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In this uniquely conceived and brilliantly illustrated book, Martin O'Kane, one of the leading experts internationally on biblical art, turns his attention to the narratives of 1&2 Kings. Here we encounter a large and varied cast of characters, men and women whose lives are portrayed imaginatively, ranging from exotic kings and queens and flamboyant prophets to lowly servants and other insignificant functionaries. Readers meet individuals of all ages, from the old and wise to the young and foolish, saints and sinners alike. Many of these characters, and the stories in which they appear, play a prominent part in the religious traditions and cultural worlds of three major faiths-Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Interpreted according to each faith's distinctive norms, they are popular subjects not only in the literature but particularly in the rich iconographies of the three religions.1&2 Kings: A Visual Commentary takes the form of a commentary that focuses on the interpretation of characters and stories from the books of Kings in the visual cultures of the three monotheistic faiths. In each chapter, the first section sets out the most distinctive interpretations and appropriations of the biblical story. The second section interprets how the story has been received and interpreted in Jewish, Christian and Islamic literature. The final section details how characters or episodes from Kings re-appear in original ways in the artwork of the three religions. With its over one hundred and seventy-five full-colour images, from Christian mediaeval manuscripts and Persian and Ottoman miniature paintings to contemporary Jewish art, the volume shows why stories from 1&2 Kings feature so prominently in the artistic and cultural worlds the three religions have helped to shape.Scholars, students and Bible readers in general will find something new and something delightful on every page of this unusually engaging work.

Volume IX offers a valuable enhancement of the 8-volume Dictionary of Classical Hebrew (1993-2011). In DCH I-VIII, each volume had its own English-Hebrew Index, but this volume presents a much improved gathering together of all those indexes. The Index here contains every word used as a translation (gloss) in the Dictionary, that is, all the words printed in bold. In addition-a feature not seen before in Hebrew dictionaries-beneath each listed word are noted all the Hebrew words it translates, together with the volume and page reference of the relevant article. The Index thus shows at a glance all the Hebrew words that are translated with the same English word, e.g. Arrogance 10 Hebrew words, Arrow 7, Assembly 10, Band 9, Basket 9, Bend 10, Branch 23, Break 21. So it becomes an index of synonyms, hard to parallel elsewhere in the scholarly literature. Indexes have not been a common feature of twentieth-century Hebrew dictionaries, though they were quite frequent in older lexica, and it is time they were restored as a customary element in a lexicon. Browsing the Index will prove not only interesting but also useful. The second element in this volume is the Word Frequency Table. This is a combination of the Word Frequency Tables in the various volumes of DCH. There, the lists of word frequencies were arranged under each letter of the alphabet. In the present publication, all the words in the Dictionary are combined in a single list arranged in order of frequency of occurrence. Unlike all previous lists of occurrences of Hebrew words, the present list includes the occurrences not only in the Hebrew Bible but also in the whole scope of The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew, which is to say, Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Hebrew Inscriptions as well as the Hebrew Bible itself. For each word there is listed the number of occurrences in each of those four corpora, and the ranking position of a given word is determined by the total number of occurrences in all the classical Hebrew texts combined.

Habitats of the Basileia brings together some of the current and important work in biblical studies and theology, which takes seriously the demands and possibilities of applying contextual, feminist, decolonial, and ecological approaches to the critical study of the Bible and religion. The volume is inspired by the engaging work of Elaine M. Wainwright RSM; and invites us to imagine what thriving conditions and communities of the human and more-than-human might look like across multiple contexts.- What did it mean for those living in biblical times, or for the early Jesus movement who proclaimed an alternative basileia or kingdom against the backdrop of Roman imperial power?- What does it mean for various communities today, as we seek to understand and re-imagine what thriving conditions might look like in our own complex and often rapidly changing environments?Written by a diverse range of biblical, theological, and religious studies scholars, the chapters in this volume collectively argue for and demonstrate the importance of context and being attuned to social location in the production of biblical and theological scholarship.The essays are divided into three categories: the first seven chapters deal with the Gospel of Matthew, given the importance of this book to Elaine's work. The next nine chapters explore biblical texts beyond Matthew through various lenses including those of gender, colonialism, the environment, animal studies, contextual hermeneutics, and class. The final three chapters are concerned with the legacies of both Elaine's lifework and the broader avenues in current biblical research that have been nurtured and influenced through her efforts.

