Don C. Benjamin - Böcker

The Oxford Handbook of Deuteronomy is a gateway to what legal traditions teach about the cultural identity and social world of the people of YHWH -- how they thought about themselves, and about their world and how they faced and resolved the challenges of daily life. More than a record of values of a by-gone era, Deuteronomy continues to inspire audiences to take on the challenges of living their values with confidence. The Oxford Handbook of Deuteronomy introduces readers to significant topics in the thriving conversation and the rich diversity in the academic community studying Deuteronomy. An international collection of scholars, the contributors are specialists in a variety of critical methods for understanding and appreciating legal traditions. Considering the literary development, motifs, social world, intertextuality, and reception history of Deuteronomy this Handbook offers a ready reference to anyone wishing to learn more about one of the most formative books of the Hebrew Bible.

Getting a fix on the social context of the Hebrew Bible is imperative for anyone reconstructing either the "story" of the text or the "history" behind the text. Resources in this area often prove overspecialized and arcane, and can require highly sophisticated skills in cultural anthropology or Semitic languages just to read the table of contents. Social World of Ancient Israel, 1250-587 BCE offers those interested in learning about the biblical world a more user-friendly framework for viewing the broader picture; at the same time it relies upon the latest methodologies of cultural anthropology and biblical analysis in its presentation. Painting a picture in broad but precise strokes, the authors portray the landscape of ancient Israel in new and exciting colors that expert and student alike will appreciate.Social World of Ancient Israel takes a unique look at the most prominent social institutions of the world of early Israel and the period of the monarchy, and then shows how properly understanding these social institutions is essential for sound biblical interpretation. Immersing the reader into five major areas of daily life in antiquity--politics, economics, diplomacy, law, and education--Matthews and Benjamin explore the ways in which knowing how "players" function in these institutions, such as "father/mother," "prophet/wise one," "host/stranger," can shape our understanding of earliest Israel. Perhaps most significantly, the book gently exposes the inefficiency of past anthropological models for interpreting the relationships, attitudes and social conventions of earliest Israel. Its corrective insights will enable scholar and student alike to plot new approaches for studying the Hebrew Bible and the ancient people of Israel.

An exploration of the parallels between Old Testament texts and contemporary writings from Mesopotamia, Egypt, and elsewhere in the Middle East. The fifth edition expands on the first four with additional texts.Don Benjamin and Victor Matthews have been working in the field of Old Testament scholarship for almost forty years. Matthews is dean of the College of Humanities and Public Affairs at Missouri State University, and Don Benjamin teaches biblical and Near Eastern studies at Arizona State University.†