The Old Testament: An Introduction

Rolf Rendtorff

Fortress Press, Jan 1, 1991 - Religion - 308 pages

The Old Testament is a collection of writings which came into being over a period of more than a thousand years in the history of the people of Israel and which reflect the life of the people in this period. Therefore, there is a reciprocal relationship between the writings or "books" of the Old Testament and the life of Israel in its history. The understanding of the texts presupposes insights into the historical context and the development of the life of Israelite society, while at the same time the texts themselves are the most important, indeed for the most part the only, source for it. This "Introduction" attempts to take account of this reciprocal relationship. The first part deals with the history of Israel. However, its approach differs from most accounts of this history. It takes the Old Testament texts themselves as a starting point and first of all outlines the picture of historical developments and associations which the texts present. An attempt is then made, on this basis, to reconstruct historical developments by introducing material from outside the Bible. This method of working leads to close connections between the second and third parts, because it has to take account of the nature and original purpose of the texts and their function within the biblical books as they are now. The second part attempts to present the texts collected in the Old Testament as expressions of the life of Israel. The third part discusses the books of the Old Testament in their present form.

Contents

• I The Old Testament as a Source of the History of Israel: 1
• 2 The Periods of the History of Israel: 3
• 3 Israel before the Settlement: 6
• 31 The Patriarchs: 7
• 32 The Exodus from Egypt: 10
• 33 Israel at Sinai: 14
• 34 Israel in the Wilderness: 17
• 35 Israel before the Settlement Summary: 18
• 4 Israel between the Settlement and the Formation of the State: 20
• 42 Where the Tribes Settled: 23
• 43 Israel In the Time of the Judges: 25
• 51 Samuel and the Kingdom of Saul: 29
• 52 Davids Rise to be King over Judah and Israel: 31
• 53 The Reign of Solomon: 34
• 6 Israel and Judah In the Time of the Monarchy: 37
• 61 The Split in the Empire of David and Solomon: 38
• 62 Israel and Judah Side by Side: 41
• 63 Judah to the Babylonian Exile: 49
• 7 Judah after the Babylonian Exile: 55
• 72 Return and Restoration: 59
• 73 The Time of Ezra and Nehemiah: 65
• 74 Israel at the End of the Old Testament Period: 72
• The Literature of the Old Testament in the Life of Ancient Israel: 77
• 2 Family Clan Tribe Local Community: 80
• 3 The Legal Sphere: 88
• 4 The Cult: 94
• 5 Political Institutions The Monarchy: 105
• Genres 6 Prophecy: 112
• 7 The Way to Literature: 124
• The Books of the Old Testament: 129
• 1 The Five Books of the Pentateuch The Torah: 131
• 11 The Book of Genesis: 132
• 12 The Book of Exodus: 139
• 13 The Book of Leviticus: 144
• 14 The Book of Numbers: 147
• 15 Deuteronomy: 150
• 16 The Pentateuch as a Whole: 157
• 2 The Former Prophets: 164
• 21 The Book of Joshua: 165
• 22 The Book of Judges: 167
• 23 The Books of Samuel: 170
• 24 The Books of Kings: 174
• 25 The Deuteronomistic History: 183
• 3 The Latter Prophets: 188
• 31 The Book of Isaiah: 190
• 312 Isaiah 4055 DeuteroIsaiah: 193
• 313 Isaiah 5666 TritoIsaiah: 196
• 314 The Composition of the Book of Isaiah: 198
• 32 The Book of Jeremiah: 201
• 33 The Book of Ezekiel: 208
• 34 The Book of the Twelve Prophets Prophets: 215
• 341 Hosea: 216
• 342 Joel: 218
• 343 Amos: 220
• 344 Obadiah: 224
• 345 Jonah: 225
• 346 Micah: 228
• 347 Nahum: 230
• 348 Habakkuk: 232
• 349 Zephaniah: 234
• 3410 Haggal: 236
• 3411 Zechariah: 238
• 3412 Malachi: 242
• 35 The History of the Composition of the Prophetic Books: 243
• 4 The Writings: 245
• 41 The Psalms: 246
• 42 The Book of Job: 250
• 43 Proverbs: 255
• 44 The Five Megilloth Festival Scrolls: 258
• 441 The Book of Ruth: 259
• 44 2 The Song of Songs: 261
• 443 Koheleth Ecclesiastes: 265
• 44 Lamentations Threni: 267
• 445 The Book of Esther: 270
• 45 The Book of Daniel: 273
• 46 The Books of Ezra and Nehemlah: 277
• 47 The Books of Chronicles: 283
• 5 The Canon of the Old Testament: 288
• Abbreviations in the Bibliography: 292
• Index of Subjects: 295
• Index of Names: 301
• Index of Hebrew Words: 303
• Index of Biblical References: 304
• Index of Modern Scholars: 308

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Old Testament: An Introduction
• Author: Rolf Rendtorff
• Translated by: John Bowden
• Publisher: Fortress Press, 1991
• ISBN: 1451417667, 9781451417661
• Length: 308 pages
• Subjects: Religion / Biblical Criticism & Interpretation / Old Testament; Religion / Biblical Studies / Old Testament; Religion / Theology