Books in the Library of Ancient Israel series

In this first volume of the Library of Ancient Israel series, Joseph Blenkinsopp investigates three forms of biblical Israel's intellectual and religious leadership: the sage, the priest, and the prophet. The people who occupied these roles were directly responsible for what appears in the Old Testament text. Blenkinsopp looks at the development of these roles and how they functioned in their particular time and place. This investigation will lead to a keener understanding of the literature of the Old Testament and the society in which it evolved.Volumes in the Library of Ancient Israel draw on multiple disciplines--such as archaeology, anthropology, sociology, linguistics, and literary criticism--to illuminate the everyday realities and social subtleties these ancient cultures experienced. This series employs sophisticated methods resulting in original contributions that depict the reality of the people behind the Hebrew Bible and interprets these insights for a wide variety of readers.

Scribes and Schools is an examination of the processes which led to the canonization of the Hebrew Bible. Philip Davies sheds light on the social reasons for the development of the canon and in so doing presents a clear picture of how the Bible came into being.Volumes in the Library of Ancient Israel draw on multiple disciplines--such as...

Niels Peter Lemche focuses on the way Israelites understood themselves at different points in history--before, within, and after the monarchy. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in understanding Israel's rich history.Volumes in the Library of Ancient Israel draw on multiple disciplines--such as archaeology, anthropology...

This book is an essential resource for understanding the question of the Bible's relationship to orality. Susan Niditch offers a strong argument for the continuity of the literature of the Israelites. She helps the modern reader look at the Bible as living words, breathing life into us daily, instead of seeing the text as a foregone...

Patrich D. Miller investigates the role religion played in the family, village, tribe, and nation-state of ancient Israel. He situates Israel's religion in context where a variety of social forces affected beliefs, and where popular cults openly competed with the "official" religion. He makes extensive use of both epigraphic and artifactual...

In this volume, Norman Gottwald reconstructs the politics of ancient Israel within the larger political environment of the ancient Near East. He questions the prevailing view that the Hebrew Bible, supported by archeological evidence when necessary, should be the primary source to diagram the evolution of Israel's political history. Along with...