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The Old Testament

A Historical and Literary Introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures

Fourth Edition

Michael D. Coogan and Cynthia R. Chapman

Publication Date - 03 July 2017

ISBN: 9780190608651

608 pages
Paperback
7-1/2 x 9-1/4 inches

In Stock

The best-selling and most reasonably priced full introduction to the Old Testament

Description
New to this Edition
Book Information ▼
Table of Contents

Description

Lucidly written by leading biblical scholars Michael D. Coogan and Cynthia R. Chapman, this balanced, engaging, and up-to-date introduction to the Hebrew scriptures distills the best of current scholarship. Employing the narrative chronology of the Bible itself and the history of the ancient Near East as a framework, Coogan and Chapman cover all the books of the Hebrew Bible, along with the deuterocanonical books included in the Bible used by many Christians. They work from a primarily historical and critical methodology but also introduce students to literary analysis and other interpretive strategies.

FEATURES

* Chapter pedagogy includes chapter previews and summaries, key terms, a glossary, questions for review and discussion, and suggestions for further reading

* Two introductory chapters--one on the composition of the Old Testament and one on the history and geography of the ancient Near East and how it influenced the Hebrew Bible--provide students with the context necessary to analyze the biblical texts

* Strategically placed text boxes address issues that often puzzle readers of the Bible, provide models of interpretation of particular texts, and discuss their significance for Judaism and Christianity

* A strong visual program includes charts, photographs, line drawings, maps, and a color insert on Jerusalem in biblical times

A FREE 6-month subscription to Oxford Biblical Studies Online (www.oxfordbiblicalstudies.com)--a $180 value--is included with the purchase of every new copy of the text.

New to this Edition

A new coauthor, Cynthia R. Chapman, adds her expertise and updated scholarship to this trusted text
Discussions of women are more fully integrated into larger contexts rather than treated in separate sections
New boxes on gender theory, homosexuality, postcolonial criticism, and queer criticism introduce students to some new approaches to the study of the Bible
A rearranged set of final chapters now presents separate chapters on wisdom literature and postexilic novellas, including Ruth
A reduced emphasis on the Documentary Hypothesis reflects the current state of biblical scholarship
An entirely rewritten Chapter 2, The Promised Land, uses broad strokes to outline key historical events that contributed to the formation and final shape of the Old Testament

About the Author(s)
Reviews

About the Author(s)

Michael D. Coogan is Lecturer on the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible at the Harvard Divinity School and Director of Publications for the Harvard Semitic Museum. He is the author of A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament, Third Edition (2015), A Reader of Ancient Near Eastern Texts (2012), and The Old Testament: A Very Short Introduction (2008), all published by Oxford University Press.

Cynthia R. Chapman is the Adelia A.F. Johnston and Harry Thomas Frank Associate Professor of Religion at Oberlin College, where she has taught biblical studies for twelve years. She is the author of The House of the Mother: The Social Function of Maternal Kin in Biblical Hebrew Narrative and Poetry (2016) and The Gendered Language of Warfare in the Israelite-Assyrian Encounter (2004).

Reviews

"Michael D. Coogan's The Old Testament is a comprehensive and thoughtful introduction to the body of knowledge generated by over a century of Biblical scholarship. This book lucidly and carefully introduces undergraduate students to new ways of studying a very old book, and to the fascinating and contentious field of professional Biblical scholarship."--Vickie Larsen, University of Michigan, Flint

"This is a top-quality book in all ways: great scholarship, great graphics, and careful attention to detail."--Timothy Dwyer, Roberts Wesleyan College

"The Old Testament is an excellent book for both professors and students. Coogan is thorough in his scope and economical in his prose, making complicated issues understandable for students of various levels."--Jason Gaines, Fairfield University and Mount Holyoke College

*=New to this Edition

Preface

Abbreviations

Credits

PART ONE. INTRODUCTORY

1. What is the Old Testament?

Box 1.1 Chapter and Verse

Box 1.2 The Dead Sea Scrolls

Box 1.3 The Canons of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament

2. The Promised Land: Geography, History, and Importance

Box 2.1 The Land of Israel in Jewish and Christian Tradition

PART TWO. COSMIC ORIGINS

3. Creations (Genesis 1-3 )

Box 3.1 Genesis and Science

Box 3.2 The Sabbath in Jewish and Christian Traditions

Box 3.3 Myth and the

Bible

Box 3.4 The Garden of Eden

Box 3.5 "God" and "the LORD (God)"

