Includes bibliographical references.

Shorter Contents : PART I: LAYING THE GROUNDWORK -- 1: Old Testament and Hebrew Bible as Scripture -- 2: Geography, History, and Religion -- PART II: TORAH -- 3: Investigating the Pentateuch -- 4: Creation -- 5: Origins -- 6: Abraham and His Descendants -- 7: Exodus -- 8: Leviticus and Numbers -- 9: Deuteronomy -- PART III: FORMER PROPHETS -- 10: Joshua -- 11: Judges -- 12: 1 and 2 Samuel -- 13: The Book of Kings and the Story of Solomon -- 14: 1 and 2 Kings and the History of Israel and Judah -- PART IV: LATTER PROPHETS -- 15: Prophets and Prophecy -- 16: The Isaiah Scroll -- 17: Catastrophe and Exiles: Jeremiah and Ezekiel -- 18: Prophets of Social Justice: Amos, Hosea, and Micah -- 19: Judah in the Orbit of Assyria, Babylon, and Persia -- PART V: WRITINGS -- 20: Psalms -- 21: Optimistic and Pessimistic Wisdom: Proverbs and Job -- 22: The Five Scrolls -- 23: Ezra-Nehemiah and 1 and 2 Chronicles -- 24: Daniel -- PART VI: APOCRYPHAL/DEUTEROCANONICAL BOOKS -- 25: Spellbinding and Profound Wisdom -- 26: 1 and 2 Maccabees -- Chronology of Significant Events -- Vocabulary.

