £30.00
Biblical Masculinities Foregrounded brings together ten innovative studies on varieties of masculinity evidenced in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and other early Christian writings. A sequel to the 2010 collection, Men and Masculinity in the Hebrew Bible and Beyond, this new volume raises important questions about why the study of biblical masculinities matters, what it contributes to our knowledge of the ancient writers' world as well as to our contemporary world, and which methods adequately attend to that study. The volume is designed as a resource for scholars of both Testaments working from a variety of biblical traditions and ideological perspectives on masculinity.
The following studies are offered as companions in the conversation: Yahweh's masculinity in appearances in glory in Exodus and Ezekiel (Alan Hooker); Proverbs' (de)construction of masculinity (Hilary Lipka); Saul's troubled masculinity in 1 —2 Samuel (Marcel M€Äcelaru); weeping men in the Torah and the Deuteronomistic history (Milena Kirova); Athaliah's manly rule (Stuart Macwilliam); Joseph of Nazareth as an everyday man (Justin Glessner); being a male disciple in Matthew's 'antitheses' (Hans-Ulrich Weidemann); eunuch masculinity in Matthew's Gospel (Susanna Asikainen); masculinity and circumcision in the first century (Karin Neutel and Matthew Anderson); and Thecla's masculinity in the Acts of Thecla (Peter-Ben Smit). Ovidiu Creangă opens the volume with a critical appraisal of the current state of play in the field, while Martti Nissinen and Bjorn Krondorfer offer closing critical reflections that situate the book's topics within broader debates regarding masculinities in religious studies.
Sale
Persuading God: Rhetorical Studies of First-Person Psalms
Published: Sep 2017
Price range: £16.00 through £20.00
Written by a scholar of rhetoric, Persuading God demonstrates that the first-person psalms that make up over a third of the Book of Psalms were designed not simply to express the feelings of individual Israelites but to persuade God to act.
The book casts a new light on the roles of all the players in the situations in which the psalms were composed and performed: the person represented by the speaker on whose particular troubles the psalm is based, the spectators and opponents who are sometimes addressed directly by the speaker, the poet-musicians who craft the speaker's case and occasionally undermine it, and most of all, God as the direct addressee whose presumed openness to persuasion and willingness to intervene underlie the entire event.
The readings provide new explanations for many long-standing puzzles: how to deal with the long string of imprecations in Psalm 109, whether Psalm 4 is best read as protesting a false accusation or as countering apostasy, why so many verses in Psalm 62 begin with the exclamation ach , and, more generally, why so many first-person psalms seem to swing abruptly between despair and praise.
The book demonstrates the relevance of contemporary rhetorical theory to Hebrew Bible studies, including the work of ChaÌøm Perelman and Lucie Olbrechts-Tyteca, Kenneth Burke, and Mikhail Bakhtin. It also illuminates the state of rhetorical practice in the ancient Near East at the same time that rhetorical theories were first being codified and taught in archaic and classical Athens.
Sale
Persuading God: Rhetorical Studies of First-Person Psalms
Price range: £16.00 through £20.00
Written by a scholar of rhetoric, Persuading God demonstrates that the first-person psalms that make up over a third of the Book of Psalms were designed not simply to express the feelings of individual Israelites but to persuade God to act.
The book casts a new light on the roles of all the players in the situations in which the psalms were composed and performed: the person represented by the speaker on whose particular troubles the psalm is based, the spectators and opponents who are sometimes addressed directly by the speaker, the poet-musicians who craft the speaker's case and occasionally undermine it, and most of all, God as the direct addressee whose presumed openness to persuasion and willingness to intervene underlie the entire event.
The readings provide new explanations for many long-standing puzzles: how to deal with the long string of imprecations in Psalm 109, whether Psalm 4 is best read as protesting a false accusation or as countering apostasy, why so many verses in Psalm 62 begin with the exclamation ach , and, more generally, why so many first-person psalms seem to swing abruptly between despair and praise.
The book demonstrates the relevance of contemporary rhetorical theory to Hebrew Bible studies, including the work of ChaÌøm Perelman and Lucie Olbrechts-Tyteca, Kenneth Burke, and Mikhail Bakhtin. It also illuminates the state of rhetorical practice in the ancient Near East at the same time that rhetorical theories were first being codified and taught in archaic and classical Athens.
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The Female Ruse: Women’s Deception and Divine Sanction in the Hebrew Bible
Published: Sep 2017
Price range: £17.50 through £27.00
From Eve to Esther, the Hebrew Bible is replete with gendered tales of trickery. A lie is uttered, a mask donned, a seduction staged, while redemption is propelled forward, guided by the divine hand. From the first 'female ruse' — Eve presenting the fruit of the tree of knowledge to Adam — humanity becomes embodied, engaged in history, moving from the Garden to exile, from wandering to homeland and redemption (and back again). Consider Rebekah dressing her beloved son in goatskins to steal the blessing from his blind father; Lot's daughters lying with their drunken father, and then conceiving the founding fathers of Ammon and Moab; Leah and Rachel, the mothers of the twelve tribes of Israel, duping Jacob on their wedding night; Tamar's seduction of Judah, her father-in-law, who then bears the progenitor of the Davidic line; Naomi sending Ruth to the threshing floor to seduce Boaz by night; Bathsheba invoking an oath that King David had supposedly made in order to forward Solomon, her son, as successor to the monarchy; and Queen Esther concealing her Jewish identity in the Persian imperial court. Over the course of nine chapters, the author traces these narratives of deception; in each case, God is in cahoots with these feminine agents in advancing the providential plan. A tension holds between the 'best laid plans' of men and the divine will as forwarded by women. Drawing on classic rabbinic sources and modern literary exegesis, the author exposes the conflict between the simple progression of genealogies and the process of selection through alliances of family and kin. Women are at the crux of that conflict, seemingly compelled to choose the indirect route while the deity appears to endorse their lie.
