According to an old tradition preserved in the Palestinian Targums, the Hebrew Bible is "the Book of Memories." The sacred past recalled in the Bible serves as a model and wellspring for the present. The remembered past, says Ronald Hendel, is the material with which biblical Israel constructed its identity as a people, a religion, and a culture. It is a mixture of history, collective memory, folklore, and literary brilliance, and is often colored by political and religious interests. In Israel's formative years, these memories circulated orally in the context of family and tribe. Over time they came to be crystallized in various written texts. The Hebrew Bible is a vast compendium of writings, spanning a thousand-year period from roughly the twelfth to the second century BCE, and representing perhaps a small slice of the writings of that period. The texts are often overwritten by later texts, creating a complex pastiche of text, reinterpretation, and commentary. The religion and culture of ancient Israel are expressed by these texts, and in no small part also created by them, as they formulate new or altered conceptions of the sacred past. Remembering Abraham explores the interplay of culture, history, and memory in the Hebrew Bible. Hendel examines the Hebrew Bible's portrayal of Israel and its history, and correlates the biblical past with our own sense of the past. He addresses the ways that culture, memory, and history interweave in the self-fashioning of Israel's identity, and in the biblical portrayals of the patriarchs, the Exodus, and King Solomon. A concluding chapter explores the broad horizons of the biblical sense of the past. This accessibly written book represents the mature thought of one of our leading scholars of the Hebrew Bible.

Remembering Abraham: Culture, Memory, and History in the Hebrew Bible

Religion & Spirituality

Hendel, Ronald

Christian Books & Bibles

Oxford University Press

The first volume of a groundbreaking two-part commentary on the book of Genesis by leading biblical scholar Ronald Hendel &nbsp; The first eleven chapters of Genesis narrate the origin of the universe; the creation of the first human beings; the beginnings of moral reasoning, society, and culture; and the cataclysmic global flood. By showing how life and civilization came into being, Genesis 1-11 offers a richly drawn map for understanding the world as a meaningful cosmos and an ethical guide for human purpose and responsibility within it. &nbsp; The culmination of over thirty years of research, this long-awaited study by leading Genesis scholar Ronald Hendel is the first comprehensive scholarly commentary on Genesis 1-11 in a generation. Drawing on archaeological discoveries from Israel and the ancient Near East as well as contemporary methods of scholarship, it presents a multilayered view of the classic text. The extensive introduction, notes, and comments explore ancient textual versions and editions, historical contexts, literary style and design, compositional history, cosmology, ethics, and the book's interpretive life in Judaism and Christianity. Featuring numerous illustrations, this engagingly written commentary is an indispensable, field-defining guide to the first eleven chapters of the Bible.

Genesis 1-11: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (The Anchor Yale Bible Commentaries)

History

Ancient Civilizations

Yale University Press

From two expert scholars comes a comprehensive study of the dating of the Hebrew Bible The age of the Hebrew Bible is a topic that has sparked controversy and debate in recent years. The scarcity of clear evidence allows for the possibility of many views, though these are often clouded by theological and political biases. This impressive, broad‑ranging book synthesizes recent linguistic, textual, and historical research to clarify the history of biblical literature, from its oldest texts and literary layers to its youngest. In clear, concise language, the authors provide a comprehensive overview that cuts across scholarly specialties to create a new standard for the historical study of the Bible. This much‑needed work paves the path forward to dating the Hebrew Bible and understanding crucial aspects of its historical and contemporary significance.

How Old Is the Hebrew Bible?: A Linguistic, Textual, and Historical Study (The Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library)

Joosten, Jan

During its 2,500-year life, the book of Genesis has been the keystone to almost every important claim about reality, humanity, and God in Judaism and Christianity. And it continues to play a central role in debates about science, politics, and human rights. With clarity and skill, acclaimed biblical scholar Ronald Hendel provides a panoramic history of this iconic book, exploring its impact on Western religion, philosophy, science, politics, literature, and more.
 Hendel traces how Genesis has shaped views of reality, and how changing views of reality have shaped interpretations of Genesis. Literal and figurative readings have long competed with each other. Hendel tells how Luther's criticisms of traditional figurative accounts of Genesis undermined the Catholic Church; how Galileo made the radical argument that the cosmology of Genesis wasn't scientific evidence; and how Spinoza made the equally radical argument that the scientific method should be applied to Genesis itself. Indeed, Hendel shows how many high points of Western thought and art have taken the form of encounters with Genesis--from Paul and Augustine to Darwin, Emily Dickinson, and Kafka.
 From debates about slavery, gender, and sexuality to the struggles over creationism and evolution, Genesis has shaped our world and continues to do so today. This wide-ranging account tells the remarkable story of the life of Genesis like no other book.

The Book of Genesis: A Biography (Lives of Great Religious Books)

World

Princeton University Press

An essential biography of one of the Bible's most influential booksDuring its 2,500-year life, the book of Genesis has been the keystone to important claims about God and humanity in Judaism and Christianity, and it plays a central role in contemporary debates about science, politics, and human rights. Ronald Hendel provides a panoramic history of this iconic book, exploring its impact on Western religion, philosophy, literature, art, and more. From debates about slavery, gender, and sexuality to struggles over creationism and evolution, Genesis has left its indelible mark on our world and continues to do so today. This wide-ranging account tells the remarkable life story of an incomparable spiritual masterpiece, tracing how Genesis has shaped views of reality―and how changing views of reality have shaped interpretations of Genesis.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Hendel, Ronald. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Hendel, Ronald

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Hendel, Ronald. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Remembering Abraham: Culture, Memory, and History in the Hebrew Bible

Genesis 1-11: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (The Anchor Yale Bible Commentaries)

How Old Is the Hebrew Bible?: A Linguistic, Textual, and Historical Study (The Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library)

The Book of Genesis: A Biography (Lives of Great Religious Books)

The Book of Genesis: A Biography (Lives of Great Religious Books)