AMIDST THE RISE AND FALL OF THE NORTHERN KINGDOMChapter OverviewSetting the Stage: The Rise of the Northern Kingdom of Israel and Its TextsAncient Near Eastern ProphecyAmos, a Southern Prophet Preaching Justice and Doom to the NorthHosea, the Northern Prophet, Calling for Israel’s Devotion to Yahweh AloneMicah, a Southern Prophet, Predicting Judgment for Judah and JerusalemIsaiah’s Vision of Hope for Jerusalem/Zion Embedded in the Book of IsaiahThe Use and Reuse of Biblical TraditionsFocus Text: Contrasting Prophetic Visions of Zion’s FutureChapter Four ReviewResources for Further Study
18 CHAPTER 5: TORAH AND OTHER TEXTS WRITTEN IN THE WAKE OF THE ASSYRIAN EMPIREChapter OverviewReligious and Textual Reform Amidst the Downfall of AssyriaThe Deuteronomic Torah of Moses and the Phenomenon of HybridityHistorical Texts Infused with the Theology and Values of DeuteronomyJeremiah’s Prophecy of Judgment on ZionFocus Text: Deuteronomy 6:4–9New Scriptures in the Twilight of Judean MonarchyChapter Five ReviewResources for Further Study
19 CHAPTER 6: BIBLE FOR EXILES: PROMISE AND STORY IN THE NEO-BABYLONIAN EMPIREChapter OverviewThe Neo-Babylonian Destruction of Jerusalem and ExileForced Labor for Exiles Under NebuchadnezzarThe Exilic Editions of Biblical BooksEzekiel’s Move from Judgment to Promise with the Fall of JerusalemHope for Exiles in Second Isaiah (also called “Deutero-Isaiah”)From Promise in the Prophets to Promise in Two Pentateuchal Sources: L and PHistory and FictionFocus Text: Gen 12:1–3Conclusions on (Exilic) Trauma and the BibleChapter Six ReviewResources for Further Study
20 CHAPTER 7: PERSIAN EMPIRE AND THE EMERGENCE OF A TEMPLE-CENTERED JEWISH COMMUNITYChapter OverviewHistory: The Persian-Sponsored Building of a Temple- and Torah-Centered JudaismThe Final Formation of the TorahThe Book of Psalms as a Torah-Centered Collection of More Ancient PsalmsFocus Text: Isa 56:1–8Concluding Reflections on Scriptures in and After the ExileChapter Seven ReviewResources for Further Study
21 CHAPTER 8: HELLENISTIC EMPIRES AND THE FORMATION OF THE HEBREW BIBLEChapter OverviewJudaism and Hellenism Before the Hellenizing CrisisThe Crisis Over Hellenizing Jerusalem and the Book of DanielA Hellenistic Period Kingdom of Israel: The Hasmonean Revolt and MonarchyThe Hellenistic Period as the Setting for Other Hebrew Bible TextsFocus Text: Daniel 10–12The Formation of the Jewish Tanakh and Christian Old Testament(s)ConclusionChapter Eight ReviewResources for Further Study
22 PROLOGUE TO THE STUDY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
23 CHAPTER 9: THE JESUS MOVEMENT IN THE CONTEXT OF THE ROMAN EMPIREChapter OverviewImagining the Jerusalem That Jesus KnewRome Comes to JerusalemThe Earliest Jesus TraditionsSearching for the Historical Jesus: Problems and ProposalsChapter Nine ReviewResources for Further Study
24 CHAPTER 10: PAUL AND HIS LETTERS IN THE ROMAN COLONIAL CHAPTER OUTLINEChapter OverviewPaul’s Travels and Letter CollectionWho Was Paul?Three Undisputed Letters of Paul: Galatians, 1 Corinthians, and RomansFocus Text: The Problem of Israel and the Place of the Gentiles (Romans 9–11)The Disputed LettersConclusion: From Letters to ScriptureChapter Ten ReviewResources for Further Study
25 CHAPTER 11: THE GOSPEL OF MARK: SUFFERING AND TRAUMA UNDER IMPERIAL RULEChapter OverviewThe Jewish War (66–70 ce)Pointers to the Dating and Context of the Gospel of MarkRising Popularity of Jesus and Rising Conflict with the Authorities (Mark 1:1–8:21)Teaching and More Misunderstanding on the Way (Mark 8:22–10:52)The Suffering Messiah (Mark 11:1–16:8)Mark’s Enigmatic EndingFocus Text: Mark 12:1–12Chapter Eleven ReviewResources for Further Study
