At a glance, the Hebrew Bible presents the Levites as a group of ritual assistants and subordinates in Israel's cult. A closer look, however, reveals a far more complicated history behind the emergence of this group in Ancient Israel. A careful reconsideration of the sources provides new insights into the origins of the Levites, their social function and location, and the development of traditions that grew around them. The social location and self-perception of the Levites evolved alongsi...

This volume is a concentrated examination of the varied roles of scribes and scribal practices in ancient Israel and Judah, shedding light on the social world of the Hebrew Bible. Divided into discussion of three key aspects, the book begins by assessing praxis and materiality, looking at the tools and materials used by scribes, where they came from and how they worked in specific contexts. The contributors then move to observe the power and status of scribal cultures, and how scribes func...

History has an inescapable centrality in the Hebrew Bible, and biblical narratives are for many readers the best recognized and most memorable parts of the Bible. The history of ancient Israel and the nature of Hebrew historiography remain hotly contested topics today. This new introduction explores key questions and methods shaping contemporary scholarly debate. Students will explore the Deuteronomistic History and other historical writings and evaluate the different roles history-writing...

The Persian period (539-332 BCE) sits somewhat awkwardly within the study of Second Temple Judaism. Amidst a myriad of issues and debates, the approach to the Persian period is fundamentally complicated by the difficulty in labelling communities -- whether or not the communities in the province of Yehud, in Egypt, or in the Eastern Diaspora can even be called "Jewish," a label denoting a type of ethnic and religious symbiosis that some scholars are hesitant to identify any time before the ...

The reigning assumptions in 1970s and 1980s scholarship on 1 and 2 Kings, and indeed on all of the Deuteronomistic history, have come under serious question. How can differing views of that history be reconciled? What sources were available to the authors? Should we call them "authors"? How well do the Books of Kings fit into the larger history of which they are a part; just who composed that history, toward what end, and in what context? How do the assumptions of contemporary interpreters...

Bringing together nationally and internationally-known scholars, The Museum of the Bible: A Critical Introduction analyzes the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., from a variety of perspectives and disciplinary positions, including biblical studies, history, archaeology, Judaic studies, and religion and public life. The Museum of the Bible is poised to wield unparalleled influence on the national popular imagination of the Bible’s contents, history, and uses through time. This volume ...

"In fluent prose . . . makes a gripping and persuasive case that it was the Levites who escaped Egypt and carried the story of the Exodus into Canaan." — The New York Times Book ReviewThe Exodus has become a core tradition of Western civilization. Millions read it, retell it, and celebrate it. But did it happen? Unable to find physical evidence until now, many archaeologists and scholars claim this mass migration is just a story, not history....

Israel: Ancient Kingdom or Late Invention? is a collection of essays responding to the radical claims that Israel and its history actually began following the Babylonian exile, and that the history of Israel we read about in the Bible is a fictionalized account.Contributors are leading Bible and archaeology scholars who bring extra-biblical evidence to bear for the historicity of the Old Testament and provide case studies of new work being done in the fiel...

A Christianity Today Book of the Year: "An excellent book for anyone interested in the Bible both as a work of history and a testament of faith." — Publishers WeeklyIn this authoritative, bold, and balanced book, renowned U.S. News & World Report religion writer Jeffrey L. Sheler sifts through the claims and counterclaims of contemporary biblical studies. After carefully investigating the full spectrum of cutting-edge research and conflict...

Who invented God? When, why, and where? Thomas Römer seeks to answer these questions about the deity of the great monotheisms—Yhwh, God, or Allah—by tracing Israelite beliefs and their context from the Bronze Age to the end of the Old Testament period in the third century BCE.That we can address such enigmatic questions at all may come as a surprise. But as Römer makes clear, a wealth of evidence allows us to piece together a reliable account of the origins and evolution of the god...

Why did no other ancient society produce something like the Bible? That a tiny, out of the way community could have created a literary corpus so determinative for peoples across the globe seems improbable. For Jacob Wright, the Bible is not only a testimony of survival, but also an unparalleled achievement in human history. Forged after Babylon's devastation of Jerusalem, it makes not victory but total humiliation the foundation of a new idea of belonging. Lamenting the destruction of thei...

Following from the popular Volume 1, The Atheist Handbook to the Old Testament: Volume 2, takes up the challenge of providing a clear and useful guide to those wanting a better understanding of the Old Testament, including its cultural and historical background, as well as discussions on contentious topics like violence and genocide, and whether the Exodus was a real historical event. Volume 2 also covers the narrative of the Old Testament from the conquest to the divided monarchy, and a b...