List of Maps viii

List of Boxes ix

Preface xii

Acknowledgments xiv

List of Abbreviations xvi

Overview of the Historical Period xvii

Timeline xviii

Prologue: Orientation to Multiple Bibles and Multiple Translations 1

1 Studying the Bible in Its Ancient Context(s) 15

2 The Emergence of Ancient Israel and Its First Oral Traditions 33

3 The Emergence of the Monarchy and Royal and Zion Texts 53

4 Echoes of Past Empires in Biblical Wisdom, Love Poetry, Law, and Narrative 71

5 Narrative and Prophecy amidst the Rise and Fall of the Northern Kingdom 91

6 Micah, Isaiah, and the Southern Prophetic Encounter with Assyria 115

7 Torah and History in the Wake of the Assyrian Empire 131

8 Prophecy in the Transition from Assyrian to Babylonian Domination 153

9 Laments, History, and Prophecies after the Destruction of Jerusalem 165

10 The Pentateuch and the Exile 187

11 The Torah, the Psalms, and the Persian-Sponsored Rebuilding of Judah 207

12 Other Texts Formed in the Crucible of Post-Exilic Rebuilding 229

13 Hellenistic Empires and the Formation of the Hebrew Bible 245

Glossary 264

Index 273