Table of Contents

Part I: The Hebrew Bible: An Overview 1. The Hebrew Bible: A Composite Portrait of God and the Divine-Human Relationship 2. The Process of Formation: The Transmission, Canonization, and Translation of the Hebrew Bible Part II: The Biblical World: Culture and Religion 3. The Ancient Near East: The Environment that Produced the Bible 4. The Land and Archaeology of Ancient Israel: Historical Origins of the Covenant People 5. The God of Israel: An Evolving Portrait Part III: The Torah 6. Who Wrote the "Books of Moses"? 7. The Five Books of Torah (Divine Instruction) 8. In the Beginning: The Book of Genesis 9. Freedom and Responsibility: The Book of Exodus 10. Regulating the Divine-Human Bond: The Books of Leviticus and Numbers 11. A Mosaic Legacy: The Book of Deuteronomy Part IV: The Prophets (Nevi'im) I 12. Introduction to the Deuteronomistic History 13. The Book of Joshua 14. YHWH's Warriors: The Book of Judges 15. The Birth of the Monarchy: The Books of 1 and 2 Samuel 16. Parallel Stories of Israel and Judah: The Books of 1 and 2 Kings Part V: The Prophets (Nevi'im) II 17. The Nature and Function of Israelite Prophecy: Spokespersons for God 18. Prophets to the Northern Kingdom: The Books of Amos and Hosea 19. The Assyrian Crisis: Isaiah of Jerusalem, Micah, Zephaniah, and Nahum 20. The Babylonian Threat: The Books of Jeremiah, Habakkuk, and Obadiah 21. Prophets in Exile: The Book of Ezekiel and Second Isaiah 22. After the Exile: Israel's Last Prophets--Haggai, Zechariah, Third Isaiah, Joel, Malachi, and Jonah Part VI: The Writings (Kethuvim) 23. Introduction to the Writings: Reevaluating Israel's Life with God 24. The Postexilic Readjustment: The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah 25. Worshiping at the Second Temple: Hebrew Poetry and the Book of Psalms 26. Israel's Wisdom Writers: The Books of Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes 27. Four Books of the Megillot (Festival Scrolls): Ruth, Lamentations, Songs of Songs, and Esther 28. Reinterpreting Israel's History: The Books of 1 and 2 Chronicles 29. Keeping Torah in a Hostile World: The Diaspora, the Maccabean Revolt, Apocalyptism, and the Visions of Daniel Part VII: Additions to the Hebrew Bible: The Deuterocanonical and Extracanonical Books 30. The "Second Canon": Books of the Apocrypha 31. The Pseudepigrapha: Noncanonical Writings of the Late Biblical Period 32. From the Maccabees to Jesus of Nazareth: Victory, Defeat, and teh Emergence of Postbiblical Judaism and Early Christianity Glossary of Major Old Testament Characters, Terms, and Concepts Selected Bibliography Credits Index

About the Author

Stephen L. Harris is Professor Emeritus of Humanities and Religious Studies at California State University, Sacramento, where he served ten years as department chair. A Woodrow Wilson Fellow, he received his M.A. and Ph.D. from Cornell University. A member of the Society of Biblical Literature, his publications include Understanding the Bible (8th edition, 2011); The Old Testament: An Introduction to the Hebrew Bible (with Robert Platzner); Classical Mythology: Images and Insights (with Gloria Platzner); Exploring the Bible; and Fire Mountains of the West: The Cascade and Mono Lake Volcanoes, a survey of volcanic hazards on the U.S. Pacific Coast; and for National Geographic Books, Restless Earth, a study of global earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions. He contributed the chapter on Archaeology and Volcanism to the Encyclopedia of Volcanoes (Academic Press, 2000).