Explore different topics related to the study of Biblical Hebrew
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The Jewish Study Bible: Second Edition
- combines the entire Hebrew Bible
- Jewish Publication Society TANAKH Translation
- explanatory notes, introductory materials, and essays by leading biblical scholars on virtually every aspect of the text, the world in which it was written, its interpretation, and its role in Jewish life.
- the quality of scholarship, easy-to-navigate format, and vibrant supplementary features bring the ancient text to life.
Hidden Riches: A Sourcebook for the Comparative Study of the Hebrew Bible and Ancient Near East
- Shows how the Hebrew Bible was shaped by Ancient Near East texts, addressing literary, historical, and cultural contexts
- Offers Hebrew Bible texts with side-by-side comparison to Ancient Near East texts
- Ideal for introductory courses in Hebrew Bible
Irony and Meaning in the Hebrew Bible
Was God being ironic in commanding Eve not to eat fruit from the tree of wisdom? Carolyn J. Sharp suggests that many stories in the Hebrew Scriptures may be ironically intended. Deftly interweaving literary theory and exegesis, Sharp illumines the power of the unspoken in a wide variety of texts from the Pentateuch, the Prophets, and the Writings. She argues that reading with irony in mind creates a charged and open rhetorical space in the texts that allows character, narration, and authorial voice to develop in unexpected ways. Main themes explored here include the ironizing of foreign rulers, the prostitute as icon of the ironic gaze, indeterminacy and dramatic irony in prophetic performance, and irony in ancient Israel’s wisdom traditions. Sharp devotes special attention to how irony destabilizes dominant ways in which the Bible is read today, especially when it touches on questions of conflict, gender, and the Other.
How to Read the Bible: A Guide to Scripture, Then and Now
A reader’s companion to the Bible draws on classic interpretations as well as modern scholarship to explain how the Bible may also be a metaphorical reflection of anthropological history, in a guide that covers such topics as the fates of Israelites who remained behind in Canaan and the correlation between the commandments and the Code of Hammurabi.
The World of Biblical Israel
From Genesis to Job, the Hebrew scriptures contain some of the most influential stories in Western civilization. But what do these stories tell us about daily life in ancient Israel? And why do they still speak to us today?
In 24 captivating lectures, Professor Chapman introduces you to the stories of the Judeans in exile and grounds them in their historical context, giving you a grand vision of history as presented in the scriptures. She compares the history in the Bible to the archaeological record so that you come away with a complete picture of life in biblical Israel.
Discover the complete literary power of the scriptures by investigating many of the Bible’s key historical moments, from the origins of the Israelites in the Torah to the Babylonian Captivity and the resettlement under the Persian Empire, which is the very heart of the Hebrew scriptures. Learn how the exilic period motivated the community to reexamine its relationship to its God, its land, its religious practices, and its legacy to the children who would become the new Israel.
But you’ll tackle more than the sweep of history. From the family compounds to the battlefields and from the kitchens to the temples, Professor Chapman puts flesh on the bones of the biblical stories. Spiritually engaging and historically fascinating, this course is unlike any other, and it will give you a new appreciation both for ancient history and for the foundation of the three Abrahamic faiths.
The Modern Scholar: The Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible, known to Jews as the Tanakh and to Christians as the Old Testament, is the basis for the West’s tradition of monotheism, as well as our civilization’s ethics and mores. In this course delivered by Professor Lawrence H. Schiffman, listeners will engage in a discussion on how that collection came into being and how it was passed down and interpreted throughout the ages. By the conclusion of the discussion, you’ll see how this tradition developed into the basis of Judaism and Christianity and how it continues to mold our society and culture today.
The Jewish Bible was collected in ancient Israel over a long period of time. The first books of the Bible are the Five Books of Moses, in Hebrew, the Torah, or by its Greek name, the Pentateuch, meaning “five books.” For the Hebrew Scriptures, the Biblical canon was divided into three parts, Torah, Nevi’im, and Ketuvim. Christians have a completely different term for this Jewish canon that constitutes about one half of the Christian Bible. Because Christians have an additional set of texts, namely, the Gospels and the Epistles, Christians refer to the earlier material as the Old Testament in contradistinction to the New Testament.
This intellectually satisfying course examines the complex issues of the historicity of the biblical account as well as the deep theological and religious ideas that the Bible teaches. We will sample approaches both traditional and modern, making use of the works of a broad sampling of scholars – ancient, medieval, and modern – to understand the message of the Hebrew Scriptures and the stories they told. Archaeology and the perspectives gained from our knowledge of the Ancient Near East will be at the forefront, allowing us to approach the Bible with the help of the manifold tools of modern research while retaining respect for the Bible and its ancient message.