Through the ‘I’-Window: The Inner Life of Characters in the Hebrew Bible
Published: Mar 2011
£60.00
It is often said that the inner life of characters in the Hebrew Bible is inaccessible to us, and that we can know little or nothing about how they felt and thought. In this study, original in both its scope and its method, Barbara Leung Lai shows how wrong that assumption is. She directs our attention to the many places where her chosen characters, Daniel, Isaiah, and Yahweh, speak of themselves, using the first-person 'I' voice, and finds those to be a unique point of entry, or window, into the interiority of the characters.
To construct an interior profile of these characters, Leung Lai develops an integrated methodology of psychological exegesis, drawing upon psychological perspectives of personality, Bakhtinian views of polyphony and dialogism, current studies of emotion, self and selfhood, and the empirics of reading under the rubric of reader-response literary criticism.
From these perspectives, Leung Lai can identify in Daniel two primary realms in his inner identity-seeing and emotive experiencing -- and can characterize Daniel's interior world as a world of paradoxes, of seeing without comprehending, hearing without the capacity to respond. Isaiah, on the other hand, exhibits a broad spectrum of emotions, from love, intimacy, joy and empathy to a sense of being under divine constraint, and to mourning, lament, doubt, distress, helplessness and despair. The prophet exhibits a profound sense of selfhood and subtle inner depths. The character of Yahweh is found to be most striking for its inner conflicts, with its frustrations, disappointments, pain and suffering.
This groundbreaking book will stimulate many readers to a new appreciation of characterization in the Hebrew Bible.
Through the ‘I’-Window: The Inner Life of Characters in the Hebrew Bible
£60.00
It is often said that the inner life of characters in the Hebrew Bible is inaccessible to us, and that we can know little or nothing about how they felt and thought. In this study, original in both its scope and its method, Barbara Leung Lai shows how wrong that assumption is. She directs our attention to the many places where her chosen characters, Daniel, Isaiah, and Yahweh, speak of themselves, using the first-person 'I' voice, and finds those to be a unique point of entry, or window, into the interiority of the characters.
To construct an interior profile of these characters, Leung Lai develops an integrated methodology of psychological exegesis, drawing upon psychological perspectives of personality, Bakhtinian views of polyphony and dialogism, current studies of emotion, self and selfhood, and the empirics of reading under the rubric of reader-response literary criticism.
From these perspectives, Leung Lai can identify in Daniel two primary realms in his inner identity-seeing and emotive experiencing -- and can characterize Daniel's interior world as a world of paradoxes, of seeing without comprehending, hearing without the capacity to respond. Isaiah, on the other hand, exhibits a broad spectrum of emotions, from love, intimacy, joy and empathy to a sense of being under divine constraint, and to mourning, lament, doubt, distress, helplessness and despair. The prophet exhibits a profound sense of selfhood and subtle inner depths. The character of Yahweh is found to be most striking for its inner conflicts, with its frustrations, disappointments, pain and suffering.
This groundbreaking book will stimulate many readers to a new appreciation of characterization in the Hebrew Bible.
Jonathan Loved David: Manly Love in the Bible and the Hermeneutics of Sex
Published: Mar 2011
£60.00
The relationship between the Hebrew heroes David and Jonathan has caught the attention of popular and scholarly writers alike. Yet there is little agreement about the nature of this relationship that speaks of a love between two men that 'surpasses the love of a man for a woman' (2 Sam. 1.26). Weighing the arguments of scholars including Nissinen, Stone and Zehnder, Heacock produces a meta-critical analysis of the many interpretations of the relationship between David and Jonathan, identifying three dominant readings: the traditional political-theological interpretation, the homoerotic interpretation, and the homosocial interpretation.
After outlining the three interpretive approaches, Heacock considers the evidence cited to support each: namely, themes in the David and Jonathan narrative and related biblical texts, ancient political treaties, laws pertaining to homogenital behaviour in the ancient Mediterranean world, and the heroic tales of the Gilgamesh Epic and Homer's Iliad. By applying recent epistemological shifts in knowledge as developed in the interdisciplinary fields of sexuality studies, queer studies and ancient studies, Heacock emphasizes the inescapability of the modern reader's cultural context when reading the narrative, particularly the influence of modern discourses of sexuality.
Rather than suggest an alternative historical reading, Heacock turns the debate on its head by abandoning claims to historical veracity and embracing the input of the contemporary queer reader. Using queer theory and reader-response criticism, he offers a reading of the relationship between David and Jonathan through the lens of contemporary gay male friendships. This queer reading not only celebrates manly love in its numerous forms, but also adds a self-critical voice to the discussion that exposes the heteronormative assumptions underlying the questions often asked of the narrative.
Jonathan Loved David: Manly Love in the Bible and the Hermeneutics of Sex
£60.00
The relationship between the Hebrew heroes David and Jonathan has caught the attention of popular and scholarly writers alike. Yet there is little agreement about the nature of this relationship that speaks of a love between two men that 'surpasses the love of a man for a woman' (2 Sam. 1.26). Weighing the arguments of scholars including Nissinen, Stone and Zehnder, Heacock produces a meta-critical analysis of the many interpretations of the relationship between David and Jonathan, identifying three dominant readings: the traditional political-theological interpretation, the homoerotic interpretation, and the homosocial interpretation.
After outlining the three interpretive approaches, Heacock considers the evidence cited to support each: namely, themes in the David and Jonathan narrative and related biblical texts, ancient political treaties, laws pertaining to homogenital behaviour in the ancient Mediterranean world, and the heroic tales of the Gilgamesh Epic and Homer's Iliad. By applying recent epistemological shifts in knowledge as developed in the interdisciplinary fields of sexuality studies, queer studies and ancient studies, Heacock emphasizes the inescapability of the modern reader's cultural context when reading the narrative, particularly the influence of modern discourses of sexuality.
Rather than suggest an alternative historical reading, Heacock turns the debate on its head by abandoning claims to historical veracity and embracing the input of the contemporary queer reader. Using queer theory and reader-response criticism, he offers a reading of the relationship between David and Jonathan through the lens of contemporary gay male friendships. This queer reading not only celebrates manly love in its numerous forms, but also adds a self-critical voice to the discussion that exposes the heteronormative assumptions underlying the questions often asked of the narrative.
