Victor H. Matthews - Böcker

This substantially updated edition of a classroom standard provides students with an accessible introduction to the literature, history, and social context of the Old Testament. Written by two seasoned Old Testament professors, the book pays attention to methodology, archaeology, history, and literary genre and includes illustrations, sidebars, maps, and study questions.

Designed as a supplementary resource for students who have an interest in the ancient Near East and biblical history, this volume provides a basic introduction to the historical, archaeological, and socio-contextual aspects of ancient Israel during its early foundation period through the end of the monarchy in Judah. Victor Matthews integrates extra-biblical information on the physical realities of geo- and super-power politics, international and interregional movement of peoples, and the evolutionary process of complex states in the ancient Near East with information from biblical narratives in order to explore the development of ancient Israelites' identity, cultural traditions, and interactions with other major cultures. In particular, he examines aspects of everyday life in both village culture and urban settings as a key to the development of social, legal, and religious traditions and practices. The History of Bronze and Iron Age Israel features an easy to navigate format, fairly non-technical language, and a series of informative insets that highlights important methodological concepts and comparative material.

Designed as a supplementary resource for students who have an interest in the ancient Near East and biblical history, this volume provides a basic introduction to the historical, archaeological, and socio-contextual aspects of ancient Israel during its early foundation period through the end of the monarchy in Judah. Victor Matthews integrates extra-biblical information on the physical realities of geo- and super-power politics, international and interregional movement of peoples, and the evolutionary process of complex states in the ancient Near East with information from biblical narratives in order to explore the development of ancient Israelites' identity, cultural traditions, and interactions with other major cultures. In particular, he examines aspects of everyday life in both village culture and urban settings as a key to the development of social, legal, and religious traditions and practices. The History of Bronze and Iron Age Israel features an easy to navigate format, fairly non-technical language, and a series of informative insets that highlights important methodological concepts and comparative material.

This commentary brings to life the world portrayed in the stories in Judges and Ruth. The intention is to prepare the reader to understand social norms and customs, such as hospitality codes, marriage customs, inheritance laws, or agricultural practices when they appear in the stories. Having established a cultural and literary context for Judges and Ruth, the commentary then treats each episode separately and as a whole. It is written to be accessible for a wide audience - including clergy, scholars, teachers, seminarians, and interested lay people. A suggested reading list - a feature of all volumes in the New Cambridge Bible Commentary - serves as a point of entry for the new serious students of Judges and Ruth, and the entire NRSV translation is provided throughout the text as a convenience to the reader.

This commentary brings to life the world portrayed in the stories in Judges and Ruth. The intention is to prepare the reader to understand social norms and customs, such as hospitality codes, marriage customs, inheritance laws, or agricultural practices when they appear in the stories. Having established a cultural and literary context for Judges and Ruth, the commentary then treats each episode separately and as a whole. It is written to be accessible for a wide audience - including clergy, scholars, teachers, seminarians, and interested lay people. A suggested reading list - a feature of all volumes in the New Cambridge Bible Commentary - serves as a point of entry for the new serious students of Judges and Ruth, and the entire NRSV translation is provided throughout the text as a convenience to the reader.

This striking new contribution to gender studies demonstrates the essential role of Israelite and Near East law in the historical analysis of gender. The theme of these studies of Babylonian, Hittite, Assyrian, and Israelite law is this: What is the significance of gender in the formulation of ancient law and custom? Feminist scholarship is enriched by these studies in family history and the status of women in antiquity. At the same time, conventional legal history is repositioned, as new and classical texts are interpreted from the vantage point of feminist theory and social history. Papers from SBL Biblical Law Section form the core of this collection.

Grounded in the latest archeological developments, Victor Matthews's A Brief History of Ancient Israel presents a concise history of Israel covering the ancestral period, conquest and settlement, the monarchy, and both the exilic and postexilic periods. Using supplemental figures and insets, the author concentrates on providing a cogent and condensed discussion of events. He examines historical geography, archaeological data, and, where relevant, comparative cultural materials from other ancient Near Eastern civilizations. With an accessible yet high-quality introduction, A Brief History of Ancient Israel will be of immense value to both students of the Old Testament and the scholars who teach them.

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 expert on the world of ancient Israel introduces students to the Hebrew Prophets in this substantially revised and expanded edition of a successful text.

In this new edition of a successful book (over 120,000 copies sold), now updated throughout, a leading expert on the social world of the Bible offers students a reliable guide to the manners and customs of the ancient world. From what people wore, ate, and built to how they exercised justice, mourned, and viewed family and legal customs, this illustrated introduction helps readers gain valuable cultural background on the biblical world. The attractive, full-color, user-friendly design will appeal to students, while numerous pedagogical features--including fifty photos, sidebars, callouts, maps, charts, a glossary of key terms, chapter outlines, and discussion questions--increase classroom utility. Previously published as Manners and Customs in the Bible.

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.†

This substantially updated fourth edition of a classroom standard provides students with an accessible introduction to the literature, history, and social context of the Old Testament.Written by two seasoned Old Testament professors with distinguished careers, this book pays attention to methodology, archaeology, history, and literary genre. The fourth edition brings archaeology up to date with current discoveries and methods and incorporates new insights from current scholarship. This edition has been restructured to increase its usability in one-semester classes on the Old Testament, improving the book's usefulness for instructors. The book also maintains its student-focused orientation, with revisions throughout to increase its readability.The Old Testament: Text and Context is designed to assist students who are encountering the material for the first time. It includes helpful illustrations, sidebars, maps, study questions, and enrichment activities, making it well suited for undergraduate-level Old Testament courses in university and college settings.

The Old Testament was not written in a vacuum. It was written by and to a specific people who lived within specific social, historical, political, and literary contexts not only of their own culture but also of the surrounding peoples. Clearly, an understanding of ancient Israel and the ancient Near East is essential for proper interpretation of the Bible.Unfortunately, as readers seek this kind of understanding, they are confronted with a variety of competing opinions and methods regarding the culture, history, sociology, and geography of the biblical story. Does archaeology "prove" the Bible? Is the Bible history, and if so, what kind? How should the Old Testament be approached as literature? These and other questions are addressed in 'Studying the Ancient Israelites', which provides a guide to the tools, methods, and goals of the study of ancient Israel. The book also examines the insights that can be gained from geography, archaeology, literary study, sociology, and historiography as well as the limitations of each of these disciplines. Here is an excellent text for Old Testament study.In 'Studying the Ancient Israelites', a seasoned professor uses accessible writing and an inviting page design to introduce students and serious readers to the foundations of our understanding of the people of the Old Testament.