Syllabus for Religion 4001/6001: Introduction to the Hebrew Bible

Tuesday and Thursday, 8-9:15am, Beth LaRocca-Pitts, Instructor

Contacting the professor: Dr. LaRocca-Pitts can be reached at mblp@charter.net. Office hours can be arranged by individual appointment. Please e-mail your request and an appointment will be set up for you.

Goals of the course:

To introduce students to the history and literature of the Hebrew Bible

To explore the various methodologies used in the study of the Hebrew Bible

To equip students for further research and exegesis on the Hebrew Bible

Course Requirements:

10% Class participation and attendance

20% Mid-term exam, given in class on Thursday October 4^th.

40% Exegesis Paper (10-15 pages)

Prospectus due Thursday, November 1^stCompleted paper due: Tuesday, November 29th

30% Final exam, TBA December 10^th-14^th

 Attendance is also required at a library orientation on August 23rd at class time.
Please Note: All academic work must meet the standards contained in “A Culture of Honesty.” Students are responsible for informing themselves about those standards before performing any academic work. For more information about academic honesty see: http://www.uga.edu/ovpi/honesty/acadhon.htm. Also, please be aware that the course syllabus is a general plan for the course; deviations announced to the class by the instructor may be necessary.

On class participation, readings, and attendance:

There is a lot of material to cover in this course. There are roughly 2500 years of history to overview. There are many cultures to meet and many types of literature to sample. There are political currents to navigate, theological debates to follow, and methodological tools to acquire. This means that class attendance is vital. If you lose a lecture, you will lose a large chunk of history and course content into the bargain. There is also more material in this course than I can cover in lecture. That’s why there are required readings which you can’t afford not to read. Class attendance and participation are the only ways I can tell if I’m really communicating the material to you or not. This is very important! Do not neglect it or you will fall behind. As you know, once you fall behind, it’s often impossible to catch up again.

On the mid-term and final examinations:

Objective tests such as mid-terms and exams are diagnostic in that they help us to know if you are absorbing the material you have been presented. Tests provide a different type of information about your acquisition of the material than can be assessed through reading a research paper. Studying for exams is also a good way of synthesizing the material and organizing it into blocks that will then have a better chance of sticking in your head. For this reason I always provide a study guide two weeks prior to exams so that you can prepare for them in advance. The process of preparation is another a way to learn the material.

On the Exegesis Paper and prospectus:

A research paper on a biblical passage (technically referred to as an exegesis paper) is the best way of getting you into the process of synthesizing and understanding biblical literature. A prospectus (which is a short paper that answers the following three questions [1. Which passage are you interested in writing on? 2. Why are you interested in this passage? 3. What resources have you found so far?]) is required so that I can see what you plan to do before you do it. This will help me advise you of the possible pitfalls of particular projects. It will also give me the opportunity to suggest resources for your project that you might not find on your own. Further information will be forthcoming on how to write an exegesis paper, but one brief definition is this: exegesis is research which produces the closest possible reading of a given passage, explaining any unusual features of the text, any irregularities or mysteries it poses, and provides the fullest and most elegant understanding of the passage possible. Various methodologies can be used in exegesis. You are encouraged to use the method which best fits your passage and which appeals most to you. Footnotes and bibliography are required. No more than 1 internet source is allowed per paper.

On the Course Readings:

Below are I have listed two categories of readings for this course. The first are the required texts. These are the books you are required to buy (or borrow) and which will be used intensively throughout the course. The primary readings for the lectures each week will be taken from the Hebrew Bible. For this text we insist on your acquisition of a critical edition. The one I have asked you to buy is the Oxford Annotated version of the NRSV (New Revised Standard Version). Another good critical edition is the Harper Collins Study Bible (NRSV). I insist on a critical edition like this because in addition to the text, it contains maps, extensive footnotes, introductory passages on each book, historical charts, and many other useful tools. The other two books on the required reading list are the general introduction to the Hebrew bible by John Collins, and Richard Friedman’s Who Wrote the Bible. We will use them in turn as the course progresses to the topics they cover. Collins also has a CD-ROM with review questions and resources you will find helpful.

