About the Book
An image rich, passage-by-passage commentary that integrates textual and artifactual context from the ancient Near East to inform our understanding and interpretation of the Hebrew Bible—while remaining respectful to the inerrancy of Scripture.
Without a deep knowledge of the ancient cultures the Old Testament was born from, we can be tempted to impose our own culture on the text, potentially distorting it. This unique Bible backgrounds commentary examines:
The history of the ancient Near East as a means of recovering knowledge of the events that shaped the lives of the people.
The archaeology as a means of recovering the lifestyle reflected in the material cultures.
The literature of the ancient Near East as a means of understanding the heart and soul of the people who inhabited the ancient world that Israel shared.
Detailed exegetical notes are combined with comparative discussions of the cultural settings that help scholars interpret the early historical books: Joshua, Judges, Ruth, and 1 & 2 Samuel.
This volume of the celebrated Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary series brings these five books of the Bible into sharper focus—enabling scholars, pastors, and laity to access rich data from over one hundred and seventy years of explorations and excavations in the Near East.
THE ZONDERVAN ILLUSTRATED BIBLE BACKGROUNDS COMMENTARY SERIES
Invites you to enter the world of the Old Testament with a company of seasoned guides, experts who will give new insights into these cherished writings. Features:
Over 2000 photographs, drawings, maps, diagrams, and charts provide a visual feast that breathes fresh life into the text.
Passage-by-passage commentary presents archaeological findings, historical explanations, geographic insights, notes on manners and customs, and more.
Analysis into the literature of the ancient Near East will open your eyes to new depths of understanding both familiar and unfamiliar passages.
Written by an international team of 30 specialists, all top scholars in background studies.
About the Author :
David W. Baker is professor of Old Testament and Semitic languages, Ashland Theological Seminary. Dr. Daniel I. Block (DPhil, University of Liverpool) is professor of Old Testament at Wheaton College. Dennis Cople is professor of Old Testament Hebrew and Archeology at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Izak (Sakkie) Cornelius is professor of ancient studies at the University of Stellenbosch (South Africa). He is the author of The iconography of the Canaanite gods Reshef and Baal. Late Bronze and Iron Age I periods (c 1500-1000 BCE) and several other works in ancient near eastern studies. Roy Gane (PhD, University of California, Berkeley) is professor of Hebrew Bible and ancient near eastern languages at the Theological Seminary of Andrews University. He is author of a number of scholarly articles and several books including God's Faulty Heroes (Review Herald, 1996-on the biblical book of Judges), Altar Call (Diadem, 1999-on the Israelite sanctuary services and their meaning for Christians), Ritual Dynamic Structure (Gorgias Press, 2004), Leviticus, Numbers (NIV Application Commentary; Zondervan, 2004), and Cult and Character: Purification Offerings, Day of Atonement, and Theodicy (Eisenbrauns, 2005), as well as the Leviticus portion of the Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary on the Old Testament (forthcoming). Dr. Gane and his wife, Connie Clark Gane, who is pursuing a Ph.D. in Mesopotamian archaeology at the University of California, Berkeley, have one daughter, Sarah Elizabeth. Duane Garrett is John R. Sampey Professor of Old Testament Interpretation at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He has a BA from Rice University, an Mdiv from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and a PhD from Baylor University. Dr. Garrett has served on the faculty of Gordon- Conwell Theological Seminary, Bethel Seminary, Canadian Southern Baptist Seminary, Mid-America Baptist Seminary and Korea Baptist Seminary. His books include Song of Songs in the Word Biblical Commentary; A Modern Grammar for Classical Hebrew; Angels and the New Spirituality; Authority and Interpretation; and Hosea and Joel in the New American Commentary. He also serves as the general editor for The Archaeology Study Bible from Zondervan. After graduating from Dallas Theological Seminary (ThM) in 1984, John served for 15 years in pastoral ministry before pursuing doctoral studies in preparation for academic ministry. He completed his PhD in Old Testament at Cambridge University in 2004 and now serves as associate professor of Old Testament at Dallas Theological Seminary. His specialized interest is the use of ancient background material in Old Testament studies. Andrew E. Hill (PhD, University of Michigan) is professor of Old Testament studies at Wheaton College in Illinois. He is the coauthor with John Walton of A Survey of the Old Testament and the author of Malachi in the Anchor Bible commentary series. His articles have appeared in such scholarly publications as Hebrew Annual Review, Journal of Biblical Literature, and Vetus Testamentum. Tremper Longman III (PhD, Yale University) is the Robert H. Gundry Professor of Biblical Studies and the chair of the religious studies department at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California where he lives with his wife, Alice. He is the Old Testament editor for the revised Expositor's Bible Commentary and has authored many articles and books on the Psalms and other Bible Studies. V. Phillips Long (Ph.D., Cambridge) is at Regent College, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Dale W. Manor (PhD, University of Arizona) is Professor of Archaeology and Bible at Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas. He has been the Field Director of the Tel Beth-Shemesh Excavation Project in Israel since 2000. In addition, he served on the staff of the Tel Miqne/Ekron and Tel Rehov Projects in Israel. He served as an Assistant to the Editor of the Anchor Bible Dictionary in which he has several articles. Additional articles appear in the Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East, the Eerdmans' Dictionary of the Bible, and the New Interpreters Dictionary of the Bible. Alan Millard is Emeritus Rankin Professor of Hebrew and Ancient Semitic Languages, School of Archaeology, Classics & Egyptology, The University of Liverpool. Iain Provan is Marshall Sheppard Professor of Biblical Studies at Regent College. An ordained minister of the Church of Scotland, he is the author of commentaries on Lamentations and 1 and 2 Kings. Steven Voth (PhD, Hebrew Union College) is translation consultant at United Bible Societies in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He has written Genesis in the Commentario Biblio Hispanoamericano, and was the Old Testament translation coordinator for Nueva Version Internacional and translator for Nuevo Testamento: Version en Lenguaje Sencillo. John H. Walton (PhD, Hebrew Union College) teaches Old Testament at Wheaton College Graduate School. He is the author or coauthor of several books, including Chronological and Background Charts of the Old Testament; Ancient Israelite Literature in Its Cultural Context; Covenant: God's Purpose, God's Plan; The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament; and A Survey of the Old Testament. Bruce Wells is assistant professor of Theology at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia. He contributed the Exodus portion of the Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background Commentary - Old Testament. Edwin M. Yamauchi retired in the Spring of 2006 after teaching courses in Ancient History at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, since 1969. He is the author of numerous books, articles and reviews on the Ancient Near East, the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the Early Church.
Review :
'A unique and important commentary. …There is nothing else like it available today.'
'Enables scholars, pastors, and laity to access the rich data from over one hundred and seventy years of explorations and excavations in the Near East.'
'This is an impressive and rich resource…judiciously researched. …Notwithstanding their traditional approach to Scripture, I heartily recommend this series with enthusiasm.'
'This tool is a rich gift to everyone who seeks to teach Scriptures.'
'To me, every Christian should own these commentaries.'
