This study of family religion in the Babylonian, Ugaritic and Israelite civilizations opens up a little studied province of ancient Near Eastern religion. By focusing on the interaction between family religion and state religion, the author offers fascinating insights in to the development of the religion of Israel.

This SBL Press edition of an essential Brill reference work deals with the religious practices of the family in the ancient Babylonian, Syrian, and Israelite civilizations. On the basis of a wealth of documents from both the private and the literary realm, the book gives an exhaustive description and analysis of the rites of the ancestor cult and the devotion to local gods. The author demonstrates the role of these two aspects of family religion in the identity construction of its followers. The section dealing with Israel pays particular attention to the relationship between family religion and state religion. The emergence of the state religion under King Saul marked the beginning of a competition between civil and private religion. Though the two had great influence upon each other, the tension between them was never resolved. A study of their interaction proves to be a key for the understanding of the development of Israelite religion during the monarchic period.

The first book to explore the religious dimensions of the family and the household in ancient Mediterranean and West Asian antiquity. Advances our understanding of household and familial religion, as opposed to state-sponsored or civic temple cults Reconstructs domestic and family religious practices in Egypt, Greece, Rome, Israel, Mesopotamia, Ugarit, Emar, and Philistia Explores many household rituals, such as providing for ancestral spirits, and petitioning of a household's patron deities or of spirits associated with the house itself Examines lifecycle rituals – from pregnancy and birth to maturity, old age, death, and beyond Looks at religious practices relating to the household both within the home itself and other spaces, such as at extramural tombs and local sanctuaries

This volume of essays draws together specialists in the field to explain, illustrate and analyze this religious diversity in Ancient Israel.

This is the most far-reaching interdisciplinary investigation into the religion of ancient Israel ever attempted. The author draws on textual readings, archaeological and historical data and epigraphy to determine what is known about the Israelite religions during the Iron Age (1200-586 BCE). The evidence is synthesized within the structure of an Israelite worldview and ethos involving kin, tribes, land, traditional ways and places of worship, and a national deity. Professor Zevit has originated this interpretive matrix through insights, ideas, and models developed in the academic study of religion and history within the context of the humanities. He is strikingly original, for instance, in his contention that much of the Psalter was composed in praise of deities other than Yahweh. Through his book, the author has set a precedent which should encourage dialogue and cooperative study between all ancient historians and archaeologists, but particularly between Iron Age archaeologists and biblical scholars. The work challenges many conclusions of previous scholarship about the nature of the Israelites' religion.

STAR - Studies in Theology and Religion, 3 This book contains the contributions to the first international conference organised by the Netherlands School for Advanced Studies in Theology and Religion (NOSTER), held in the Netherlands in January 1999. The conference theme was inspired by Eric Hobsbawm and Terence Ranger’s influentual volume, The Invention of Tradition. Their work provided a starting point for discussing formations and changes of religious traditions on the one hand, and the interaction of religious identities and the transformation of traditions on the other. After an introductory section discussing Hobsbawm’s definitions and his theoretical framework, and offering several critical applications of his framework to Christian traditions, the main part of this volume consists of three thematic sections: the theme of the Exodus, the earliest traditions about the Lord’s supper, and the modern “myth of Fundamentalism”. This volume will be of interest to all those engaged in the study of religious traditions and identities, and the way in which these interact. From the Contents The Invention of Religious Traditions Counterfactuals and the Invention of Religious Traditions - Marcel Sarot The Creation of Tradition: Rereading and Reading beyond Hobsbawm - Paul Post Early Christianity between Divine Promise and Earthly Politics - Willemien Otten Challenging the Tradition of the Bodiless God: A Way to Inclusive Monotheism? - Kune E. Biezeveld Invention of Tradition? Trinity as Test - Herwi Rikhof Inventing and Re-inventing the Exodus The Exodus as Charter Myth - Karel van der Toorn Exodus: Liberation History against Charter Myth - Rainer Albertz The Development of the Exodus Tradition - John Collins History-oriented Foundation Myths in Israel and its Environment - Hans-Peter Müller The Exodus Motif in the Theologies of Liberation: Changes of Perspective - Georges De Schrijver Exodus in the African-American Experience - Theo Witvliet The Invention of the Eucharist and its Aftermath The Early History of the Lord’s Supper - Henk Jan de Jonge The Early History of the Lord’s Supper: Response to Henk Jan de Jonge - Dietrich-Alex Koch The Lord’s Supper and the Holy Communion in the Middle Ages: Sources, Significance, Remains and Confusion - Charles Caspers Meal and Sacrament: How Do We Encounter the Lord at the Table - Gerrit Immink Religious Fundamentalism: Facts and Fiction The Borderline between Muslim Fundamentalism and Muslim Modernism: An Indonesian Example - Herman Beck The Roaring Lion Strikes Again: Modernity vs. Dutch Orthodox Protestantism - Hijme Stoffels Fundamentalism: The Possibilities and Limitations of a Social-Psychological Approach - Jacques Janssen, Jan van der Lans and Mark Dechesne