The second categories of readings for the course are books and articles that are recommended for your reading at various points in the semester when they provide further information on complex topics. They may be useful to you as you research your exegesis papers, or when you find a topic in which you are interested and simply wish to know more.

I have also provided a packet of handouts, available at Bel Jean Copy Print Center for about $8 which is intended to give you something comforting to hold onto! It contains most of the basic information which I will cover in lectures. Because we have to gloss over so much, I will often refer you to sheets in this handout packet. Please keep it with you and bring it to lectures. Don’t lose it. Save a tree. Having been a student I know full well that some of the reading will not get done. This is my preferred hierarchy: Read the Biblical texts first and always. Next read the material in Collins. Only if you want to read more should you delve into the other optional readings.

Required Texts:

John J. Collins, Introduction to the Hebrew Bible (Augsburg Fortress Press; 2004)

ISBN-10: 0800629914 ISBN-13: 978-0800629915

Richard Elliot Friedman, Who Wrote the Bible? (Harper San Francisco; 1997)

ISBN-10: 0060630353; ISBN-13: 978-0060630355

The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha, Augmented Third Edition, College Edition, New Revised Standard Version (Oxford University Press; 3rd edition; 2007) ISBN-10: 0195288823 ISBN-13: 978-0195288827

Dr. LaRocca-Pitts’s Comforting Little Packet of Information, Available at Bel Jean.

Course Schedule

Th 8/16 Introduction to the Course: The Texts, Methodological Overview, discussion of the connections and distinctions between Theology and Biblical Studies

Reading Assignment: Collins, pp. 1-22 67-82.

Related handouts: “The Exegesis Paper,” “The Exegesis Paper Prospectus”

Optional Reading: Phyllis Trible, Rhetorical Criticism: Context, Method, and the Book of Jonah, pp. 91-123, 237-244.

T 8/21 Discussion of the Myths of the Ancient Near East: Creation & Eden, Babel & the Flood

Biblical Reading Assignment: Genesis 1-11

Reading Assignment: Collins, pp. 25-46.

Optional Reading: “The Baal Cycle,” from Parker, Ugaritic Narrative Poetry, “Atrahasis,” “Gilgamesh XI,” and “The Epic of Creation” from Dalley, Myths from Mesopotamia, “The Eridu Genesis,” (Ziusudra) from Jacobsen, The Harps that Once...; Jon Levenson’s Creation and the Persistence of Evil; Tikva Frymer-Kensky, In the Wake of the Goddesses; James Kugel, The Bible as it Was, pp. 51-130.

Related handouts: “Guide to Ancient Near Eastern Myths related to Stories in Genesis,”
“The Canaanite Pantheon”

Th 8/23 No Class! Instead we are holding a Library Orientation: Please proceed to the Library Reference Desk for Biblical Studies Library orientation. This is mandatory because it will help you do your exegesis papers later in the term!

T 8/28 Introduction to the Sources: The Yahwist (J), Elohist (E), Priestly Source (P), Deuteronomy (D)

Reading Assignment: Collins pp. 47-65; Start Friedman’s, Who Wrote the Bible

Related handout: “Description and Tentative Dating of the J, E, P, and D Sources”

Th 8/30 Patri/Matriarchs: Abraham & Isaac

Biblical Reading Assignment: Genesis 12-27

Reading Assignment: Collins pp. 83-98; Finish Friedman’s, Who Wrote the Bible

Related handout: “Who were the Israelites?”

Optional Reading: Amarna Letters 73-91, in Moran, Amarna Letters, pp. 141-65; Jon Levenson, Death and Resurrection of the Beloved Son; Kugel, The Bible as it Was, pp. 131-96.

