The Religion of Ancient Israel

by Miller, Patrick D., Jr.

• ISBN13: 9780664221454
• ISBN10: 0664221459
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-12-01
• Publisher: Presbyterian Pub Corp

Summary

The historical and literary questions about ancient Israel that traditionally have preoccupied biblical scholars have often overlooked the social realities of life experienced by the vast majority of the population of ancient Israel. Volumes in the Library of Ancient Israel draw on multiple disciplines -- such as archaeology, anthropology, sociology, and literary criticism -- to illumine the everyday realities and social subtleties these ancient cultures experienced. This series employs sophisticated methods resulting in original contributions that depict the reality of the people behind the Hebrew Bible and interprets these scholarly insights for a wide variety of readers. Individually and collectively, these books will expand our vision of the culture and society of ancient Israel, thereby generating new appreciation for its impact up to the present.

Patrick Miller investigates the role religion played in an expanding circle of influences in ancient Israel: the family, village, tribe, and nation-state. He situates Israel's religion in context where a variet

Author Biography

Patrick D. Miller is Charles T. Haley Professor of Old Testament Theology, Princeton Theological Seminary.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	x
Foreword	xi
Acknowledgments	xiii
Introduction	xv
Perspective	xv
Approach	xviii
God and the Gods: Deity and the Divine World in Ancient Israel	1	(45)
Israel's God	1	(22)
Images of Yahweh	6	(6)
Characteristics of Yahweh	12	(11)
The Divine World	23	(6)
Yahweh out of the Gods	24	(1)
The Gods in Yahweh	25	(3)
Yahweh against the Gods	28	(1)
The Feminine Dimension and the Question of the Goddess	29	(11)
Yahweh in Ancient Israel	40	(3)
Tanaach Cult Stand	43	(3)
Types of Religion in Ancient Israel	46	(60)
The Question of Orthodoxy	47	(15)
Orthodox Yahwism	48	(3)
Heterodox Yahwism	51	(6)
Syncretistic Yahwism	57	(5)
The Form and Character of the Cult	62	(40)
Family Religion	62	(14)
Local and Regional Cults	76	(4)
The Cultus of the Israelite Confederation	80	(7)
The State Religion of Judah	87	(6)
The State Religion of Israel	93	(1)
Community Religion	94	(8)
Interaction of Family Religion and Official National Religion	102	(4)
Sacrifice and Offering in Ancient Israel	106	(25)
Types of Sacrifice	107	(14)
Burnt Offering	107	(3)
Grain or Cereal Offering	110	(2)
Offering of Well-Being	112	(1)
Purification Offering	113	(2)
The Day of Atonement	115	(2)
Reparation Offering	117	(1)
Other Offerings	118	(3)
The Purposes of Sacrifice and Offering	121	(10)
Support and Welfare	121	(1)
Order and Movement	122	(2)
Flesh and Blood	124	(2)
Food and Gift	126	(5)
Holiness and Purity	131	(77)
Holiness and Power	132	(3)
The Pervasiveness of the Holy	135	(9)
The Holiness of Yahweh as the Ground of the Sacred	135	(2)
Holiness in the Spheres of Space, Personality, and Time	137	(1)
Holy Places	137	(1)
Holy Things	137	(1)
Holy Persons	138	(3)
Holy Times	141	(1)
The Complex Interaction of the Spheres of Holiness	142	(2)
Gradations of Holiness	144	(4)
Sanctification and Desanctification	148	(1)
Clean and Unclean: Purity	149	(6)
Variations in the Ideology of Holiness	155	(7)
Priestly Writings	155	(3)
Deuteronomy	158	(4)
Leadership and Participation in Israelite Religion
Religious Leadership in Ancient Israel	162	(37)
The Priest	162	(3)
Priestly Responsibilities	165	(1)
Divination	165	(3)
Teaching	168	(2)
Sacrifice	170	(1)
Developments in the History of Priesthood	171	(3)
The Prophet	174	(4)
The Character of Israelite Prophecy	178	(1)
Terminology	178	(1)
Prophetic Groups	179	(1)
Relation to the Social Order	180	(2)
Relation to the Divine World	182	(2)
Modes of Revelation	184	(2)
Prophetic Activity	186	(2)
Religious Dimensions of the Prophets' Messages	188	(1)
The King	189	(1)
Cultic Legitimation of the Social Order	189	(5)
The King's Participation in the Cult	194	(1)
The King and the Central Festival	195	(2)
The Sage-Scribe	197	(2)
Cultic Participation in Ancient Israel	199	(9)
Exclusion of Foreigners	199	(2)
Participation of Women	201	(5)
Torah Obedience	206	(2)
Epilogue	208	(2)
Abbreviations	210	(2)
Notes	212	(77)
Bibliography	289	(24)
Sources of the Illustrations	313	(2)
Index of Biblical Passages and Ancient Sources	315	(16)
Index of Subjects	331