Revealing the Hebrew Bible

The Hebrew Bible has shaped the lives of millions of people over more than two millennia. It is scripture for Judaism and Christianity, and sacred text for Islam. Exploration of this powerful text should be just as exciting as its history and content. Revealing^® the Hebrew Bible employs a conversational style based on more than three decades of enthusiastic undergraduate classroom teaching. Assuming no prior knowledge of the Hebrew Bible, this introductory text blends an emphasis on both story and scholarship. Readers who know the stories of the Hebrew Bible well will enjoy their retelling, while attention to the compelling insights provided by historical scholarship will lend deeper meaning to and appreciation of the stories. Readers for whom the Hebrew Bible is at best a distant acquaintance can shake hands with the text in ways that are reader- and user-friendly.

Revealing^® the Hebrew Bible establishes a firm foundation for a conversation with the text by addressing the fundamental questions necessary for navigating the text and for historical understanding of its rich contents. For example:

• What distinguishes scripture from other texts?
• How did the different books come to be united under one cover?
• In what ways has the Hebrew Bible influenced Western civilization?
• How do scholars use tools like literary analysis, archaeology, and tradition analysis to recover the authors’ intended meanings?
• Out of what kind of world did the stories emerge?

The exploration progresses using the history of ancient Israel as its framework, emphasizing how the contents emerge from and speak to their ancient Near Eastern circumstances. Revealing^® the Hebrew Bible is designed so that professors may select the modules they wish to teach. However, several modules—such as those on ancient Near Eastern and Israelite prophecy–when taught together, provide especially deep insights into the material.

The text provides not only frequent references to the primary sources, but the primary sources themselves, and especially the Hebrew Bible. Links to the relevant passages encourage students to explore the materials. The translation of the Hebrew Bible provided is the New Revised Standard Version.

Often, introductions to the Hebrew Bible either overwhelm their readers with historical detail—neglecting the powerful contents of the various books—or treat the content as if it were written just yesterday, ignoring the valuable insights provided by historical analysis. Revealing^® the Hebrew Bible combines the best of both worlds.

About the Author: Barry Sang, Ph.D. (Catawba College)

Barry Sang is Professor of Religion and chair of the Religion and Philosophy Department at Catawba College where he has taught since the fall of 1985. Dr. Sang has earned the Swink Prize for Outstanding Classroom Teaching (awarded by the Faculty Senate), the Trustee Award for Outstanding Contribution to the College, and currently holds the Weaver Endowed Chair of Humanities. He holds a B.A. from Carroll College; a M.Div. from Colgate Rochester Theological Seminary; and a M.Phil. and Ph.D. in Biblical Studies from Drew University. Dr. Sang maintains ordinations in the American Baptist Churches, USA, and in the Presbyterian Church, USA. His fields of interest and publication are Old Testament prophecy, New Testament studies, and process theology.