11 minute read
Old Testament Hebrew Bible
The Bible in a World of Religious Di erence Tyler D. May eld
Foreword by Eboo Patel Rethinking Christian engagement with religious diversity through the stories of three marginalized characters in the book of Genesis.
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e way we read the Bible ma ers for the way we engage the pluralistic world around us. For instance, if we understand the book of Genesis as narrowly focused on primary characters like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, we’ll miss the larger story and end up with the impression that God only cares about those who are “chosen.” In fact, the narratives of marginalized biblical characters reveal that God protects and provides for them also. What might this mean for Christians living in a world of religious di erence today?
In Father Abraham’s Many Children, Tyler May eld re ects on the stories of three of the most signi cant “other brothers” in the Bible—namely, on God’s continued engagement with Cain a er he murders Abel, Ishmael’s circumcision as a sign of God’s covenant, and Esau’s reconciliation with Jacob. From these stories, May eld draws out a more generous theology of religious diversity, so that Christians might be be er equipped to authentically love their neighbors of multiple faith traditions—as God loves, and has always loved, all humanity.
“Tyler May eld o ers an expansive translation and interpretation of three familiar sets of brothers—Cain and Abel, Isaac and Ishmael, and Esau and Jacob—particularly in terms of what it means to be ‘chosen.’ His bold premise is that the way we translate and view the forsaken brother in each duo, the one who is invisible and discounted in most interpretations, a ects our ability to live in a religiously plural world, nation, and community and even our relationships at our own family tables. . . . While it’s not always easy or comfortable to go along with May eld, it’s de nitely a journey worth taking. Wherever readers end up, they will have found plenty of food for thought along the way.”
— CHRISTIAN CENTURY
“I love Tyler D. May eld’s book because he illuminates parallel parts of the Bible. In beautiful clear prose, he shows how the call and command of Christian scripture helps people connect being both faithful to the Bible and contributing citizens in a diverse nation and world.” — EBOO PATEL
from the foreword
“ rough his rich and deep reading of the biblical stories of Cain, Ishmael, and Esau, Tyler May eld helps us see God, the Bible, our neighbors, and our neighbors’ religions di erently. In today’s world, that’s a wonderful and needed accomplishment!”
— BRIAN D. McLAREN
author of Faith after Doubt
“Religious pluralism is increasingly an unavoidable reality today, not only in how we see the world but also in how we experience our neighborhoods. As Christians are wrestling with these realities, many have assumed the ancient texts comprising their Bible have li le to o er. Tyler May eld’s Father Abraham’s Many Children steps into this void with an accessible and creative approach that literally goes back to the beginning, to the book of Genesis, to uncover neglected stories of diversity that have been right in ont of us all along.” — ROBERT P. JONES
award-winning author and CEO of the Public Religion Research Institute
“May eld brings stunning biblical scholarship to our most urgent work: to become Christian pluralists who love di erence, as God surely does. By exploring the complexity of biblical narrative through marginalized gures we come to esh awareness of those whom we have judged ‘less than’ and pushed to the margins today.”
— THARINE RHODES HENDERSON
president of Auburn Seminary
“Lucid, innovative, and expansive. . . . An invaluable resource to those looking for a biblical basis for a new approach to religious pluralism.” — S. WESLEY ARIA JAH
former director of the interfaith dialogue program of the World Council of Churches 978-0-8028-7945-5 • Paperback • 145 pages • $17.99 US • $23.99 CAN • £13.99 UK
AVAILABLE NOW
Tyler D. May eld is the A. B. Rhodes Professor of Old Testament and director of the Grawemeyer Award in Religion at Louisville Presbyterian eological Seminary. His other books include A Guide to Bible Basics and Unto Us a Child Is Born: Isaiah, Advent, and Our Jewish Neighbors.
“In a world in which incendiary antagonism toward other faiths is all too common, May eld invites Christians to engage religious pluralism with empathy and intelligence. e pastoral tone and searching discussion questions make this slim volume well-suited for those eager to examine inherited biases of Christianity and move toward a more audacious love of neighbor.”