After the significant and ground-breaking commentaries on Ezra and Nehemiah by Lisbeth Fried, she now turns her attention to a different genre of biblical literature and to the book of Ruth. Fried approaches Ruth as folktale, specifically, a fairy tale. This new reading of Ruth allows the book to be experienced in a new way, a way infrequently recognized, that provides novel but compelling insights into the author's intentions and goals.Fried uses Propp's Morphology of a Folktale to provide the guideposts for her strikingly refreshing approach. The story of Ruth is one of a stranger in a strange land. Ruth's author explores the meaning of identity, assimilation and acceptance. He asks whether identity can be changed, whether the Judean god and the Judean nationality can be taken on voluntarily, whether assimilation is possible, whether the stranger can or should be welcomed into the bosom of a family, and indeed, whether he or she can be trusted. These are questions we deal with today, but it was a vital issue after the return from Babylon and on into the Hellenistic period, when foreigners (first Persian and then Greek) were everywhere, and in control of everyday life, and when their foreign ways were rampant. Ruth's author recognizes that welcoming the stranger was and indeed is a scary proposition.Like her Commentaries on Ezra and Nehemiah, the present volume includes a new translation of the book, plus text-critical notes on each verse which compares and contrasts the Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and Syriac versions as well as the Aramaic Targum. The Introduction and extensive chapter commentaries provide a discussion of the larger historical and literary issues. Fried's commentary promises to revolutionize how we read the book of Ruth.This is the fourth volume in the Critical Commentaries series.

The third Volume of The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew Revised, Zayin-Teth, arrives 27 years after the publication of the corresponding volume in the first edition (DCH) in 1996. Readers will find in the present volume some 32% more words (lemmas) than in the original 3rd volume, amounting to 40% more material, which consists of many thousands of additions and corrections, references to the multitude of Dead Sea Scrolls texts and inscriptions published since 1996, and a much expanded Bibliography.The nine volumes of DCHR were originally expected to be published at intervals of approximately one year, after the first volume in August 2018. There was, after the second volume, in 2019, a pause until now. From 2019 to 2022 David J.A. Clines, prior to his final illnesses and death:completed every necessary editorial task for the future volumes;oversaw the preparation of and collation of most materials;and provided the means by which the project Research Associate, David Stec, could bring the remaining volumes to completion between 2023 and 2028.David Clines wrote the Preface for this volume and David Stec completed all outstanding work including the final collation of the sets of synonyms.The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew Revised, when completed, will contain more than 6,420 Hebrew words not in BDB, and will refer to many newly published texts, including 540 Dead Sea Scrolls and 4,000 ancient Hebrew inscriptions. New features in DCHR include: a notation of 4,285 byforms (words with the same meaning and similar form) identified for the first time; 717 verbal nouns (nouns derived from a verb) with their own articles (not previously shown in Hebrew lexica), 345 denominative verbs (verbs derived from a noun), and the semantic field to which every word belongs (a totally new feature for Hebrew dictionaries).Data on synonyms have been greatly expanded, and loanwords from other languages included. Articles on personal names show (for the first time) all short forms, long forms, and alternative forms of each name, the Bibliography has been updated and expanded, and 35,000 emendations of biblical texts noted.Every occurrence of each word in Classical Hebrew is noted. All the subjects and objects of verbs are listed, and the verbs used with each noun, as well as all nouns used in a construct (genitive) relation with another noun. As with DCH, every Hebrew word in the revised Dictionary (except for the variant forms of a word, the byforms and the sections on synonyms) is followed immediately by an English translation, so that the Dictionary can be easily understood by a person with little or no Hebrew. Among the resources that have been reviewed for the present volume are: philological studies on Hebrew words, such as Aitken on blessing and cursing, Koller on tools, and Peters on cooking;handbooks on loanwords from other languages, such as Noonan on non-Semitic words, Mankowski on Akkadian and Muchiki on Egyptian loanwords;treatments of realia such as Borowski on agriculture and animals, Musselman on plants and Wiggins on weather;collections of inscriptions such as the second volume of Davies on Hebrew inscriptions, Lifschits and Vanderhooft on Yehud stamp impressions and Deutsch on Hebrew bullae and biblical period epigraphy.The Bibliography itself, with over 4,000 entries, an average of 30 items- merely on words beginning Zayin to Teth-for each of the last 120 years, testifies to the vitality of scholarship on the Classical Hebrew language.

