Resources for the Study of the Old Testament

This page is designed to assist my students and any other students interested in the subject of Old Testament Survey or Old Testament Introduction by providing an annotated bibliography on useful, reliable resources. This page enumerates books and articles that serve to introduce and illuminate the subject of Old Testament Survey, and provides links to online resources that could be valuable in researching and understanding the subject. Resources are included not only to seek the direct meaning of the Old Testament writings. The cultural, political, and historical contexts of these sacred writings deserve attention as well. This leads us to their immediate context in the Levant (Palestine and Syria) and to the overarching context in the Fertile Crescent or Ancient Near East (stretching from Egypt and Turkey in the West to Iraq and Iran in the East). You can also view the Course Schedule, which includes a description of writing assignments for the course.

Print Resources for Old Testament Introduction

• For the Fall Semester, 2002, the textbook for the course is John H. Tullock, The Old Testament Story. Sixth Edition. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2002. This is a moderate account written in plain English with plenty of charts, photographs, and maps.
• Norman K. Gottwald, The Hebrew Bible: A Socio-Literary Introduction, Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1985, makes good use of interesting charts and maps. The text provides a lot of information and is insightful in places, but the author's narrow ideological position and cultural elitism can be irritating at times. The book has value, although it should be taken with a grain of salt in places. Points made by Prof. Rainey in his review are well taken but are unnecessarily harsh, IMHO.
  • Reviewed by Anson F. Rainey, Journal of the American Oriental Society, 107 (1987), 541-543, who has a very negative appraisal of Prof. Gottwald and his work. Prof. Rainey states that, "This book could safely and profitably be ignored. Unfortunately, it represents the most recent fad in Old Testament studies." He explains various misgivings about the quality of the scholarship he sees in the book. He comments about Prof. Gottwald's pet theory on the origins of Israel in Canaan that, "Gottwald's efforts to make the early Israelites into some kind of idealized peasants, bearing the torch for the 'New Left' under the banner of Yahweh, is merely an amateur's attempt at pseudo-Marxism."
  • Reviewed by J.A. Soggin, Journal of the American Oriental Society, 108 (1988), 523-525. The reviewer lists positive features of the book, then summarizes the main parts of the work. He elaborates several points of disagreement with Prof. Gottwald. Prof. Soggins is a minimalist, stating that "We know very little about [religion in pre-exilic times]." He wishes to date the composition of the historical writings to exilic and post-exilic times. He considers the concept of covenant a late theological, non-political concept.
• Andrew E. Hill and John H. Walton, A Survey of the Old Testament, Second Edition, Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 2000, also makes use of interesting charts, maps and photographs. The authors are somewhat ideologically aggressive, like Gottwald, but from the opposite direction theologically.
• Brevard S. Childs, Introduction to the Old Testament as Scripture. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1979. This is an excellent introduction to the writings of the Old Testament with good bibliographies and thoughtful interaction with scholarly opinions on Old Testament issues.
  • A useful review of Prof. Childs' book is offered by Kevin G. O'Connell, Biblical Archaeologist, 44/3 (Summer, 1981), 187f, who comments that Prof. Childs "writes well, reviews diverse opinions clearly and crisply, and exhibits a wide control of the history of Old Testament scholarship." Prof. O'Connell interacts aggressively with Prof. Childs' theological assumptions but concludes that the Introduction is a "provocative and useful volume."
• Peter C. Craigie, The Old Testament: Its Background, Growth, and Content, Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1986, provides some useful content and concisely summarizes a lot of information, but displays a somewhat defensive tone.
• David J. Chalcraft (ed.), Social-Scientific Old Testament Criticism: A Sheffield Reader, Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1997, reprints articles with a sociological approach to the Old Testament from The Journal of Old Testament Studies. Some articles in the collection provide fresh perspective and useful bibliographies. They are enlightening, ask new questions of the text, and give attention to previously overlooked details in the Old Testament text. The level of sophistication varies in the collection. Some articles were not very interesting or compelling. Several articles that were particularly interesting are listed here.
  • Gary A. Herion, "The Impact of Modern and Social Science Assumptions on the Reconstruction of Israelite History," pp. 78-108.
  • Lyn M. Bechtel, "Shame as a Sanction of Social Control in Biblical Israel: Judicial, Political, and Social Shaming," pp. 232-258.
  • David Jobling, "Sociological and Literary Approaches to the Bible: How Shall the Twain Meet?," pp. 34-42. This is a review of Gottwald, The Hebrew Bible: A Socio-Literary Introduction.

