Society For Old Testament Study Research Articles

Violence in the Hebrew Bible: Between Text and Reception. Edited by Jacques van Ruiten and Koert van Bekkum

There is a sharp dichotomy in existence in contemporary biblical studies and hermeneutics. On the one hand is a school of thinking which is content—even eager—to unmoor the text entirely from its traditional interpretations and its ‘original meaning’. On the other is an ongoing tradition of critical study which has developed enormously in recent years but continues in an unbroken line from its forebears, and appears indifferent to challenges from the reception-critical side. But the space between these positions, though contested, can be a fertile one. It is within this space that this book, Violence in the Hebrew Bible: Between Text and Reception, seeks to operate. The book is a collection of papers (all written in English) presented at the triply joint meeting of the Oudtestamentisch Werkgezelschap in Nederland en België (the Society for Old Testament Study in the Netherlands and Belgium), the British Society for Old Testament Study, and Die Ou-Testamentische Werkgemeenskap van Suid Afrika (Old Testament Society of South Africa) held in 2018. As such, it comprises principally contributions from these four countries. Perhaps it is a reflection of the historical Dutch–Afrikaans link, but I was disappointed not to see more contributions from Black scholars. (I think they comprised three of the eighteen contributors.)

Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi: An Introduction and Study Guide. Return and Restoration. By Michael R. Stead

The first series of study guides to books of the Old Testament produced under the auspices of the Society for Old Testament Study was published in the 1980s and 90s. These guides were well received as reliable, concise introductions to biblical books in the light of recent scholarship, including the fine 1987 volume by Richard Coggins on Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. But much has happened in the last few decades. Around three quarters of the titles found in Stead’s bibliography were not available to Coggins. The continuing growth of research on these writings makes it all the more challenging to offer a balanced survey of the main critical issues and to assess the most recent scholarship without losing sight of the biblical books themselves. Stead has admirably risen to the challenge. While the earlier study guides concluded each chapter with a handful of further reading suggestions, a practice still followed, e.g., in the new study guide on Amos, Stead points to further discussion of specific issues as and when they arise. This was probably a wise decision, given the amount of material covered.

Sots at 100: Centennial Essays of the Society for Old Testament StudyJarickJohn Sots at 100: Centennial Essays of the Society for Old Testament Study Bloomsbury T&T ClarkLondon, 2017, x, 182, £85.00ISBN 978-0-56767-364-0

Sots at 100: Centennial Essays of the Society for Old Testament StudyJarickJohn <i>Sots at 100: Centennial Essays of the Society for Old Testament Study</i> Bloomsbury T&amp;T ClarkLondon, 2017, x, 182, £85.00ISBN 978-0-56767-364-0

SOTS at 100: Centennial Essays of the Society for Old Testament Study. Edited by John Jarick

SOTS at 100: Centennial Essays of the Society for Old Testament Study. Edited by John Jarick

Book Review: Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Society for Old Testament Study: John Jarick (ed.), SOTS at 100: Centennial Essays of the Society for Old Testament Study

Book Review: Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Society for Old Testament Study: John Jarick (ed.), <i>SOTS at 100: Centennial Essays of the Society for Old Testament Study</i>

Between Evidence and Ideology: Essays on the History of Ancient Israel Read at the Joint Meeting of the Society for Old Testament Study and the Oud Testamentisch Werkgezelschap Lincoln, July 2009. OtSt 59

Book Review| January 01 2012 Between Evidence and Ideology: Essays on the History of Ancient Israel Read at the Joint Meeting of the Society for Old Testament Study and the Oud Testamentisch Werkgezelschap Lincoln, July 2009. OtSt 59 Between Evidence and Ideology: Essays on the History of Ancient Israel Read at the Joint Meeting of the Society for Old Testament Study and the Oud Testamentisch Werkgezelschap Lincoln, July 2009. OtSt 59Becking, Bob; Grabbe, Lester L. Benjamin J. Noonan Benjamin J. Noonan Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Bulletin for Biblical Research (2012) 22 (3): 410–412. https://doi.org/10.2307/26424574 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Twitter Permissions Search Site Citation Benjamin J. Noonan; Between Evidence and Ideology: Essays on the History of Ancient Israel Read at the Joint Meeting of the Society for Old Testament Study and the Oud Testamentisch Werkgezelschap Lincoln, July 2009. OtSt 59. Bulletin for Biblical Research 1 January 2012; 22 (3): 410–412. doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/26424574 Download citation file: Zotero Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu nav search search input Search input auto suggest search filter All Scholarly Publishing CollectivePenn State University PressBulletin for Biblical Research Search Advanced Search The text of this article is only available as a PDF. Copyright © 2012 by The Pennsylvania State University. All rights reserved.2012The Pennsylvania State University Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