T 9/4 Patri/Matriarchs: Jacob & Joseph: The stories of the tribes, northern and southern

Biblical Reading Assignment: Genesis 28-50

Reading Assignment: Collins pp. 98-105.

Optional Reading: Donald Redford, Egypt, Canaan, and Israel, pp. 3-122; Kugel, The Bible as it was, pp. 197-284; Esther Fuchs, “Who’s Hiding the Truth? Deceptive Women and Biblical Androcentrism” in Feminist Perspective on Biblical Scholarship, Adela Yarbro Collins, ed. (SBL Centennial Publications; Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1985) pp 137-44; Carole Fontaine, “The Abusive Bible: On the Use of Feminist Method in Pastoral Contexts,” in A Feminist Companion to Reading the Bible: Approaches, Methods and Strategies, Athalya Brenner and Carole Fontaine, Eds. (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1997) pp. 84-113.

Th 9/6 No Class: Professor has prior commitment

T 9/11 Exodus: God’s new name and the slave revolt against Pharaoh

Biblical Reading Assignment: Exodus 1-19

Reading Assignment: Collins pp. 107-120.

Related handout: “Who was the Exodus Pharaoh?”

Optional reading: The Birth Legend of Sargon, from Foster’s, Before the Muses, vol 2, pp. 819-20; Kugel, The Bible as it Was, pp. 285-370.

Th 9/13 Sinai Traditions: Covenant Law: The heart of Torah, The Traditions of priesthood

Biblical Readings: Exod 20-24, 32-34; Lev 9-10, 18-20, 25-26; Num 8, 17, 18, 25, 27, 30, 35; Deut 5-8, 15, 18, 19, 21-5

Biblical Passages to skim through: Tabernacle and Liturgical traditions (Exod 25-31 & 35-40), offerings (Lev 1-8, 22, 27; Num 7, 15, 28-29; Deut 17, 26-), “medical” matters (Lev 11-17; Deut 14), ritual cleanliness (Lev 21; Num 19), festivals (Lev 23-24; Num 9-10; Deut 16), census and clan assignments (Num 1-4, 26), confession and restitution (Num 5), nazarite vows (Num 6), wilderness itinerary (Num 33)

Reading Assignment: Collins pp. 121-79

T 9/18 Entrance into the land and the origins of theTribal league

Biblical Reading Assignment: On revolts (Num 11-12, 16, 20), Spies (Num 13-14), Victories (Num 20-24), entrance into the land (Deut 1-4, 27-34; Josh 1-11, Judg 1-3), covenant renewal traditions (Deut 9-13; Josh 1-5, 23-24; Judg 4-8).

Biblical Passages to skim through: captives (Num 31; Deut 20), division of the land (Num 32, 34,

36; Josh 13-22), census of defeated kings (Josh 12)

Reading Assignment: Collins, pp. 183-202.

Optional Reading: Kugel, The Bible as it Was, pp. 371-548.

Related handouts: “Conquest Theories,” and “Institutions of the Tribal League”

Th 9/20 The League disintegrates: The beginnings of monarchy and the origins of Prophecy

Biblical Reading Assignment: Judges 9-21; 1 Sam 1-15

Reading Assignment: Collins, pp. 203-225

Related handouts: “High and Low Points within 1 Samuel -1 Kings 2,” “Prophets Worksheet

Optional Reading: Mieke Bal, Death and Dissymmetry; Phyllis Trible, Texts of Terror

T 9/25 David’s Rise to Power, and the Origins of the Divided Monarchy within the United Monarchy

Biblical Reading Assignment: 1 Sam 16-31, 2 Sam 1-20; 1 Kgs 1-15; Psalms 89 & 132

Reading Assignment: Collins, pp. 225-60

Related handouts: “High and Low Points within 1 Samuel through 1 Kings 2,” and “Historical Landmarks Related to Israel’s Monarchy,” “Synopsis of the History of the Northern...” and “... Southern Kingdom”

Optional Reading: Athalya Brenner, ed. A Feminist Companion to Samuel & Kings

Th 9/27 Historical overview of the North Part I: Omri- Ahab, Jezebel, and Elijah

Biblical Reading Assignment: 1 Kings 16-22

Biblical Readings to skim: 2 Kings 1-8

Reading Assignment: Collins, pp. 261-68.

