An Introduction to the Old Testament: Sacred Texts and Imperial Contexts of the Hebrew Bible

List of Maps viii

List of Boxes ix

Preface xii

Acknowledgments xiv

List of Abbreviations xvi

Overview of the Historical Period xvii

Timeline xviii

Prologue: Orientation to Multiple Bibles and Multiple Translations 1

1 Studying the Bible in Its Ancient Context(s) 15

2 The Emergence of Ancient Israel and Its First Oral Traditions 33

3 The Emergence of the Monarchy and Royal and Zion Texts 53

4 Echoes of Past Empires in Biblical Wisdom, Love Poetry, Law, and Narrative 71

5 Narrative and Prophecy amidst the Rise and Fall of the Northern Kingdom 91

6 Micah, Isaiah, and the Southern Prophetic Encounter with Assyria 115

7 Torah and History in the Wake of the Assyrian Empire 131

8 Prophecy in the Transition from Assyrian to Babylonian Domination 153

9 Laments, History, and Prophecies after the Destruction of Jerusalem 165

10 The Pentateuch and the Exile 187

11 The Torah, the Psalms, and the Persian-Sponsored Rebuilding of Judah 207

12 Other Texts Formed in the Crucible of Post-Exilic Rebuilding 229

13 Hellenistic Empires and the Formation of the Hebrew Bible 245

Glossary 264

Index 273