THE WORLD OF THE BIBLE
Gods, Goddesses, and An Introduction to the Women Who Serve Early Judaism SECOND EDITION Them Susan Ackerman
James C. VanderKam
A wide-ranging study of women in ancient Israelite religion.
This accessible introduction to early Judaism surveys the history and literature of the Second Temple period, summarizes major archaeological discoveries, and describes the leadership positions, groups, and institutions of Judaism during this era. Now in its second edition, with additional material and updated throughout, this book remains the preeminent guide to early Judaism for anyone looking for a volume that is concise and accessible while still comprehensive—and written by one of the foremost experts in the field.
Susan Ackerman has spent her scholarly career researching underexamined aspects of the world of the Hebrew Bible—particularly those aspects pertaining to women. In this collection drawn from three decades of her work, she describes in fascinating detail the worship of goddesses in ancient Israel, the roles women played as priests and prophets, the cultic significance of queen mothers, and the Hebrew Bible’s accounts of women’s religious lives. Specific topics include: • the “Queen of Heaven,” a goddess whose worship was the object of censure in the book of Jeremiah • Asherah, the great Canaanite mother goddess for whom Judean women were described as weaving in the book of Kings • biblical figures considered as religious functionaries, such as Miriam, Deborah, and Zipporah • the lack of women priests in ancient Israel explored against the prevalence of priestesses in the larger ancient Near Eastern world • the cultic significance of queen mothers in Israel and throughout the ancient Near East • Israelite women’s participation in the cult of Yahweh and in the cults of various goddesses Susan Ackerman is the Preston H. Kelsey Professor of Religion and professor of women’s, gender, and sexuality studies at Dartmouth College. She is the author of Women and the Religion of Ancient Israel; When Heroes Love: The Ambiguity of Eros in the Stories of Gilgamesh and David; Warrior, Dancer, Seductress, Queen: Women in Judges and Biblical Israel; and Under Every Green Tree: Popular Religion in Sixth-Century Judah. 978-0-8028-7956-1 • Jacketed Hardcover • 304 pages $59.99 US • $80.99 CAN • £48.99 UK AVAILABLE SEPTEMBER 2022
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Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
“The second edition of James VanderKam’s Introduction to Early Judaism undoubtedly will enhance the impact of his first edition. His emphasis on archaeological discoveries and inclusion of more ancient literature are welcome additions, and the overall readability and organization of this work still makes it the most comprehensive and useful introduction to Second Temple studies.” — PATRICIA D. AHEARNE-KROLL
University of Minnesota
“VanderKam’s Introduction to Early Judaism is a standard in the field—a wide-ranging, popular, informative, and accessible volume. A newly revised and expanded edition of it is a welcome addition, for students and teachers alike.” — MATTHEW GOFF
Ancient Wisdom An Introduction to Sayings Collections Walter T. Wilson A survey of all major extant collections of wisdom sayings from antiquity across the Near East and the Greco-Roman world. “At a time when there is lively debate about the category ‘wisdom literature,’ Walter Wilson expands the debate by putting proverbial and gnomic texts of the Jewish and Christian traditions in conversation with a wide corpus of Greco-Roman and Near Eastern sayings collections. While he does not simply repeat traditional categorizations, he shows that there is much to be gained by a generic approach to wisdom literature, especially when it is informed by all the relevant comparative material from the ancient world.” — JOHN J. COLLINS
Yale University
“This wide-ranging volume offers students at all levels an authoritative guide to a complex and fascinating genre. It will become an indispensable companion for anyone interested in ancient wisdom literature and its social context.”
— TERESA MORGAN
University of Oxford
“Walter T. Wilson introduces readers to the world of intellectual elites who wrote or collected gnomic sayings long ago: their ideals, their aspirations, their realities, their fears. Anyone who values ancient wisdom will treasure this analysis focusing on the origin, themes, structure, and style of texts spanning millennia.”
— JAMES L. CRENSHAW
Florida State University
James C. VanderKam is the John A. O’Brien Professor of Hebrew Scriptures Emeritus at the University of Notre Dame. Among his many other books are The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible, The Dead Sea Scrolls Today, and the two-volume commentary on the book of Jubilees in the Hermeneia series. He also served as an editor for thirteen volumes in the Discoveries in the Judaean Desert series and was editor of the Journal of Biblical Literature from 2006 to 2012.
Duke University
Walter T. Wilson is the Charles Howard Candler Professor of New Testament at Candler School of Theology, Emory University. His other books include a critical edition of The Sentences of Sextus and a commentary on Philo of Alexandria’s On Virtues. 978-0-8028-7543-3 • Jacketed Hardcover • 335 pages $34.99 US • $46.99 CAN • £28.99 UK AVAILABLE NOW
978-0-8028-8016-1 • Paperback • 253 pages $28.99 US • $38.99 CAN • £22.99 UK AVAILABLE NOW
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