The Bible and the Land (Ancient Context, Ancient Faith) [Paperback]

Gary M. Burge (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 21, 2009 | Series: Ancient Context, Ancient Faith

As the early church moved away from the original cultural setting of the Bible and found its home in the west, Christians lost touch with the ancient world of the Bible. Cultural habits, the particulars of landscape, even the biblical languages soon were unknown. And the cost was enormous: Christians began reading the Bible as foreigners and missing the original images and ideas that shaped a biblical worldview. This new book by New Testament scholar Gary Burge launches a multivolume series that explores how the culture of the biblical world is presupposed in story after story of the Bible. Using cultural anthropology, ancient literary sources, and a selective use of modern Middle Eastern culture, Burge reopens the ancient biblical story and urges us to look at them through new lenses. Here he explores primary motifs from the biblical landscape---geography, water, rock, bread, etc.---and applies them to vital stories from the Bible.

Editorial Reviews

Review

In this clear, yet densely packed book, Gary Burge offers fresh insight to all his readers. The Christian yearning to visit the Holy Land is ancient and widely spread. It is a "must read" for all travelers to the Holy Land and for all who would seek to better understand the person of Jesus in his setting. --Kenneth E. Bailey, Th. D., Research Professor of New Testament Studies at the Ecumenical Institute, Jerusalem (Emeritus), Canon Theologian of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh

This series is off to a rousing starting with Gary Burge's two volumes, Jesus the Middle Eastern Storyteller, and The Bible and the Land. Gary's understanding and grasp of cultural anthropology and the social context of the Bible is considerable and he applies his skills well in these two volumes. Watch the parables of Jesus and other texts come alive in the hands of someone who is himself a master storyteller. Highly Recommended. --Dr. Ben Witherington, III, Asbury Theological Seminary --Dr. Ben Witherinton, III, Asbury Theological Seminary

Review

The Ancient Context, Ancient Faith series is off to a rousing starting with Gary Burge's two volumes, Jesus the Middle Eastern Storyteller, and The Bible and the Land. Gary's understanding and grasp of cultural anthropology and the social context of the Bible is considerable and he applies his skills well in these two volumes. Watch the parables of Jesus and other texts come alive in the hands of someone who is himself a master storyteller. Highly Recommended.

Gary Burge recreates the Jewish world of Jesus in fascinating new ways. These short, beautifully illustrated books take readers on a journey into the ancient world that will revitalize their understanding of the Bible and enrich their faith. I eagerly await more volumes in this refreshingly well-written and carefully researched series.-- Ann Spangler, co-author Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus: How the Jewishness of Jesus Can Transform Your Faith

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan (July 21, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310280443
• ISBN-13: 978-0310280446
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 5.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #879,135 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

When Lebanon's tragic civil war broke out in the early 1970s, I was a student at the American University of Beirut studying politics and Islam. I never realized what an indelible mark this year would put on me as this dangerous national tragedy unfolded before our eyes. Since the university witnessed sporadic closures, I began studying at Beirut's Near East School of Theology (an Arab-Armenian seminary) and there for the first time was exposed to the technical study of the New Testament (under the guidance of Middle Eastern Christian scholars). It seemed that from here my life found its twin navigational markers: the New Testament and the world of the Middle East.

Following graduation from Fuller Seminary in 1978, I completed a Ph.D. in New Testament at King's College, Aberdeen University, Scotland, where I worked under Professor I. Howard Marshall. In 1987 my research was published as The Anointed Community, The Holy Spirit in the Johannine Tradition (Eerdmans) and this launched a long-standing interest in the literature of John which continues to this day in books and articles.

But in addition, I have also retained my passion for the Middle East and travel there regularly. Here too there has been evolution and specialization. Teaching the historical geography of Israel and working at dig sites has today become a specialized interest in first century Galilee. I have also had the good fortune of being befriended by many Palestinian Christian pastors and learning with dismay about the suffering of the Palestinian church in modern Israel.

In 1993 I wrote a study of this dilemma entitled, Who Are God's People in the Middle East? (Zondervan). I have also become active in an evangelical advocacy groups, Evangelicals for Middle East Understanding and Middle East Fellowship, which work to facilitate dialogue between Arab and western church leaders. In 2003 I wrote a second, more thorough volume on Israel/Palestine entitled, Whose Land? Whose Promise? What Christians Are Not Being Told About Israel and the Palestinians (Pilgrim Press). And in 2010 I will publish Jesus and the Land. How the New Testament Challenges Holy Land Theology (Baker Academic). This last book studies how the New Testament views the Holy Land and raises difficult questions for many who invest too heavily in prophesy and the modern Middle East.

