Religion & Culture in Ancient Israel

by Dearman, J. Andrew

• ISBN13: 9780943575902
• ISBN10: 0943575907
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1992-10-01
• Publisher: Hendrickson Pub

Summary

Equipped with all the requisite scholarly tools, in Part One, J. Andrew Dearman skillfully scrutinizes layer after layer of archaeological and literary evidence and examines Israelite religion in light of both the biblical storyline and extrabiblical sources. For example, whether one studies Israel's religion during premonarchic times or during the post-exilic period, issues like the origins of Yahwism or the political leadership of the day must be appreciated before the interpreter can understand the development of Israel's religion.
In Part Two, OT traditions such as the paradoxical role of the prophets and the synthesis of religion and wisdom are addressed. Readers will discover how Israel's religion interacted with cultural and political forces; some features met with defeat; still others flourished in new ways.

Table of Contents

Preface
Abbreviations
Map
Introduction	p. 1
A Sketch of Israelite Religion According to the Biblical Storyline and in Light of Extrabiblical Sources
Premonarchic Israel	p. 11
The Religion and Culture of the Ancestors	p. 13
The Origins of Yahwism	p. 21
Tribal Israel in Canaan	p. 25
Yahweh and the Gods of Canaan	p. 35
Sacrifice in Israel	p. 45
Israel as a State With Monarchy	p. 51
Monarchy and Its Spheres of Influence	p. 53
City, Temple, and Dynasty in Cultural Analysis	p. 59
The Division of the Kingdom in 1-2 Kings and the Problem of Syncretism	p. 69
The Omride Dynasty and the Influence of Phoenician Culture	p. 73
The Late Ninth and Eighth Centuries	p. 78
Judah in the Seventh and Early Sixth Centuries and Josiah's Reform	p. 84
Israel as a Religious Community in the Exilic and Post-Exilic Periods	p. 100
The Persian Period	p. 101
The Hellenistic Period in Palestine and the End of the Old Testament Period	p. 114
Religion and Culture According to Some Old Testament Traditions
The Transformationist Vision of Deuteronomy	p. 125
Introduction	p. 125
Israel as the People of God	p. 129
The Nature of the Covenant	p. 134
The Responsibilities of Israel in the Covenant	p. 137
The Rejection of Syncretism and Polytheism	p. 142
Worship and Ritual	p. 145
Blessing and Curse and the Need for Israel's Obedience	p. 148
Politics and Religious Ideology in Deuteronomy	p. 150
The Pre-Exilic Prophets and the Paradox of Israelite Culture	p. 153
The Role of Prophets According to the Prophetic Books	p. 155
The Prophets' Audience: Israel and Judah as the People of God	p. 161
Prophetic Criticism of Public Worship and the People of God	p. 170
The Prophetic Assessment of the Monarchy and State Administration	p. 185
Prophecy and Society	p. 195
Wisdom and Religion as a Cultural Synthesis	p. 199
Introduction: Wisdom in Israelite Culture and Religion	p. 199
The Wisdom Movement and the Book of Proverbs	p. 204
The Wisdom Movement and the Books of Job and Ecclesiastes	p. 214
Religion Against Cultural Imperialism. The Rise of Apocalypticism and the Book of Daniel	p. 228
Introduction	p. 228
The Development of Apocalypticism in Israel	p. 230
Apocalypticism and the Book of Daniel	p. 240
The Court Narratives in the Book of Daniel	p. 243
The Court Narratives in Daniel as a "Diaspora Theology of Two Kingdoms"	p. 251
The Apocalyptic Visions in Daniel 7-12	p. 253
Daniel as Opposition Literature	p. 261
Selected Bibliography	p. 265
Index of Modern Authors	p. 269
Select Index of Ancient Texts	p. 275
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