Books in the Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement S. series

The family tomb as a physical claim to the patrimony, the attributed powers of the dead and the prospect of post-mortem veneration made the cult of the dead an integral aspect of the Judahite and Israelite society. Over 850 burials from throughout the southern Levant are examined to illustrate the Judahite form of burial and its development. Vessels for foods and liquids were of paramount importance in the afterlife, followed by jewellery with its protective powers. The cult of the dead began to be an unacceptable feature of the Jerusalem Yahwistic cult in the late eighth to seventh century BCE. This change of attitude was precipitated by the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel and the consequent theological response.

This study examines the significance of implied law in the Abraham narrative. It analyzes legal and juridical terminology in the text and provides a close reading of legal referents found in Genesis 18.16-20.18.

Assesses the multivocal quality of 2 Samuel 14 as a result of the many historical and social processes that formed the Hebrew Bible as a whole.

This two-part commentary argues that Chronicles, placed as it is among the ''historical books'' in the traditional Old Testament of the Christian church, is much misunderstood. Restored to its proper position as the final book in the canon as arranged in the order of the Hebrew Bible, it is rather to be understood as a work of theology essentially directed towards the future. The Chronicler begins his work with the problem facing the whole human race in Adam-the forfeiture of the ideal of perfect oneness with God''s purpose. He explores the possibility of the restoration of that ideal through Israel''s place at the centre of the world of the nations. This portrayal reaches its climax in an idealized presentation of the reign of Solomon, in which all the rulers of the earth, including most famously the Queen of Sheba, bring their tribute in acknowledgment of Israel''s status (Volume 1). As subsequent history only too clearly shows, however, the Chronicler argues (Volume 2), that Israel itself, through unfaithfulness to Torah, has forfeited its right to possession of its land and is cast adrift among these same nations of the world. But the Chronicler''s message is one of hope. By a radical transformation of the chronology of Israel''s past into theological terms, the generation whom the Chronicler addresses becomes the fiftieth since Adam. It is the generation to whom the jubilee of return to the land through a perfectly enabled obedience to Torah, and thus the restoration of the primal ideal of the human race, is announced.

Glazov demonstrates that the interlinked themes of bridling the tongue and opening the mouth, well-known components of wisdom teaching, are also crucial to understanding much in the prophets, as well as later Jewish and Christian writings, especially liturgical texts. His comprehensive survey and analysis of the theme contribute to both a literary and a historical perspective on the prophetic literature of the Bible.

Shame has become a topic of major interest in the literature of psychology and anthropology. This book explores the phenomenon of shame in the Hebrew Bible, focusing particularly on the major prophets as shame vocabulary is most prominent there.

Since at least the 19th century Hebrew Bible scholarship has traditionally seen priests and prophets as natural opponents, with different social spheres and worldviews. In recent years several studies have started to question this perspective. The Priests in the Prophets examines how the priests are portrayed in the Latter Prophets and analyzes the relationship between priests and prophets. The contributors also provide insights into the place of priests, prophets, and some other religious specialists in Israelite and Judean society in pre-exilic and post-exilic times.

Previous attempts to critique Brevard Childs's canonical approach have remained largely theoretical in nature. Reviewing the hermeneutics and the praxis of the approach, this book turns to the Sodom narrative (Genesis 18-19) as a test of a practical exegesis according to Childs' principles.

This is a collection of articles by distinguished scholars of the Hebrew Bible and its ancient versions; commemorating the work of the late Michael Weitzman.

This volume by Jewish and Christian scholars discusses Creation in the Bible (Tanakh, Old Testament, New Testament), in ancient Egypt and Israel, and at Qumran, as well as contemporary theological, philosophical and political issues raised by biblical, Jewish and Christian concepts of creation.

The central focus is Near Eastern, and covers a range of philological, linguistic, exegetical, historical and interpretative issues.

This volume publishes the seminal 1973 dissertation of Rex Mason on inner-biblical allusion in Zechariah 9-14, accompanied by interactions with this significant work by key figures in the scholarly study of Deutero-Zechariah.

This text is about both the fear of gender reversal and its expression, in the prophet Ezekiel's reworking of the marital metaphor. The author argues that Ezekiel 16 in particular reflects the gender chaos that arises as an aftermath of social and theological crises.

The existence of evil in the world represents one of the most complex problems for those who believe in God. Here, a range of Jewish and Christian contributors examine the issue of evil in the Bible and its impact on Judaism and Christianity from a variety of perspectives.

This study focuses on Sennacherib's invasion of Judah in 701 BCE as an important case study on methodology in the history of Israel. The contributors to this volume examine the problem from a variety of points of view, with vigorous discussion about the correct way to evaluate the biblical text.

Edgar W. Conrad focuses on the prophetic books as composite collections and shows that: Prophets are characters in the text, depicted as figures of the past whose words are significant for a later time. Reading and writing play a central role in the depiction of prophets.

This study focuses on a reading of Proverbs 1-9 as satire via semiotics, which empowers a heightened, poetic sensitivity to multivalent textual signs. These include allusion to two points of critique against Solomon: (1) his political policy of socio-economic injustice and (2) his numerous sexual (in)discretions.

Takes a fresh look at "Nahum". This title explores further the presence of the feminine in the book of "Nahum", the extent to which it is present in the text, how the structure of the text makes the feminine both present and absent, and the possible reasons why this is so.