This Companion offers a concise and engaging introduction to the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament. Providing an up-to-date 'snapshot' of scholarship, it includes essays, specially commissioned for this volume, by twenty-three leading scholars. The volume examines a range of topics, including the historical and religious contexts for the contents of the biblical canon, and critical approaches and methods, as well as newer topics such as the Hebrew Bible in Islam, Western art and literature, and contemporary politics. This Companion is an excellent resource for students at university and graduate level, as well as for laypeople and scholars in other fields who would like to gain an understanding of the current state of the academic discussion. The book does not presume prior knowledge, nor does it engage in highly technical discussions, but it does go into greater detail than a typical introductory textbook.
Part I. Text and Canon: 1. Texts, titles, and translations James C. VanderKam; 2. Collections, canons, and communities Stephen B. Chapman; Part II. Historical Background: 3. The ancient Near Eastern context Kenton L. Sparks; 4. The history of Israelite religion Brent A. Strawn; 5. The Hebrew Bible and history Marc Zvi Brettler; Part III. Methods and Approaches: 6. Historical-critical methods John J. Collins; 7. Social science models Victor H. Matthews; 8. Literary approaches to the Hebrew Bible Adele Berlin; Part IV. Subcollections and Genres: 9. The Pentateuch and Israelite law Thomas B. Dozeman; 10. The former prophets and historiography Richard D. Nelson; 11. The latter prophets and prophecy Marvin A. Sweeney; 12. The Psalms and Hebrew poetry William P. Brown; 13. Wisdom Samuel E. Balentine; 14. Late historical books and rewritten history Ehud Ben Zvi; 15. The biblical short story Lawrence M. Wills; 16. Apocalyptic writings Stephen L. Cook; 17. Deuterocanonical/apocryphal books Sharon Pace; Part V. Reception and Use: 18. The Hebrew Bible in Judaism Frederick E. Greenspahn; 19. The Old Testament in Christianity R. W. L. Moberly; 20. The Hebrew Bible in Islam Walid A. Saleh; 21. The Hebrew Bible in art and literature David Lyle Jeffrey; 22. The Old Testament in public: the Ten Commandments, evolution, and Sabbath closing laws Nancy J. Duff; 23. The theology of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament John Goldingay.