As I teach New Testament at Wheaton, I want my students to grasp how knowing the unique world of the Middle East in antiquity shapes how we read the New Testament today. This is the purpose of the small illustrated books The Bible and the Land (2009), Jesus the Middle Eastern Story Teller (2009), and Encounters with Jesus (2010). These books retell well-known stories with an eye to ancient culture. (Scholars will recognize this as a popular treatment of contextual exegesis. For more details, go to: http://www.zondervan.com/Cultures/en-US/Authors/Author.htm?ContributorID=BurgeG&QueryStringSite=Zondervan.)

Jesus' cultural reflexes were different than ours and unless we understand him in his world, we risk misrepresenting his story. The setting of first century Palestine must be the lens through which we read the gospels. This has been the passion of my career since the 1970s and I want my students to inherit it.

Gary M. Burge, Ph.D.
Wheaton College & Graduate School

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wow. Good easy reading., April 2, 2011

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V. Fried "Bince" (Lima, OH) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Bible and the Land (Ancient Context, Ancient Faith) (Paperback)

I like Gary's style. Very easy to understand. This book is more than just about the land. It touches on the importance of water, the respect given to bread, and the honor of the use of names. It is not a heavy extensive textbook, but fits the layperson's needs.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, Biblical Backgrounds for the Average Joe!, October 23, 2009

By 

Jimmy Snowden "Bible Creed (www.biblecreed.com)" (Salisbury, NH USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bible and the Land (Ancient Context, Ancient Faith) (Paperback)

Today I will be reviewing "The Bible and the Land" by Gary Burge. This is the first volume in the "Ancient Context, Ancient Faith" series put out by Zondervan. If you have not read my introductory review of this series, you might want to do so. Here is the web address: [...]. Reading this introductory review will help you get an overall understanding of the purpose of the books in the series. As the title of the book suggests, "The Bible and the Land", this volume has everything to do with how a knowledge of the geography/landscape, climate, and political boundaries of the biblical lands is vital for an accurate understanding of the biblical text. Burge successfully proves that many texts are misunderstood because of incorrect assumptions that we have and/or qualities that we underemphasize regarding the geographical context in which the biblical narrative takes place.

I can personally attest to the large role that geography/landscape and climate (specifically) play in regard to a person's basic assumptions. I spent the first 24 years of my life in the Midwest (primarily Iowa), 1 year in the Southwest (Nevada), and the last 3 years of my life in the Northeast (New Hampshire). As far as terrain goes, I have experienced about everything that America has to offer: from the rich rolling fields of Iowa to the endless succession of rough-edged, naked crags separated by miles upon miles of barren desert in Nevada to a sea of endless trees in New Hampshire. Each of these three geographical locales also present their own unique climates. In Iowa I experienced hot and humid summers mixed with bitterly cold and windy winters, getting a good mixture of both sun and precipitation. Nevada really only has three seasons: spring, summer, and fall, and rain is both longed for and feared. New Hampshire, on the other hand, has short (yet beautiful) spring, summer, and fall seasons with unbearably long and cold winters.

The terrain and climate of each of these locales bring certain geographically-bound realities to the table. Because I grew up in Iowa, I still get nervous when I see a storm brewing on the horizon, sizing up the fastest possible route to the basement in the case of a tornado--this is a fear that no native New Hampshirite has. Because I lived in Nevada for a short season of my life, I tend to drive in the rain with as much caution as those in Iowa and New Hampshire drive in an ice storm. Still further, I have found that many of my 'childhood' sermon illustrations from Iowa only work with a hefty amount of explanation simply because the folks in the New Hampshire congregation do not hold the same assumptions about certain natural phenomenon as I do.

I remember the first time I saw a river in New Hampshire; unlike the disgustingly brown rivers in Iowa, this river was clear, rocky, and fast. I commented to my (at that time) future in-laws; "Look at how clear the water is!" They looked at me like I had a hole in my head. And why? Because they had never seen brown river water! I remember driving with my new bride, Kristal, from New Hampshire to the Midwest. When we got to the Mississippi River I said nonchalantly, "There's the Mississippi." She whipped her head out the window to look at the brown river (something that was familiar to me, having grown up only 20 minutes away from it) in the same way that I whipped my head out the window the first time we drove through the White Mountains of New Hampshire. This may sound other worldly to many of you, but, having grown up in the Midwest, I didn't see my first mountain until I was 15, and I was 17 before I saw the ocean for the first time in my life.

Consider just a few of the ways in which our geographical surroundings shape the way we think, the assumptions we have. Although there are laws preventing people from starting fires willy nilly in New Hampshire, no native to New Hampshire fears the devastating effects of forest fires as would a resident of Nevada. Both Iowa (because of a great dependency upon agriculture for its livelihood) and Nevada (because it is already bone-dry) feel the weight of drought in a way that New Hampshire never will. On the other hand, however, residents in neither Iowa nor Nevada will ever take 'frost heaves' into consideration when deciding which route to take home. Since I have been in New Hampshire I have never had to check my sheets or shoes for vinegarroons or scorpions; and conversely, while I was in Iowa I never felt the need to take a flash light with me outside at night out of fear that I might stumble upon an angry mama black bear.

