The Hebrew Bible: New Insights and Scholarship
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In April of 2001, the headline in the Los Angeles Times read, 'Doubting the Story of the Exodus.' It covered a sermon that had been delivered by the rabbi of a prominent local congregation over the holiday of Passover. In it, he said, 'The truth is that virtually every modern archeologist who has investigated the story of the exodus, with very few exceptions, agrees that the way the Bible describes the exodus is not the way it happened, if it happened at all.' This seeming challenge to the biblical story captivated the local public. Yet as the rabbi himself acknowledged, his sermon contained nothing new. The theories that he described had been common knowledge among biblical scholars for over thirty years, though few people outside of the profession know their relevance.New understandings concerning the Bible have not filtered down beyond specialists in university settings. There is a need to communicate this research to a wider public of students and educated readers outside of the academy. This volume seeks to meet this need, with accessible and engaging chapters describing how archeology, theology, ancient studies, literary studies, feminist studies, and other disciplines now understand the Bible.
Abbreviations ixPreface xiThe Bible and HistoryIsrael Without the Bible Gary A. Rendsburg 3Bible, Archaeology, and the Social Sciences: The Next Generation Elizabeth Bloch-Smith 24New Approaches to the BibleLiterary Approaches to Biblical Literature: General Observations and a Case Study of Genesis 34 Adele Berlin 45Feminist Approaches to the Hebrew Bible Esther Fuchs 76Ancient PracticeThe Laws of Biblical Israel Raymond Westbrook 99The Study of Ritual in the Hebrew Bible David P. Wright 120Judaism and the BibleBy the Letter?/Word for Word? Scripture in the Jewish Tradition Leonard Greenspoon 141From Judaism to Biblical Religion and Back Again Ziony Zevit 164Jewish Biblical Theology Marvin A. Sweeney 191Epilogue: Let a Hundred Flowers Bloom: Some Reflections on Reading and Studying the Hebrew Bible Peter Machinist 209About the Contributors 219Index 221Index of Biblical Passages 227
