In this introduction to the first five books of the Old Testament, Victor Hamilton moves chapter by chapter--rather than verse by verse--through the Pentateuch, examining the content, structure, and theology. Each chapter deals with a major thematic unit of the Pentateuch, and Hamilton provides useful commentary on overarching themes and connections between Old Testament texts. This second edition has been substantially revised and updated. The first edition sold over sixty thousand copies.

In this latest addition to the Handbooks for Old Testament Exegesis series, Peter T. Vogt continues the tradition of excellence established by previous volumes. Divided into three parts, Interpreting the Pentateuch first provides an overview of the major themes of the Pentateuch. In the second part, Vogt offers resources and strategies for interpreting and understanding the first five books of the Bible by exploring its genres-law and narrative. Finally, Vogt shows that, although the Pentateuch is a collection of ancient texts, it still has contemporary significance. Vogt also includes two samples-one from law and one from narrative-of exegesis, giving students a start-to-finish example of the techniques he has illustrated for effective exegesis.

This valuable resource introduces readers to the Old Testament books of wisdom and poetry--Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs--and helps them better understand each book's overall flow. Estes summarizes some of each book's key issues, offers an exposition of the book that interacts with major commentaries and recent studies, and concludes with an extensive bibliography. Now in paperback.

This concise guide by a leading New Testament scholar helps readers understand how to better study the multitude of Old Testament references in the New Testament. G. K. Beale, coeditor of the bestselling Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament, focuses on the "how to" of interpreting the New Testament use of the Old Testament, providing students and pastors with many of the insights and categories necessary for them to do their own exegesis. Brief enough to be accessible yet thorough enough to be useful, this handbook will be a trusted guide for all students of the Bible. "This handbook provides readers with a wonderful overview of key issues in and tools for the study of the use of the Old Testament in the New. I expect it to become a standard textbook for courses on the subject and the first book to which newcomers will be directed to help them navigate through these sometimes complex waters."--Roy E. Ciampa, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

This valuable reference tool for students and pastors explores the components of the narrative genre—setting, characterization, and plot—and then develops the major theological themes in each of the Old Testament historical books.

In this volume, Terence E. Fretheim seeks to introduce the Pentateuch to modern readers, stressing its continuing capacity to speak a word of--or about--God. The two chapters of Part One provide an orientation to the critical study of the Pentateuch and present a proposal for reading the Pentateuch in terms of its rhetorical strategy. That strategy, Fretheim argues, is designed in such a way as to have a certain effect upon its readers, most basically to shape their faith and life. The five chapters of Part Two focus on the individual books that comprise the Pentateuch.

This two-part volume contains a comprehensive collection of original studies by well-known scholars focusing on the Bible’s wide-ranging reception in world cinema. It is organized into sections examining the rich cinematic afterlives of selected characters from the Hebrew Bible and New Testament; considering issues of biblical reception across a wide array of film genres, ranging from noir to anime; featuring directors, from Lee Chang-dong to the Coen brothers, whose body of work reveals an enduring fascination with biblical texts and motifs; and offering topical essays on cinema’s treatment of selected biblical themes (e.g., lament, apocalyptic), particular interpretive lenses (e.g., feminist interpretation, queer theory), and windows into biblical reception in a variety of world cinemas (e.g., Indian, Israeli, and Third Cinema). This handbook is intended for scholars of the Bible, religion, and film as well as for a wider general audience.

Many good intentions to read the entire Bible have foundered on the rocks of Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Do these books have literary qualities? How does the storyteller tell the story? In Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Stephen Sherwood, C.M.F., applies the tools of narrative criticism to look for the literary qualities of these three biblical books. Sherwood identifies the narrative art of Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy not only in such colorful stories as the Sabbath breaker, the threat from Sihon and Og, the deaths of Nadab and Abihu, the story of Balaam, the bronze serpent, Aaron's rod, Miriam's leprosy, and the water from the rock, but also through the extended discourses made by characters in the story. Sherwood studies the voices of several of these characters: the narrator, the Lord, Moses, Aaron, the Israelites, Balaam and Barak, and others, to see how each is characterized" by their words and actions. In Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Sherwood also shows how each of the three books has its own characteristics as part of a larger story. Leviticus deals mainly with divine speech. Numbers also contains divine speech but the voices of Moses and the narrator are more recurrent. Deuteronomy is presented in the form of a farewell speech of Moses before his death. The story is then retold from Moses' point of view, with different emphases and even some changes. Chapters are *General Introduction, - *Leviticus, - *Numbers, - and *Deuteronomy. - Each chapter contains a general introduction to a biblical book which is followed by notes which make observations on the literary qualities of smaller units of each book.

From the tumbling walls of Jericho to a Jewish girl who became the queen of Persia, the historical books of the Bible are intriguing and unquestionably fascinating. In this comprehensive introduction, veteran Old Testament professor Victor Hamilton demonstrates the significance of the messages contained in these biblical books by carefully examining content, structure, and theology. He details the events and implications of each book chapter by chapter, providing useful commentary on overarching themes and the connections and parallels between Old Testament texts. Now in paper.