Eisenbrauns Old Testament Studies Collection (3 vols.)

In Genesis 1 as Ancient Cosmology, John Walton presents comparative studies of ancient texts and their cosmologies. The first half of the book focuses on the ancient texts that inform our understanding of Near Eastern cosmology. Egyptian, Sumerian, and Akkadian texts are the primary focus, but occasionally Ugaritic and Hittite are included as appropriate. Walton posits that functional ontology was pervasive in ancient writing because bringing about order and functionality was the very essence of creative activity.

The second half of the book is devoted to a fresh analysis of Genesis 1:1–2:4. Walton studies significant Hebrew terms and shows that, like the rest of the ancient Near East, the Israelite texts use a functional cosmology that is constructed with temple ideology in mind. He contends that Genesis 1 was never an account of material origins but that, as in the rest of the ancient world, the purpose of this “creation text” was to outline functions for the components of the cosmos. All of this demonstrates that, when we read Genesis 1 as the ancient document it is rather than trying to read it in light of our current world view, the text recovers the energy it had in its original context. At the same time, it provides a new perspective on Genesis 1 in relation to what have long been controversial issues.

Sacred Time, Sacred Place is a collection of 12 scholarly papers from the American Schools of Oriental Research. These works bring together the disciplines of archaeology and biblical studies, encourage and enhance dialogue on the subject, and begin a study of Israelite religion based on new methods of examining textual and archaeological data.

The studies are based around four themes: the relationship between text and artifact; the relationship among images, archaeology, and religion; how holy places, particularly temples, can be better understood through contemporary structural studies; and death—how mortuary practices, texts concerning beliefs about the dead, and a comparison of the various sources of data can lead us to a fuller understanding of the experience of death and dying among the Israelites. Articles include:

• “Religion Up and Down, Out and In” by Jonathan Z. Smith
• “Theology, Philology, and Archaeology: In Pursuit of Ancient Israelite Religion” by W. G. Dever
• “Philology and Archaeology: Imagining New Questions, Begetting New Ideas” by Ziony Zevit
• “Israelite Figurines: A View from the Texts” by Karel van der Toorn
• “On the Use of Images in Israel and the Ancient Near East: A Response to Karel van der Toorn” by Jack M. Sasson
• “Preamble to a Temple Tour” by Ziony Zevit
• “Solomon’s Temple: The Politics of Ritual Space” by Elizabeth Bloch-Smith
• “The Four-Horned Altar and Sacred Space: An Archaeological Perspective” by Seymour Gitin
• “Ritual as Symbol: Modes of Sacrifice in Israelite Religion” by Baruch A. Levine
• “Death in the Life of Israel” by Elizabeth Bloch-Smith
• “Tombs and Offerings: Archaeological Data and Comparative Methodology in the Study of Death in Israel” by Wayne T. Pitard
• “How Far Can Texts Take Us? Evaluating Textual Sources for Reconstructing Ancient Israelite Beliefs about the Dead” by T. J. Lewis

During the past two or three decades, the value of the Hebrew Bible as a testimony to the history of Israel has come under siege. As the date of the text has been pushed later and later, often into the Hellenistic era, it has been devalued accordingly. In Text and History, Jens Bruun Kofoed steps forward to address the methodological issues that lie behind the use of the biblical text as a source for historical information. He describes methods for using the biblical text honestly, and by both discussing presuppositions underlying various methodologies and evaluating specific test cases, shows that a late date does not reduce the text’s value as a source of historical information. Taking modern genre research and authorial intent into account opens new vistas for evaluating the reliability of ancient texts and creates a way forward from the current impasse.