Teaching &amp; Learning Guide for: Social Science Approach to the Hebrew Bible

Teaching &amp; Learning Guide for: Social Science Approach to the Hebrew Bible

The Enduring Value of the Old Testament—An Interesting Quest

AbstractThe period when the Society for Old Testament Study held its first meeting in 1917 marked a major turning point for the study of the Hebrew Bible. This rested on two factors: first, the preceding half-century had witnessed the slow, and often painful, acceptance in Christian and Jewish circles of a modern 'critical' explanation of the historical origin of its writings. Secondly, the context in which serious study of this literature was undertaken had increasingly moved out from a religious forum into that of a wider secular field of cultural and academic interests. The new methodology aimed to show that the Bible presented a worldview agreeable to modern scientific knowledge. In this setting, older, well-worn hermeneutical strategies were abandoned and replaced with new ones consonant with this aim. Prominent among these was a claim to present a historically verifiable demonstration that the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament possessed an enduring value based on its presentation of ideas of social justice, religious monotheism and universal morality. The claims to this uniqueness, however, rapidly lost credibility when fuller knowledge of the social world of antiquity became better known through archaeological and anthropological research. Such claims could be shown to depend largely on the Bible's own polemic. Nevertheless the idea of enduring value bears welcome comparison with comparable concerns to define what entitles any literary work to be regarded as a classic, and to deserve universal approval. Useful criteria can be set out but fail to command any wholly definitive acceptance. Rather, the best that can be achieved is to note those features and qualities which give to certain writings an intrinsic power to generate a continuity of interest and appeal. The history of the interpretation of the Old Testament shows that it performs well in such a context.

Peter Ackroyd (1916–2005)

Peter Ackroyd was the editor of the Palestine Exploration Quarterly from 1971 to 1986. He had preceded that experience with a spell as Secretary of the Palestine Exploration Fund (1962–70), and followed it by being chair of the Fund (1986–90). His involvement with and commitment to Palestinian archaeology is therefore clear enough. Yet he was not himself a ‘dirt archaeologist’; indeed, he told me once that he was nervous of digging in his own garden for fear of disturbing the fine collection of Alpines set up by his first wife Evelyn. (she died in 1990; Peter is survived by his second wife Ann, a long-standing friend, and also by four of the five children of his first marriage). When in 1967 the Society for Old Testament Study organised for its Jubilee the publication of a volume entitled Archaeology and Old Testament Study, edited by D. Winton Thomas, Peter contributed the article on Samaria. It stands somewhat apart from the important studies of different sites by eminent archaeologists which characterise the book. Careful attention is indeed given to the various archaeological discoveries from Samaria, but the article shows an awareness, then by no means universal, of the problems involved in relating archaeological discoveries to literary evidence. The term ‘biblical archaeology’ was at that time in regular use; Ackroyd was one of the first to recognise the difficulties it might involve. This readiness to question underlying academic assumptions was characteristic of the whole of his scholarly work. He was one of the first to recognise the importance of the Second Temple period in the development both of the biblical material itself and of the community which produced it, and whether in the form of substantial books (such as Exile and Restoration) or briefer essays (such as those collected in The Chronicler in his Age) he did much to sharpen scholarly awareness of the issues of that period. It was my privilege to be his colleague for twenty years at King’s College, London. To him more than anyone else I owe the recognition of the richness and variety of the Hebrew Bible, and the encouragement to explore it. I know that many colleagues and students share that experience; Desmond Tutu, for one, who studied with him in the 1960s, has never tired of saying how much he owed to Peter Ackroyd. He died in January at the age of 88, after a long period of poor health.

