The Historian and the Bible

Essays in Honour of Lester L. Grabbe

Philip R. Davies, Diana Vikander Edelman, Philip R. Davies, Diana Vikander Edelman

• Publisher: T&T Clark
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN:
  9780567546203
• eBook ISBN:
  9780567333520
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Criticism & Interpretation

Lester Grabbe is probably the most distinguished, and certainly the most prolific of historians of ancient Judaism, the author of several standard treatments and the founder of the European Seminar on Historical methodology. He has continued to set the bar for Hebrew Bible scholarship.

In this collection some thirty of his distinguished colleagues and friends offer their reflections on the practice and theory of history writing, on the current controversies and topics of major interest. This collection provides an opportunity for scholars of high caliber to consider groundbreaking ideas in light of Grabbe's scholarship and influence. This festschrift offers the reader a unique volume of essays to explore and consider the far-reaching influence of Grabbe on the field of Biblical studies as a whole.

Table of contents

• CONTENTS
• List of Contributors
• List of Abbreviations
• Editors’ Preface
• HISTORY AND MEMORY: SOME REFLECTIONS ON THE “MEMORY DEBATE” IN RELATION TO THE HEBREW BIBLE
• DID A REFORM LIKE JOSIAH’S HAPPEN?
• TEXT AND ARCHAEOLOGY IN A PERIOD OF GREAT DECLINE: THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE AMARNA LETTERS TO THE DEBATE ON THE HISTORICITY OF NEHEMIAH’S WALL
• SECONDARY SOURCES ALSO DESERVE TO BE HISTORICALLY EVALUATED: THE CASE OF THE UNITED MONARCHY
• REITERATIVE NARRATIVES OF EXILE AND RETURN: VIRTUAL MEMORIES OF ABRAHAM IN THE PERSIAN AND HELLENISTIC PERIODS
• HAZOR IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE TENTH CENTURY B.C.E.: HISTORIOGRAPHY, ARCHAEOLOGY AND HISTORY
• THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE BIBLICAL FAIRY-TALE
• A CONTRIBUTION TO THE INTELLECTUAL HISTORY OF YEHUD: THE STORY OF MICAIAH AND ITS FUNCTION WITHIN THE DISCOURSE OF PERSIAN-PERIOD LITERATI
• OF PRIESTS AND PROPHETS AND INTERPRETING THE PAST: THE EGYPTIAN HM-NTR AND HRY-HBT AND THE JUDAHITE NĀBÎ
• WELCOME HOME
• “HERE IS A MAN WHOSE NAME IS SEMAH” (ZECHARIAH 6:12)
• DROUGHT, HUNGER, AND REDISTRIBUTION: A SOCIAL ECONOMIC READING OF NEHEMIAH 5
• FOOTNOTES TO THE RESCRIPT OF ARTAXERXES (EZRA 7:11–26)
• ASPECTS OF SAMARIA’S RELIGIOUS CULTURE DURING THE EARLY HELLENISTIC PERIOD
• BIBLICAL REFERENCES TO JUDEAN SETTLEMENT IN ERETZ ISRAEL (AND BEYOND) IN THE LATE PERSIAN AND EARLY HELLENISTIC PERIODS
• THE HEBREW CANON AND THE ORIGINS OF JUDAISM
• WHAT MAKES A TEXT HISTORICAL? ASSUMPTIONS BEHIND THE CLASSIFICATION OF SOME DEAD SEA SCROLLS
• Index of References
• Index of Authors