This volume focuses on the relationship of prophecy and reconciliation, within the frame of Pentecostal hermeneutics. These themes have been prominent throughout Rickie D. Moore's work and this collection celebrates his life and academic career-as a professor of Old Testament, a specialist in the prophetic literature, a leading voice in the development of Pentecostal hermeneutics, and an influential figure of the Cleveland School of Pentecostal theology.The editors and contributors of this volume represent a small selection of Moore's mentors (Walter Brueggemann and James Crenshaw), his colleagues (Lee Roy Martin, John Christopher Thomas, Blaine Charette, Amos Yong, Kimberly Alexander, and Chris Green), and former students (Caroline Reddick, Robby Waddell, Jesse Stone, David Johnson, Daniela Augustine, and Casey Cole). Their words testify to the deep, far-reaching effects of his teaching and his presence.The essays are gathered into three main sections: the first two deal explicitly with a close reading of biblical texts from the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, and the last deals with the theological issues that emerge in consideration of prophetic awareness and action and the hope of intergenerational reconciliation. Moore pioneered an integrative approach to reading and teaching the Scriptures, keenly aware of his own theological and spiritual inheritance as a Pentecostal and deeply committed to the life-altering power of sacred study, skillfully blending critical self-reflection and testimony with rigorous scholarship.

This anthology presents a collaborative interrogation at the intersection of feminist biblical studies and biblical masculinity studies. The included essays make a compelling case for both feminist and masculist readers to recognize the advantage of engaging with each other. As they join forces, they produce research that not only brings female characters, gender issues or queer interpretation histories to the forefront but also interrogates critically male characters as well as androcentric and heteronormative conventions, viewpoints and norms. Connections to geopolitical, ethno-religious and other intersectional issues are part and parcel of the diverse range of approaches.As a whole, then, the book expands the scholarly discourse from essentializing attention on 'women' or 'men' to a multifaceted (de)construction of gender that exposes gendered structures of domination in comprehensive ways. The shared goal is to halt reactionarygender discourses and to foster intersectional comprehension of texts and scholarship. Theoretical, historical, contemporary and textual considerations underscore the methodological, hermeneutical and exegetical value of this kind of work.The volume is organized into three main parts. First, 'Theoretical Considerations', presents two essays illuminating meta-level assumptions and developments when biblical scholars embrace the interrelationship of feminist and masculinity studies in their work. Second, 'Historical and Contemporary Considerations', contains three essays examining the Bible in past and present cultural contexts. Third, 'Textual Considerations', features four essays focusing on specific passages with lenses informed by masculinity and feminist studies. All nine essays, and the three responses addressing them, invite readers to understand, critique and interrupt phallogocentric assumptions in texts, interpretation histories, and research of the Hebrew Bible.