REVIEWS

Journal Article REVIEWS Get access Text in Context. Essays by Members of the Society for Old Testament Study. Edited by A. D. H. MAYES. Pp. xvii+477. Oxford University Press, 2000. ISBN 0 19 826391 0. £65. R. J COGGINS R. J COGGINS Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Journal of Theological Studies, Volume 52, Issue 2, October 2001, Pages 709–713, https://doi.org/10.1093/jts/52.2.709 Published: 01 October 2001

The Guild Speaks Again

Books reviewed in this article:A. D. H. Mayes (ed), Text in Context: Essays by Members of the Society for Old Testament Study

The World of Ancient Israel: Sociological, anthropological and political perspectives Essays by Members of the Society for Old Testament Study Edited by R. E. Clements (Cambridge University Press, 1989. xi, 436 pp. hb. £45)

The World of Ancient Israel: Sociological, anthropological and political perspectives Essays by Members of the Society for Old Testament Study Edited by R. E. Clements (Cambridge University Press, 1989. xi, 436 pp. hb. £45)

The World of Ancient Israel. Sociological, Anthropological and Political Perspectives. Essays by Members of the Society for Old Testament Study

Preface Contributors Abbreviations Part I. Introductory Perspectives: 1. Israel in its historical and cultural setting R. E. Clements 2. Anthropology and the Old Testament J. W. Rogerson 3. Sociology and the Old Testament A. D. H. Mayes Part II. Israel: 4. Agriculture and patterns of settlement F. S. Frick 5. Israel as a tribal society J. D. Martin 6. Israelite kinship: the royal ideology and its opponents K. W. Whitelam 7. The concept of Israel in transition H. G. M. Williamson 8. The origins of the Jewish diaspora R. J. Coggins Part III. Fundamental Institutions: 9. Ideas of law and legal administration: a semiotic approach B. S. Jackson 10. Prophecy and society R. P. Carroll 11. The social world of the Apocalyptic writers R. N. Whybray 12. The social world of the Apocalyptic writings P. R. Davies Part IV. Ideas and Ideals: 13. Holiness and cult P. J. Budd 14. The concept of Holy War G. H. Jones 15. Covenant ideology in ancient Israel R. Davidson 16. Land, its rights and privileges E. W. Davies 17. Women in ancient Israel G. I. Emmerson 18. Life and death in the Old Testament M. A. Knibb.

The World of ancient Israel: sociological, anthropological and political perspectives: essays by members of the Society for Old Testament Study

The World of ancient Israel: sociological, anthropological and political perspectives: essays by members of the Society for Old Testament Study

A New Look at Old Testament Studies: Recommendations for A Level Change by the Society for Old Testament Study

A New Look at Old Testament Studies: Recommendations for A Level Change by the Society for Old Testament Study

Tradition and Interpretation: Essays by Members of the Society for Old Testament Study

Tradition and Interpretation: Essays by Members of the Society for Old Testament Study

Tradition and Interpretation: Essays by Members of the Society for Old Testament Study. G. W. Anderson

<i>Tradition and Interpretation: Essays by Members of the Society for Old Testament Study</i>. G. W. Anderson

Tradition and Intepretation: Essays by Members of the Society for Old Testament Study

Tradition and Intepretation: Essays by Members of the Society for Old Testament Study

REVIEWS

Journal Article REVIEWS Get access Tradition and Interpretation. Essays by Members of the Society for Old Testament Study. Edited by G. W. ANDERSON. Pp. xxi+462. Oxford University Press, 1979. £10.50. BARNABAS LINDARS BARNABAS LINDARS Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Journal of Theological Studies, Volume XXXII, Issue 1, April 1981, Pages 194–198, https://doi.org/10.1093/jts/XXXII.1.194 Published: 01 April 1981

Book Review: Tradition and Interpretation: Essays by Members of the Society for Old Testament Study

Book Review: Tradition and Interpretation: Essays by Members of the Society for Old Testament Study