The Biblical World

The Biblical World is a comprehensive guide to the contents, historical settings, and social context of the Bible. This new edition is updated with several new chapters as well as a new section on biblical interpretation. Contributions from leading scholars in the field present wide-ranging views not just of biblical materials and their literary and linguistic context, but also of the social institutions, history and archaeology, and religious concepts. New chapters cover topics such as the priesthood and festivals, creation and covenant, ethics, and family life, while a new section on biblical interpretation discusses Jewish and Christian bible translation and key thematic emphases, and modern reader-response and cultural approaches. This revised edition of The Biblical World offers an up-to-date and thorough survey of the Bible and its world, and will continue to be an invaluable resource for students and scholars of the Hebrew Bible and New Testament and their history and interpretation, as well as anyone working on the societies, religions, and political and cultural institutions that created and influenced these texts.

IntroductionKatharine J.Dell Part I: The Bible 1: The Old Testament/Hebrew BibleEryl W. Davies 2: The Apocrypha and PseudepigraphaAdele Reinhartz 3: The Dead Sea ScrollsGeorge J. Brooke 4: The New TestamentMary Marshall 5: Early Christian ApocryphaAndrew Gregory Part II: The canon 6: LawSandra Jacobs 7: HistoriographyAnselm C. Hagedorn 8: ProphecyJanet E. Tollington 9: WisdomKatharine J. Dell 10: ApocalypticismChristopher Rowland 11: The Jewish and Hellenistic novelLaurence M. Wills 12: The Gospels and ActsKylie Crabbe 13:Letters in the new Testament and in the Greco-Roman worldHarry Gamble and Matthew V. Novenson Part III: Documents 14: Cuneiform myths and epics in the Ancient Near EastFrances Reynolds 15: The Hebrew and Aramaic languagesJohn Huebnergard and Jo Ann Hackett 16: The Greek languageCourtney J. P. Friesen 17: Text and versions: the Old TestamentMarieke Dhont 18: Text and versions: theNew TestamentDavid C. Parker 19: Hebrew inscriptionsGraham Davies 20: The Cairo GenizahBenjamin Outhwaite 21: Greek and Roman inscriptions: Jewish inscriptionsJames K. Aitken 22: Christian inscriptions in a (post-)biblical worldJoseph Verheyden Part IV: History 23: Biblical archaeologyFelicity J. Cobbing 24: Palestine during the Bronze AgeRobert S. Homsher and Melissa S.Cradic 25: Palestine during the Iron AgeJames E. Harding 26: Israel’s ancestors: the patriarchs and matriarchsJ. Cheryl Exum 27: Israel at the time of the united monarchy: David and SolomonBenjamin J. M. Johnson 28: Exile, migration, and diaspora after the fall of Jerusalem in the sixth century BCEJill Middlemas 29: Israel under Persia and GreeceLester Grabbe 30: Judaea under Roman rule: 63 BCE–135 CESarah Pearce 31: Israel’s neighboursJonathan Stökl Part V: Institutions 32: Religion in Israel: pre-exile and in exileC. A. Strine 33: WarfareThomas M. Bolin 34: Priesthood and festivalsDeborah Rooke 35: The Arts: representational (architecture, artefacts), performative (music, drama), literary (poetry, psalmody)Susan Gillingham 36: Family and everyday lifeArthur J. Keefer 37: Judaism at the turn of the eraLutz Doering 38: The first churches: social lifeJustin J. Meggitt 39: The first churches: religious practicesJustin J. Meggitt 40: Creation and covenantPhilip Johnston 41: Salvation in Jewish thoughtNorman Solomon 42: Salvation in Christian thoughtPaul Foster 43: EthicsC. L. Crouch and Tarah L. Van der Wiele 44: New Testament christology: interpretations of the identity and role of JesusCatrin H. Williams 45: Interpretations of the identity and role of PaulDavid G. Horrell 46: Death and afterlifeJohn J. Collins 47: Purity and sacrificeNathan MacDonald Part VI: Biblical interpretation past and present 48: Jewish Bible translationsIsaac Kalimi 49: Jewish Biblical interpretationAlison Salvesen 50: Christian Bible translationPeter J. Williams 51: Early Christian biblical interpretationMark Edwards 52: Modern biblical interpretationWilliam R. Telford 53: Reader-response criticism and recent readersBrittany N. Melton and Heath A. Thomas 54: The Bible in contemporary culture and societyHugh Pyper

Katharine J. Dell is Reader in Old Testament Literature and Theology at the Faculty of Divinity in the University of Cambridge, UK, and Fellow of St Catharine's College. She has written extensively on the Wisdom literature of the Old Testament including The Book of Proverbs in Social and Theological Context (2008), Interpreting Ecclesiastes: Readers Old and New (2013), and The Solomonic Corpus of 'Wisdom' and its Influence (2020); and has also written introductory textbooks including, Who Needs the Old Testament?: Its Enduring Appeal and Why the New Atheists Don't Get It (2017).