David Seal's reading of 1 and 2 Peter in this commentary, in addition to explaining the text as written, also highlights the stylistics of oral literature employed by the author. The first-century Mediterranean world was a blend of an oral and a scribal culture; many commentaries overlook the oral nature of the New Testament letters. In oral societies, most people experienced written texts by hearing them read aloud. These two letters would have been experienced primarily through the listener's ears rather than by reading with their eyes.1 Peter encourages its recipients, in their present sufferings, by reminding them of their future inheritance. One oral stylistic that Peter uses to highlight this reward and make a memorable impression on his audience is through both the cadence and the alliteration of the description of their inheritance. These oral features are captured in the English translation where Peter describes the nature of the reward as 'untouched by the ravages death, unstained by evil, and unhindered by the passing of time'. When spoken, these oral features, help to underscore the value and durability of the Christian's future reward.Peter's knowledge that the church was experiencing challenges from false teachers is one reason he writes 2 Peter. To facilitate a negative view of these teachers, Peter compares their behavior to that of pigs and dogs. Manipulation of emotions was also a characteristic of oral performance. Portraying the teachers in an emotionally disturbing manner may have helped motivate the church to remove the false teachers from their community.Some of the other oral stylistics discussed in this commentary include the author's manners of expression in terms of word choices, sentence patterns, sound patterns, and gestures that may have accompanied the recitation. By highlighting the patterns and poetic delivery of Peter's letters, which may be missed by modern readers, this commentary seeks to foster a deeper and clearer understanding of 1 and 2 Peter.

Jack Lundbom writes the first full-length critical commentary on the book of Joel in many years, and with a refreshing approach. It contains an extensive Introduction, beginning with the book's place in the Hebrew and Greek canons, followed by a discussion of the Hebrew and LXX texts, open and closed sections, poetry and prose, rhetoric, the World of Joel, and theology of the book.The volume employs for the first time ancient section markers and modern rhetorical criticism to better explicate the biblical text. This represents a major advance over source and form-critical work done by earlier scholars, which divided the text largely on the basis of genre and content. Yahweh's answers to the people's complaints over a drought and locust plague having descended upon Judah are thus brought together into a moving dialogue instead of being treated separately. Lundbom provides a new translation of the biblical text, with comparisons being made to other prophetic works in both language and ideas. It sees Joel as standing firmly in the tradition of the biblical prophets, while at the same time being markedly different. With date and provenance of the book nowhere indicated, the world of Joel must be pieced together from internal evidence. Lundbom proposes that Joel is probably early fifth century, written sometime before Malachi (ca. 450). It is clearly post-exilic, being intimately familiar with the Temple with Jerusalem's walls also standing, which means it must post-date Nehemiah's rebuilding of city. Lundbom concludes that the book is largely the work of the prophet Joel, but with a secondary writer or writers in 2.30-3.8 [Hebrew 3.3-4.8] repeating Joel's authentic hope for Judah and additional judgement on foreign nations.

Judges is the Bible's end-of-the-frontier epic. It depicts the first generations of Israelite life in Canaan and portrays a set of memorable protagonists, the "judges," who were wild enough to tame a wilderness, but too wild to persist into the next era of royal courts, central shrines, and political states. The core of Judges consists of a series of narratives about the outlaws, warlords and war-ladies, mercenaries, and jackleg and priests and prophets from ancient Ephraim whose exploits were recounted in a series of redacted documents that, to the chagrin of pious readers over the centuries, ended up in the Bible, of all places. There is Ehud, the left-handed assassin on a grim solo labyrinthine mission in and out of an enemy fortress. There is Deborah, the alpha female who, in one chapter, commands an army and, in another, is credited with uttering her eponymous song, which deserves to be counted among the world's great war poetry. There is Jael, the man-slaughtering Bedouin woman who is handy with a hammer. There is Gideon, the insecure hero who leads, in one story, an outnumbered elite band of warriors to victory over an enemy force of uncountable proportions and, in another story, a clannish vendetta filled with torture, arson, and revenge killings. There is the tale of Abimelech which traces the rise and fall of a gangster. There is Jephthah, the outcast summoned to rescue his tribe when they need his desperado skill set, but whose rash vow has fatal consequences for his daughter. Finally, there is Samson, one of folk literature's most memorable characterizations, a walking, talking incarnation of unshaved, unbalanced hyper-masculinity. This reading of the tales of Judges as a set of adventure stories from the early centuries of alphabetic literacy requires that we dig through mounds of didactic, theological, moralistic, messianic, and nationalistic landfill in order to reclaim the full glory-and horror-of their dark violence and eroticism, as well as to marvel at the coarse folk poetry in the tales' narration and dialogue.