Box 3.6 Adam and Eve in Later Traditions

4. The Formation of the Pentateuch

Box 4.1 The Documentary Hypothesis at Work

5. Primeval History (Genesis 4-11)

Box 5.1 Cain and Abel

Box 5.2 Noah's Drunkenness

Box 5.3 The Sons of God

Box 5.4 The Tower of Babel

Box 5.5 The Table of

Nations

Box 5.6 Enoch

PART THREE. NATIONAL ORIGINS

6. The Ancestors of Israel (Genesis 12-50)

Box 6.1 Abram and Abraham, Sarai and Sarah

Box 6.2 The Binding of Isaac

Box 6.3 Circumcision

Box 6.4 The Sin of Sodom

Box 6.5 The Ugaritic Texts

Box 6.6 Abraham, Father of Believers

7. Escape from Egypt (Exodus 1-5)

Box 7.1 Hebrew and Hebrews

Box 7.2 Legends of Rescue

Box 7.3 The

Meaning of the Divine Name Yahweh

Box 7.4 The Hardening of Pharaoh's Heart

Box 7.5 The Development of the Passover Celebration

8. From Egypt to Sinai (Exodus 16-20, 24)

Box 8.1 Manna

Box 8.2 The Location of Sinai

Box 8.3 Excerpts from a Hittite Suzerainty Treaty

Box 8.4 The Status and Numbering of the Ten Commandments

9. Law and Ritual (Exodus 20.22-23.33 and 25-40)

Box 9.1 Excerpt from the Code of Hammurapi

Box 9.2 "An

Eye for an Eye"

Box 9.3 "Forty Days and Forty Nights"

Box 9.4 An Ancient Hebrew Agricultural Calendar

10. Ritual and Holiness (Leviticus)

* Box 10.2 Same-Sex Relationships

Box 10.3 Capital Punishment

11. In the Wilderness (Numbers)

Box 11.1 The Rebellions of the Israelites in Christian and Muslim Scriptures

Box 11.2 Miriam

Box 11.3 The Amalekites

Box 11.4 Excerpt from the Deir Alla Texts

12. The End of the Journey to the Promised Land (Deuteronomy)

Box 12.1 The Shema

Box 12.2 Parallel Curses in the Treaties of Esar-haddon and in Deuteronomy

Box 12.3 The

Meanings of "Torah"

13. Joshua and the Conquest of the Land of Canaan (Joshua)

Box 13.1 Parallels Between Deuteronomy 27 and Joshua 8

Box 13.2 Shechem in Biblical Tradition

Box 13.3 Circumcision a Second Time?

14. The Emergence of Israel in the Land of Canaan (Judges and Ruth)

Box 14.1 The Judges of Israel in the Book of Judges

Box 14.2 The Moabites and the Ammonites

Box 14.3 The Song of Deborah

Box 14.4 The Philistines

PART FOUR. KINGS AND PROPHETS

15. The Establishment

of the Monarchy (1 Samuel)

Box 15.1 Samuel in Other Traditions

Box 15.2 Positive Assessments of Saul

16. The Reign of David (2 Samuel, 1 Kings 1-2, and Psalm 132)

2 Samuel

Box 16.1 Jerusalem

Box 16.2 David as Poet

Box 16.3 Psalm 132

17. The Reign of Solomon (1 Kings 1-11 and Psalm 89)

Box 17.1 Solomon in Later Tradition

Box 17.2 The Royal Psalms

Box 17.3 The Psalms of Zion

Box 17.4 The Royal Ideology in Later Traditions

18. The Divided Kingdoms of Israel and Judah from the Late Tenth to the Early Eighth Centuries BCE

(1 Kings 12-2 Kings 14 with an Introduction to Prophecy)

Box 18.1 Chronology of the Late Tenth to the Mid-eighth Centuries BCE

Box 18.2 An Ancient Mesopotamian Prophecy

Box 18.3 Prophets in Later Traditions

Box 18.4 Elijah in Later Traditions

19. The Northern Kingdom of Israel in the Eighth Century BCE (2 Kings 14-17, Amos, and Hosea)

History

Box 19.1 Chronology of the Eighth Century BCE

Box 19.2 The Day of the Lord

Box 19.3 Prophetic Attacks on Rituals

Box 19.4 Marriage in Ancient Israel

20. The Kingdom of

Judah in the Eighth and Early Seventh Centuries BCE (2 Kings 15-20, 2 Chronicles 29-32, Isaiah 1-39, and Micah)

