The Bible and the Ancient Near East: Collected Essays

by J. J. M. Roberts

Overview

Presented in this volume is a collection of the shorter writings of one of the more innovative scholars working on the relationship between the writings of the Hebrew Bible and its ancient Near East context. Topics include: ANE environment, literature of the ANE, myth versus history, Nebuchadnezzar I’s Elamite crisis, Job and the Israelite religious tradition, motif of the weeping God in Jeremiah, lament tradition in ANE, the hand of Yahweh, and whether God lies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781575060668
Publisher:	Penn State University Press
Publication date:	06/30/2002
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	440
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.22(d)

Table of Contents

Part 1 Fundamental Issues

The Ancient Near Eastern Environment

The Bible and the Literature of the Ancient Near East

Myth versus History: Relaying the Comparative Foundations

Divine Freedom and Cultic Manipulation in Israel and Mesopotamia

Nebuchadnezzar I’s Elamite Crisis in Theological Perspective

Part 2 Themes and Motifs

The Hand of Yahweh

A New Parallel to 1 Kings 18:28–29

The King of Glory

Job and the Israelite Religious Tradition

Job’s Summons to Yahweh: The Exploitation of a Legal Metaphor

Does God Lie? Divine Deceit as a Theological Problem in Israelite Prophetic Literature

The Motif of the Weeping God in Jeremiah and Its Background in the Lament Tradition of the Ancient Near East

Whose Child Is This? Reflections on the Speaking Voice in Isaiah 9:5

The Mari Prophetic Texts in Transliteration and English Translation

Part 3 Solving Difficult Problems

New Readings of Old Texts

A New Root for an Old Crux, Psalm 22:17c

The Young Lions of Psalm 34:11

The Religio-political Setting of Psalm 47

Of Signs, Prophets, and Time Limits: A Note on Psalm 74:9

Blindfolding the Prophet: Political Resistance to First Isaiah’s Oracles in the Light of Ancient Near Eastern Attitudes toward Oracles

Yahweh’s Foundation in Zion (Isaiah 28:16)

Part 4 Kingship and Messiah

The Davidic Origin of the Zion Tradition

Zion in the Theology of the Davidic-Solomonic Empire

The Divine King and the Human Community in Isaiah’s Vision of the Future

In Defense of the Monarchy: The Contribution of Israelite Kingship to Biblical Theology

The Old Testament’s Contribution to Messianic Expectations

Part 5 Interpreting Prophecy

Historical-Critical Method, Theology, and Contemporary Exegesis

A Christian Perspective on Prophetic Prediction