This book is the first monograph-length reading of a biblical book through the lens of resilience. Megan Warner first defines the lens and outlines its boundaries, before training it upon Genesis-to draw new, and often surprising, meaning out of a much-mined text. This innovative reading responds to the need for sustained readings of biblical text, not just in the spheres of resilience and vulnerability, but also in the closely connected interpretative field of trauma. Warner demonstrates that the authors and editors of Genesis wrote and presented 'effective stories'-i.e. stories designed to effect change. The devastation of the destruction of Jerusalem, the exile and dispiriting return are nowhere explicitly addressed in Genesis. It relates the history of much earlier events. Nevertheless, this reading exposes intimate engagement with these seminal disasters and the formulation of responses to them. Genesis reaches back into ancient history for the purpose of preparing a new and resilient road into an uncertain future.Amongst the contributions of this volume are:¿- a presentation of Genesis' two creation stories as concerted and complementary responses to the Babylonian crisis;¿- the identification of an extensive book-wide project, focused on Abraham, to present a history of a united (albeit Judah-centred) Israel designed to challenge the Mosaic Yahwisms of the pre-exilic and exilic periods;¿- exploration of patterns of use and recruitment of female characters for political means; and¿- a sustained reading of the resilience of a single character, Joseph.Warner's critical approach exposes limitations of the use of resilience as lens, but ultimately demonstrates its potential to go beyond trauma-centred approaches, to recognise innovative, practical and above all, effective, strategies for the construction of viable futures.

Entering into a longstanding debate in Isaiah research on 'way' language in chapters 40-55 comes The Way to Zion in Isaiah 40-55. This discussion concerns whether the 'way' is best understood as a new exodus of the exiles from Babylon or instead as a metaphor signifying the transformation of Jerusalem from a place of judgement to a place of redemption.Caleb Gundlach's study contributes to this debate by arguing that the pilgrimage to Zion becomes a prevalent aspect of the 'way' theme in Isaiah 40-55 and influences how the homecoming is envisioned in these chapters. Firstly, it lays out criteria for recognizing the pilgrimage to Zion as the predominant journey type in Isaiah 49-55. It then explores the relationship of this pilgrimage journey to the major theme of Zion's restoration within Isaiah 40-55, a theme also emphasized by metaphorical interpretations of the 'way'.Resituating the homecoming material within the perspective of pilgrimage to Zion sheds light on other interpretive debates on Isaiah 40-55, including:- the Babylonian or Judahite provenance for the text;- emphasis on either the text's compositional stages or its thematic coherence;- thematic tensions, such as between Zion's restoration and the Servant's mission to the nations. Reconsidering Isaiah's 'way' imagery under the paradigm of the pilgrimage to Zion provides new avenues for negotiating these issues and takes a further step towards understanding how Isaiah 40-55 coheres as a meaningful and complex unity.

This much-needed biblical studies encounter with the physiological and social sciences demonstrates ways these disciplines relate closely. A group of 17 scholars from across the world and from various psychological persuasions have considered texts-from many parts of the Hebrew Bible and New Testament. The essays recognise the human emotional need of the embodied mind in both literary characters and readers, and respond to it with empathic understanding. The newness of interpretative approach in this collection anchors its understanding of the texts within recognised, scientific, psychological theories. Refreshing, even exciting, readings are discerned by focusing understanding of the human mind on those writing, and existing in, the biblical texts. This initiative is in significant contrast to a long history of implied psychological exegesis.Where else, but in the Bible, can such a wide range of human actions, interactions, motivations and tragedies be studied in a variety of social situations? Showcasing the psychological implications of these texts serves as an invitation to continue this new momentum in research. At the same time, the freedom to explore the Bible psychologically has brought the most urgent and pressing psychological struggles to the surface, proving the relevance of all these biblical texts in our present world.

