How to read the Bible / Marc Zvi Brettler.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Brettler, Marc Zvi.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Bible. Old Testament--Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Bible.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (401 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Philadelphia, PA : Jewish Publication Society, 2005.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Master Bible scholar and teacher Marc Brettler argues that today's contemporary readers can only understand the ancient Hebrew Scripture by knowing more about the culture that produced it. And so Brettler unpacks the literary conventions, ideological assumptions, and historical conditions that inform the biblical text and demonstrates how modern critical scholarship and archaeological discoveries shed light on this fascinating and complex literature. Brettler surveys representative biblical texts from different genres to illustrate how modern scholars have taught us to "read" these texts. Using the "historical-critical method" long popular in academia, he guides us in reading the Bible as it was read in the biblical period, independent of later religious norms and interpretive traditions. Understanding the Bible this way lets us appreciate it as an interesting text that speaks in multiple voices on profound issues. This book is the first "Jewishly sensitive" introduction to the historical-critical method. Unlike other introductory texts, the Bible that this book speaks about is the Jewish one--with the three-part TANAKH arrangement, the sequence of books found in modern printed Hebrew editions, and the chapter and verse enumerations used in most modern Jewish versions of the Bible. In an afterword, the author discusses how the historical-critical method can help contemporary Jews relate to the Bible as a religious text in a more meaningful way.

Contents:

Intro

Contents

Preface

Abbreviations

1. Reading as a Jew and as a Scholar

2. What Is the Bible, Anyway?

3. The Art of Reading the Bibl

4. A Brief History of Israel

5. With Scissors and Paste: The Sources of Genesis

6. Creation vs. Creationism: Genesis 1-3 as Myth

7. The Ancestors as Heroes

8. Biblical Law: Codes and Collections

9. Incense Is Offensive to Me: The Cult in Ancient Israel

10. "In the Fortieth Year . . . Moses Addressed the Israelites": Deuteronomy

11. "The Walls Came Tumbling Down": Reading Joshua

12. "May My Lord King David Live Forever": Royal Ideology in Samuel and Judges

13. "For Israel Tore Away from the House of David": Reading Kings

14. Revisionist History: Reading Chronicles

15. Introduction to Prophecy

16. "Let Justice Well Up like Water": Reading Amos

17. "They Shall Beat Their Swords into Plowshares": Reading (First) Isaiah

18. "I Will Make This House like Shiloh": Reading Jeremiah

19. "I Will Be for Them a Mini-Temple": Reading Ezekiel

20. "Comfort, Oh Comfort My People": The Exile and Beyond

21. "Those That Sleep in the Dust . . . Will Awake": Zechariah, Apocalyptic Literature, and Daniel

22. Prayer of Many Hearts: Reading Psalms

23. "Acquire Wisdom": Reading Proverbs and Ecclesiastes

24. "Being But Dust and Ashes": Reading Job

25. "Drink Deep of Love!": Reading Song of Songs

26. "Why Are You So Kind . . . When I Am a Foreigner?": Reading Ruth vs. Esther

27. The Creation of the Bible

Afterword: Reading the Bible as a Committed Jew

Notes

Sources Cited

Index of Subjects

Index of Biblical Passages and Other References.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. 339-360) and indexes.

ISBN:

0-8276-1001-7

OCLC:

647932000