Biblical Curses and the Displacement of Tradition
Published: Mar 2011
£70.00
In Biblical Curses and the Displacement of Tradition Brian Britt offers an intriguing perspective on curses as the focus of debates over the power, pleasure, and danger of words. Biblical authors transformed ancient Near Eastern curses against rival ethnic groups, disobedient ancestors, and the day of one's own birth with great variety and ingenuity.
Transformations of biblical curses proliferated in post-biblical history, even during periods of 'secularization'. This study argues that biblical, early modern, and contemporary transformations of curses constitute displacements rather than replacements of earlier traditions.
The crucial notion of displacement draws from Freud's psychoanalytic theory, Nietzsche's critical philosophy, and Benjamin's engagement with textual tradition; it highlights not only manifest shifts but also many hidden continuities between cursing in biblical texts and cursing in such 'secular' domains as literature, law, politics, and philosophy. The tradition of biblical cursing —neither purely 'religious' nor purely 'secular' —travels through these texts and contexts as it redefines verbal, human, and supernatural power.
Biblical Curses and the Displacement of Tradition
£70.00
In Biblical Curses and the Displacement of Tradition Brian Britt offers an intriguing perspective on curses as the focus of debates over the power, pleasure, and danger of words. Biblical authors transformed ancient Near Eastern curses against rival ethnic groups, disobedient ancestors, and the day of one's own birth with great variety and ingenuity.
Transformations of biblical curses proliferated in post-biblical history, even during periods of 'secularization'. This study argues that biblical, early modern, and contemporary transformations of curses constitute displacements rather than replacements of earlier traditions.
The crucial notion of displacement draws from Freud's psychoanalytic theory, Nietzsche's critical philosophy, and Benjamin's engagement with textual tradition; it highlights not only manifest shifts but also many hidden continuities between cursing in biblical texts and cursing in such 'secular' domains as literature, law, politics, and philosophy. The tradition of biblical cursing —neither purely 'religious' nor purely 'secular' —travels through these texts and contexts as it redefines verbal, human, and supernatural power.
Constructing the Other in Ancient Israel and the USA
Published: Mar 2011
£70.00
Always spoken for, never speaking. Always the object of discourse, never the subject. Constant focus upon Israel in the biblical texts by the interpretative tradition in the modern context has resulted, whether consciously or not, in the eclipse of voices of Israel's Palestinian neighbors. Interpretations reinforce the liminality of ethnic groups like the Edomites, Moabites, Ammonites, and Samaritans effected initially through re-presentation. Stereotyping becomes an ethno-typing strategy that establishes the presumed superiority of 'Israel', the identity construction of the 'others' as anything but superior, and the placement of each group stereotyped on the 'border'.
A postcolonial perspective, however, reveals that the focus of the commentary tradition extends liminality beyond the temporal. This study brings to speech the constructed voices of marginalized ethnic groups by juxtaposing those of fifth-century Yehud with those of nineteenth-century America placed there by stereotypic re-presentations. The examination of these re-presentations, though they intend to establish separation through an identity of difference, reveal instead a reflection of the identity of 'self' within 'other' despite efforts by an ethnic group identifying itself as 'Israel'.
Constructing the Other in Ancient Israel and the USA
£70.00
Always spoken for, never speaking. Always the object of discourse, never the subject. Constant focus upon Israel in the biblical texts by the interpretative tradition in the modern context has resulted, whether consciously or not, in the eclipse of voices of Israel's Palestinian neighbors. Interpretations reinforce the liminality of ethnic groups like the Edomites, Moabites, Ammonites, and Samaritans effected initially through re-presentation. Stereotyping becomes an ethno-typing strategy that establishes the presumed superiority of 'Israel', the identity construction of the 'others' as anything but superior, and the placement of each group stereotyped on the 'border'.
A postcolonial perspective, however, reveals that the focus of the commentary tradition extends liminality beyond the temporal. This study brings to speech the constructed voices of marginalized ethnic groups by juxtaposing those of fifth-century Yehud with those of nineteenth-century America placed there by stereotypic re-presentations. The examination of these re-presentations, though they intend to establish separation through an identity of difference, reveal instead a reflection of the identity of 'self' within 'other' despite efforts by an ethnic group identifying itself as 'Israel'.
Holiness, Ethics and Ritual in Leviticus
Published: Feb 2011
£70.00
In this book, Trevaskis argues that holiness in Leviticus always has an ethical dimension, and is not simply a cultic category. In so doing he departs from the usual view that in Leviticus 1 —16 (P) holiness is largely a cultic concept. Biblical scholars have commonly read ritual texts as practical instruction or prescription, inferring the theological significance of the rituals from elsewhere. For example, theological interpretations of the 'burnt offering' have been derived from its use in narrative settings (e.g. Gen. 8:20; 22:13) rather than from its legal prescription in Leviticus 1.
Trevaskis, however, argues that an implicit command to be holy exists within some ritual texts in Leviticus, which are more than mere ritual prescriptions. It is in the symbolic dimensions of the rituals that the theological significance lies. In support of this argument, he undertakes exegetical studies of the 'burnt offering' (Leviticus 1), of the 'purity regulations' (Leviticus 11 —15) and of the physical appearance of priests and sacrificial animals (Leviticus 21 —22). These studies take place within a methodological framework that avoids capricious symbolic interpretations. Trevaskis draws on cognitive linguistic insights to discern when a text may allude to other texts within the Pentateuch (especially Genesis 1 —3), and attends to the legislator's use of various rhetorical devices (e.g. 'rhetorical progression').
Since the command to 'be holy' in Leviticus 17 —26 (H) only makes explicit what P leaves implicit in Leviticus 1 —16, this study has important implications for the compositional history of Leviticus. It becomes much less clear that H's ethical view of holiness developed from a prophetic critique of P (as Milgrom and Knohl, for example, argue).
