Introduction to the BibleThis book examines the small library of 24 books common to all Jewish and Christian Bibles-books that preserve the efforts of diverse writers over a span of many centuries to make sense of their personal experiences and those of their people, the ancient Israelites. Professor Christine Hayes guides her readers through the complexities of this polyphonous literature that has served as a foundational pillar of Western civilization, underscoring the variety and even disparities among the voices that speak in the biblical texts. |
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Common terms and phrases
Abraham Amos ancient Israel ancient Near East ancient Near Eastern Assyrian Baal Babylonian biblical biblical text biblical writer Canaan Canaanite century B.C.E. chapter commandments contains covenant covenantal creation cult cultic cultural David death deity described destruction Deut Deuteronomistic historian Deuteronomy divine Documentary Hypothesis earth Egypt Egyptian Elohim Enkidu Epic of Gilgamesh evil exile Exodus Ezekiel Ezra Genesis gods Hebrew Bible holy Hosea human idea impurity Isaiah Israel’s history Israelites Jacob Jeremiah Jerusalem Jewish Job’s Jonah Joshua Judah Judean justice Kaufmann king kingdom of Israel land later laws Leviticus literary Marduk metadivine realm monotheism moral Moses narrative nations Nehemiah northern kingdom Numbers oracles passages patriarchs Pentateuch postexilic priestly priestly source priests promise prophecy prophets psalms punishment referred religion religious ritual sacrifice Samuel sanctuary Sarna Saul scholars Sinai sins slave Solomon story suffering Temple Tiamat Torah traditions translation words worship writings Yahweh Zion