Customer Reviews

Ancient Texts for the Study of the Hebrew Bible: A Guide to the Background Literature

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This work will guide you into the massive amount of ancient textual material that is relevant to understanding the ancient world of the Hebrew Bible and the resources that are available with respect to such literature. In addition to extensive bibliographic information regarding the resources available in multiple languages, Sparks provides relatively brief descriptions of various resources and categories of resources, which is very helpful as an introduction.

In addition to summarizing the ancient literature, he sometimes comments on the particular significance of such literature for the study of the Hebrew Bible (eg, love poetry). He seems to have a predisposition to conclude that the Hebrew Bible is specifically modeled on other similar literature, sometimes based simply upon such similarity (eg, king lists and geneologies) but the bottom line is that this is a valuable reference guide whether one agrees with Sparks' suggestions or not. In the preface, he says there will be a forthcoming companion volume in which he will focus on examining the Hebrew Bible in light of the literary context referenced in this book.

This is an excellent survey of Ancient Near Eastern religions as they relate to the Hebrew Bible. Very well-written, and nicely organized with an incredibly detailed Bibliography right after each section of text (instead of at the end of the book). Highly recommended for serious students who are looking for a comparative survey of ANE religions without a religious bias.