Holiness, Ethics and Ritual in Leviticus
£70.00
In this book, Trevaskis argues that holiness in Leviticus always has an ethical dimension, and is not simply a cultic category. In so doing he departs from the usual view that in Leviticus 1 —16 (P) holiness is largely a cultic concept. Biblical scholars have commonly read ritual texts as practical instruction or prescription, inferring the theological significance of the rituals from elsewhere. For example, theological interpretations of the 'burnt offering' have been derived from its use in narrative settings (e.g. Gen. 8:20; 22:13) rather than from its legal prescription in Leviticus 1.
Trevaskis, however, argues that an implicit command to be holy exists within some ritual texts in Leviticus, which are more than mere ritual prescriptions. It is in the symbolic dimensions of the rituals that the theological significance lies. In support of this argument, he undertakes exegetical studies of the 'burnt offering' (Leviticus 1), of the 'purity regulations' (Leviticus 11 —15) and of the physical appearance of priests and sacrificial animals (Leviticus 21 —22). These studies take place within a methodological framework that avoids capricious symbolic interpretations. Trevaskis draws on cognitive linguistic insights to discern when a text may allude to other texts within the Pentateuch (especially Genesis 1 —3), and attends to the legislator's use of various rhetorical devices (e.g. 'rhetorical progression').
Since the command to 'be holy' in Leviticus 17 —26 (H) only makes explicit what P leaves implicit in Leviticus 1 —16, this study has important implications for the compositional history of Leviticus. It becomes much less clear that H's ethical view of holiness developed from a prophetic critique of P (as Milgrom and Knohl, for example, argue).
Scribes and Schools in Monarchic Judah, Second Edition: A Socio-archeological Approach
Published: Feb 2011
£25.00
This highly original study locates the question of scribes and scribal schools in monarchic Judah in a socio-archaeological context. It departs from earlier studies by assigning priority to interpreting archaeological data within a broad interdisciplinary framework before trying to assess biblical and epigraphic sources. The book provides an analysis of data on settlement, public works, and luxury items in order to produce an archaeologically based picture of the development of state level administrative systems in Judah.
The study questions the consensus that the Judahite monarchy became a state at some point in the tenth century BCE. The evidence for the increase in population, building, production, centralization and specialization in the eighth century suggests that Judah did not function as a state before the eighth century BCE. This incisive study challenges the assumption of widespread literacy and the traditional picture of the development of the Judahite monarchy.
This volume is a reprint of the 1991 edition with a new preface by Keith W. Whitelam setting the work in the context of recent debates on the history of ancient Israel.
Scribes and Schools in Monarchic Judah, Second Edition: A Socio-archeological Approach
£25.00
This highly original study locates the question of scribes and scribal schools in monarchic Judah in a socio-archaeological context. It departs from earlier studies by assigning priority to interpreting archaeological data within a broad interdisciplinary framework before trying to assess biblical and epigraphic sources. The book provides an analysis of data on settlement, public works, and luxury items in order to produce an archaeologically based picture of the development of state level administrative systems in Judah.
The study questions the consensus that the Judahite monarchy became a state at some point in the tenth century BCE. The evidence for the increase in population, building, production, centralization and specialization in the eighth century suggests that Judah did not function as a state before the eighth century BCE. This incisive study challenges the assumption of widespread literacy and the traditional picture of the development of the Judahite monarchy.
This volume is a reprint of the 1991 edition with a new preface by Keith W. Whitelam setting the work in the context of recent debates on the history of ancient Israel.
Out of Paradise: Eve and Adam and Their Interpreters
Published: Dec 2010
£55.00
This volume explores the afterlives of Eve and Adam beyond the Genesis story. How did they become such a prominent part of mainstream Christian thought and theology —and Jewish and Muslim tradition as well —, and what forms did their story take as it was told and retold? To investigate the traces of Eve and Adam through the centuries is to discover a surprising variety of interpretations.
The chapters of this book come from eleven European scholars. Bob Becking writes on how the identity of the primaeval couple is constructed in Genesis, Geert van Oyen on Eve as a character in the New Testament, Willemien Otten on Adam and Eve in Augustine, Harm Goris on them in Aquinas, Theo Bell on them in Luther. Willem van Asselt examines the Pre-Adamites in the theology of Isaac La Peyrère, Heleen Zorgdrager considers Adam and Eve in the theology of Schleiermacher, Susanne Hennecke focuses on Karl Barth and Luce Irigaray looking at Michelangelo's The Creation, Anne-Marie Korte on the Genesis story in a feminist theological perspective, Eric Ottenheijm on Eve and 'women's commandments' in orthodox Judaism, and Karel Steenbrink on Muslim interpretations of their story.
Out of Paradise: Eve and Adam and Their Interpreters
£55.00
This volume explores the afterlives of Eve and Adam beyond the Genesis story. How did they become such a prominent part of mainstream Christian thought and theology —and Jewish and Muslim tradition as well —, and what forms did their story take as it was told and retold? To investigate the traces of Eve and Adam through the centuries is to discover a surprising variety of interpretations.
The chapters of this book come from eleven European scholars. Bob Becking writes on how the identity of the primaeval couple is constructed in Genesis, Geert van Oyen on Eve as a character in the New Testament, Willemien Otten on Adam and Eve in Augustine, Harm Goris on them in Aquinas, Theo Bell on them in Luther. Willem van Asselt examines the Pre-Adamites in the theology of Isaac La Peyrère, Heleen Zorgdrager considers Adam and Eve in the theology of Schleiermacher, Susanne Hennecke focuses on Karl Barth and Luce Irigaray looking at Michelangelo's The Creation, Anne-Marie Korte on the Genesis story in a feminist theological perspective, Eric Ottenheijm on Eve and 'women's commandments' in orthodox Judaism, and Karel Steenbrink on Muslim interpretations of their story.
The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew, Volume VII Sade—Resh
Published: Nov 2010
£150.00
The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew is a completely new and innovative dictionary.
Unlike previous dictionaries, which have been dictionaries of biblical Hebrew, this is the first dictionary of the classical Hebrew language to include the Bible, Dead Sea Scrolls, and all the other known Hebrew inscriptions and manuscripts.
This Dictionary covers the period from the earliest times to 200 CE. It lists and analyses every occurrences of each Hebrew word that occurs in texts of that period, with an English translation of every Hebrew word and phrase cited.