This volume brings to the fore global perspectives, exploring the intersection between violence and biblical texts. It is the outcome of proceedings from a 2021 Centre for the Study of Bible and Violence (CSBV) conference, which had contributors and participants from sixteen nations. This is the fourth of at least five CSBV volumes, each in turn, providing resources both for researchers and in the classroom. In addition to the geographical variety of contributions, the fifteen papers in this volume also reflect a group of scholars diverse in their discipline and field of interest. Some papers involve close textual study (such as Richard Middleton's discussion of the Akedah) while others consider thematic subjects such as the contemporary problem of "Christianism" (Matthew Feldman) or the Bible's entailment in the fetishization of virginity (Johanna Stiebert). Of particular note are three contributions from African scholars. Louis Ndekha brings the Malawian practice of Mob Justice into dialogue with Luke 6:27-29. Paul Chimhungwe writes on the problematic hermeneutical approaches which have informed the Apostles of Johanne Marange of Zimbabwe, which denies Western medicine to its followers. Lodewyk Sutton studies Psalm 58 to consider whether the imprecatory language used therein might constitute part of a ritual used to overcome trauma.The CSBV is a postgraduate research and study centre dedicated to working in the twin areas of the interpretation of biblical violence and the weaponization of the Bible.

In this volume, David J.A. Clines-known for his magisterial three-volume commentary on Job in the Word Biblical Commentary series (1989-2011)-brings together a sequence of 27 of his papers on his favourite biblical book from a variety of publications.In two sections, the wide-ranging Syntheses and the more focused Probes on particular chapters, this collection is a necessary adjunct to his commentary.Among the titles in the Syntheses are:- On the Poetic Achievement of the Book of Job- Why Is There a Book of Job, and What Does It Do to You If You Read It?- Job's Fifth Friend: An Ethical Critique of the Book of Job- Deconstructing the Book of JobAmong the Probes the reader will find:- False Naivety in the Prologue to Job- In Search of the Indian Job- Quarter Days Gone: Job 24 and the Absence of God- Those Golden Days: Job and the Perils of Nostalgia- Putting Elihu in his Place: A Proposal for the Relocation of Job 32-37- One or Two Things You May Not Know about the Universe- The Worth of Animals in the Book of Job- Job's Crafty Conclusion, and Seven Interesting Things about the Epilogue to Job

David J.A. Clines argues in Play the Man! that masculinity is a script, written for men by their societies, a script that men in their various cultures act out their whole lives long: 'no one is born a man'. He has been quick to deploy the insights of sociologists, historians, educationists, health professionals, psychologists and other scholars investigating masculinity in the contemporary and ancient worlds.The book's title is a recognition of masculinity as performance, and the Bible's depictions of males in action as far more than information or entertainment; they function as demands on the men who read them or have them read to them. Hence the subtitle, Biblical Imperatives to Masculinity, presumes that every biblical reference to the masculine is some kind of authoritative command.Clines-in this collection of writings prepared across three decades-has seen biblical texts as an excellent test bed for research into masculinity in one ancient culture as well as being an indubitable influence upon views and practices of masculinity in our own time. The bulk of the book consists of studies of individual characters and texts of the Bible, analysing and profiling the masculinity that is there attested, assumed and encouraged. In conclusion, Clines reflects on the continuing impact of the biblical imperatives to masculinity, their effect on men, women and religion, in our own time.

