The Unity Of The Hebrew Bible

This unique approach to the compilation of Hebrew Scripture will affect the way it is read and understood

'Return to me', declares Yhwh of Hosts, 'and I will return to you', declares Yhwh of Hosts. The sentence stands at the head of the prophecy of Zechariah. But what does it mean to 'return to Yhwh'? And what does it mean that Yhwh 'will return to you'? LeCureux argues that it is this call to repentance, and Yhwh's responses to it, that form the unifying and organizing theme of return for the Book of the Twelve. While studies on the development and composition of the Twelve have proved fruitful in recent years, this book attempts to expand on those works by looking closely at the final form of the Twelve, particularly of its opening and closing books and the role that canonical position and theme play within the Book. This project begins by defining the function of theme in biblical books, and then compares the role theme plays in Isaiah with its role in the Twelve, before engaging in the primary task of exegesis.

Until the late 1960s the scholarly consensus was that Chronicles-Ezra-Nehemiah was a single, unified literary work. Then arguments began to be mounted for treating Chronicles as a distinct composition, and the majority of scholars were swayed by these arguments, though others retained the older consensus view. In recent years, some scholars have begun to suggest that Ezra and Nehemiah are distinct literary entities. This new debate is the occasion for the present volume. Here scholars from around the globe (Canada, Finland, Germany, Guatemala, Israel, Korea, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States) showcase current scholarly explanations for the final shape of this literary complex known as Ezra-Nehemiah. Fourteen scholars present their approach to the unity or disunity of this literature employing research methodologies that range from the diachronic to the synchronic. Critical responses to this emerging research are provided by three reviewers (Joseph Blenkinsopp, Tamara Eskenazi and Hugh Williamson) whose work laid the foundation in earlier decades for much of the discussion today. The result is a rich conversation which provides an enlightening resource for the study of these biblical books in particular as well as for reflection on the impact of one's interpretive framework on the study of ancient literature in general.

Christian theologians rarely study the Old Testament in its final Hebrew canonical form, even though this was very likely the Bible used by Jesus and the early church. However, once read as a whole, the larger structure of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) provides a "wide-angle lens" through which its contents can be viewed. In this stimulating New Studies in Biblical Theology volume, Stephen G. Dempster argues that, despite its undoubted literary diversity, the Hebrew Bible possesses a remarkable structural and conceptual unity. The various genres and books are placed within a comprehensive narrative framework which provides an overarching literary and historical context. The many texts contribute to this larger text, and find their meaning and significance within its story of "dominion and dynasty," which ranges from Adam to the Son of Man, from David to the coming Davidic king. Addressing key issues in biblical theology, the works comprising New Studies in Biblical Theology are creative attempts to help Christians better understand their Bibles. The NSBT series is edited by D. A. Carson, aiming to simultaneously instruct and to edify, to interact with current scholarship and to point the way ahead.

This landmark work represents an imaginative and important new analysis of the basic development of the Scriptures through the centuries. Christensen explores the overall unity of the entire Bible, not just as a collection of sixty-six or seventy-two individual books, nor just as the Old and New Testaments, but as a single literary work that comprises today’s Christian Bible. He shows how it emerged over the course of centuries in distinct stages. The Hebrew Scriptures or Old Testament developed in three steps from the formation of the Pentateuch and Prophets that took place up to the time of Josiah in the seventh century B.C.E., followed by the production of the Deuteronomic Canon during and following the Exile, and then the completion of the whole Hebrew Canon as we now have it. This was followed by a second major phase – the development of the Apostolic writings to be added to the First Testament as a Second (or New) Testament. After tracing the growth of the Bible in these stages, Christensen examines the structure and literary art of each major section from the Pentateuch (Torah) to the New Testament.

In this collection more than twenty student essays and papers are brought together to celebrate the legacy of the Hebrew Bible. Within such diverse disciplines as art, literature, philosophical thought, gender studies, prophecy, the nature of God, mysticism, and the unimaginable domains of the American Frontier and The Jerry Springer Show, the students of Central Washington University have revealed that the sacred literature of the Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament in Christian tradition, has not only imparted its wisdom on the western world of past centuries, but is still a vibrant source of inspiration and knowledge speaking to those within contemporary society.

An independent student of the Bible based in Connecticut, Reis offers insight on 11 passages of the Old Testament. Among them are the utility of the wife/sister motif, the bridegroom of blood, Jephthah's daughter, Saul and the witch of Endor, and women's agency and the rape of Tamar. Annotation c. B