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