THE BIBLICAL WORLD The Biblical World is a comprehensive guide to the contents, historical setting and social context of the Bible. It presents the fruits of years of specialist study in accessible form, and is essential reading for anyone who reads the Bible and would like to know more about how and why it came to be. Volume I begins with an overview of the full range of Biblical material (Old Testament, Apocrypha and New Testament), before going on to more detailed discussion of the major genres of biblical literature—from myth and prophecy to poetry and proverbs. The contributors also consider the ways in which the texts have been transmitted, the significance of parallel and related versions, and past interpretations of the Bible. Explorations of the historical background are complemented by the findings of archaeology, and discussion of matters such as language, law, administration, social life and the arts offers a fuller understanding of the social and cultural setting of ancient Israel and the early Christian churches. Major figures in the Bible—including Abraham, Jesus and Paul—are studied in detail, as are its central religious concepts, such as salvation and purity. Volume II concludes with a survey of how the Bible is studied and seen today. Written by an international collection of acknowledged experts, this monumental work will be an invaluable resource for students, academics and clergy, and for all to whom the Bible is important as a religious or cultural document. John Barton is Oriel and Laing Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture, University of Oxford, and Fellow of Oriel College, Oxford. He is the author of numerous books and articles on biblical texts, and is also the editor of The Cambridge Companion to Biblical Interpretation (1998) and (with John Muddiman) of The Oxford Bible Commentary (2001). THE BIBLICAL WORLD Volume I Edited by John Barton LONDON AND NEW YORK Every attempt has been made to obtain permission to reproduce copyright material. If any proper acknowledgement has not been made, we would invite copyright holders to inform us of the oversight. First published 2002 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 270 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2006. To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to http://www.ebookstore.tandf.co.uk/. First published in paperback 2004 © 2002 John Barton selection and editorial matter; individual chapters, the contributors All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data ISBN 0-203-30949-9 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-415-34954-0 (Print Edition) (2 vol. set) ISBN 0-415-35090-5 (Print Edition) (Vol. 1) CONTENTS List of illustrations ix List of contributors xiv Preface xxi John Barton List of abbreviations xxii Introduction 1 John Barton Volume I PART I: THE BIBLE 1 The Old Testament/Hebrew Bible 5 Rex Mason 2 The Apocrypha 16 Adele Reinhartz 3 The New Testament 29 Christopher Tuckett PART II: GENRES 4 Near Eastern myths and legends 42 Stephanie Dalley 5 Historiography in the Old Testament 67 A.D.H.Mayes 6 Prophecy 89 Graeme Auld 7 Wisdom 108 Katharine Dell 8 Apocalypticism 130 Christopher Rowland 9 The Jewish novel 149 Lawrence M.Wills 10 The Gospels 162 John Muddiman 11 Letters in the New Testament and in the Greco-Roman world 187 Harry Gamble PART III: DOCUMENTS 12 Text and versions: the Old Testament 205 Carmel McCarthy 13 Text and versions: the New Testament 227 David Parker 14 The Dead Sea Scrolls 248 George J.Brooke 15 Hebrew inscriptions 267 Graham Davies 16 The Cairo Genizah 284 Stefan C.Reif 17 The gnostic gospels 302 Alastair H.B.Logan 18 Early Jewish biblical interpretation 319 Alison Salvesen 19 Early Christian biblical interpretation 329 Mark Edwards PART IV: HISTORY 20 Biblical archaeology 341 Felicity J.Cobbing 21 Palestine during the Bronze Age 359 J.Maxwell Miller 22 Palestine during the Iron Age 386 Keith W.Whitelam 23 The age of the exile 411 Joseph Blenkinsopp 24 Israel under Persia and Greece 435 Lester L.Grabbe 25 Judaea under Roman rule, 63 BCE–135 CE 452 Sarah Pearce 26 Israel’s neighbours 485 Bustenay Oded Volume II PART V: INSTITUTIONS 27 The Hebrew and Aramaic languages 3 John Huehnergard and Jo Ann Hackett 28 The Greek language 25 John Muddiman 29 Warfare 33 Thomas M.Bolin 30 The arts: architecture, music, poetry, psalmody 53 Susan Gillingham 31 Law and administration in the New Testament world 75 J.Duncan M.Derrett 32 Religion in pre-exilic Israel 90 Rainer Albertz 33 Religion in Israel during and after the exile 101 Rainer Albertz 34 Judaism at the turn of the era 125 Jarl Fossum 35 The first churches: social life 137 Justin J.Meggitt 36 The first churches: religious practice 157 Justin J.Meggitt PART VI: BIBLICAL FIGURES 37 Israel’s ancestors: the patriarchs and matriarchs 175 George W.Ramsey 38 Moses 194 John Van Seters 39 David and Solomon 208 Gwilym H.Jones 40 Jesus 223 Robert Morgan 41 Paul 258 David G.Horrell PART VII: RELIGIOUS IDEAS 42 Salvation in Jewish thought 287 Dan Cohn-Sherbok 43 Salvation in Christian thought 317 Andrew Chester 44 Interpretations of the identity and role of Jesus 332 Catrin H.Williams 45 Death and afterlife 357 John J.Collins 46 Purity 378 Gordon Wenham PART VIII: THE BIBLE TODAY 47 Jewish Bible translation 397 Leonard J.Greenspoon 48 Christian Bible translation 413 Henry Wansbrough 49 Modern biblical interpretation 427 William R.Telford Index of biblical references 451 Index of modern authors 495 Subject index 507 ILLUSTRATIONS 1.1 Books of the Hebrew and Greek Bibles in their canonical 12 order 2.1 A miniature from the Bible of Patricius Leo in Rome 20 2.2 Judith and her Maidservant 21 2.3 Susanna and the Elders 22 4.1 Apsu, the ocean of fresh water 46 4.2 The Legend of Etana shown on a cylinder seal 47 4.3 Scorpion-man from Tell Halaf in Syria 52 4.4 Winged, human-headed bull from Assyrian palace of 53 Assurnasirpal II 4.5 Seven-headed dragon, shown on a cylinder seal 53 4.6 Ninurta attacking Anzu 55 4.7 Frieze from the great temple at Palmyra 55 4.8 Humbaba, divine guardian of the Pine Forest 57 4.9 Ivory carving from Samaria showing Horus on a lotus flower 63 7.1 Solomon dictates the Proverbs 110 7.2 Statue of Sophia at Ephesus 112 7.3 Job visited by his wife 115 7.4 Statue of Job from outside Yad Vashem 117