Optional Reading: “Adad Nirari III: Expedition to Palestine,” ANET vol. I, pp. 192-93, 281, “Shalmaneser III: The Fight Against the Aramean Coalition,” ANET vol. I, pp. 188-91, 277-81, Robert B. Coote, ed. Elijah and Elisha in Socioliterary Perspective, (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1992).

Related handouts, “Synopsis of the History of the Northern...” and “... Southern Kingdom” and

“Historical Landmarks Related to Israel’s Monarchy”

T 10/2 Historical Overview of the North Part II: Jehu’s Purge and Its political consequences: After a brief Golden age, Assyria looms on the Horizon, the North deteriorates and falls

Biblical Reading Assignment: 2 Kings 9-17

Biblical books to skim: Amos and Hosea

Reading Assignment: Collins, pp. 268-72.

Related handouts, “Synopsis of the History of the Northern...” and “... Southern Kingdom” and “Historical Landmarks Related to Israel’s Monarchy,” synopses of Amos and Hosea

Optional Reading: Abraham Biran & Joseph Naveh, “The Tel Dan Inscription: A New Fragment” “Epigraphs of Shalmaneser III,” ANET I. p. 192, 281, “Tiglath-Pileser III: Campaigns against Syria and Palestine,” ANET I, pp. 193-94, 282-84, “Sargon II: The Fall of Samaria,” ANET I, pp. 195-98, 284-87.

Th 10/4 In Class Midterm Exam

T 10/9 Historical Overview of the South: From the fall of the North to the fall of Jerusalem

Zion Theology realized and unrealized, Tales of corruption and reform

Biblical Reading Assignment: 2 Kings 18-25

Biblical books to skim: Micah, Isaiah 1-39, Nahum, Habakkuk, Jeremiah 1-25, 52

Reading Assignment: Collins, pp. 273-79.

Related handouts, “Synopsis of the History of the Southern Kingdom,” “Historical Landmarks

Related to Israel’s Monarchy,” and synopses of Micah, First Isaiah, Nahum, Habakkuk

Optional Reading: “The Siloam Inscription,” ANET vol. I, p. 212, 321, “The Lachish Ostraca,” ANET vol. pp. 212-14, 321-22, “The Conquest of Jerusalem,” ANET vol II; pp. 112-13, 563-64, “Annals of Sennacherib,” ANET vol. I, pp. 199-201, 287-88.

Th 10/11 The Dawn of Classical Prophecy: Amos and Hosea

Biblical Reading Assignment: Amos and Hosea

Biblical Passage to review: 2 Kings 9-17

Reading Assignment: Collins, pp. 283-306.

Review handout, “Synopsis of the History of the Northern...” and “... Southern Kingdom”

10/12 Withdrawal deadline

T 10/16 The Prophetic Promise of Protection for Zion: Micah & 1 Isaiah

Biblical Reading Assignment: Micah, Isaiah 1-39 (First Isaiah)

Biblical Passage to Review: 2 Kgs 18-21

Reading Assignment: Collins, pp. 307-24

Optional Reading: Peter Machinist, “Assyria and its Image in the First Isaiah,” JAOS 103/4 (1983) 719-737.

Th 10/18 The Prophetic Response to the movement of empires

Biblical Reading Assignment: Nahum & Zephaniah

Biblical passage to review: 2 Kgs 22-23

Reading Assignment: Collins pp. 324-29.

T 10/23 The Prophetic Response to ultimate disaster

Biblical Reading Assignment: Habakkuk, Jeremiah, Lamentations

Biblical passage to review: 2 Kgs 24-25

Reading Assignment: Collins, pp. 331-352.

