The Hebrew Bible

Discover the historical and social context of one of the most influential works ever written with this authoritative new resource.

The newly revised second edition of The Hebrew Bible: A Contemporary Introduction to the Christian Old Testament and Jewish Tanakh delivers a brief and up-to-date introduction to the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament in the broader context of world history. Its treatment of the formation of the Bible amidst different historical periods allows readers to understand the biblical texts in context. It also introduces readers to scholarly methods used to explore the formation of the Hebrew Bible and its later interpretation by Jews and Christians.

Written by a leading scholar in the field, this new edition incorporates the most recent research on the archaeology and history of early Israel, the formation of the Pentateuch, and the development of the historical and poetic books. Students will benefit from the inclusion of study questions in each chapter, focus texts from the Bible that illustrate major points, timelines, illustrations, photographs, and a glossary to help them retain knowledge.

The book also includes:

• A deepened and up-to-date focus on recent methods of biblical study, including trauma studies, African American, womanist, and ecocritical approaches to the Bible.
• An orientation to multiple bibles, translations, and digital resources for study of the Bible.
• An exploration of the emergence of ancient Israel, its first oral traditions, and its earliest writings.
• Discussions of how major features of the Bible reflect communal experiences of trauma and resilience as Israel survived under successive empires of the Ancient Near East.
• Fuller treatment of the final formation of biblical books in early Judaism, including coverage of diverse early Jewish texts (e.g. Ben Sira, Enoch, Judith) that were revered as scripture before there were more clearly defined Jewish and Christian Bibles.

Designed for students of seminary courses and undergraduate students taking an introduction to the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, this second edition of The Hebrew Bible also will interest general readers with an interest in the formation of the Bible.