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An analysis showing how the cultural milieu in which the Ancient Israelites read the Scriptures reveals new insights into the significance of the texts.
Suggesting new ways to read Old Testament narrative and giving reasons why we should, Esler, with the aid of Mediterranean anthropology, sets out an approach that helps us to interpret a selection of narratives with a cultural understanding close to that of an ancient Israelite. Interpreted in this way, these narratives allow us to refresh the memory that links us with pivotal stories in Jewish and Christian identities and how they foster our capacity for intercultural understanding.
Suggesting new ways to read Old Testament narrative and giving reasons why we should, Esler, with the aid of Mediterranean anthropology, sets out an approach that helps us to interpret a selection of narratives with a cultural understanding close to that of an ancient Israelite. Interpreted in this way, these narratives allow us to refresh the memory that links us with pivotal stories in Jewish and Christian identities and how they foster our capacity for intercultural understanding.
Price: $39.95
Pages: 420
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Inc.
Imprint: James Clarke
Publication Date:
27 September 2012
Trim Size: 9.02 X 5.98 in
ISBN: 9780227679913
Format: Paperback
...Esler has written an excellent and refreshing work that I highly recommend.
— Walter Vogels
Philip Esler has done much to make biblical scholars aware of social-scientific approaches. In this book he brings this perspective to a reading of Old Testament narrative texts, showing just how much social science can illuminate the Bible. The stories of wives, warriors, kings, and madmen are here read against the backdrop of the real society in which they were first told, and so become three-dimensional to the modern reader.
— John Barton, Oriel and Laing Professor of the Interpretation of the Holy Scripture, Oxford University
Each study is fascinating and thought-provoking: social context insights at their most perceptive ...
— Richard Briggs
...a tour de force, often brilliant and original, always illuminating [...] The book is highly recommended to all biblical scholars, including New Testament scholars, particularly to those interested in literary and social-science perspectives. Esler has taken a necessary and sophisticated first step in attempting to bring these discrete approaches together.
— Mark Sneed
— Walter Vogels
Philip Esler has done much to make biblical scholars aware of social-scientific approaches. In this book he brings this perspective to a reading of Old Testament narrative texts, showing just how much social science can illuminate the Bible. The stories of wives, warriors, kings, and madmen are here read against the backdrop of the real society in which they were first told, and so become three-dimensional to the modern reader.
— John Barton, Oriel and Laing Professor of the Interpretation of the Holy Scripture, Oxford University
Each study is fascinating and thought-provoking: social context insights at their most perceptive ...
— Richard Briggs
...a tour de force, often brilliant and original, always illuminating [...] The book is highly recommended to all biblical scholars, including New Testament scholars, particularly to those interested in literary and social-science perspectives. Esler has taken a necessary and sophisticated first step in attempting to bring these discrete approaches together.
— Mark Sneed
Preface
Acknowledgments
1. Reading Old Testament Narrative
2. The Original Context of Old Testament Narrative
Part 1: Wives
Overview
3. Judah and Tamar (Genesis 38)
4. Hannah, Penninah and Elkanah (1 Samuel 1- 2)
Part 2: Warriors
Overview
5. The Madness of Saul, a Warrior-King (1 Samuel 8-31)
6. David and Goliath (1 Samuel 17:1-18:5)
7. David, Banditry and Kingship (1 Samuel 19:1-2 Samuel 5:5)
8. By the Hand of a Woman: Judith the Female Warrior
Part 3: Sex
Overview
9. David, Bathsheba and the Ammonite War (2 Samuel 10-12)
10. Dishonor Avenged: Amnon, Tamar and Absalom (2 Samuel 13)
Epilogue
Bibliography
Author Index
Scripture Index
Acknowledgments
1. Reading Old Testament Narrative
2. The Original Context of Old Testament Narrative
Part 1: Wives
Overview
3. Judah and Tamar (Genesis 38)
4. Hannah, Penninah and Elkanah (1 Samuel 1- 2)
Part 2: Warriors
Overview
5. The Madness of Saul, a Warrior-King (1 Samuel 8-31)
6. David and Goliath (1 Samuel 17:1-18:5)
7. David, Banditry and Kingship (1 Samuel 19:1-2 Samuel 5:5)
8. By the Hand of a Woman: Judith the Female Warrior
Part 3: Sex
Overview
9. David, Bathsheba and the Ammonite War (2 Samuel 10-12)
10. Dishonor Avenged: Amnon, Tamar and Absalom (2 Samuel 13)
Epilogue
Bibliography
Author Index
Scripture Index