Optional Reading: “Lament for Ur,” in Thorkild Jacobsen, The Harps that Once..., pp. 447-74.

Th 10/25 No Class: Fall Break

T 10/30 The Prophetic Response to Exile and the Dream of Restoration

Biblical Reading Assignment: Ezekiel & Obadiah

Biblical passage to review: 2 Kgs 23:31-25:30

Reading Assignment: Collins, pp. 353-77.

Optional Reading: “Edict of Cyrus,”ANET; vol. I, pp. 206-8, 315-16.

Th 11/1 The Restoration Prophets: Prophecy gives way to Apocalyptic and Allegory

Biblical Reading Assignment: Isaiah 40- 66; Haggai, Malachi, Zechariah, Joel

Biblical passages to skim: 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra & Nehemiah

Reading Assignment: Collins 379-460

Related handouts “Important events in the Canonization Process” and “Books of the Apocrypha”

Optional Reading: Paul Hanson, “The Phenomenon of Apocalyptic in Israel,” from The Dawn

of Apocalyptic, pp. 1-31.

Exegesis Paper Prospectus Due

T 11/6 Psalms: The Poetry of Israel’s Great Religious Occasions and the prayers of the common folk

Biblical Reading Assignment: Psalm 18; 24; 42; 45; 48; 63; 89; 122; 125-6; 129; 132 ;136-8; 140; Song of Solomon

Biblical Passages to Review: Exodus 15; Deuteronomy 32; 1 Sam 2; 2 Sam 1:17-27; 22; 23:1-7

Biblical Passages to skim through: The rest of the Psalms!

Reading assignment: Collins, pp. 461-86

Optional Reading: James Kugel, The Idea of Biblical Poetry, “Yahweh and Baal,” from Cross, Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic, pp. 149-94.

Th 11/8 Wisdom Literature as both a Court and Folk tradition

Biblical Reading Assignment: Proverbs 1-10, 22-23, 31

Biblical Passages to review: 2 Samuel 14; 20:1-22; Amos 1:3-3:8

Biblical Passages to skim through: The rest of Proverbs!

Reading Assignment: Collins, pp. 487-504.

Optional Reading: “Instruction of Amenemope,” from Lichtheim’s, Ancient Egyptian Literature, vol. 2, pp. 146-63, “Words of the Wise,” from Foster’s, Before the Muses, vol. 1, pp 328-50; Crenshaw, pp. 212-235; Claudia Camp, “Wise Women in 2 Samuel: A Role Model for Women in Early Israel,” CBQ 43 (1981) 14-29.

T 11/13 Wisdom addresses the problem of evil and apocalyptic is foreshadowed

Biblical Reading Assignment: Job 1-11, 38-42; Ecclesiastes

Biblical passages to review: Deuteronomy 28-30

Biblical passages to skim: The rest of Job!

Reading Assignment: Collins, pp. 505-27.

Optional Reading: “The Poem of the Righteous Sufferer,” from Foster’s, Before the Muses, pp. 308-25. Jon Levenson, Creation and the Persistence of Evil, Walter Brueggemann, “Yahweh and Negativity,” from Theology of the Old Testament, pp. 373-399

Th 11/15 Wisdom speaks through Tales of the Righteous Individual

Biblical Reading: Ruth, Jonah, Esther, Tobit and Judith

Reading Assignment: Collins, pp. 529-51.

See handouts “Important events in the Canonization Process” and “Books of the Apocrypha”

T 11/20 Apocalyptic and the Turn of an Era

Biblical Reading: Daniel, 1-2 Maccabees

Reading Assignment: Collins 553-580

Th 11/22 No Class, Thanksgiving Holiday

T 11/27 Wisdom continues into the new era

Biblical Reading Assignment: Ben Sira, Wisdom of Solomon, Baruch

Biblical Books to review: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes

Reading Assignment: Collins, pp. 581-98

See handouts “Important events in the Canonization Process” and “Books of the Apocrypha”

Th 11/29 Ancient Israelite Theology: A history of theological concepts in ancient Israel.