Among its special features are: a list of the non-biblical texts cited (especially the Dead Sea Scrolls), a word frequency index for each letter of the alphabet, a substantial bibliography (from Volume 2 onward) and an English–Hebrew index in each volume.
The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew, Volume VII Sade—Resh
£150.00
The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew is a completely new and innovative dictionary.
Unlike previous dictionaries, which have been dictionaries of biblical Hebrew, this is the first dictionary of the classical Hebrew language to include the Bible, Dead Sea Scrolls, and all the other known Hebrew inscriptions and manuscripts.
This Dictionary covers the period from the earliest times to 200 CE. It lists and analyses every occurrences of each Hebrew word that occurs in texts of that period, with an English translation of every Hebrew word and phrase cited.
Among its special features are: a list of the non-biblical texts cited (especially the Dead Sea Scrolls), a word frequency index for each letter of the alphabet, a substantial bibliography (from Volume 2 onward) and an English–Hebrew index in each volume.
The Flesh Was Made Word: A Metahistorical Critique of the Contemporary Quest of the Historical Jesus
Published: Nov 2010
£50.00
The 'historical Jesus' still remains elusive. Who was Jesus? What really happened? How can we know for sure? The latest quest for the truth about him comes at a time marked by radical uncertainty and postmodern scepticism about master narratives, along with a loss of confidence in the traditional methods of historical analysis.
In this context, Susan Lochrie Graham approaches the old debates from an entirely new direction. Armed with a 'metahistorical' approach adapted from the work of Hayden White, the philosopher of history, she reads the work of four representative historical Jesus writers: John P. Meier, N.T. Wright, Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza and John Dominic Crossan. The analysis brings to light the deep literary structures of their portraits, showing the differing plots and rhetorical concepts that shape them, and the types of argument that are deployed by each writer.
This ground-breaking critical investigation exposes the theological and cultural meanings embedded in all historical Jesus writing, showing how narrative forms function ideologically. It concludes with fresh answers to questions both about the methods we use and about the social implications of the contemporary quest of the historical Jesus, and proposes different directions for future research.
The Flesh Was Made Word: A Metahistorical Critique of the Contemporary Quest of the Historical Jesus
£50.00
The 'historical Jesus' still remains elusive. Who was Jesus? What really happened? How can we know for sure? The latest quest for the truth about him comes at a time marked by radical uncertainty and postmodern scepticism about master narratives, along with a loss of confidence in the traditional methods of historical analysis.
In this context, Susan Lochrie Graham approaches the old debates from an entirely new direction. Armed with a 'metahistorical' approach adapted from the work of Hayden White, the philosopher of history, she reads the work of four representative historical Jesus writers: John P. Meier, N.T. Wright, Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza and John Dominic Crossan. The analysis brings to light the deep literary structures of their portraits, showing the differing plots and rhetorical concepts that shape them, and the types of argument that are deployed by each writer.
This ground-breaking critical investigation exposes the theological and cultural meanings embedded in all historical Jesus writing, showing how narrative forms function ideologically. It concludes with fresh answers to questions both about the methods we use and about the social implications of the contemporary quest of the historical Jesus, and proposes different directions for future research.
Men and Masculinity in the Hebrew Bible and Beyond
Published: Nov 2010
£60.00
The study of masculinity in the Bible is increasingly becoming established as a field of critical inquiry in biblical gender studies. This book highlights a variety of methodological approaches that reveal the complex and multifaceted construction of masculinity in biblical and post-biblical literature. It focuses uniquely and explicitly on men and the world they inhabit, documenting changes in the type of men and masculinities deemed legitimate, or illegitimate, across various social and historical contexts of the ancient Near East. At the same time, it interrogates readers' assumptions about the writers' positioning of male bodies, sexuality and relationships in a gender order created to reflect men's interests, yet in need of constant reordering.
In this volume specific features of biblical masculinity are explored: the masculinity of less favoured sons in Genesis (Susan Haddox); the ideology of Temple masculinity in Chronicles (Roland Boer); the masculinity of Moses (Brian DiPalma); the performative nature of masculinity in the Sinai episode (David Clines); Deuteronomy's regimentation of masculinity (Mark George); Joshua's hegemonic masculinity in the Conquest Narrative (Ovidiu Creangă); Naaman's disability in relation to ideologies of masculinity (Cheryl Strimple and Ovidiu Creangă); Job's position as a man in charge in the Testament of Job (Maria Haralambakis); Priestly notions of sexuality in the covenant of the rainbow and circumcision in Genesis (Sandra Jacobs); Samson's masculinity in terms of male honour (Ela Lazarewicz-Wyrzykowska); the popular depiction of Jeremiah as a 'lamenting prophet' against the book of Jeremiah's male ideology (C.J. Patrick Davis); the gendered interaction of a Bible-study group with Daniel's dreams (Andrew Todd). Finally, David Clines and Stephen Moore offer closing critical reflections that situate the book's topics within a broader spectrum of issues in masculinity.
Men and Masculinity in the Hebrew Bible and Beyond
£60.00
The study of masculinity in the Bible is increasingly becoming established as a field of critical inquiry in biblical gender studies. This book highlights a variety of methodological approaches that reveal the complex and multifaceted construction of masculinity in biblical and post-biblical literature. It focuses uniquely and explicitly on men and the world they inhabit, documenting changes in the type of men and masculinities deemed legitimate, or illegitimate, across various social and historical contexts of the ancient Near East. At the same time, it interrogates readers' assumptions about the writers' positioning of male bodies, sexuality and relationships in a gender order created to reflect men's interests, yet in need of constant reordering.
