Hear O Heavens And Listen O Earth

2007 Catholic Press Association Award Winner! In Hear, O Heavens and Listen, O Earth, Joan E. Cook guides students of theology, Scripture, and ministry in reading the prophetic books according to the current methodologies for biblical study. She encourages readers to apply the messages of the prophets to contemporary religious and social concerns. Cook focuses on how to read the Old Testament books of the prophets and addresses the pastoral implications. The study proceeds chronologically and biblical quotations and references are based on the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible. Cook encourages students to engage the biblical text and suggests points for reflection and questions for thought and action based on each of the prophetic books. Chapters are Introductory Topics, The Early Prophets, The Eighth Century Prophets in the Northern Kingdom, The Seventh Century Prophets Zephaniah, Nahum, and Habakkuk, Jeremiah, Lamentations, and Baruch, Ezekiel and Obadiah, Exile: Isaiah of Babylon, The Second Temple Period: Third Isaiah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, Joel and Jonah, and Conclusion. Joan E. Cook, SC, teaches Scripture at Georgetown University. She is the author of Hannah's Desire, God's Design: Early Interpretation of the Story of Hannah as well as numerous articles on biblical women and biblical prayer.

Meet the Isaiah you never knew. Isaiah Speaks connects this famous prophet to such concerns of modern life as Islam and world religions, family conflicts, worship, and globalization. Whether the topic is modern string theory, current per capita wine consumption, or angel sex, Isaiah has insights to offer. Into a world of religious turmoil, political intrigue, and personal searching, Isaiah brought a message of both judgment and hope. In this book, grounded in biblical and historical research, he does it again. Discussion questions, reflection exercises, and prayers help the modern reader integrate prophetic insights into daily life and faith. Get to know Isaiah better either through using this book for devotional study or for lively conversation with others. Isaiah awaits.

The first translation into English of all the extant Targums, together with introductions and annotations. Each volume examines the place of a particular Targum or group of Targums in Jewish life, liturgy and biblical interpretation. Each Targum is evaluated in the light of Jewish tradition and of modern linguistic and biblical research. The notes point to parallel passages in other Jewish and Christian biblical and liturgical texts. Each translated Targum has its own apparatus indicating the relationship between the English translation and the Aramaic original and every volume has a useful bibliography.

This book examines Torah and its interpretation both as a recurring theme in the early rabbinic commentary and as the very practice of the commentary. It studies the phenomenon of ancient rabbinic scriptural commentary in relation to the perspectives of literary and historical criticisms and their complex intersection. The author discusses extensively the nature of ancient commentary, comparing and contrasting it with the antecedents in the pesharim of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the allegorical commentaries of Philo of Alexandria. He develops a model for a dynamic understanding of the literary structure and sociohistorical function of early rabbinic commentary, and then applies this model to the Sifre — to the oldest extant running commentary to Deuteronomy and one of the oldest rabbinic collections of exegesis. Fraade examines the commentary's representation of revelation and its reception at Mt. Sinai, with particular attention to its fractured refiguration and interrelation of Scripture, tradition, and history. He discusses the commentary's discursive empowering of the class of sages in their collective self-understanding as Israel's authorized teachers, leaders, legislators, and judges. The author also probes the tension between Torah and nature as witnesses to Israel's covenant with God.

Given that Pope Francis is a popular global religious leader, and in the light of the lessons drawn from the nature, meaning, and functions of Israel's prophets, this tripartite work historically, pastorally, and theologically examines whether, and how Francis' teaching, visits, outreach to the poor, preaching, and recent biblically based writings (Lumen Fidei, Evangelii Gaudium, Amoris Laetitia, Laudato Si', Gaudete et Exsultate, Letters, and Messages) have had any prophetic effects or impact on contemporary society.