Results by title

484 books match the query 'Biblical Studies' and 16 start with w

cover of Warfare, Ritual, and Symbol in Biblical and Modern Contexts

Warfare, Ritual, and Symbol in Biblical and Modern Contexts

Brad E. Kelle

SBL Press, 2014

New perspectives on Israelite warfare for biblical studies, military studies, and social theory

Contributors investigate what constituted a symbol in war, what rituals were performed and their purpose, how symbols and rituals functioned in and between wars and battles, what effects symbols and rituals had on insiders and outsiders, what ways symbols and rituals functioned as instruments of war, and what roles rituals and symbols played in the production and use of texts.

Features:

  • Thirteen essays examine war in textual, historical, and social contexts
  • Texts from the Hebrew Bible are read in light of ancient Near Eastern texts and archaeology
  • Interdisciplinary studies make use of contemporary ritual and social theory
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cover of Was There a Wisdom Tradition: New Prospects in Israelite Wisdom Studies

Was There a Wisdom Tradition

New Prospects in Israelite Wisdom Studies

Mark R. Sneed

SBL Press, 2015

Essential reading for scholars and students in wisdom studies

This collection of essays explores questions that challenge the traditional notion of a wisdom tradition among the Israelite literati, such as: Is the wisdom literature a genre or mode of literature or do we need new terminology? Who were the tradents? Is there such a thing as a “wisdom scribe” and what would that look like? Did the scribes who composed wisdom literature also have a hand in producing the other “traditions,” such as the priestly, prophetic, and apocalyptic, as well as other non-sapiential works? Were Israelite sages open to non-sapiential forms of knowledge in their conceptualization of wisdom?

Features:

  • Recent genre theory in distinction from traditional form criticism
  • Ancient Near Eastern comparative material
  • A balanced collection that includes essays that seriously challenge and affirm the consensus view, as well as those that reconfigure it
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cover of What John Knows: Storytelling in the Fourth Gospel

What John Knows

Storytelling in the Fourth Gospel

Douglas Estes

SBL Press, 2025

The Gospel of John is a story that claims to speak about the past; however, in order to say something about the past, storytellers must know something of that past. In this follow-up to How John Works: Storytelling in the Fourth Gospel, a team of international scholars moves beyond genre, style, and character to examine the types of knowledge the Fourth Evangelist drew upon to write his gospel. Contributors Paul N. Anderson, Richard Bauckham, Jo-Ann A. Brant, Andrew J. Byers, Douglas Estes, Edward H. Gerber, Stan Harstine, Wendy E. S. North, George L. Parsenios, Christopher A. Porter, Tyler Smith, and Catrin H. Williams focus on a range of topics, including memory, tradition, spirit, rhetoric, imagination, and more. Together the twelve essays build a narrative epistemology that establishes what a writer must know in order to craft a narrative about the past. This collection is sure to become an essential textbook for students of the gospels in general and John in particular.
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cover of What is Modern Israel?

What is Modern Israel?

Yakov M. Rabkin

Pluto Press, 2016

Few countries provoke as much passion and controversy as Israel. What is Modern Israel? convincingly demonstrates that its founding ideology - Zionism - is anything but a simple reaction to antisemitism. Dispelling the notion that every Jew is a Zionist and therefore a natural advocate for the state of Israel, Yakov Rabkin points to the Protestant roots of Zionism, in order to explain the particular support Israel musters in the United States. 

Drawing on many overlooked pages of history, including English, French, Hebrew, Yiddish and Russian sources, Yakov Rabkin shows that Zionism was conceived as a sharp break with Judaism and Jewish continuity. Israel’s past and present must be seen in the context of European ethnic nationalism, colonial expansion and geopolitical interests, rather than as an incarnation of Biblical prophecies or a culmination of Jewish history.
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cover of When Texts Are Canonized

When Texts Are Canonized

Timothy H. Lim

SBL Press, 2017

How did canonization take place, and what difference does it make?