In this volume specific features of biblical masculinity are explored: the masculinity of less favoured sons in Genesis (Susan Haddox); the ideology of Temple masculinity in Chronicles (Roland Boer); the masculinity of Moses (Brian DiPalma); the performative nature of masculinity in the Sinai episode (David Clines); Deuteronomy's regimentation of masculinity (Mark George); Joshua's hegemonic masculinity in the Conquest Narrative (Ovidiu Creangă); Naaman's disability in relation to ideologies of masculinity (Cheryl Strimple and Ovidiu Creangă); Job's position as a man in charge in the Testament of Job (Maria Haralambakis); Priestly notions of sexuality in the covenant of the rainbow and circumcision in Genesis (Sandra Jacobs); Samson's masculinity in terms of male honour (Ela Lazarewicz-Wyrzykowska); the popular depiction of Jeremiah as a 'lamenting prophet' against the book of Jeremiah's male ideology (C.J. Patrick Davis); the gendered interaction of a Bible-study group with Daniel's dreams (Andrew Todd). Finally, David Clines and Stephen Moore offer closing critical reflections that situate the book's topics within a broader spectrum of issues in masculinity.
The Demise of the Warlord: A New Look at the David Story
Published: Oct 2010
£50.00
The novelty of this monograph on David and Bathsheba (2 Sam. 11 —12) lies in its placing the narrative in the context of the behaviour of nomadic warlords and Amorite tribal chieftains as reflected in several Akkadian texts from Mari and Mesopotamia. The biblical story is interpreted in the light of an Akkadian literary topos depicting the ideal warlike existence of a Bedouin tribal chieftain. According to this topos, David's dallying with women, and eating, drinking and living in the shade rather than leading armies into military exploits would be considered unworthy of a warlord and disparaging to his reputation.
Another new feature in this book is the explanation of the treatment that King David inflicted on Uriah the Hittite, a 'resident alien' according to the rabbis, in the light of the outrage that a high official of a Pharaoh committed upon a resident-alien in El-Amarna times. There seems to have existed a non-written ancient Near Eastern law about the obligation of protecting and not harming resident aliens. As evidenced by the El-Amarna letter 162, disregard for this law entailed a death sentence on the perpetrator of such an outrage. In 2 Samuel 11 —12 the outrage done to the resident alien is expressed through the literary motif of the abduction of the beautiful wife in the context of oppression and threat exercised by the powerful over the weak and the helpless.
The Demise of the Warlord: A New Look at the David Story
£50.00
The novelty of this monograph on David and Bathsheba (2 Sam. 11 —12) lies in its placing the narrative in the context of the behaviour of nomadic warlords and Amorite tribal chieftains as reflected in several Akkadian texts from Mari and Mesopotamia. The biblical story is interpreted in the light of an Akkadian literary topos depicting the ideal warlike existence of a Bedouin tribal chieftain. According to this topos, David's dallying with women, and eating, drinking and living in the shade rather than leading armies into military exploits would be considered unworthy of a warlord and disparaging to his reputation.
Another new feature in this book is the explanation of the treatment that King David inflicted on Uriah the Hittite, a 'resident alien' according to the rabbis, in the light of the outrage that a high official of a Pharaoh committed upon a resident-alien in El-Amarna times. There seems to have existed a non-written ancient Near Eastern law about the obligation of protecting and not harming resident aliens. As evidenced by the El-Amarna letter 162, disregard for this law entailed a death sentence on the perpetrator of such an outrage. In 2 Samuel 11 —12 the outrage done to the resident alien is expressed through the literary motif of the abduction of the beautiful wife in the context of oppression and threat exercised by the powerful over the weak and the helpless.
Remembered for Good: A Jewish Benefaction System in Ancient Palestine
Published: Oct 2010
£60.00
This is the first monograph devoted to the system of community benefaction practised by Jews in Palestine from the second century BCE to the sixth century CE. Principal is the evidence from synagogue inscriptions erected to patrons and donors from the second century CE onwards. All these inscriptions are reviewed, together with a re-examination of how they are to be translated.
Sorek is especially interested in the motivation for benefactions, and concludes that the Jewish system attested in the inscriptions is specific to the Jewish community. It was not merely a copy of the well-known Graeco-Roman system of euergetism, in which rich citizens contributed from their wealth to public expenses. But neither was the Jewish system properly an expression of charity, as has often been thought. Sorek argues that the benefaction system is best understood as an expression of hesed , the meaning of which she explores in detail.
Remembered for Good: A Jewish Benefaction System in Ancient Palestine
£60.00
This is the first monograph devoted to the system of community benefaction practised by Jews in Palestine from the second century BCE to the sixth century CE. Principal is the evidence from synagogue inscriptions erected to patrons and donors from the second century CE onwards. All these inscriptions are reviewed, together with a re-examination of how they are to be translated.
Sorek is especially interested in the motivation for benefactions, and concludes that the Jewish system attested in the inscriptions is specific to the Jewish community. It was not merely a copy of the well-known Graeco-Roman system of euergetism, in which rich citizens contributed from their wealth to public expenses. But neither was the Jewish system properly an expression of charity, as has often been thought. Sorek argues that the benefaction system is best understood as an expression of hesed , the meaning of which she explores in detail.
Echoes of Friendship in the Gospel of John
Published: Oct 2010
£60.00
Friendship in the Graeco-Roman world took a wide variety of forms, with some 'friendships' involving nothing more than a political alliance or patron —client relationship and others involving deep personal intimacy. When Jesus says his disciples are to be called 'friends', what type of friendship does he have in mind?
Friendship may seem a relatively insignificant motif in the Gospel of John, since the author does not explicitly set out to provide a philosophical discourse on the nature of friendship, nor does he explicitly state that the narrative is about friendship. In this study, however, Culy, having carefully examined Graeco-Roman literature on friendship, demonstrates that the language of what he calls 'ideal friendship' actually pervades the Fourth Gospel from beginning to end and serves as a primary vehicle for characterizing the relationships that are introduced in the Prologue and fleshed out throughout the course of the narrative.
Taking up the friendship motif as a tool of characterization, the Gospel of John points to a striking implication of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus: that followers of Jesus are invited to enjoy a level of intimacy with him that can actually, and perhaps only, be compared to the level of intimacy that he enjoys with the Father. The Johannine Jesus, then, came not just to save the world but also to offer those who would follow him a relationship that Graeco-Roman philosophers only dreamed of, a relationship where all the ingredients of ideal friendship were present.
Echoes of Friendship in the Gospel of John
£60.00
Friendship in the Graeco-Roman world took a wide variety of forms, with some 'friendships' involving nothing more than a political alliance or patron —client relationship and others involving deep personal intimacy. When Jesus says his disciples are to be called 'friends', what type of friendship does he have in mind?
