The Cambridge Companion to the Bible

Provides in-depth information about the changing historical, social and cultural contexts in which the biblical authors and their original readers lived.

Bruce Chilton (Edited by), Howard Clark Kee (Author), Eric M. Meyers (Author), John Rogerson (Author), Amy-Jill Levine (Author), Anthony J. Saldarini (Author)

9780521691406, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 12 November 2007

740 pages, 115 b/w illus. 21 maps
25.3 x 20.2 x 4 cm, 1.966 kg

'The text has been revised and updated and the volume includes numerous photographs and maps not found in the previous edition. … [It] is clearly written and nicely produced and will provide a useful resource for students and all who are interested in the Bible and its world.' Journal for the Study of the Old Testament

The Cambridge Companion to the Bible, 2nd edition provides in-depth data and analysis of the production and reception of the canonical writings of the Hebrew Bible and New Testament, and also of the apocryphal works produced by Jewish and Christian writers. Unique among single-volume introductions, this book focuses on the ever-changing social and cultural contexts in which the biblical authors and their original readers lived. The authors of the first edition were chosen for their internationally recognized expertise in their respective fields: the history and literature of Israel; postbiblical Judaism; biblical archaeology; and the origins and early literature of Christianity. In this second edition, all chapters have been updated and thoroughly revised,under the direction of a new volume editor, Bruce D. Chilton. More than 22 new maps, 90 new photographs and a full-color section help illustrate the book.

The concept of God's people
Bibliographic essay
Part I. The Old Testament World: 1. The world of the ancestors
2. The world of Israel's 'historians'
3. The world of Israel's prophets
4. The world of Israel's worship
5. The world of Israel's sages and poets
6. The world of apocalyptic
Bibliographical essay
Part II. Jewish Responses to Greco-Roman Culture: 1. Preservation and adaptation: the encounter with Hellenism
2. Antiochus IV and the Maccabean Crisis
3. Roman invasion and Jewish response
4. Herod the Great
5. Herod's heirs
6. Roman rule in the first century CE
7. Mid-first-century crises
8. The Jewish world after the fall of Jerusalem
Bibliographical essay
Part III. The Formation of the Christian Community: 1. Jesus and the covenant
2. Paul: the Jesus movement in the Roman world
3. Christianity responds to formative Judaism
4. Christianity responds to Roman culture and imperial policy
5. Diversity in the church
6. Attempts to unify faith and practice
Bibliographical essay.

Subject Areas: Biblical studies & exegesis [HRCG], Ancient history: to c 500 CE [HBLA]