Bøker av Victor H. Matthews

"Experiencing Scripture explores living environments of ancient Israel and the role the five senses play in understanding the Biblical text. The environments encompass both village and city, delve into life altering events like warfare, explore the sensual aspects of law, and showcase the role that religious practice and performance play in ancient Israel. In every chapter there is a systematic attempt to focus on each sense in turn while acknowledging that the senses seldom operate alone, but instead in combination. In addition, an effort is made whenever possible to examine the full sensual experience described or depicted in art, narrative, poetry, prophetic speech, wisdom literature, religious ritual speech, and in legal statements and activities. Like people in every time and place, the inhabitants of ancient Israel perceived and described their world through their senses. The rhythm of life in small villages and towns has its own pace governed by the seasons. Their lives, while simple by modern standards, found identity and pleasure in familiar sights and sounds. For those who lived in walled cities, the narrow streets zigzagged through the town and opened into the public square or a temple complex that would be filled with people going about their daily activities and with children at play. There was joy in the pain during the birth of a child, the shaping of a pot, the taste of a meal after a hard day of work, and in the celebrations associated with harvests and festivals. Their sensory experiences included strained muscles, nostrils choked with dust, the clamor of battle, and the sweet smell of incense. Because there are constant references to sensory aspects of their world, this volume is designed to point out, interpret, and provide or restore a fuller meaning to the text, including common metaphors and gestures that center on their sensory experience"--Amazon.com

Social World of the Hebrew Prophets is an introduction to the Hebrew Prophets and the social world of which they spoke. Matthews examines ancient Israel's prophets chronologically, providing sketches of their historical contexts. He explains pertinent aspects of historical geography, economic conditions, and social forces that influence a prophet's life and message. This analysis includes many of the images and metaphors a prophet used to communicate effectively. Thus, for example, the reader only skims the surface of a text without understanding what it meant to be a member of Tekoa's community of hill country farmers and herders, or what an exiled Levite from Anathoth experienced as a prophet in Jerusalem.

This substantially updated edition of a classroom standard provides students with an accessible introduction to the literature, history, and social context of the Old Testament. Written by two seasoned Old Testament professors, the book pays attention to methodology, archaeology, history, and literary genre and includes illustrations, sidebars, maps, and study questions.

In this new edition of a successful book (over 120,000 copies sold), now updated throughout, a leading expert on the social world of the Bible offers students a reliable guide to the manners and customs of the ancient world. From what people wore, ate, and built to how they exercised justice, mourned, and viewed family and legal customs, this illustrated introduction helps readers gain valuable cultural background on the biblical world. The attractive, full-color, user-friendly design will appeal to students, while numerous pedagogical features--including fifty photos, sidebars, callouts, maps, charts, a glossary of key terms, chapter outlines, and discussion questions--increase classroom utility. Previously published as Manners and Customs in the Bible.

Grounded in the latest archeological developments, Victor Matthews's A Brief History of Ancient Israel presents a concise history of Israel covering the ancestral period, conquest and settlement, the monarchy, and both the exilic and postexilic periods. Using supplemental figures and insets, the author concentrates on providing a cogent and...