Sale
The Female Ruse: Women’s Deception and Divine Sanction in the Hebrew Bible
Price range: £17.50 through £27.00
From Eve to Esther, the Hebrew Bible is replete with gendered tales of trickery. A lie is uttered, a mask donned, a seduction staged, while redemption is propelled forward, guided by the divine hand. From the first 'female ruse' — Eve presenting the fruit of the tree of knowledge to Adam — humanity becomes embodied, engaged in history, moving from the Garden to exile, from wandering to homeland and redemption (and back again). Consider Rebekah dressing her beloved son in goatskins to steal the blessing from his blind father; Lot's daughters lying with their drunken father, and then conceiving the founding fathers of Ammon and Moab; Leah and Rachel, the mothers of the twelve tribes of Israel, duping Jacob on their wedding night; Tamar's seduction of Judah, her father-in-law, who then bears the progenitor of the Davidic line; Naomi sending Ruth to the threshing floor to seduce Boaz by night; Bathsheba invoking an oath that King David had supposedly made in order to forward Solomon, her son, as successor to the monarchy; and Queen Esther concealing her Jewish identity in the Persian imperial court. Over the course of nine chapters, the author traces these narratives of deception; in each case, God is in cahoots with these feminine agents in advancing the providential plan. A tension holds between the 'best laid plans' of men and the divine will as forwarded by women. Drawing on classic rabbinic sources and modern literary exegesis, the author exposes the conflict between the simple progression of genealogies and the process of selection through alliances of family and kin. Women are at the crux of that conflict, seemingly compelled to choose the indirect route while the deity appears to endorse their lie.
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Journeys in the Songscape: Space and the Song of Songs
Published: Sep 2017
Price range: £16.00 through £25.00
The poetic world of the Song of Songs is a famously heady and distortive landscape, filled with bright sunlit rills, nocturnal cityscapes, and fecund bodies laid out like kingdoms. But what does the Song's use and abuse of spatial relationships tell us about its subject matter, and what do its strange panoramas tell us about literary space more broadly? Directly challenging recent methodological trends in biblical spatial studies, Journeys in the Songscape uses a range of innovative critical tools to explore, map and critique poetic space in the Song of Songs.
Taking the reader on a series of journeys across the Song's gendered, rural, urban and bodily spaces, Meredith argues that the worlds that spring up between the Song's lovers are all subtle reimaginings of the space between the biblical page and its own readers, and that at the heart of the Song is a (con)fusion of the dynamics of loving with the experience of reading. Love is at work in the Song, says Meredith, but it is not its subject so much as a sign under which collusions of power, textuality, space and subjectivity labour. The Song's world speaks not only to sexual relationships, then, but to the structure of language itself; textual spaces do not organize textual meaning but rather image its fundamental instability.
Journeys in the Songscape is a bold new literary treatment of the Song of Songs, but it is also a rethinking of what we mean by the term 'literary space', and represents a playful incitement to reconsider how critical tools are put to use in apprehending space as a literary construct.
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Journeys in the Songscape: Space and the Song of Songs
Price range: £16.00 through £25.00
The poetic world of the Song of Songs is a famously heady and distortive landscape, filled with bright sunlit rills, nocturnal cityscapes, and fecund bodies laid out like kingdoms. But what does the Song's use and abuse of spatial relationships tell us about its subject matter, and what do its strange panoramas tell us about literary space more broadly? Directly challenging recent methodological trends in biblical spatial studies, Journeys in the Songscape uses a range of innovative critical tools to explore, map and critique poetic space in the Song of Songs.
Taking the reader on a series of journeys across the Song's gendered, rural, urban and bodily spaces, Meredith argues that the worlds that spring up between the Song's lovers are all subtle reimaginings of the space between the biblical page and its own readers, and that at the heart of the Song is a (con)fusion of the dynamics of loving with the experience of reading. Love is at work in the Song, says Meredith, but it is not its subject so much as a sign under which collusions of power, textuality, space and subjectivity labour. The Song's world speaks not only to sexual relationships, then, but to the structure of language itself; textual spaces do not organize textual meaning but rather image its fundamental instability.
Journeys in the Songscape is a bold new literary treatment of the Song of Songs, but it is also a rethinking of what we mean by the term 'literary space', and represents a playful incitement to reconsider how critical tools are put to use in apprehending space as a literary construct.
About Earth’s Child: An Ecological Listening to the Gospel of Luke
About Earth’s Child: An Ecological Listening to the Gospel of Luke