Ancient Israel: The Old Testament in Its Social Context

By Philip Francis Esler

Book Overview

This volume brings together essays by an international group of biblical scholars on Old Testament topics, employing social-scientific methods: anthropology, macro-sociology, and social psychology. Their innovative work brings alive Israelite society, religion, and its sacred writings.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: B002GFKGFG
• ISBN13: 9780800637675
• Release Date: November 2005
• Publisher: Augsburg Fortress Publishing
• Length: 440 Pages
• Weight: 1.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.4" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

A much needed volume

This volume is a much needed volume in the social scientific study of the Old Testament. The central, unifying theme in this volume is the use of anthropological, social-psychological, and macro-sociological models and their heuristic use in terms of interpreting Hebrew Bible texts. Having read many socio-historical texts on ancient Israel, few actually utilize anthropology and the other social sciences in a way that social scientists actually would. This volume does just that... Explaining a model and then utilizing that model to see if it is a heuristic tool that works and proves that this method is helpful in Hebrew Bible interpretation.