Bibliography for Specific Old Testament Issues

Administrative Activity in the Days of Jeremiah (late seventh - early sixth centuries B.C.)

• Nahman Avigad, "Baruch the Scribe and Jerahmeel the King's Son," Biblical Archaeologist, 42/2 (Spring, 1979), 114-118, discusses the careers of the scribe Baruch, the colleague and supporter of the prophet Jeremiah and of the royal police official Jerahmeel.
• Yigal Shiloh and David Tarler, "Bullae from the City of David: A Hoard of Seal Impressions from the Israelite Period," Biblical Archaeologist, 49/4 (December, 1986), 196-209, includes photographs and ground plans of areas excavated. The primary focus of discussion is the period of the prophet Jeremiah.

Geography and Climate

• Menashe Har-El, "Jerusalem and Judea: Roads and Fortifications," Biblical Archaeologist, 44/1 (Winter, 1981), 8-20, includes maps and photographs of Judea. The author discusses terminology for the transportation system; religious, economic, and political factors influencing ancient Judean transportation systems. He also explains orientation in those ancient times before the invention of the compass and our orientation towards the magnetic North Pole.
• James A. Sauer, "A New Climatic and Archaeological View of the Early Biblical Traditions," Scripture and Other Artifacts: Essays on the Bible and Archaeology in Honor of Philip J. King. Edited by Michael D. Coogan, J. Cheryl Exum, and Lawrence E. Stager. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1994. Pp. 366-398.
  • This is a technical, thorough, and interesting article on climate change in the ancient Near East during the second, third, and fourth millennia B.C. Numerous charts on climate data are included. An extensive bibliography is also provided.
  • There has been considerable change in moisture in the ancient Near East through the course of the Chalcolithic (ending between 3500 and 3200 B.C.), Bronze (ending around 1200 B.C.), and Iron Ages.
  • Levels of precipitation have declined from 1400 A.D. into modern times. This indicates "that current conditions in the Near East are not reflective of earlier periods innits history." (p. 378)
  • Prof. Sauer states that, "I am now willing to consider the pre-1200 BCE materials in the Bible as preserving fairly accurate historical memories back even as far as the fourth to third millennium BCE." (p. 373)

Material Dimensions of Human Life

• Shalom M. Paul and William G. Dever (eds.), Biblical Archaeology. Jerusalem: Keter Publishing House Jerusalem Ltd., 1973. This work takes an interesting topical approach to archaeological research in Palestine to provide interesting access to such subjects as architecture of cities, buildings, cultic structures, tombs, and waterworks; aspects of economic life including agriculture, trade, weights and measures, taxation, and corvée; and technology and crafts, including information on raw materials and tools and utensils.

