Chapter opener photo © Joseph Chalev/Shutterstock.com
The Pharaoh Merneptah hymn in Chapter 3, page 64, and the Cyrus cylinder text in Chapter 7, page 187: Pritchard, James; Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament – Third Edition with Supplement. © 1950, 1955, 1969, renewed 1978 by Princeton University Press. Reprinted by permission of Princeton University Press.
At points throughout the book extracts have been used from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible: Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 (2nd edition, 1971) by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The publisher apologizes for any errors or omissions in the above list and would be grateful if notified of any corrections that should be incorporated in future reprints or editions of this book.
ABBREVIATIONS
| ANET | James Pritchard (ed.), Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament with Supplement. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1969. |
| George | Andrew George, The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic: Introduction, Critical Edition and Cuneiform Texts. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. |
| Livingstone | Alasdair Livingstone (ed.), Court Poetry and Literary Miscellanea. State Archives of Assyria, 3. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press, 1989. |
| NJPS | The New Jewish Publication Society Tanakh Translation. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1985. |
| NRSV | The New Revised Standard Version of the Bible. New York: National Council of Churches, 1989. |
| NT | New Testament |
| OT | Old Testament |
| OT Parallels | Victor Matthews and Don Benjamin, Old Testament Parallels: Laws and Stories from the Ancient Near East (3rd revised and expanded edition). Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2007. |
For Bible abbreviations, see the Prologue, “Bible Abbreviations, Chapters and Verses.”
Asterisks after Bible citations, e.g. “Genesis 12–50*,” indicate that only parts of the cited texts are included.
//indicate that the texts before and after the slashes are parallel to each other.
OVERVIEW OF THE HISTORICAL PERIOD
This shows major periods and corresponding texts covered in this book.
| DATES | 1250–1000 BCE (13th–11th centuries) | 1000–930 (10th century) | 930–800 (10th–9th centuries) | 800–700 (8th century) | 700–586 (7th and early 6th centuries) | 586–538 (6th century) | 538–332 (6th–4th centuries) | 332–63 (4th–1st centuries) | 63 BCE–100 CE (1st century BCE to 1st century CE) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chapter | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9–15 |
| MAJOR EVENTS (IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER) | Spread of villages in hill country Tribal “Israel” emerges Saul’s chieftainship | Formation of Davidic monarchy Jerusalem taken as capital of Judah/Israel David and Solomon | Formation of northern kingdom of “Israel” Rise and fall of Omride dynasty | Domination and destruction of northern “Israel” by Assyria Domination of Judah by Assyria | Eventual decline of Assyrian power Enactment of Josiah’s “reform” Decline of Judah into domination by Babylon First wave of exile | Destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple Second and third waves of exile of elites to Babylon | Persian victory, waves of return, rebuilding of Temple Nehemiah’s rebuilding of the wall Divorce of foreign wives under Ezra and elevation of Torah | Hellenistic rule Hellenizing crisis Hasmonean kingdom | Roman rule |
| MAJOR WRITINGS (AND ORAL TRADITIONS) | (No writings, but oral traditions about exodus, trickster ancestors) | Royal and Zion psalms Proverbs (early forms of other texts like the non-P primeval history) | Jacob narrative Joseph narrative Exodus – wilderness story Song of Deborah | Prophecy to the north by Amos and Hosea Prophecy to the south by Micah and Isaiah | Formation of Deuteronomy and following historical books (Joshua–2 Kings) Nahum and Zephaniah Early prophecies from Jeremiah | Exilic additions to biblical books Lamentations Ezekiel and Second Isaiah Non-P (L) narrative of early Israel P coun-ter-narrative of early Israel | Haggai Zechariah Nehemiah memoir Temple rebuilding Ezra narrative Third Isaiah Combined L/P Pentateuch Psalter | Early parts of Enoch Ben Sira Ezra–Nehemiah Esther 1–2 Chronicles Daniel 1–2 Maccabees Judith | Most of the New Testament |
| MAJOR NEW IDEAS AND THEMES | Election theology | Royal/Zion theology | Exclusive devotion to Yahweh enforced (briefly) by Josiah | Monotheism | Dual Temple – Torah focus | Judaism Resurrection | Emergent belief in Jesus as messiah and Son of God |