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Throughout the Hebrew Bible, strangers are indispensable to the formation of a collective Israelite identity. Encounters between the Israelites and their neighbors are among the most urgent matters explored in biblical narratives, yet relatively little scholarly attention has been paid to them. This book corrects that imbalance by carrying out close readings of the accounts of Israel’s myriad interactions with the surrounding nations. The book follows the people of Israel after they leave Egypt, as they wander in the wilderness, cross over into the land, become a unified people Israel and face explusion from that land. The introduction lays the groundwork for a literary reading. Each chapter that follows highlights a distinct people and the issues that they create. For example, Jethro, father-in-law of Moses and a Midian priest, provides a model of collaboration, while Samson’s behavior triggers a cycle of violent retribution. These engaging stories illustrate the perceived dangers of idolatry and military oppression, but also convey lessons in governance, cultural innovation and the building of alliances. This book is vital reading for Biblical scholars and interested readers who want to deepen their understanding of the Israelites’ relationship with neighboring peoples. It will also be of keen interest to academics who work in ancient history and culture.
Whether on a national or a personal level, everyone has a complex relationship with their closest neighbors. Where are the borders? How much interaction should there be? How are conflicts solved? Ancient Israel was one of several small nations clustered in the eastern Mediterranean region between the large empires of Egypt and Mesopotamia in antiquity. Frequently mentioned in the Bible, these other small nations are seldom the focus of the narrative unless they interact with Israel. The ancient Israelites who produced the Hebrew Bible lived within a rich context of multiple neighbors, and this context profoundly shaped Israel. Indeed, it was through the influence of the neighboring people that Israel defined its own identity-in terms of geography, language, politics, religion, and culture. Ancient Israel's Neighbors explores both the biblical portrayal of the neighboring groups directly surrounding Israel-the Canaanites, Philistines, Phoenicians, Edomites, Moabites, Ammonites, and Arameans-and examines what we can know about these groups through their own literature, archaeology, and other sources. Through its analysis of these surrounding groups, this book will demonstrate in a direct and accessible manner the extent to which ancient Israelite identity was forged both within and against the identities of its close neighbors. Animated by the latest and best research, yet written for students, this book will invite readers into journey of scholarly discovery to explore the world of Israel's identity within its most immediate ancient Near Eastern context.
In this groundbreaking work that sets apart fact and legend, authors Finkelstein and Silberman use significant archeological discoveries to provide historical information about biblical Israel and its neighbors. In this iconoclastic and provocative work, leading scholars Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman draw on recent archaeological research to present a dramatically revised portrait of ancient Israel and its neighbors. They argue that crucial evidence (or a telling lack of evidence) at digs in Israel, Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon suggests that many of the most famous stories in the Bible—the wanderings of the patriarchs, the Exodus from Egypt, Joshua’s conquest of Canaan, and David and Solomon’s vast empire—reflect the world of the later authors rather than actual historical facts. Challenging the fundamentalist readings of the scriptures and marshaling the latest archaeological evidence to support its new vision of ancient Israel, The Bible Unearthed offers a fascinating and controversial perspective on when and why the Bible was written and why it possesses such great spiritual and emotional power today.
Children can try their hand at re-creating ancient Israelite culture—along with the cultures of their neighbors, the Philistines and Phoenicians—in a way that will provide perspective on current events. The book covers a key period from the Israelites' settlement in Canaan in 1200 B.C.E. to their return from exile in Babylonia in 538 B.C.E. This part of the Middle East—no larger than modern-day Michigan—was the birthplace of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. More than 35 projects include stomping grapes into juice, building a model Phoenician trading ship, making a Philistine headdress, and writing on a broken clay pot. Israelites', Phoenicians', and Philistines' writing and languages, the way they built their homes, the food they ate, the clothes they wore, and the work they did, and of course, their many interesting stories, are all explored.
Rachel Hallote's Book examins the archaeological, literary, and artistic evidence for the burial practices of biblical times, their antecedents, and successors.
This collection of essays examines how stories from the biblical narrative of "Israel in the Wilderness" (Exodus 16-Deuteronomy 34) were interpreted by later Jewish and Christian writers (ca. 400 BCE-500 CE). Stories such as those about manna and water from a rock, the Golden Calf incident, Koraha (TM)s rebellion, and the death of Moses provided later Jewish and Christian writers with a treasure trove of material for reflection and interpretation. Whereas individual essays investigate how particular literary works, such as Ben Sira, Qumran documents, New Testament writings, the Apostolic Fathers, and Targums, appropriated the biblical text, taken together the essays form an exercise in uncovering the hermeneutical imagination of interpreters during formative periods of Jewish and Christian thought. This volume will be valuable to those interested in ancient Judaism and early Christianity, the history of interpretation of the Hebrew Bible, and the hermeneutical appropriation of sacred texts.
This book compares a variety of biblical narratives with the stories found in several Northwest Semitic inscriptions from the ancient kingdom of Judah and its contemporary Syro-Palestinian neighbors. In genre, language, and cultural context, these epigraphic stories are closer to biblical narratives than any other ancient Near Eastern narrative corpus. For the first time, Parker analyzes and appreciates these stories as narratives and sets them beside comparable biblical stories. He illuminates the narrative character and techniques of both epigraphic and biblical stories and in many cases reveals their original social context and purpose. In some cases, he is able to shed light on the question of the sources and composition of the larger work in which most of the biblical stories appear, the Deuteronomistic history. Against the claim that the genius of biblical prose narrative derives from the monotheism of the authors, he shows that the presence or absence of a divine role in each type of story is consistent throughout both biblical and epigraphic examples, and that, when present, the role of the deity is essentially the same both inside and outside the Bible, inside and outside Israel.
A generation ago, most Americans had little or no contact with Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, or any other adherents of non- Christian religions. Now our culture is much more pluralistic. In addition to these “others,” many Westerners, disenchanted with Christianity, are more inclined than they were a generation ago to dabble in new spiritual alternatives that were not as readily available here before. Many Christians feel intimidated by these changes. Many Christians don’t know how to engage their newest non- Christian neighbors in conversation, partly because they feel ignorant about the religions practiced by others. Significant Others seeks to fill this knowledge gap so readers will become more acquainted with the religious backgrounds of devout non- Christians they are meeting, as well as with the growing number of American people who claim no religious affiliation at all. Each chapter outlines the major world religions according to their significant founders or leading figures, significant beliefs and practices, significant sects and developments, and significant points of contact and points of contrast with Christian faith.
Presenting a new perspective on the saga of the enslavement of the Jewish people and their departure from Egypt, this study compares the Jewish experience with that of African-American slaves in the United States, as well as the latter group’s subsequent fight for dignity and equality. This consideration dives deeply into the biblical narrative, using classical and modern commentaries to explore the social, psychological, religious, and philosophical dimensions of the slave experience and mentality. It draws on slave narratives, published letters, eyewitness accounts, and recorded interviews with former slaves, together with historical, sociological, economic, and political analyses of this era. The book explores the five major needs of every long-term victim and journeys through these five stages with the Israelite and the African-American slaves on their historical path toward physical and psychological freedom. This rich, multi-dimensional collage of parallel and contrasting experiences is designed to enrich readers’ understanding of the plight of these two groups.
In this book renowned scholar Walter Brueggemann brings us a characteristically penetrating and provocative account of the ways in which the Old Testament is offered as an alternative to the imperial narrative that can dominate ordinary imagination.