Box 20.1 Chronology of the Eighth and Seventh Centuries BCE

Box 20.2 Isaiah in Later Traditions

Box 20.3 The Identification of Immanuel

Box 20.4 Sennacherib's Third Campaign (701 BCE) According to the Assyrian Annals

Box 20.5 Hezekiah's Tunnel

Box 20.6 The King From Bethlehem

21. Judah in the Seventh Century BCE: The End of Assyrian Domination (2 Kings 21-23, 2 Chronicles 33-35, Zephaniah, Nahum, and the Prayer of Manasseh)

Box 21.1 Chronology of the

Seventh Century BCE

Box 21.2 Ashurbanipal's Library

Box 21.3 Megiddo and Armageddon

22. The Fall of Jerusalem (2 Kings 23.31-25.30, 2 Chronicles 36, Habakkuk, Jeremiah, and the Letter of

Jeremiah)

Box 22.1 Chronology of the Late Seventh and Early Sixth Centuries BCE

Box 22.2 Throne Names of Kings of Judah

Box 22.3 Jeremiah and the Lost Ark

Box 22.4 Parallels Between Psalms and Jeremiah's Confessions

Box 22.5 Jeremiah and the History of Bookmaking

PART FIVE. EXILE AND RETURN

23. After the Fall: Jews in Judah and

Babylon (Lamentations, Psalm 137, Obadiah, and Ezekiel)

Box 23.1 Acrostic Poems

Box 23.2 Nebuchadrezzar's Wonders

Box 23.3 Yahweh as a Violent Husband

Box 23.4 Leadership in the Restored Community

24. Return From Exile (Ezra 1-2 and Isaiah 34-35 and 40-55)

Box 24.1 Chronology of the Sixth Century BCE

Box 24.2 The Development of Monotheism

Box 24.3 Female Images of God

PART SIX. RECONSTRUCTION, CONSOLIDATION, AND CHALLENGE

25. The Early Restoration (Ezra 3-6, 1 Esdras, Haggai, Zechariah 1-8, and Isaiah 56-66)

Box 25.1 Chronology of the Late Sixth Century BCE

Box 25.2 Aramaic

Box 25.3 The Books of Esdras

26. Judah in the Fifth Century BCE (Ezra 7-10, Nehemiah, Isaiah 24-27, Zechariah 9-14, Joel, Malachi, and 2 Esdras)

Box 26.1 Chronology of the Late Sixth to the Late Fourth Centuries BCE

Box 26.2 The Elephantine Papyri

Box 26.3 Second Esdras

27. Retelling the Story of David (1-2 Chronicles and Psalms)

Box 27.1 Samaria and the Samaritans

Box 27.2 The Arrangement of the Genealogies of the Sons of Jacob (The Tribes of Israel) in Chronicles

Box 27.3 Comparison of 2 Samuel 24.1-9 and 1 Chronicles 21.1-7

Box 27.4 Parallelism

Box 27.5 The Forms of the Psalms

Box 27.6 Form-Critical Analysis of Psalm 3

PART SEVEN. CONTROVERSY AND CHALLENGE

28. The Wisdom of the Sages: Preservation and Challenge (Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon)

Box 28.1 Ahigar and Proverbs

Box 28.2 The Satan

Box 28.3 "I Know That My

Redeemer Liveth"

Box 28.4 Behemoth and Leviathan

Box 28.5 Job's Wife and Daughters

Box 28.6 Job in Later Traditions

29. Encounters with the Greeks (1-2 Maccabees, Baruch, Sirach, the Wisdom of Solomon, and 4 Maccabees)

Box 29.1 Rulers of Persia and Greece (Sixth to Fourth Centuries BCE)

Box 29.2 Rulers of Egypt and Syria (Third to Second Centuries BCE)

Box 29.3 Chronology of High Priests in Jerusalem and of the Maccabees (Hasmoneans)

Box 29.4 Hanukkah

Box 29.5 Different Views of Immortality in the Hebrew and Greek Texts of Ben Sira

Box 29.6 Contrasts in the Divine Treatment of the Egyptians and the Israelites During the Exodus

Box 29.7 4 Maccabees

30. Heroes in Foreign Lands: Postexilic Literature and Diasporic Identity (Jonah, Ruth, Esther, Judith, Tobit, 3 Maccabees, and Daniel)

Box 30.1 The Festival of Purim

Box 30.2 Widows

Box 30.3 Angels and Demons

Box 30.4 "Son of Man"

Box 30.5 Outline of the Visions of Successive Kingdoms in the Book of Daniel

Chronology

General Bibliography

Glossary

Weights and Measures

Index

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