Friendship may seem a relatively insignificant motif in the Gospel of John, since the author does not explicitly set out to provide a philosophical discourse on the nature of friendship, nor does he explicitly state that the narrative is about friendship. In this study, however, Culy, having carefully examined Graeco-Roman literature on friendship, demonstrates that the language of what he calls 'ideal friendship' actually pervades the Fourth Gospel from beginning to end and serves as a primary vehicle for characterizing the relationships that are introduced in the Prologue and fleshed out throughout the course of the narrative.
Taking up the friendship motif as a tool of characterization, the Gospel of John points to a striking implication of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus: that followers of Jesus are invited to enjoy a level of intimacy with him that can actually, and perhaps only, be compared to the level of intimacy that he enjoys with the Father. The Johannine Jesus, then, came not just to save the world but also to offer those who would follow him a relationship that Graeco-Roman philosophers only dreamed of, a relationship where all the ingredients of ideal friendship were present.
Reel Revelations: Apocalypse and Film
Published: Oct 2010
£50.00
In the last decades, writers and directors have increasingly found the Book of Revelation a fitting cinematic muse for an age beset by possibilities of world destruction. Many apocalyptic films stay remarkably close to the idea of apocalypse as a revelation about the future, often quoting or using imagery from Revelation, as well as its Old Testament antecedents in Daniel, Ezekiel, and Isaiah.
The apocalyptic paradigm often instigates social criticism. Kim Paffenroth examines how zombie films deploy apocalyptic language and motifs to critique oppressive values in American culture. Lee Quinby shows how Richard Kelly's Southland Tales critiques not only social and economic crises in the USA but also Revelation's depictions of Good versus Evil as absolute oppositions. Frances Flannery points out how Josh Whedon's Serenity deconstructs the apocalypse precisely by using elements of it, depicting humans as their own created monsters.
Jon Stone notes how apocalyptic fictions, while presenting nightmare scenarios, are invariably optimistic, with human ingenuity effectively responding to potential disasters. Mary Ann Beavis examines the device of invented scriptures (pseudapocrypha), deployed as a narrative trope for holding back the final cataclysm. John Walliss studies evangelical Christian films that depict how the endtime scenario will unfold, so articulating and even redefining a sense of evangelical identity.
Richard Walsh analyses the surreptitious sanctification of empire that occurs in both Revelation and End of Days under the cover of a blatant struggle with another 'evil' empire. Greg Garrett examines how the eschatological figure of 'The Son of Man' is presented in the Matrix trilogy, the Terminator tetralogy, and Signs. Elizabeth Rosen shows how a postmodern apocalyptic trend has been working its way into children's fiction and film such as The Transformers, challenging the traditionally rigid depictions of good and evil found in many children's stories.
Reel Revelations: Apocalypse and Film
£50.00
In the last decades, writers and directors have increasingly found the Book of Revelation a fitting cinematic muse for an age beset by possibilities of world destruction. Many apocalyptic films stay remarkably close to the idea of apocalypse as a revelation about the future, often quoting or using imagery from Revelation, as well as its Old Testament antecedents in Daniel, Ezekiel, and Isaiah.
The apocalyptic paradigm often instigates social criticism. Kim Paffenroth examines how zombie films deploy apocalyptic language and motifs to critique oppressive values in American culture. Lee Quinby shows how Richard Kelly's Southland Tales critiques not only social and economic crises in the USA but also Revelation's depictions of Good versus Evil as absolute oppositions. Frances Flannery points out how Josh Whedon's Serenity deconstructs the apocalypse precisely by using elements of it, depicting humans as their own created monsters.
Jon Stone notes how apocalyptic fictions, while presenting nightmare scenarios, are invariably optimistic, with human ingenuity effectively responding to potential disasters. Mary Ann Beavis examines the device of invented scriptures (pseudapocrypha), deployed as a narrative trope for holding back the final cataclysm. John Walliss studies evangelical Christian films that depict how the endtime scenario will unfold, so articulating and even redefining a sense of evangelical identity.
Richard Walsh analyses the surreptitious sanctification of empire that occurs in both Revelation and End of Days under the cover of a blatant struggle with another 'evil' empire. Greg Garrett examines how the eschatological figure of 'The Son of Man' is presented in the Matrix trilogy, the Terminator tetralogy, and Signs. Elizabeth Rosen shows how a postmodern apocalyptic trend has been working its way into children's fiction and film such as The Transformers, challenging the traditionally rigid depictions of good and evil found in many children's stories.
The Centre and the Periphery: A European Tribute to Walter Brueggemann
Published: Oct 2010
£50.00
In this valuable volume, 13 scholars from Britain, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Germany pay tribute to Walter Brueggemann's outstanding contribution to Old Testament studies, notably his Theology of the Old Testament (1997). His own setting is the USA, and it is not generally recognized how far-reaching his influence has been. This volume aims to demonstrate that many scholars in diverse locations have been stimulated by the sweep of his energetic criticism.
Brueggemann himself often speaks of Old Testament scholarship in terms of centre and margin, meaning thereby the dominant historical-critical mode of research as against the new types of analysis that have come into being in the last decades. He constantly has recourse also to the Hebrew Bible's own tension between a mainstream centre with its testimony to Yahweh's power, providence and justice and a margin according to which the deity is called to account for failures in divine governance.
The essays in Part I are devoted to 'centrist' questions in the main, including contributions from Rainer Albertz, Katharine Dell, Frederik Lindstršm, Christoph Bultmann, and Hugh Williamson. The essays in Part II are from scholars who apply a range of alternative or 'peripheral' interpretative methods, Walter Moberly, Terje Stordalen, Jill Middlemas, Ulrich Berges, Mark Gray, Else Holt, Gordon McConville and David Clines.
The Centre and the Periphery: A European Tribute to Walter Brueggemann
£50.00
In this valuable volume, 13 scholars from Britain, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Germany pay tribute to Walter Brueggemann's outstanding contribution to Old Testament studies, notably his Theology of the Old Testament (1997). His own setting is the USA, and it is not generally recognized how far-reaching his influence has been. This volume aims to demonstrate that many scholars in diverse locations have been stimulated by the sweep of his energetic criticism.