PART I: LAYING THE GROUNDWORK -- Chapter 1: Old Testament and Hebrew Bible as Scripture -- i. Why Learn about the Old Testament -- ii. Scripture and Canon -- iii. The Jewish Canon of the Hebrew Bible -- iv. The Christian Canon of the Old Testament -- v. Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant Canons -- vi. Establishing the Earliest Text -- Chapter 2: Geography, History, and Religion -- i. Geography -- ii. History of the Pre-Exilic Period -- iii. Religion -- PART II: TORAH -- Chapter 3: Investigating the Pentateuch -- i. The Documentary Hypothesis -- ii. Form Criticism -- Chapter 4: Creation: Genesis 1-3 -- i. Understanding Myth -- ii. Creation according to the Priestly Writer - Genesis 1:1-2:4a -- The Yahwist's Perspective on Creation - Genesis 2:4b-3:24 -- Interpreting the Eden Story -- Chapter 5: Origins: Genesis 4:1-11:9 -- i. Rivalry and Vengeance - Genesis 4 -- ii. Before the Flood - Genesis 5:1-6:4 -- iii. The Great Flood - Genesis 6:5-9:17 -- iv. After the Flood - Genesis 9:18-10:32 -- v. The City and Its Tower - Genesis 11:1-9 -- Chapter 6: Abraham and His Descendants -- i. A Family Story -- ii. Abraham and Isaac - Genesis 12-23 -- iii. Isaac and Jacob - Genesis 24-36 -- Tamar and Judah - Genesis 38 -- v. The Story of Joseph - Genesis 37, 39-50 -- Chapter 7: Exodus -- i. Exodus and Identity -- ii. Life in the Wilderness -- iii. Torah and Covenant at Sinai -- iv. The Tabernacle - Exodus 25-31, 35-40 -- Chapter 8: Leviticus and Numbers -- i. Leviticus -- ii. Numbers -- Chapter 9: Deuteronomy -- i. The Origin of Deuteronomy -- ii. The Shape of Deuteronomy -- iii. Centralization of Sacrifice - Deuteronomhy 12 -- iv. Covenant and Treaty -- v. Motivated Instruction -- vi. Instructions That Create Community -- vii. The Death of Moses - Deuteronomy 32-34 -- PART III: FORMER PROPHETS -- Chapter 10: Joshua -- i. Joshua and the Deuteronomistic History -- ii. The Conquest of Canaan -- iii. Crossing the Jordan - Joshua 1-5 -- iv. Conquest - Joshua 6-12 -- v. Allotment of the Land - Joshua 13-21 -- vi. Warnings - Joshua 22-24 -- vii. Interpreting Joshua -- Chapter 11: Judges -- i. Shape and Compostion -- ii. Incomplete Conquest - Judges 1:1-2:5 -- iii. The Cycle of Major Judges -- iv. Ehud and Shamgar - Judges 3:12-31 -- v. Deborah and Barak - Judges 4-5 -- vi. Gideon and Abimelech - Judges 6-9 -- vii. Jephthah - Judges 10:6-12:7 -- viii. Samson - Judges 13-16 -- ix. There Was No King - Judges 17-21 -- Chapter 12: 1 and 2 Samuel -- i. The Narrative Shape of Samuel -- ii. Sources Used in Samuel -- iii. The Story of Samuel -- iv. The Story of Saul -- v. The Story of David -- vi. Women in Samuel -- vii. The Book of Samuel and History -- Chapter 13: The Book of Kings and the Story of Solomon -- i. The Book of Kings -- ii. The Story of Solomon -- Chapter 14: 1 and 2 Kings and the History of Israel and Judah -- i. Jeroboam (Israel) and Rehoboam (Judah) - 1 Kings 12-14 -- ii. Omri and Ahab (Israel) - 1 Kings 16:21-22:40 -- iii. Jehu (Israel) and Athaliah (Judah) - 2 Kings 9-11 -- iv. The Last Days of Israel - 2 Kings 14-17 -- v. Hezekiah and Manasseh (Judah) - 2 Kings 18-21 -- vi. Josiah - 2 Kings 22:1-23:20 -- vii. The Last Days of Judah - 2 Kings 23:31-25:30 -- PART IV: LATTER PROPHETS -- Chapter 15: Prophets and Prophecy -- i. The Prophetic Books -- ii. The Prophetic Office -- iii. Prophetic Speech -- iv. Prophets and the Future -- Chapter 16: The Isaiah Scroll -- i. Three Collections of Prophetic Material -- ii. Isaiah Son of Amoz - Isaiah 1-39 -- iii. Second Isaiah - Isaiah 40-55 -- iv. Third Isaiah - Isaiah 56-66 -- The Isaiah Apocalypse - Isaiah 24-27 -- Chapter 17: catastrophe and Exile: jeremiah and Ezekiel -- i. The Book of Jeremiah -- ii. The Book of Ezekiel -- Chapter 18: Prophets of Social Justice: Amo, Hosea, and Micah -- i. Amos -- ii. Hosea -- iii. Micah -- Chapter 19: Judah in the Orbit of Assyria, Babylon, and Persia -- i. Zephaniah -- ii. Nahum -- iii. Habakkuk -- iv. Obadiah -- v. Haggai -- vi. Zechariah -- vii. Malachi -- viii. Joel -- ix. Jonah -- PART V: WRITINGS -- Chapter 20: Psalms -- i. Shape and Composition -- ii. Psalms as Poetry -- iii. Laments and Thanksgiving Psalms -- iv. Hymns -- v. Entronement Psalms -- vi. Royal Psalms -- vii. Zion Songs -- viii. Songs of Trust -- ix. Wisdom and Torah Psalms -- Chapter 21: Optimistic and Pessimistic Wisdom: Proverbs and Job -- i. Wisdom -- ii. Proverbs -- iii. Job -- Chapter 22: The Five Scrolls -- i. The Five Scrolls -- ii. Song of Songs -- iii. Ruth -- iv. Lamentations -- v. Ecclesiastes -- vi. Esther -- Chapter 23: Ezra-Nehemiah and 1 and 2 Chronicles -- i. Ezra-Nehemiah -- ii. 1 and 2 Chronicles -- Chapter 24: Daniel -- i. Alexander the Great and His Successors -- ii. Shape and Date -- iii. Tales of Encouragement - Daniel 1-6 -- iv. Apocalyptic Visions - Daniel 7-12 -- v. Additions to Daniel -- PART VI: APOCRYPHAL/DEUTEROCANONICAL BOOKS -- Chapter 25: Spellbinding Tales and Profound Wisdom -- i. Tobit -- ii. Judith -- iii. Wisdom of Solomon -- iv. Sirach -- v. Baruch -- Chapther 26: 1 and 2 Maccabees -- i. 1 Maccabees -- ii. 2 Maccabees -- iii. Later Jewish Religious Works -- CHRONOLOGY OF SIGNIFICANT EVENTS -- VOCABULARY.

Engaging and accessible to students from all backgrounds, this book is a comprehensive introduction to the Old Testament. It is designed to equip readers with the knowledge and skills needed to read, interpret, and benefit from the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible in their own context. Using scholarly consensus and current research with numerous examples, this book helps prepare students for further advanced courses related to exegesis, individual books, and special topics. It also provides a balanced approach to controversial areas in biblical scholarship such as violence, sexuality, and slavery. More importantly, this introduction understands the Old Testament as a resource for the human quest for meaning making it an essential tool for helping students appropriate this, often neglected, part of the Bible for their own faithful living. It includes at-a-glance sections to highlight matters of special interest- including material about important ancient Egyptian and west Asian documents; significant archaeological excavations; a demonstration of textual criticism; problematic translation issues such as Gen 1:1, Isa 7:14, or Job 19:25; special problems such as the chronology of the kings and the dating of the second fall of Jerusalem.