Introduction to the Old Testament – Sacred Texts and Imperial Contexts of the Hebrew Bible

List of Figures vi
<p>List of Maps viii</p>
<p>List of Boxes ix</p>
<p>Preface xii</p>
<p>Acknowledgments xiv</p>
<p>List of Abbreviations xvi</p>
<p>Overview of the Historical Period xvii</p>
<p>Timeline xviii</p>
<p>Prologue: Orientation to Multiple Bibles and Multiple Translations 1</p>
<p>1 Studying the Bible in Its Ancient Context(s) 15</p>
<p>2 The Emergence of Ancient Israel and Its First Oral Traditions 33</p>
<p>3 The Emergence of the Monarchy and Royal and Zion Texts 53</p>
<p>4 Echoes of Past Empires in Biblical Wisdom, Love Poetry, Law, and Narrative 71</p>
<p>5 Narrative and Prophecy amidst the Rise and Fall of the Northern Kingdom 91</p>
<p>6 Micah, Isaiah, and the Southern Prophetic Encounter with Assyria 115</p>
<p>7 Torah and History in the Wake of the Assyrian Empire 131</p>
<p>8 Prophecy in the Transition from Assyrian to Babylonian Domination 153</p>
<p>9 Laments, History, and Prophecies after the Destruction of Jerusalem 165</p>
<p>10 The Pentateuch and the Exile 187</p>
<p>11 The Torah, the Psalms, and the Persian–Sponsored Rebuilding of Judah 207</p>
<p>12 Other Texts Formed in the Crucible of Post–Exilic Rebuilding 229</p>
<p>13 Hellenistic Empires and the Formation of the Hebrew Bible 245</p>
<p>Glossary 264</p>
<p>Index 273</p>