Reading Genesis
Ten Methods

Reading Genesis presents a panoramic view of the most vital ways that Genesis is approached in modern scholarship.

Ronald Hendel (Edited by)

9780521518611, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 30 September 2010

246 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.7 cm, 0.45 kg

'With Hermann Gunkel's salutary methodological pluralism as his model, Ronald Hendel has assembled a richly illuminating and thought-provoking set of essays that approach the interpretation of Genesis from a variety of critical vantage points, including translation and textual criticism, redaction, history of exegesis (ancient and modern, Jewish and Christian), literary criticism, cultural memory, gender and sexuality, and contemporary theology. This is an innovative volume with much to offer both students and specialists.' Saul M. Olyan, Brown University

Reading Genesis presents a panoramic view of the most vital ways that Genesis is approached in modern scholarship. Essays by ten eminent scholars cover the perspectives of literature, gender, memory, sources, theology, and the reception of Genesis in Judaism and Christianity. Each contribution addresses the history and rationale of the method, insightfully explores particular texts of Genesis, and deepens the interpretive gain of the method in question. These ways of reading Genesis, which include its classic past readings, map out a pluralistic model for understanding Genesis in - and for - the modern age.

Introduction Ronald Hendel
1. Literature Robert Alter
2. Cultural memory Ronald Hendel
3. Sources and redaction Robert S. Kawashima
4. Gender and sexuality Ronald Hendel, Chana Kronfeld and Ilana Pardes
5. Inner-biblical interpretation Yair Zakovitch
6. Rabbinic interpretation Dina Stein
7. Interpretation in the early church Richard A. Layton
8. Translation Naomi Seidman
9. Modern literature Ilana Pardes
10. Modern theology John J. Collins.

Subject Areas: Judaism [HRJ], New Testaments [HRCF2], Christianity [HRC], Literary theory [DSA]