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242 books match the query 'Old Testament' and 4 start with m

cover of Micah: Introduction and Commentary

Micah

Introduction and Commentary

Carolyn J. Sharp

SBL Press, 2025

Written by Carolyn J. Sharp, a leading scholar of biblical prophetic literature, this commentary provides scholars and preachers with a thorough overview of historical, literary, and theological dimensions of the book of Micah. Sharp explores the political and economic dimensions of prophecy as well as its relevance to ecological justice. Each passage is translated and interpreted in an accessible style. The commentary also examines the reception history of Micah among Jewish and Christian interpreters in the History of Consequences section.
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cover of Moses Mendelssohn: Writings on Judaism, Christianity, and the Bible

Moses Mendelssohn

Writings on Judaism, Christianity, and the Bible

Edited by Michah Gottlieb

Brandeis University Press, 2011

German Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn (1729–1786) is best known in the English-speaking world for his Jerusalem (1783), the first attempt to present Judaism as a religion compatible with the ideas of the Enlightenment. While incorporating much of Jerusalem, Michah Gottlieb’s volume seeks to expand knowledge of Mendelssohn’s thought by presenting translations of many of his other seminal writings from the German or Hebrew originals. These writings include essays, commentaries, unpublished reflections, and personal letters. Part One includes selections from the three major controversies of Mendelssohn’s life, all of which involved polemical encounters with Christian thinkers. Part Two presents selections from Mendelssohn’s writings on the Bible. Part Three offers texts that illuminate Mendelssohn’s thoughts on a diverse range of religious topics, including God’s existence, the immortality of the soul, and miracles. Designed for class adoption, the volume contains annotations and an introduction by the editor.
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cover of Music in the Old Bones: Jezebel Through the Ages

Music in the Old Bones

Jezebel Through the Ages

Janet Howe Gaines

Southern Illinois University Press, 1999

An alien, a polytheist from Phoenicia, the biblical Queen Jezebel posed a serious threat to the stability of the Israelites' single male deity. So powerful was this threat that writers through the ages have portrayed her as the incarnation of feminine evil, and her name has become synonymous with the misogynist view of women as seductresses.

Janet Howe Gaines argues that the bride of the Israelite king Ahab became a convenient scapegoat for biblical writers who portrayed her as the primary force behind their nation's apostasy. The biblical account presents the queen as a murderer, as a disruptive force for evil. Despised, the strong-willed Jezebel is still one of the most intriguing women of the Bible.

Music in the Old Bones is a guide to the eternal Jezebel story. The first part of this illustrated study is a detailed analysis that explores the biblical tale from traditional and feminist points of view. Gaines then analyzes the ways authors through the centuries have treated Jezebel. Her unburied bones became misogynist relics for generations of writers who retold her story as a warning about the dangers of rebelling against patriarchal society. From the sermons of John Knox to the novels of Margaret Atwood, from the poetry of Percy Shelley to the ballads of Boyz II Men, from the drama of Racine to the Academy Award-winning film starring Bette Davis, Jezebel has long been the subject of artistic inquiry. Her image as the bad girl of the Bible is still useful to writers. Most exploit her name and evil reputation to enhance their admonitions to women, but a few break away from tradition and openly admire Jezebel's courage and vigor.

Placing the biblical account of Jezebel's doomed reign in the context of its xenophobic writers, Gaines proposes a new and more sympathetic reading of the murdered queen whose body was left to rot in the streets and whose reputation suffered a fate even more egregious. Rather than providing a decent burial for the mangled bones of Jezebel, Gaines seeks to flesh them out and revivify them because, as she demonstrates, "there's music in the old bones yet."

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cover of Myth and Scripture: Contemporary Perspectives on Religion, Language, and Imagination

Myth and Scripture

Contemporary Perspectives on Religion, Language, and Imagination

Dexter E. Callender, Jr.

SBL Press, 2014

An interdisciplinary collection for scholars and students interested in the connections between myth and scripture

In this collection scholars suggest that using “myth” creates a framework within which to set biblical writings in both cultural and literary comparative contexts. Reading biblical accounts alongside the religious narratives of other ancient civilizations reveals what is commonplace and shared among them. The fruit of such work widens and enriches our understanding of the nature and character of biblical texts, and the results provide fresh evidence for how biblical writings became “scripture.”

Features:

  • Essays that explore how myth sheds light on the emergence of scripture
  • Examples drawn from the Ancient Near East, Hebrew Bible, New Testament, and Greco-Roman world
  • Articles by experts from a range of disciplines
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