About the Book
Lucidly written by leading biblical scholars Michael D. Coogan and Cynthia R. Chapman, this balanced, engaging, and up-to-date introduction to the Hebrew scriptures distills the best of current scholarship. Employing the narrative chronology of the Bible itself and the history of the ancient Near East as a framework, Coogan and Chapman cover all the books of the Hebrew Bible, along with the deuterocanonical books included in the Bible used by many Christians. They
work from a primarily historical and critical methodology but also introduce students to literary analysis and other interpretive strategies.
Table of Contents:
Preface
Abbreviations
Credits
Part One: Introductory
1. What is the Bible?
2. The Promised Land
Part Two: Cosmic Origins
3. Creations (Genesis 1-3)
4. The Formation of the Pentateuch
5. Primeval History (Genesis 4-11)
Part Three: National Origins
6. The Ancestors of Israel (Genesis 12-50)
7. Escape from Egypt (Exodus 1-5)
8. From Egypt to Sinai (Exodus 16-20, 24)
9. Law and Ritual (Exodus 20.22-23.33 and 25-40)
10. Ritual and Holiness (Leviticus)
11. In the Wilderness (Numbers)
12. The End of the Journey to the Promised Land (Deuteronomy)
13. Joshua and the Conquest of the Land of Canaan (Joshua)
14. The Emergence of Israel in the Land of Canaan (Judges)
Part Four: Kings and Prophets
15. The Establishment of the Monarchy (1 Samuel)
16. The Reign of David (2 Samuel, 1 Kings 1-2, and Psalm 132)
17. The Reign of Solomon (1 Kings 1-11 and Psalm 89)
18. The Divided Kingdoms of Israel and Judah from the Late Tenth to the Early Eighth Centuries BCE (1 Kings 12-2 Kings 14 with an Introduction to Prophecy)
19. The Northern Kingdom of Israel in the Eighth Century BCE (2 Kings 14-17, Amos, and Hosea)
20. The Kingdom of Judah in the Eighth and Early Seventh Centuries BCE (2 Kings 15-20, 2 Chronicles 29-32, Isaiah 1-39, and Micah)
21. Judah in the Seventh Century BCE: The End of Assyrian Domination (2 Kings 21-23, 2 Chronicles 33-35, Zephaniah, Nahum, and the Prayer of Manasseh)
22. The Fall of Jerusalem (2 Kings 23.31-25.30, 2 Chronicles 36, Habakkuk, Jeremiah, and the Letter of Jeremiah)
Part Five: Exile and Return
23. After the Fall: Judeans in Judah and Babylon (Lamentations, Psalm 137, Obadiah, and Ezekiel)
24. Return From Exile (Ezra 1-2 and Isaiah 34-35 and 40-55)
Part Six: Reconstruction, Consolidation, and Challenge
25. The Early Restoration (Ezra 3-6, 1 Esdras, Haggai, Zechariah 1-8, and Isaiah 56-66)
26. Judah in the Fifth Century BCE (Ezra 7-10, Nehemiah, Isaiah 24-27, Zechariah 9-14, Joel, Malachi, and 2 Esdras)
27. Retelling the Story of David (1-2 Chronicles and Psalms)
Part Seven: Controversy and Challenge
28. The Wisdom of the Sages: Preservation and Challenge (Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon)
29. Encounters with the Greeks (1-2 Maccabees, Baruch, Sirach, the Wisdom of Solomon, and 4 Maccabees)
30. Heroes in Foreign Lands: Postexilic Literature and Diasporic Identity (Jonah, Ruth, Esther, Judith, Tobit, 3 Maccabees, and Daniel
Afterword
Chronology
General Bibliography
Glossary
Weights and Measures
Index
About the Author :
Michael D. Coogan is Lecturer on the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible at the Harvard Divinity School and Director of Publications for the Harvard Semitic Museum. He is the author of A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament, Fourth Edition (2019), A Reader of Ancient Near Eastern Texts (2012), and The Old Testament: A Very Short Introduction (2008), all published by Oxford University Press.
Cynthia R. Chapman is the Adelia A.F. Johnston and Harry Thomas Frank Associate Professor of Religion at Oberlin College, where she has taught biblical studies for twelve years. She is the author of The House of the Mother: The Social Function of Maternal Kin in Biblical Hebrew Narrative and Poetry (2016) and The Gendered Language of Warfare in the Israelite-Assyrian Encounter (2004).
Review :
A thorough, balanced, and sensitive reading of Scripture within its historical contexts, yet with an eye toward the literary artistry of the text.
The Old Testament is a well-written, well-organized, aesthetically pleasing introduction to the Old testament/Hebrew Bible.
A masterful survey, very appropriate for one-semester classes that emphasize Torah, historical books, and prophecy from a historical-criticial perspective.