In this third volume of his critically acclaimed Old Testament Theology John Goldingay explores the Old Testament vision of Israel's life before God. The first volume focused on the story of God's dealings with Israel, or Israel's gospel. The second volume investigated the beliefs of Israel, or Israel's faith. Now the spotlight falls on the Old Testament's perspective on the life that Israel should live in its present and future, including its worship, prayer and spirituality, as well as its practices, attitudes and ethics before God. Goldingay sees three spheres of life giving order to Israel's vision: its life in relation to God, its life in community and the life of the individual as a self. Within these frameworks he unfurls a tapesetry that is as broad and colorful as all of life, and yet detailed in its intricate attention to the text. With this final volume John Goldingay has given us the third pillar of an Old Testament theology that is monumental in scope and yet invites us to enter through multiple doors to explore its riches. Students will profit from a semester in its courts, and ministers of the Word will find their preaching and teaching deeply enriched by wandering its halls and meditating in its chambers.

Jonathan Rowe examines David and Jonathan's friendship in the context of what ancient readers would have understood as the 'natural' loyalty to their families. He focuses on the conflicting moral goods between which the men choose, seeking to understand the dynamics of the narrative consonant with ancient society. Rowe discusses theoretical issues of interpretation and summarises how Bakhtin's theory of heteroglossic voices can be utilised to understand the narrative. He deliberates over the key aspects of family life in the world described by the Old Testament, surveys approaches to the study of the family among anthropologists and, finally, states how anthropology can inform the interpretation of the biblical text. Starting from the concept of 'hegemonic masculinity', Rowe examines how men in general are presented positively, and then shows how Jonathan, David and Saul measure up to these standards. Rowe concludes that although Jonathan was disloyal to his family, something that implied readers would have censured, the books of Samuel present this disloyalty as honourable, thus making a theological point about fidelity to the house of David.

A more complete picture of how procreation and childlessness are depicted in the Bible In the Book of Genesis, the first words God speaks to humanity are "Be fruitful and multiply." From ancient times to today, these words have been understood as a divine command to procreate. Fertility is viewed as a sign of blessedness and moral uprightness, while infertility is associated with sin and moral failing. Reconceiving Infertility explores traditional interpretations such as these, providing a more complete picture of how procreation and childlessness are depicted in the Bible. Closely examining texts and themes from both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, Candida Moss and Joel Baden offer vital new perspectives on infertility and the social experiences of the infertile in the biblical tradition. They begin with perhaps the most famous stories of infertility in the Bible—those of the matriarchs Sarah, Rebekah, and Rachel—and show how the divine injunction in Genesis is both a blessing and a curse. Moss and Baden go on to discuss the metaphorical treatments of Israel as a "barren mother," the conception of Jesus, Paul's writings on family and reproduction, and more. They reveal how biblical views on procreation and infertility, and the ancient contexts from which they emerged, were more diverse than we think. Reconceiving Infertility demonstrates that the Bible speaks in many voices about infertility, and lays a biblical foundation for a more supportive religious environment for those suffering from infertility today.

One of the leading scholars of ancient West Semitic religion discusses polytheism vs. monotheism by covering the fluidity of those categories in the ancient Near East. He argues that Israel's social history is key to the development of monotheism.