The meaning of the bible : what the Jewish scriptures and Christian Old Testament can teach us : Knight, Douglas A., 1943- : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Includes bibliographical references (p. [461]-464) and index

Machine generated contents note: PART 1 -- 1.The History of Ancient Israel -- Reconstructing History -- Historical Synopsis -- The Ancestors -- The Exodus -- Settlement of the Land -- The Founding of the Monarchy -- From the Divided Kingdom to the Fall of Jerusalem -- Exile and Return -- The Persian and Hellenistic Periods -- The Historical Time Frame -- 2.The Literary Heritage of Ancient Israel -- Tanakh or Old Testament or Hebrew Bible? -- Every Translator, a Traitor -- Literary Conventions -- Characterization -- Different Stories, Different Authors -- Canonization -- 3.Land and Settlement -- Israel's Environs -- Topography -- Climate and Water Resources -- Settlement of the Land -- A Land of Milk and Honey -- PART 2 -- 4.Law and Justice -- The Written and the Unwritten -- Ancient Southwest Asia -- Rhetorical Forms -- Administering Justice -- 5.The Divine -- Four Stumbling Blocks to Talking About the Biblical God -- The Names of God -- Religious Competition and Co-optation --

Contents note continued: The Divine Feminine -- Father God, Children of God, Angels -- Polytheism, Henotheism, and Monotheism -- Seeing the Portraits Again -- 6.The Cultus -- The "Domestic Cult" -- Tabernacles and Temples -- Priests -- Purity -- Dietary Concerns -- Sacrifice -- Child Sacrifice -- 7.Chaos and Creation -- Creation Today -- Cosmic Architecture -- Hands-on Artisanship -- Disorder and Estrangement -- From Cain and Abel to Noah and Babel -- Other Biblical Creations -- 8.Continuation and Completion -- Abraham's Search for a Home -- From Slavery to Liberation -- New Exodus: From Prophecy to Apocalyptic -- PART 3 -- 9.Self and Other -- Hebrews -- Circumcision -- Endogamy -- The Tribes of Israel -- The Samaritans -- Judeans and Jews -- From Affiliation to Conversion -- Resident Aliens and Foreigners -- Chosen People -- 10.Sexuality -- Revisiting Eden -- Sexual Seduction, Response, and Potency -- Legislating Sexuality -- Marriage, Divorce, and Adultery -- Abortion --

Contents note continued: Sexual Abuse -- Innuendo -- 11.Politics and the Economy -- The Nation-State -- The Cities -- The Empire and the Colony -- The Household -- The Clan -- The Tribe -- 12.Diaspora -- Initial Scattering and Return -- The Ten Lost Tribes -- The Babylonian Diaspora -- Postexilic Diaspora Communities -- Esther -- Daniel -- Tobit -- PART 4 -- 13.Critique and Reform -- Historians as Critics -- Moses, Flawed but Unassailable -- As His Father David Did -- Prophets as Critics -- Politics -- Economy -- Religion -- 14.Wisdom and Theodicy -- Who Is Wise? -- Sages and Their Literature -- Sirach and the Wisdom of Solomon -- Woman Wisdom -- Job and Theodicy -- Qohelet (Ecclesiastes) and Realism

The finest introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures available anywhere is at your fingertips in The Meaning of the Bible. Preeminent biblical scholars Douglas A. Knight and Amy-Jill Levine deliver the fullest introduction to the Old Testament- also known as the Tanakh or Hebrew Bible- ever, offering a wealth of highly readable historical background and social context, plus an examination of the meaning and aesthetic value of the sacred literature at the heart of Judaism and Christianity