26 CHAPTER 12: THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW: DEFINING COMMUNITY IN THE WAKE OF DESTRUCTIONChapter OverviewThe Synoptic ProblemThe Structure of the Gospel of MatthewThe Matthean Jesus and MosesThe Matthean Jesus, Righteousness, and Torah ObedienceThe Matthean Jesus, Wisdom, and TorahMatthew’s Apocalyptic Vision and the Kingdom of HeavenThe Matthean Polemic Against the PhariseesFocus Text: Matt 25:31–46Chapter Twelve ReviewResources for Further Study
27 CHAPTER 13: LUKE–ACTS: LEGITIMIZING THE JESUS MOVEMENT IN THE MIDST OF EMPIREChapter OverviewThe Lukan ProloguesThe Lukan Jesus in Continuity with Israel’s PastThe Jesus Movement in Continuity with Israel’s PastSalvation to the Gentiles in Luke–ActsSituating the Jesus Movement in the Roman EmpireThe Holy Spirit in Luke–ActsFocus Text: Jesus’s Sermon in Nazareth (Luke 4:14–30)Chapter Thirteen ReviewResources for Further Study
28 CHAPTER 14: THE GOSPEL OF JOHN AND THE JOHANNINE LETTERS: TURNING INWARD AS A STRATEGY FOR LIFE IN THE EMPIREChapter OverviewWho Is the Johannine Jesus?Knowing and Believing in the Johannine JesusOpposition from the WorldThe Problem of “the Jews” in the Gospel of JohnFocus Text: John 17The Johannine LettersChapter Fourteen ReviewResources for Further Study
29 CHAPTER 15: FOLLOWING CHRIST IN THE EMPIRE: DIVERSE APPROACHES IN THE NEW TESTAMENTChapter OverviewThe Revelation to John: Visions of “Conquering” Roman PowerFocus Text: Revelation 17–18Hebrews: Platonic Perspectives on Christ1 Peter: Living as Aliens and Accommodating to the EmpireConclusion: Three Different Relationships to the Roman EmpireChapter Fifteen ReviewResources for Further Study
30 Epilogue: The Final Formation of the Jewish and Christian Bibles
31 Glossary
32 Index
List of Illustrations
1 Chapter 00.1 Scholarly edition of the same text as in Figure 0.2.0.2 One of our earliest manuscripts of the book of Isaiah.
2 Chapter 11.1 Ancient visitors to Egypt from the East (Canaanite ancestors of Israelites?)
3 Chapter 22.1 Part of the hill country of central Israel.2.2 Typical pillared house of the Israelites.2.3 Tablet containing a letter from Abdi-heba.2.4 Merneptah stela2.5 Animals feeding on trees.
4 Chapter 33.1 Artist’s reconstruction of Solomon’s Jerusalem.3.2 Scribe standing before the king of a small neighboring kingdom.3.3 Student exercise tablet.3.4 Letters inscribed into the surface of a stone.3.5 The “Gezer Calendar.”3.6 Copy of the Egyptian Instruction of Amenemope.3.7 The stela of Hammurabi.3.8 Titian’s painting of Adam and Eve taking the apple.
5 Chapter 44.1 One of the ivory carvings found in Samaria.4.2 Detail from a wall-sized panorama of the defeat of the town of Lachish in Judah.4.3 Panel from the Black Obelisk of the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III.4.4 The Sennacherib prism.4.5 Pillar figurines of a sort common in archaeological remains of the eighth century.4.6 Drawing and inscription found at a desert trading post called Kuntillet Adjr…4.7 Judean seals from the time of Isaiah and Micah.
6 Chapter 55.1 Seals and other images from the late seventhcentury.
7 Chapter 66.1 Ashes and arrowheads left from the Babylonian attack on Jerusalem.6.2 Reproduction of part of the magnificent temple of Ishtar.6.3 Silver amulet, dating to just before the fall ofJerusalem.
8 Chapter 77.1 Relief from the Persian capital of Persepolis.7.2 The Cyrus cylinder.
9 Chapter 88.1 Copy of the Hebrew book of Ben Sira found near the Dead Sea.8.2 Coin from the time of the Hasmoneans.
10 Chapter