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Contents
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Contents Preface ix Abbreviations xiii 1. Reading as a Jew and as a Scholar 1 2. What Is the Bible, Anyway? 7 3. The Art of Reading the Bible 13 4. A Brief History of Israel 19 5. With Scissors and Paste: The Sources of Genesis 29 6. Creation vs. Creationism: Genesis 1–3 as Myth 37 7. The Ancestors as Heroes 49 8. Biblical Law: Codes and Collections 61 9. Incense Is Offensive to Me: The Cult in Ancient Israel 73 10. “In the Fortieth Year . . . Moses Addressed the Israelites”: Deuteronomy 85 11. “The Walls Came Tumbling Down”: Reading Joshua 95 12. “May My Lord King David Live Forever”: Royal Ideology in Samuel and Judges 107 13. “For Israel Tore Away from the House of David”: Reading Kings 117 14. Revisionist History: Reading Chronicles 129 15. Introduction to Prophecy 137 16. “Let Justice Well Up like Water”: Reading Amos 149 vii 17. “They Shall Beat Their Swords into Plowshares”: Reading (First) Isaiah 161 18. “I Will Make This House like Shiloh”: Reading Jeremiah 173 19. “I Will Be for Them a Mini-Temple”: Reading Ezekiel 185 20. “Comfort, Oh Comfort My People”: The Exile and Beyond 199 21. “Those That Sleep in the Dust . . . Will Awake”: Zechariah, Apocalyptic Literature, and Daniel 209 22. Prayer of Many Hearts: Reading Psalms 219 23. “Acquire Wisdom”: Reading Proverbs and Ecclesiastes 231 24. “Being But Dust and Ashes”: Reading Job 243 25. “Drink Deep of Love!”: Reading Song of Songs 257 26. “Why Are You So Kind . . . When I Am a Foreigner?”: Reading Ruth vs. Esther 267 27. The Creation of the Bible 273 Afterword: Reading the Bible as a Committed Jew 279 Notes 285 Sources Cited 339 Index of Subjects 361 Index of Biblical Passages and Other References 372 viii How to Read the Bible ...