A Short Introduction to the Hebrew Bible, 4th ed.

by John J. Collins

Publisher:

Fortress Press

, 2025

Overview

John J. Collins’s A Short Introduction to the Hebrew Bible is one of the most popular introductory textbooks in colleges and seminary classrooms. Enriched by decades of classroom teaching, it is aimed explicitly at motivated students, regardless of their previous exposure to the Bible or faith commitments. This more compact version of Collins’s renowned Introduction to the Hebrew Bible is combined with even more student-friendly features, including charts, maps, photographs, chapter summaries, and bibliographies for further reading.

Collins proceeds through the canon of the Old Testament and the Apocrypha, judiciously presenting the current state of historical, archaeological, and literary understanding of the biblical text, and engaging the student in questions of significance and interpretation for the contemporary world.

The fourth edition is supplemented in areas that go beyond historical criticism and answer questions crucial for students today. John J. Collins discusses the issues that arise when studying the Hebrew Bible that aren’t always addressed in introductory textbooks. The issues discussed include gender, patriarchy, social justice, violence, race and ethnicity, environment, salvation and death, the messiah, and colonialism. In addition tothe new essays, John J. Collins has updated bibliographies to include the most recent scholarship that students and professors need to know.

Key Features

• Includes charts, maps, photographs, chapter summaries, and bibliographies for further reading.
• Proceeds through the canon of the Old Testament and the Apocrypha.
• Discusses the issues that arise when studying the Hebrew Bible.

Contents

Introduction: What Are the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament?

Part One: The Torah/Pentateuch

The Near Eastern Context

The Nature of the Pentateuchal Narrative

The Primeval History

Excursus: Is the Bible Patriarchal?

The Patriarchs

The Exodus from Egypt

Excursus: Slavery

The Revelation at Sinai

The Priestly Theology: Leviticus and Numbers

Excursus: The Bible and Gender

Deuteronomy

Excursus: A Chosen People

Part Two: The Deuteronomistic History

Joshua

Excursus: A Right to Land?

Judges

First Samuel

Second Samuel

Excursus: Messianic Expectation

1 Kings 1-16: Solomon and the Divided Monarchy

1 Kings 17-2 Kings 25: Tales of Prophets and The End of the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah

Part 3. Prophecy

Amos and Hosea

Excursus: The Priority of Justice

Isaiah, Micah, Nahum, and Zephaniah

The Babylonian Era: Habakkuk, Jeremiah, and Lamentations

The Exilic Period: Ezekiel and Obadiah

Excursus: A Right to Life?

The Additions to the Book of Isaiah

Postexilic Prophecy: Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, Joel, Jonah

Excursus: A Time to Kill

Part 4. The Writings

Ezra and Nehemiah

Excursus: Race and Ethnicity

The Books of Chronicles

The Psalms and Song of Songs

Proverbs

Job and Qoheleth

Excursus: The Bible and the Environment

The Hebrew Short Story: Ruth, Esther, Tobit, Judith

Daniel, 1-2 Maccabees

Excursus: Salvation

The Deuterocanonical Wisdom Books: Ben Sira, the Wisdom of Solomon, Baruch

From Tradition to Canon

Excursus: What is Scripture?

Glossary

Product Details

• Title: A Short Introduction to the Hebrew Bible and Deutero-Canonical Books (Fourth Edition)
• Author: John J. Collins
• Edition: Fourth Edition
• Publisher: Fortress Press
• Print Publication Date: 2025
• Logos Release Date: 2025
• Pages: 430
• Era: era:contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subject: Bible. O.T. › Introductions
• ISBNs: 9798889834656, 9798889834663
• Resource ID: LLS:SHRTTRDTNHBWBL
• Resource Type: text.monograph.introduction.old-testament
• Metadata Last Updated: 2025-04-01T20:05:02Z

About John J. Collins

John J. Collins is Holmes Professor of Old Testament Criticism and Interpretation at Yale Divinity School. His books include Jewish Wisdom in the Hellenistic Age; Apocalypse, Prophecy, and Pseudepigraphy: On Jewish Apocalyptic Literature; The Invention of Judaism: Torah and Jewish Identity from Deuteronomy to Paul; and, most recently, What Are Biblical Values? What the Bible Says on Key Ethical Issues. Collins serves as general editor of the Anchor Yale Bible and Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library. He is on the editorial board of the Journal for the Study of Judaism and Dead Sea Discoveries. Previously, he has served as President of the Society of Biblical Literature and the Catholic Biblical Association.