Books published by Society of Biblical Literature

This volume offers a rich collection of essays by distinguished Assyriologists and biblicists on the social, intellectual, and literary setting of Mesopotamian wisdom; on specific wisdom texts; and on key themes common to both Mesopotamian and biblical culture.

"Paperback edition is available from the Society of Biblical Literature (www.sbl-site.org)"

This book makes available for the first time in English important works by the anti-Chalcedonian historian and biographer John Rufus on Peter the Iberian, Theodosius of Jerusalem, and Abba Romanus, three key figures of the Christian history of Palestine in the fifth and early sixth centuries C.E.

This first volume in The Bible in American Culture series published to celebrate the Society of Biblical Literature's centennial focuses on the translation of the Bible done in the United States by committees, individuals, and religious communities through the twentieth century. Some attention is given to the Bible in religious movements that began in the United States such as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

This volume investigates practices by which the Qumran community constituted itself as a sectarian society by reconstructing the identity of its members. Drawing on discourse and practice theory, the book analyzes the function of the Serek ha-Yahad and the Hodoyot in identity formation.

The Hebrew narrative art achieves its highest level in the stories of Saul, David, and Solomon. But beyond that, the description of these all-too-human characters and the dramatic events of the birth of the Israelite state depicts a change of eras that became determinative for half a millennium of Israelite history. In this volume Dietrich introduces readers to the stories of the early Israelite state from a variety of perspectives: literary-critical, historical, and theological. In a concluding chapter Dietrich revisits the stories of Saul, David, and Solomon to explore what they teach about theological issues of enduring significance, what they teach about God, humanity, the state, the use of force, and the relationship between women and men.