Sources of the Old Testament

The Very Revd. James E. Atwell, Dean Emeritus of Winchester, was educated at Oxford and Harvard. Alongside pursuit of his scholarly interest in the Old Testament he served in the Church of England for half a century as university chaplain, parish priest and cathedral dean. He died in 2020, shortly after completing the manuscript for this book.

This kind of project is certainly much needed. I am so glad to see this work take seriously the objective of showing how knowledge of the ancient Near Eastern background can deepen and enrich a believer's appreciation of Biblical traditions. The piece is gracefully written, offering numerous insights, evocative images and lucid prose. The many learned observations here are expressed intelligently and should prove accessible to a well-educated lay audience. Professor Carolyn Sharp, Yale Divinity School

• Introduction; Part 1; Surveying the Scene: The Broad Horizon; Three Classic Pictures of Ordering; The Significance of the Status Quo; Part 2; The Three Sources: Tent - The Patriarchs; The Mosaic Era; Living at the Boundary; Temple - Temple Liturgy; The Kingdom of God; Davidic Monarchy; Tutor - Identifying Wisdom and Wisdom's Transmission; The Books of Proverbs, Job and Ecclesiastes; Order's Spokesman; Wisdom's Wider Influence; The Old Testament to the Hebrew Scriptures; Conclusion: Hebrew Monotheism; Chronology; Map; Index