— CAROLYN J. SHARP
author of Wrestling the Word: The Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian Believer
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Isaiah, Advent, and Our Jewish Neighbors Tyler D. May eld 978-0-8028-7398-9 Our Father Abraham
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Warrior, King, Servant, Savior
Messianism in the Hebrew Bible and Early Jewish Texts Torleif Elgvin An exegetical and diachronic survey of messianic texts om the Hebrew Bible and Jewish tradition up through the rst millennium CE.
Jewish messianism can be traced back to the emerging Kingdom of Judah in the tenth century BCE, when it was represented by the Davidic tradition and the promise of a future heir to David’s throne. From that point, it remained an important facet of Israelite faith, as evidenced by its frequent recurrence in the Hebrew Bible and other early Jewish texts. In preexilic texts, the expectation is for an earthly king—a son of David with certain ethical qualities—whereas from the exile onward there is a transition to a pluriform messianism, o en with utopic traits.
Warrior, King, Servant, Savior is an exegetical and diachronic study of messianism in these texts that maintains close dialogue with relevant historical research and archaeological insights. Internationally respected biblical scholar Torleif Elgvin recounts the development and impact of messianism, from ancient Israel through the Hasmonean era and the rabbinic period, with rich chapters exploring messianic expectations in the Northern Kingdom, postexilic Judah, and Qumran, among other contexts. For this multifaceted topic—of marked interest to Jews, Christians, and secular historians of religion alike—Elgvin’s handbook is the essential and de nitive guide.
“In his scholarly analysis that reads sometimes like a novel, Torleif Elgvin presents his account of the multifaceted gure of the Messiah in the Bible and many early Jewish texts. He delves into archaeology, history, and theology, and draws om literary and textual analyses of just about all the possible sources for this topic. He does so with the hand of a master who is expertly knowledgeable in all the texts, languages, and analytical skills.”
— EMANUEL TOV
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Torleif Elgvin is professor emeritus of biblical and Jewish studies at NLA University College, Oslo. With a PhD from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Elgvin has been involved in the o cial publication of the Dead Sea Scrolls since 1992. His other books include Gleanings om the Caves, a publication of scroll fragments and artifacts from the Judean Desert in the Oslo-based Schøyen Collection, and a ground-breaking book on the Song of Songs, e Literary Growth of the Song of Songs during the Hasmonean and Early-Herodian Periods.
978-0-8028-7818-2 • Hardcover • 384 pages • $44.99 US • $60.99 CAN • £36.99 UK
AVAILABLE AUGUST 2022
Jože Krašovec
Foreword by Craig G. Bartholomew A semantic study of God’s righteousness and justice in the Hebrew Bible that opens up into exegetical, theological, and philosophical conclusions about the character of God and God’s relationship with humanity.
God’s work of creation and salvation for the good of Israel, humanity, and the world manifests the nature of God’s being. us, if we can understand God’s characteristics of righteousness and justice, we can be er understand God.
In the Hebrew Bible, these aspects of God are not expressed by abstract concepts but by semantic elements within literary structures. From this premise, Jože Krašovec undertakes the present study to put semantics into dialogue with exegesis and theology to illuminate exactly how God’s righteousness and justice in the Old Testament should be understood.
In the rst part of the book, Krašovec analyzes occurrences of the Hebrew root sdq (meaning righteous) and other synonyms, working systematically through the entire Old Testament canon. In the second part, he builds o this lexical study with a more broadly exegetical, theological, and philosophical exploration of guilt, punishment, mercy, forgiveness, and reconciliation. Krašovec concludes, among other things, that the biblical writers use “righteousness” as an expression of God’s a ection for faithful people, especially those in distress because of persecution. God’s righteousness therefore exists in the Hebrew Bible in relation to the righteousness of human individuals and communities. Justice—whether in the form of forgiveness for the penitent or punishment for those who have hardened their hearts against God—is always carried out with the goal of building be er community among God’s people.