Brueggemann himself often speaks of Old Testament scholarship in terms of centre and margin, meaning thereby the dominant historical-critical mode of research as against the new types of analysis that have come into being in the last decades. He constantly has recourse also to the Hebrew Bible's own tension between a mainstream centre with its testimony to Yahweh's power, providence and justice and a margin according to which the deity is called to account for failures in divine governance.
The essays in Part I are devoted to 'centrist' questions in the main, including contributions from Rainer Albertz, Katharine Dell, Frederik Lindstršm, Christoph Bultmann, and Hugh Williamson. The essays in Part II are from scholars who apply a range of alternative or 'peripheral' interpretative methods, Walter Moberly, Terje Stordalen, Jill Middlemas, Ulrich Berges, Mark Gray, Else Holt, Gordon McConville and David Clines.
Love, Lust, and Lunacy: The Stories of Saul and David in Music
Published: Oct 2010
£65.00
This is Leneman's second foray into the interdisciplinary study of the Bible and music, following her The Performed Bible: The Story of Ruth in Opera and Oratorio (2007).
In Love, Lust, and Lunacy she shows how these themes have captured the imagination of librettists and composers of many eras to set the narratives of the books of Samuel to music. Leneman convincingly illustrates music's ability to suggest emotions and character traits that can only be read between the lines of a text, through an in-depth discussion of 16 operas and oratorios from the eighteenth to the late twentieth century —including works of Handel, Nielsen, Parry, Honegger, Milhaud and lesser-known composers. The musical analyses can be understood on different levels by both specialists and non-specialists, providing a new perspective for biblical scholars along with a new appreciation of the biblical texts for musicians and music lovers.
Librettists and composers working with the Saul and David stories were alert to the complexity and ambivalence of the biblical portraits, and filled in the blanks left by the biblical writer in stirring and compelling ways. Their gap-filling may sometimes contradict traditional versions or interpretations of the biblical text, but their musical creativity often makes the words and actions of the biblical characters more convincing and compelling. In the musical works reviewed here there are portrayed three-dimensional figures —not only David and Saul, but also Samuel, Michal, Bathsheba, the Woman of Endor and others, personages barely glimpsed between the lines of the biblical text but imagined in different ways by readers in every generation.
Love, Lust, and Lunacy: The Stories of Saul and David in Music
£65.00
This is Leneman's second foray into the interdisciplinary study of the Bible and music, following her The Performed Bible: The Story of Ruth in Opera and Oratorio (2007).
In Love, Lust, and Lunacy she shows how these themes have captured the imagination of librettists and composers of many eras to set the narratives of the books of Samuel to music. Leneman convincingly illustrates music's ability to suggest emotions and character traits that can only be read between the lines of a text, through an in-depth discussion of 16 operas and oratorios from the eighteenth to the late twentieth century —including works of Handel, Nielsen, Parry, Honegger, Milhaud and lesser-known composers. The musical analyses can be understood on different levels by both specialists and non-specialists, providing a new perspective for biblical scholars along with a new appreciation of the biblical texts for musicians and music lovers.
Librettists and composers working with the Saul and David stories were alert to the complexity and ambivalence of the biblical portraits, and filled in the blanks left by the biblical writer in stirring and compelling ways. Their gap-filling may sometimes contradict traditional versions or interpretations of the biblical text, but their musical creativity often makes the words and actions of the biblical characters more convincing and compelling. In the musical works reviewed here there are portrayed three-dimensional figures —not only David and Saul, but also Samuel, Michal, Bathsheba, the Woman of Endor and others, personages barely glimpsed between the lines of the biblical text but imagined in different ways by readers in every generation.
Journal of Greco-Roman Christianity and Judaism 6 (2009)
Published: July 2010
£80.00
This is the sixth volume of the hard-copy edition of a journal that has been published online (www.jgrchj.net) since 2000. Volume 1 was for 2000, Volume 2 was for 2001 —2005, Volume 3 was for 2006, Volume 4 was for 2007, Volume 5 was for 2008 and Volume 6 is for 2009. As they appear, the hardcopy editions will replace the online materials.pol
The scope of JGRChJ is the texts, language and cultures of the Graeco-Roman world of early Christianity and Judaism. The papers published in JGRChJ are designed to pay special attention to the 'larger picture' of politics, culture, religion and language, engaging as well with modern theoretical approaches.
Journal of Greco-Roman Christianity and Judaism 6 (2009)
£80.00
This is the sixth volume of the hard-copy edition of a journal that has been published online (www.jgrchj.net) since 2000. Volume 1 was for 2000, Volume 2 was for 2001 —2005, Volume 3 was for 2006, Volume 4 was for 2007, Volume 5 was for 2008 and Volume 6 is for 2009. As they appear, the hardcopy editions will replace the online materials.pol
The scope of JGRChJ is the texts, language and cultures of the Graeco-Roman world of early Christianity and Judaism. The papers published in JGRChJ are designed to pay special attention to the 'larger picture' of politics, culture, religion and language, engaging as well with modern theoretical approaches.
A New Grammar of Biblical Hebrew
Published: July 2010
£22.50 – £40.00
This is a Hebrew grammar with a difference, being the first truly discourse-based grammar. Its goal is for students to understand Biblical Hebrew as a language, seeing its forms and conjugations as a coherent linguistic system, appreciating why and how the text means what it says —rather than learning Hebrew as a set of random rules and apparently arbitrary meanings.
Thirty-one lessons equip learners for reading the biblical text in Hebrew. They include sections on biblical narrative, poetry, and the Masora —as well as of the text of the Hebrew Bible, lexica, and concordances. The examples and exercises are all taken directly from the biblical text, so that students can check their work against any relatively literal version of the Bible.
The vocabulary lists include all of the words that occur fifty times or more in the Hebrew Bible. Special also to this Grammar are the 'enrichments': brief sections at the end of each chapter encouraging students to apply their grammatical knowledge to specific questions, issues, or passages in the biblical text. Appendices include a Vocabulary of all Hebrew words and proper names that occur fifty times or more, and a Glossary and index of technical terms —as well as complete nominal, pronominal, and verbal paradigms, and an annotated bibliography.