Essays in this collection probe the canonical process: Why were certain books, but not others, included in the canon? What criteria were used to select the books of the canon? Was canonization a divine fiat or human act? What was the nature of the authority of the laws and narratives of the Torah? How did prophecy come to be included in the canon? Others reflect on the consequences of canonization: What are the effects in elevating certain writings to the status of “Holy Scriptures”? What happens when a text is included in an official list? What theological and hermeneutical questions are at stake in the fact of the canon? Should the canon be unsealed or reopened to include other writings?

Features:

  • Essays that contribute to our understanding of the complex processes of canonization
  • Exploration of early concepts of canonicity
  • Discussion of reopening the New Testament canon
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cover of Where Shall Wisdom be Found?: Calvin's Exegesis of Job from Medieval and Modern Perspectives

Where Shall Wisdom be Found?

Calvin's Exegesis of Job from Medieval and Modern Perspectives

Susan E. Schreiner

University of Chicago Press, 1994

Through countless retellings, from the Talmud to Archibald MacLeish and since, the story of Job has become a fixture in the cultural imagination of the West. In this study, Susan E. Schreiner analyzes interpretations of the Book of Job by Gregory the Great, Maimonides, Thomas Aquinas, and particularly John Calvin. Reading Calvin's interpretation of Job against the background of his most important medieval predecessors, Schreiner shows how central Job is to Calvin's struggles with issues of creation, the problem of evil, the meaning of history, and the doctrine of providence.

For Calvin and his predecessors, Schreiner argues, the concept of intellectual perception is the key to an understanding of Job. The texts she examines constantly raise questions about the human capacity for knowledge: What can the sufferer who stands within history perceive about the self, God, and reality? Can humans truly perceive the workings of providence in their personal lives or in the tumult of history? Are evil and injustice a reality that we must confront before finding wisdom?

In her final chapter, Schreiner turns to the wide array of twentieth-century interpretations of Job, including modern biblical commentaries, the work of Carl Jung, and literary transfigurations by Wells, MacLeish, Wiesel, and Kafka. The result is a compelling demonstration of how the history of exegesis can yield vital insights for contemporary culture.
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cover of Who Were the Babylonians?

Who Were the Babylonians?

Bill T. Arnold

SBL Press, 2004

This engaging and informative introduction to the the Babylonians were important not only because of their many historical contacts with ancient Israel but because they and their predecessors, the Sumerians, established the philosophical and social infrastructure for most of Western Asia for nearly two millennia. Beginning and advanced students as well as biblical scholars and interested nonspecialists will read this introduction to the history and culture of the Babylonians with interest and profit.
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cover of Why Are We Created: Increasing Our Understanding of Humanity's Purpose on Earth

Why Are We Created

Increasing Our Understanding of Humanity's Purpose on Earth

Sir John Templeton

Templeton Press, 2003

While many books strive to stimulate thinking through provocative anecdotes and theories, Why Are We Created? takes a different path. It begins with a question and continues with a multitude of questions like these:

•What is the importance of recognizing the presence of the sacred within us and around us?
•How can individuals create a purposeful and fruitful way of life?
•How does happiness relate to one's purpose?
The intent of these questions is to encourage thoughtfulness, observation, and research that enlarges understanding while offering a sense of direction. The goal is to help individuals live a more useful and happy life.
Sir John and Reverend Dunlap use the questions to help readers explore the role of humility as a key to knowledge and progress. They look at the creative power of purposeful thinking and ask how life might be changed if we refuse to dwell on any thought we would not want objectified in our life. They pose questions related to consciously directing one's life.
Helping to shed light on the possible connection between spiritual principles and human concepts is commentary from a wide range of sources: the scriptures, Mother Teresa, Albert Einstein, Edward O. Wilson, Emanuel Swedenborg, Emmet Fox, A. H. Maslow, Sir Isaac Newton, Dr. Albert Schweitzer, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, among many others.
Author Information

 

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cover of Wisdom Discourse and Torah in Second Temple Judaism: Challenging the Integration Paradigm

