By Charles Halton on Tuesday, 22 December 2009 at 3:25 pm
As 2009 draws to a close I’d like to offer my picks for best books of the year that integrate Bible and ancient Near Eastern studies. I have several categories and I haven’t included highly technical or very narrow monographs. You can click on the image to get more info from Eisenbrauns.
Best General Audience Books that Integrate ANE and Biblical Studies
Westbrook and Wells introduce difference facets of biblical law as elucidated from cognate sources. The legal portions of the Bible are among the most difficult to understand and least studied aspects of the Bible for many readers. Westbrook was one of the most preeminent scholars in this area and he includes many of his path breaking observations.
In Lost World John Walton presents his view of Genesis 1 in light of his understanding of the verb bara’ (to create) as functional rather than physical. This book has been widely discussed and challenge readers to view the first chapter of the Bible in new ways.
Also on Genesis 1, Mark Smith describes the “Priestly vision” of this text in light of cognate creation accounts.
Best Reference Books
If you read the Bible in Hebrew or you are thinking of studying biblical Hebrew then the Concise Dictionary of Classical Hebrew is a must-buy. Unlike other dictionaries, the CDCH does not include etymologies because it forms definitions of words based on context and occurrence. Furthermore, the scope of the dictionary includes Hebrew beyond that found in the Bible so the reader gets a much deeper understanding of semantic ranges. Lastly, many new proposals for root identifications are included.
An Akkadian Lexical Companion for Biblical Hebrew is a very handy resource for investigating possible connections between Hebrew and Akkadian words and idioms. John Hobbins has provided a very helpful review of this book–his recommendation–go ahead and buy it.
Best Synthesis
In The Invention of Hebrew Seth Sanders brings together epigraphy, cognate texts, anthropology, and political studies to construct a theory on the origin of the Hebrew language. The book is as fun to read as its proposal is bold. In an ever increasingly specialized academe we need books like this that engagingly assimilate data into a compelling picture.
Best ANE Contribution to Biblical Theology
In Bodies of God Sommer describes how ancient peoples perceived deities as located in a particular time and place. He then applies this contextual understanding to the Hebrew Bible in particular accounts as well as the contribution of this idea to biblical theology/religion of the Jewish and Christian scriptures (I have a more extensive review that I will post shortly).
Comments (3)
Category: Akkadian Language,All,Book Reviews
- Add this post to
- Del.icio.us -
- Digg
Comment by Ben
Made Tuesday, 22 of December , 2009 at 3:43 pm
These are all on my list, and frustratingly, I haven’t been able to get my hands on any of them yet, except for a quick perusal of Mark Smith’s volume.
Comment by Daniel O. McClellan
Made Tuesday, 22 of December , 2009 at 4:27 pm
Thanks for the list, Charles. I was surprised with how general Mark Smith’s book was. I enjoyed it and felt there were some great insights in it, but it seemed like it was written for a popular audience rather than an academic one. The synopsis I read of the book didn’t give me that impression before I bought it. I saw the Invention of Hebrew at SBL and now wish I had bought it. It looks better and better every time I look at it. Alan Lenzi’s Secrecy and the Gods is another one I am kicking myself for not getting (they had one copy that was gone by the time I made the decision to buy it). I didn’t know the Concise Dictionary of Classical Hebrew provided extra-biblical terms and updated root identifications. I’m going to have to look into that. Bodies of God is one I’ve seen but haven’t looked closely at. I’ll have to now.
Thanks again!
Comment by Hebrew Scholar
Made Friday, 1 of January , 2010 at 11:07 am
Thanks for this list. I have seen several other links to “An Akkadian Lexical Companion for Biblical Hebrew”, and it sounds an excellent new resource for Biblical Hebrew study. John Hobbin’s review was also very helpful.