Optional Reading: Walter Brueggemann, Theology of the Old Testament: Testimony, Dispute, Advocacy (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1997). Tikva Frymer-Kensky, In the Wake of the Goddesses: Women, Culture, and the Biblical Transformation of Pagan Myth (New York: Free Press, 1992).

Exegesis paper due

T 12/4 No Class, Friday Schedule

Th 12/6 Course Summary and Final Exam review

Reading Assignment: Collins, pp. 599-605.

12/10-14 Exam Period

Optional Readings List on various topics:

On the composition of the Pentateuch:

Joseph Blenkinsopp, The Pentateuch (New York: Doubleday, 1992)

Martin Noth, A History of Pentateuchal Traditions (Englewood Cliffs, NJ, Prentiss Hall, 1972)

Julius Wellhausen, Prolegomena to the History of Israel (written in 1881, reprinted by many since)

On the Deuteronomistic History:

Mieke Bal, Death and Dissymmetry: The Politics of Coherance in the Book of Judges (Chacago: University of Chicago Press, 1988)

Claudia Camp, “Wise Women in 2 Samuel: A role Model for Women in Early Israel,” CBQ 43 (1981) 12-29.

Robert B. Coote, ed. Elijah and Elisha in Socioliterary Perspective (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1992)

William Moran, “The Ancient Near Eastern Background of the Love of God in Deuteronomy,” CBQ 25 (1963) 77-87.

Moshe Weinfeld, Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomic School (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1992)

On the issues of covenant or Israelite law:

Jeffries Hamilton, Social Justice and Deuteronomy: The Case of Deuteronomy 15

Delbert Hillers, Covenant: The History of a Biblical Idea

Delbert Hillers, Treat Curses and the Old Testament Prophets

Meredith Kline, Treaty of the Great King: The Covenant Structure of Deuteronomy

Jon Levenson, “Who Inserted the Book of Torah?,” Harvard Theological Review 68:3-4 (1975) 203-33.

Baruch Levine, Leviticus (Jewish Publication Society Torah Commentary Series)

Bernard Levinson, Deuteronomy and the Hermeneutics of Legal Innovation

Ayala Levy, Aspects of Bondage and Release in the Bible (Deut 15:12-18)

Norbert Lohfink, Theology of the Pentateuch: Themes of the Priestly Narrative and Deuteronomy

D. J. McCarthy, Treaty and Covenant

Jacob Milgrom, Leviticus 1-16 (Anchor Bible Commentary)

Jacob Milgrom, Numbers (Jewish Publication Society Torah Commentary Series)

William L. Moran, “The Ancient Near Eastern Background of the Love of God in Deuteronomy,”

Catholic Biblical Quarterly 25 (1963) 77-87.

Jeffrey Tigay, Deuteronomy (Jewish Publication Society Torah Commentary Series)

Moshe Weinfeld, Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomic School

Moshe Weinfeld, “The Covenant of Grant in the Old Testament and in the Ancient Near East,”

Journal of the American Oriental Society 90 (1970) 184-203.

Moshe Weinfeld, “Introduction,” to Deuteronomy 1-11 (Anchor Bible Commentary), pp. 1-84.

Moshe Weinfeld, “Deuteronomy, Book of” Anchor Bible Dictionary, vol. 2, pp. 168-83

On Biblical Theology:

Walter Brueggemann, Theology of the Old Testament:Testimony, Dispute, Advocacy (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1997).

Tikva Frymer-Kensky, In the Wake of the Goddesses:Women, Culture, and the Biblical Transformation of Pagan Myth (New York: Free Press, 1992).

James Kugel, The Bible as it Was (Cambridge, MA: Belkmap/Harvard Press, 1997).

Jon Levenson, Creation and the Persistence of Evil: The Jewish Drama of Divine Omnipotence (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1988).