The Great Lady of the Jerusalem temple was a defining presence in the religion of ancient Israel, yet she has been almost erased from the official biblical narrative. Only in recent years have her eclipse, and her shadowy enduring presence, been noticed and understood. In a diligent but daring and incisive approach to texts and material evidence, Margaret Barker begins a comprehensive restoration of the Lady's story.As Barker has shown in her earlier books, a drive to expel the Lady, revered as Mother of the Davidic kings, culminated in King Josiah's purge in 623 BCE. Moses and the Law became central for the post-exilic faithful; Enochic voices called them the apostate generation; and the Hebrew Scriptures were edited by their scribes. Memories remained, but have been identified as later additions. In this volume Barker shows the Lady and herSon hidden beneath the rewritten Scriptures. Her devotees, Isaiah and his disciples, fled to 'Arabia'.They preserved her ways and wisdom.These Melchizedek priests were Matthew's Magi with symbols of their temple.The Lady's most faithful son was Jesus of Nazareth, who restored the older faith.The Lady's ancient titles appear in Christian hymns to Mary, the Mother of God. The New Testament is in fact the Older Testament.The Great Lady: Restoring her Story is the second volume in a trilogy. It reveals the Lady in the Book of Revelation giving birth to her Son in the temple, and how her teaching underlies the Beatitudes. The first volume The Mother of the Lord was published in 2012. A third volume, The Oracle Page, will show how some newly-discovered leadbooks encode the older world of the Lady and her Son.

This volume has its origins in a conference entitled 'Women and Gender in the Bible and the Ancient World' (University of Glasgow, 2019), a symposium with a deliberately broad scope to encourage fresh research that might transcend already-defined categories. With responses from both emerging and established academics, as well as professionals outside the academy, this collection offers a breadth of explorations of the gendered landscapes and horizons that construct, and subvert, biblical womanhood, and its reception. Familiar figures such as Mary Magdalene, Eve, and Tamar are treated alongside unnamed women whose anonymity is revealing. Exploring a range of performances from ritual to resistance, and from storytelling to sex work, the contributors aim to capture connections between biblical figures and their socio-political worlds, their afterlives and reworkings, and their continued resonances for today's readers and scholars of the Bible. Questions are raised about gendered status, transformation, territorialization and oppression of biblical women: the significance and complexity of their relationships within and outwith the texts that both constitute their confinements and provoke new lineages. Women and Gender in the Bible offers challenging perspectives on our understanding of how we can establish creative transactions between ancient patriarchal cultures and modern post-industrial cultures via counter-readings, misreadings and outraged readings. Casting off the intolerable weight of hundreds of years of androcentric reception is both a starting point and an ultimate goal.

The destruction of Jerusalem and its temple in the sixth century bce brought its inhabitants pain, a feeling of abandonment by God, and the loss of self-identity-and engendered the six poems of the book of Lamentations. Previous studies of the book have sought for its theological centre, or have read the book solely as an expression of grief, but in this innovative interpretation Elie Assis claims that its main aim is to impart hope to its exiled readers.The intention of Lamentations is to transport the mourners from despair to prayer, and to offer its assurance that the destruction must only be temporary because God has not severed his covenant with the people. The people's wish to feel themselves desired by God can be fulfilled, and the divine commitment is forever binding.Through his sensitive literary analysis Assis lays bare a progression of thought within each poem and as well from poem to poem; it is a movement, theological and emotional, from despair in the first poem to prayer and hope in the last.

Patron-client relationships have been documented and studied by anthropologists and sociologists since the 1950s. They are known in rural settings and urban locations alike, and virtually in every region of the world. But it was only in the last decades of the twentieth century that this analytical model was slowly incorporated into the socio-political interpretation of biblical texts and other ancient Near Eastern sources. The patronage model proves to be a useful interpretative tool, casting new light on many aspects of the history of Israel and of other socio-political communities in the southern Levant. Moreover, the concept of patron-client relationships clarifies many of the implicit socio-politics found in the narratives and motifs of several biblical books. This remarkable and comprehensive new reader collects over 20 studies by renowned scholars dealing with different aspects and situations of patronage: in the context of Southwest Asia (the 'Middle East') during the second millennium bce, in relation to the history of ancient Palestine during the first millennium bce, and as well with references to patron-client ties in texts of the Hebrew Bible. While these selected papers do not presume to offer an exhaustive treatment of periods, historical cases and themes in ancient Palestine and in Hebrew Bible literature, they variously illustrate the many possibilities of the concept of patronage to elucidate them.

Papers from a distinguished panel of specialists in the Ancient Near East that revisit former assumptions and present new insights on the relevance of its material culture to the Bible.