Jože Krašovec is professor of biblical studies at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, and a full member of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts. A former president of the International Organization for the Study of the Old Testament, Krašovec is the author of numerous monographic studies and articles published in Slovene, English, German, French, and other languages. He also supervised two major new Slovenian translations of the Bible, rst published in 1996 and 2021.
978-0-8028-8211-0 • Hardcover • 496 pages • $50.00 US • $67.99 CAN • £40.99 UK
AVAILABLE SEPTEMBER 2022
Willingness to Die and the Gift of Life
Suicide and Martyrdom in the Hebrew Bible Paul K.-K. Cho One particularly challenging aspect of the Hebrew Bible is its treatment of various forms of voluntary death: suicide, suicide a ack, martyrdom, and self-sacri ce. How can people of faith make sense of the ways biblical literature at times valorizes these sensitive and painful topics?
Willingness to Die and the Gi of Life surveys a diverse selection of Hebrew Bible narratives that feature characters who express a willingness to die, including Moses, Judah, Samson, Esther, Job, Daniel, and the “su ering servant” of Isaiah 53. e challenging truth uncovered is that the Hebrew Bible, while taking seriously the darker aspects of voluntary death, nevertheless time and again valorizes the willingness to die—particularly when it is for the sake of the group or in faithful commitment to God. Paul K.-K. Cho’s un inching analysis raises and wrestles with provocative questions about religious extremism, violent terrorism, and suicidal ideation—all of which carry signi cant implications for the biblically grounded life of faith today.
“In this splendidly argued, creative, learned, and readable volume, one of the preeminent biblical scholars of the younger generation o ers striking new insights into no less momentous an issue than that of death and life in the Hebrew Bible. Buckle your seat belt: this book is likely to change your views on that issue and on a multitude of biblical texts in the process. Enthusiastically recommended!”
— JON D. LEVENSON
Albert A. List Professor of Jewish Studies at Harvard Divinity School
Paul K.-K. Cho is associate professor of Hebrew Bible at Wesley eological Seminary. He is also the author of Myth, History, and Metaphor in the Hebrew Bible. For Willingness to Die and the Gi of Life, Cho was awarded the Louisville Institute’s rst Book Grant for Scholars of Color.
978-0-8028-7541-9 • Paperback • 320 pages • $26.99 US • $35.99 CAN • £21.99 UK
AVAILABLE SEPTEMBER 2022
The Destruction of the Canaanites
God, Genocide, and Biblical Interpretation Charlie Trimm An examination of the theological problem of divinely sanctioned violence in the Old Testament, with relevant background information and a survey of four di erent approaches to making sense of Israel’s destruction of the Canaanites.
“Anyone who has read the Old Testament a entively knows that its pages perform many acts of brutalizing God-willed savagery. is linkage of God and violence is, on any reading, deeply problematic and troubling. Charlie Trimm has faced this issue honestly and without inching, and he invites us to think again in ways that are both honest and faithful.”
— WALTER BRUEGGEMANN
Columbia Theological Seminary
“Charlie Trimm takes some very di cult verses om the Old Testament and deals with them in an intellectually and theologically fair-minded way. He doesn’t tell readers how to think; he gives them di erent, competing views that allow them to think for themselves and to discuss with others. Too o en Christians want to shut debates down; Charlie Trimm wants to elevate them, and in this book he does.”
— PETER WEHNER
senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center contributor to the New York Times and the Atlantic
“Anyone who is disturbed by the violent depictions of God in Scripture (and how could any follower of Jesus not be?) will nd much to chew on in this informative and engaging work.”
— GREGORY A. BOYD
author of Inspired Imperfection: How the Bible’s Problems Enhance Its Divine Authority
“Astutely lays the groundwork for a robust classroom discussion in which students can wrestle with the issues and develop their own approach to the problem of violence in the Old Testament.”
— CARMEN JOY IMES
Biola University
Charlie Trimm is associate professor of biblical and theological studies at Talbot School of eology, Biola University.
978-0-8028-7962-2 • Paperback • 127 pages • $14.99 US • $19.99 CAN • £11.99 UK