___________, The Death and Resurrection of the Beloved Son: The Transformation of Child Sacrifice in Judaism and Christianity (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993).

On the ancient Near Eastern literary context of the Hebrew Bible:

Frank Moore Cross, Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic: Essays in the History and Religion of Israel (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1973).

Stephanie Dalley, Myths from Mesopotamia: Creation, The Flood, Gilgamesh, and others (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989).

Benjamin R. Foster, Before the Muses: An Anthology of Akkadian Literature (2 vols.; Bethesda, MD: CDL Press, 1993).

Thorkild Jacobsen, The Harps that Once... Sumerian Poetry in Translation (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1987).

Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature (3 vols.; Berkley: University of California Press, 1976).

Simon Parker, ed., Ugaritic Narrative Poetry (SBLWAW 9; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1997).

James Pritchard, ed., Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament (Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, 1969). Abbr. ANET.

On ancient Israelite and Near Eastern history:

John Bright, A History of Israel (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1981)

William L. Moran, The Amarna Letters (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992).

Donald Redford, Egypt, Canaan, and Israel in Ancient Times (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992).

On Archaeological Sources:

Avram Biran & Joseph Naveh, “The Tel Dan Inscription: A New Fragment,” IEJ 45/1 (1995) 1-18.

Amihai Mazar, Archaeology of the Land of the Bible: 10,000-586 B.C.E. (New York: Doubleday, 1990).

On the Prophetic material:

Joseph Blenkinsopp, A History of Prophecy in Israel (John Knox Westminster Press, 1983)

Paul Hanson, The Dawn of Apocalyptic (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1975).

Klaus Koch, The Prophets (2 vols.; Philadelphia: Fortress, 1984)

Peter Machinist, “Assyria and its Image in the First Isaiah,” JAOS 103/4 (1983) 719-37.

Robert R. Wilson, Prophecy and Society in Ancient Israel (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1980).

On the Wisdom material:

James Crenshaw, Old Testament Wisdom (Westminster John Knox, 1998)

James Kugel, The Idea of Biblical Poetry (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997)

Roland Murphy, The Tree of Life (New York: Doubleday, 1992)

Readings through various methodologies:

Mieke Bal, Death and Dissymmetry: The Politics of Coherence in the Book of Judges (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988).

Phyllis Bird, Missing Persons and Mistaken Identities: Women and Gender in Ancient Israel (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1997).

Athalya Brenner, and Carole Fontaine, eds. A Feminist Companion to Reading the Bible: Approaches, Methods, and Strategies (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1997).

Charles Carter and Carol Meyers, eds., Community, Identity, and Ideology: Social Science Approaches to the Hebrew Bible

Brevard Childs, Introduction to the Old Testament as Scripture (Augsburg Fortress Press, 1979)

Cain Hope Felder, ed. Stony the Road We Trod: African American Biblical Interpretation, (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1991)

Esther Fuchs, “Who’s Hiding the Truth? Deceptive Women and Biblical Androcentrism,” in Feminist Perspectives on Biblical Scholarship, Adela Yarbro Collins, ed. (SBL Centennial Publications; Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1985) 137-44.

David Jobling, Peggy Day, and Gerald Sheppard, eds., The Bible and the Politics of Exegesis: Essays in Honor of Norman K. Gottwald on His Sixty-Fifty Birthday (Cleveland: Pilgrim Press, 1991)

Carol Meyers, Discovering Eve: Ancient Israelite Women in Context (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988).

Ronald Simkins and Stephen Cook, eds. The Social World of the Hebrew Bible (Semeia 87; Atlanta, Scholars, Press, 1999).

Phyllis Trible, Texts of Terror:Literary-Feminist Reading of Biblical Narratives (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1984).

___________, Rhetorical Criticism: Context, Method, and the Book of Jonah (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1994).

Gail Yee, ed. Judges and Method: New Approaches in Biblical Studies (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1995).