Wisdom Discourse and Torah in Second Temple Judaism

Challenging the Integration Paradigm

Jiseong James Kwon

SBL Press, 2025

Did wisdom literature in the Hebrew Bible develop over time from secular to religious, as many early modern scholars believed? Did it develop in reaction to historical events or out of conflict with other traditions, including Torah? In Wisdom Discourse and Torah in Second Temple Judaism, JiSeong James Kwon moves beyond this impasse by applying a discourse-critical method to intertextual readings of Proverbs, Ben Sira, the Wisdom of Solomon, Baruch, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and Deuteronomy. Kwon’s study reveals that wisdom literature maintained an independent identity and theological orientation distinct from the legal traditions of the Torah. Rather than wisdom being subsumed into legal material, Jewish intellectual production remained pluralistic in form, genre, and theological orientation throughout the Persian and Hellenistic periods.

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cover of Wisdom From World Religions: Pathways Toward Heaven On Earth

Wisdom From World Religions

Pathways Toward Heaven On Earth

John Marks Templeton

Templeton Press, 2002

Every religion acknowledges certain spiritual principles and records them in its sacred literature and traditions. This book curates these ancient teachings and shows how they apply to modern life with the help of parables, quotations, and commentaries.

By reading Wisdom from World Religions, people from all walks of life will be inspired to pursue their own spiritual growth and to contemplate questions central to our existence, such as how, through love and creativity, can we be agents of divinity on earth?

Uplifting and instructional, this is a book to be treasured, studied, and practiced.

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cover of Wisdom from the Late Bronze Age

Wisdom from the Late Bronze Age

Yoram Cohen

SBL Press, 2013

This volume presents the original texts and annotated translations of a collection of Mesopotamian wisdom compositions and related texts of the Late Bronze Age (ca. 1500–1200 B.C.E.) found at the ancient Near Eastern sites of Hattuša, Emar, and Ugarit. These wisdom compositions constitute the missing link between the great Sumerian wisdom corpus and early Akkadian wisdom literature of the Old Babylonian period, on the one hand, and the wisdom compositions of the first millennium B.C.E., on the other. Included here are works such as the Ballad of Early Rulers, Hear the Advice, and The Date-Palm and the Tamarisk, as well as proverb collections from Ugarit and Hattuša. A detailed introduction provides an assessment of the place of wisdom literature in the ancient curriculum and library collections.
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cover of With the Loyal You Show Yourself Loyal: Essays on Relationships in the Hebrew Bible in Honor of Saul M. Olyan

With the Loyal You Show Yourself Loyal

Essays on Relationships in the Hebrew Bible in Honor of Saul M. Olyan

T. M. Lemos

SBL Press, 2021

Contributors to this volume come together to honor the lifetime of work of Saul M. Olyan, Samuel Ungerleider Jr. Professor of Judaic Studies and Professor of Religious Studies at Brown University. Essays by his students, colleagues, and friends focus on and engage with his work on relationships in the Hebrew Bible, from the marking of status in relationships of inequality, to human family, friend, and sexual relationships, to relationships between divine beings. Contributors include Susan Ackerman, Klaus-Peter Adam, Rainer Albertz, Andrea Allgood, Debra Scoggins Ballentine, Bob Becking, John J. Collins, Stephen L. Cook, Ronald Hendel, T. M. Lemos, Nathaniel B. Levtow, Carol Meyers, Susan Niditch, Brian Rainey, Thomas Römer, Jordan D. Rosenblum, Rüdiger Schmitt, Jennifer Elizabeth Singletary, Kerry M. Sonia, Karen B. Stern, Stanley Stowers, Andrew Tobolowsky, Karel van der Toorn, Emma Wasserman, and Steven Weitzman.

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cover of Womanist Interpretations of the Bible: Expanding the Discourse

Womanist Interpretations of the Bible

Expanding the Discourse

Gay L. Byron

SBL Press, 2016

Expand the discourse and open the spheres of engagement to include new voices of scholars and bold, innovative interpretive approaches

This edited volume brings together cross-generational and cross-cultural readings of the Bible and other sacred sources by including scholars from the Caribbean, India, and Africa who have not traditionally fit into the narrow U.S., African American paradigm for understanding womanist biblical interpretation. The volume engages the reader in a wide range of interdisciplinary methods and perspectives, such as gender and feminist criticism, social-scientific methods, post-colonial and psychoanalytical theory that emphasize the inherently intersectional dynamics of race, ethnicity, and class at work in womanist thought and analysis.