Official Worship

• Elizabeth Bloch-Smith, "'Who Is the King of Glory?' Solomon's Temple and Its Symbolism," Scripture and Other Artifacts: Essays on the Bible and Archaeology in Honor of Philip J. King. Edited by Michael D. Coogan, J. Cheryl Exum, and Lawrence E. Stager. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1994. Pp. 18-31.
  • The author discusses Biblical evidence and archaeological parallels to propose possible meanings for the parts of the temple.
  • She considers the large items outside the temple in the courtyard, such as the two free-standing pillars, the wheeled carts with basins, and the huge basin of water. The large size of these items as well as of items inside the temple suggests ominpotence, omnipresence, and eternal rule. Her discussion of the significance of size in the temple was informative and thought-provoking.
  • The appearance and meaning of the representations of cherubim and palm trees are also considered.
  • The construction of the temple close to the much larger royal palace may have been intended to portray God's endorsement of Solomon's rule.
  • The form of the physical temple and its furnishings along with the ritual activities and songs may have called up images of the Garden of Eden and God's victory over the forces of chaos.
• Richard E. Friedman, "The Tabernacle in the Temple," Biblical Archaeologist, 43/4 (Fall, 1980), 241-248, reconstructs the form of the pre-Solomonic portable shrine.
• Carol L. Meyers, "The Elusive Temple," Biblical Archaeologist, 45/1 (Winter, 1981), 33-41, describes the dynamic history of the Lord's holy place in ancient Israel. The place of centralized official worship was subject to periods of decay and renovation over the centuries and instances of destruction and rebuilding. Several artists' renderings of the early portable shrine and later Jerusalem Temple are included.

Royal Power

• Keith W. Whitelam, "The Symbols of Power: Aspects of Royal Propaganda in the United Monarchy," Biblical Archaeologist, 49/3 (September, 1986), 166-173, explains the communication of authority and legitimacy to various sectors of society by Kings David and Solomon through their building projects.

Online Resources for Old Testament Survey

• The textbook by John Tullock has a Companion Web Site.
• New American Bible allows you to read this translation of the Bible online. This may be less convenient than reading the hardcopy version, but if you only need to look at a small section quickly, using this resource might be worthwhile.
• World Study Bible provides access to a couple versions of the Bible as well as resources on introductory matters, commentary, and sermonic material. Some of this is quite old (in the public domain).
• Here is a page giving access to a couple past issues of the important publication Biblical Archaeologist. The full text of articles from issues 59 and 60 are included as well as articles from issue 61, after the journal changed names to Near Eastern Archaeology.
• Here is the web site of the Biblical Archaeology Society including online articles from their publications.
• There is a Concise Dictionary of people, places, plants and animals of the Bible. Line drawings illustrate entries. This site also shows Simple Genealogical Charts of biblical characters, but leaves siblings out. You can find here a Translation of the Torah with brief rabbinic and medieval commentary notes.
• Considerable scholarly disagreement and confusion exist over the process of the formation of biblical Israel in the land of Canaan. It may help to look over these clear Charts Showing the Contrasting Theories.
• The Nation of Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs offers a Concise History of Old Testament Times. There are maps of David and Solomon's Kingdom and of the Divided Kingdoms of Israel and Judah compared to present day Israel's boundaries. A description is offered of Models of Jerusalem that can be viewed in Jerusalem. The four models represent the First Temple period, the Second Temple period, the Ottoman period, and the present day. Some history of research on Jerusalem is included. Finally, a Catalog of archaeological sites in Israel is presented which gives access to descriptions and illustrations of numerous excavated sites.
• A page from the site on the Temple Mount provides a narrative starting with the period of the Judges ("Extraordinary Administrators") leading up to the reigns of Kings David and Solomon. The author then explains the planning and building of the temple in Jerusalem, and traces the treatment of the temple by various Judean kings. Some use is made of Rabbinic and Islamic traditions.
• Here is Leen Ritmeyer's proposal on the Location of the First and Second Temples.
• Here is an essay on Canaanite Religion. The author describes the religion centered on the Canaanite god of the thunderstorm and explains how texts from the ancient city of Ugarit contribute to our understanding of Old Testament texts.
• The ancient Israelites faced serious opposition from the neighboring Philistines whose modern "Home Page" seems informative.

Return to the Old Testament Survey main page or to the Lecture Hall, or view the Course Schedule page. Thanks for the visit! This page was edited on 23 August 2002. Email is welcomed by John R. Mitchell, Part-time Instructor in Religion. © 2002 Erasmus Compositor, P.O. Box 25958, Baltimore, MD 21224. For an introduction to life at the center of the world forty centuries ago, visit an old Sumerian scribe at the Nippur Quay. You can also visit Villa Julie College.