The learner-friendly design of this Grammar has been endorsed by faculty and by students who have used pre-publication versions to teach themselves Biblical Hebrew, both individually and in classes and informal groups.
A New Grammar of Biblical Hebrew
£22.50 – £40.00
This is a Hebrew grammar with a difference, being the first truly discourse-based grammar. Its goal is for students to understand Biblical Hebrew as a language, seeing its forms and conjugations as a coherent linguistic system, appreciating why and how the text means what it says —rather than learning Hebrew as a set of random rules and apparently arbitrary meanings.
Thirty-one lessons equip learners for reading the biblical text in Hebrew. They include sections on biblical narrative, poetry, and the Masora —as well as of the text of the Hebrew Bible, lexica, and concordances. The examples and exercises are all taken directly from the biblical text, so that students can check their work against any relatively literal version of the Bible.
The vocabulary lists include all of the words that occur fifty times or more in the Hebrew Bible. Special also to this Grammar are the 'enrichments': brief sections at the end of each chapter encouraging students to apply their grammatical knowledge to specific questions, issues, or passages in the biblical text. Appendices include a Vocabulary of all Hebrew words and proper names that occur fifty times or more, and a Glossary and index of technical terms —as well as complete nominal, pronominal, and verbal paradigms, and an annotated bibliography.
The learner-friendly design of this Grammar has been endorsed by faculty and by students who have used pre-publication versions to teach themselves Biblical Hebrew, both individually and in classes and informal groups.
The Changing Shape of Form Criticism: A Relational Approach
Published: Jun 2010
£45.00
In this important collection of essays by the leading theorist of form, Martin Buss presents in Part I, Steps toward a New Form Criticism, several essays that view forms as complexes of relations that constitute possibilities. This relational approach to form criticism rejects, on the one hand, the idea that reality is at base only particular and, on the other hand, an essentialism that holds that forms are firmly structured and there is a single correct way to classify texts.
In Part II, Interdisciplinary Ideas of Sitz im Leben, he shows how Gunkel's notion of Sitz im Leben, derived from his knowledge of other fields, made an impact on leading figures in several disciplines. They modified the notion, and their analyses became known to a number of biblical scholars. This cross-pollination introduced a new understanding of the notion of Sitz im Leben into biblical studies, which, in turn, was noted by scholars in other fields.
An appendix to the volume reports relational approaches in several disciplines that provide a stimulus for relational form criticism.
The Changing Shape of Form Criticism: A Relational Approach
£45.00
In this important collection of essays by the leading theorist of form, Martin Buss presents in Part I, Steps toward a New Form Criticism, several essays that view forms as complexes of relations that constitute possibilities. This relational approach to form criticism rejects, on the one hand, the idea that reality is at base only particular and, on the other hand, an essentialism that holds that forms are firmly structured and there is a single correct way to classify texts.
In Part II, Interdisciplinary Ideas of Sitz im Leben, he shows how Gunkel's notion of Sitz im Leben, derived from his knowledge of other fields, made an impact on leading figures in several disciplines. They modified the notion, and their analyses became known to a number of biblical scholars. This cross-pollination introduced a new understanding of the notion of Sitz im Leben into biblical studies, which, in turn, was noted by scholars in other fields.
An appendix to the volume reports relational approaches in several disciplines that provide a stimulus for relational form criticism.
Reworking the Bible: The Literary Reception-History of Fourteen Biblical Stories
Published: Jun 2010
£55.00
Reworking the Bible is a substantial account of the reception history of fourteen biblical stories —those of Eden, the Flood, Jacob and Esau, Moses and the Exodus, Joshua and Rahab, Samson, Nebuchadnezzar, Susanna, Esther, Jesus Christ, Salome, Lazarus, the Prodigal Son and the Descent into Hell. Full of fascinating detail of the afterlives of these biblical narratives, the book also offers a sophisticated theoretical analysis of the processes of reworking: major hypertexts from The Dream of the Rood to Margaret Atwood's The Year of the Flood come under the spotlight of the theories of Genette about rewriting and of Bakhtin about chronotopes and polyphony. In the final chapter, the material is viewed from the point of view of its spatial overtones, highlighting works that use the retelling of biblical stories to transport the reader to somewhere beyond controlling monological cultures.
As well as providing close readings of some extraordinary literary reworkings, the book provides a guide to the available critical literature. Both the biblical stories themselves and the works of Chaucer, Shakespeare, Racine, George Eliot, Turgenev, Kafka, Iris Murdoch, Julian Barnes, Ben Okri and many others are cast in a new light, including many plays, novels and poems that have been surprisingly neglected. The works discussed range from the hilarious to the horrific and have the capacity to refresh and even transform our reading of the Bible.
Reworking the Bible: The Literary Reception-History of Fourteen Biblical Stories
£55.00
Reworking the Bible is a substantial account of the reception history of fourteen biblical stories —those of Eden, the Flood, Jacob and Esau, Moses and the Exodus, Joshua and Rahab, Samson, Nebuchadnezzar, Susanna, Esther, Jesus Christ, Salome, Lazarus, the Prodigal Son and the Descent into Hell. Full of fascinating detail of the afterlives of these biblical narratives, the book also offers a sophisticated theoretical analysis of the processes of reworking: major hypertexts from The Dream of the Rood to Margaret Atwood's The Year of the Flood come under the spotlight of the theories of Genette about rewriting and of Bakhtin about chronotopes and polyphony. In the final chapter, the material is viewed from the point of view of its spatial overtones, highlighting works that use the retelling of biblical stories to transport the reader to somewhere beyond controlling monological cultures.
As well as providing close readings of some extraordinary literary reworkings, the book provides a guide to the available critical literature. Both the biblical stories themselves and the works of Chaucer, Shakespeare, Racine, George Eliot, Turgenev, Kafka, Iris Murdoch, Julian Barnes, Ben Okri and many others are cast in a new light, including many plays, novels and poems that have been surprisingly neglected. The works discussed range from the hilarious to the horrific and have the capacity to refresh and even transform our reading of the Bible.