Features

  • Topics include the Black Lives Matter movement, domestic violence, and AIDS, while at the same time uncovering the roles of children, women, and other marginalized persons in biblical narratives
  • Coverage of Hebrew Bible and New Testament texts, as well as Ifa spiritual narratives, Hindu scripture, and Ethiopic texts
  • Responses from four respected womanist and feminist critics: Katherine Doob Sakenfeld, Emilie Townes, Layli (Phillips) Maparyan, and Sarojini Nadar
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cover of Women at Work in the Deuteronomistic History

Women at Work in the Deuteronomistic History

Mercedes L. García Bachmann

SBL Press, 2013

A thorough study of the socio-economic and literary contexts of women in the Deuteronomistic History

Mercedes L. García Bachmann examines the key texts in the Deuteronomistic History that mention women in service occupations: slaves and dependents, cooks, wet nurses, childcare givers, prostitutes, and scribes. The mostly anonymous women who performed this work for others are sometimes mentioned only in a single verse. Consequently, they often are as unrecognized in modern scholarship as they seem in the biblical text. García Bachmann shows that these women were honored not in relation to matters such as sexual purity or marital faithfulness but on account of the valuable service that they provided.

  • A close examination of unnamed women
  • A review of previous work in feminist, ancient Near Eastern, biblical, and social-scientific studies
  • Extensive coverage of Hebrew terms used for women workers
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cover of Worthy Lamb: An Exegetical-Spiritual Commentary on John's Apocalypse

Worthy Lamb

An Exegetical-Spiritual Commentary on John's Apocalypse

Andreas Hoeck

Saint Paul Seminary Press, 2024

This book is a systematic commentary on the Apocalypse of Saint John, examining each chapter and verse based on the original Greek and Latin texts. The underlying hermeneutic is an idealist or allegorical point of view that does not attempt to identify apocalyptic imagery with concrete historical events. Rather, symbols and metaphors are interpreted, with attention to their intertextuality, as paradigmatic of the epic battle between the forces of light and darkness, good and evil, the dragon and the Lamb, playing out not only in the vicissitudes of the world today, but also and especially in one’s personal life. Rather than focusing on sterile symbolisms, the book attempts to inspire a more radical discipleship of Jesus by applying the eschatological imagery to the realm of spiritual discernment. John’s Apocalypse is certainly considered the grand New Testament Theology of History, but here its ethical dualism is mainly taken as a challenge for the interior life, to enter into the worship before the throne of Christ the Lamb, and to realize that where evil makes war against the principles of good, God will remain in control at all times. The author has drawn on two commentators whose work has not been translated and made widely accessible until now, Rupert of Deutz and Adrienne von Speyr. The book aims to relay Revelation’s message of Christ-centered faithfulness and perseverance, of virtue and holiness, once addressed to the seven churches in Asia, to a contemporary readership.
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cover of Writing and Literacy in the World of Ancient Israel:Epigraphic Evidence from the Iron Age

Writing and Literacy in the World of Ancient Israel

Epigraphic Evidence from the Iron Age

Christopher A. Rollston

SBL Press, 2010

Winner of the 2011 Frank Moore Cross Prize as the most substantial volume in the field of Northwest Semitic Epigraphy Ancient Northwest Semitic inscriptions from Israel, Phoenicia, Syria, Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Philistia enlighten and sharpen our vision of the Old Testament world in various ways. Writing and Literacy in the World of Ancient Israel focuses on this epigraphic evidence in order to broaden our understanding of the techniques and roles of writing, education, and literacy during this biblical period. To that end, the volume systematically covers scribal education; scribal implements; writing media such as stones, potsherds, and plaster; and the religious, administrative, and personal uses of writing. Its “handbook” format makes it easily accessible, including for use as a textbook in courses addressing the cultural context of ancient Israel.
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