I could go on and on, but you get the point. A person's natural surroundings have a large impact on how they see the world. Each of us live our lives in a unique corner of the earth's ecosystem, and each ecosystem brings with it different challenges, excitements, fears, and blessings. This is exactly what Burge seeks to establish in this book. His goal is to give the reader a sound understanding of the unique, built-in realities of the ancient land--realities which the biblical author's simply took for granted; realities which we must uncover if we are to understand with accuracy the true sense of much of what the author's of Scripture were trying to communicate.

First of all, contrary to both popular opinion and logic, the 'Promised Land,' which was described as 'a land flowing with milk and honey,' was not by and large the most precious piece of real-estate on the face of planet earth. Burge says,

"The Promised Land is not an easy land--it is not paradise, neither today nor in biblical times." (pg 25)

He then goes on to explain why God would choose such a rough land as the inheritance for His people:

"The land has a spiritual architecture that incorporates elements that we desire (good cities with ample rainfall and rich soil) and things we would prefer to avoid (wilderness). But this is life. And when God brought his people to this land, he built into it those elements that would provide a framework for his people to understand life with him." (pg 25)

The chapter titles in the book give a basic idea of where Burge wants to guide the reader. In each chapter Burge takes an element basic to life in the ancient biblical land, and then clearly demonstrates from different passages of Scripture how that fundamental element of life in the ancient land shaped their view of God, His character, His works, and His ways. Take a look at the different chapter titles and their corresponding Scripture references:

Chapter 2: Land

Chapter 3: Wilderness: Deuteronomy 6-8; Matthew 4

Chapter 4: Shepherds: Psalm 23; Ezekiel 34; John 10

Chapter 5: Rock: Deuteronomy 32; Joshua 4; Luke 6:46-49

Chapter 6: Water: Deuteronomy 11:10; John 4:1-30; 7:37-39

Chapter 7: Bread: Exodus 16:1-21; John 6:1-58

Chapter 8: Names: Exodus 3:13-15; Isaiah 43:1-7; Revelation 3:5

Although I would like to provide quote after quote to demonstrate for you the many insights that I gained through reading this book, I will limit myself to just one for the sake of brevity. I hope this one snippet will whet your appetite enough to buy the book.

In the chapter titled, 'Water,' Burge comments that we modern day Americans have difficulty understanding the great significance of water for life in general. When we want something to drink we generally just walk over to the faucet, spin a knob or lift a handle, and Whammo! water comes gushing out the faucet. We are so accustomed to water coming out of the faucet on demand that we get irritated if the water should somehow get shut off. This is not how things were in the holy land in the ancient world. In fact, Burge suggests that water "is the 'oil' of the Holy Land." (pg 75) He says,

"Those of us with water on tap have been disconnected from one of the most powerful reminders of our frailty and our need for God's provision and cleansing." (pg 85)

We often forget that water is essential for life, being essential for both hydration and sanitation. And even when we do remember this fact it bears no heavy weight upon us because it is so easily accessible to us. Drought was a common occurrence in the ancient world and the widespread and devastating effects of dehydration (which sometimes would include innumerable deaths) were all-too-close to home for the ancient Israelites.

When a family bows their heads at the kitchen table to return thanks for the meal they are about to eat, no one (at least that I have ever heard) thanks the Lord for providing full glasses of water to drink. And even if someone has thanked the Lord for providing glasses of water to drink, how many continue the thanksgiving, praising Him for providing water with which to clean the dishes and take showers? The only reason anyone (other than the local farmer) ever prays for rain is so that they might have an excuse to not go to the annual family reunion. In fact, rain has become more of an annoyance in our day and age than a resource of necessity.

The reality of the necessity of water was so real to those of the ancient world that it (water) came to be used as a symbol for greater, spiritual realities. Burge explains how the biblical authors used water as a symbol for spiritual cleansing (sin being represented by dirt and infection), the abundant life, and it ultimately came to be used as a symbol for the Holy Spirit (see John 7:37-39).

Behind the backdrop of the harsh realities of the ancient world, Jesus' offer regarding 'living water' to the dirty (sinful) Samaritan woman at the well is pregnant with meaning. Look at the text.

"Jesus answered, 'If you knew the gift of God, and who is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would ask Him, and He would give you living water.' 'Sir,'... Read more ›

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good, useful book, August 23, 2009

By 

Debbie (Harrison, AR United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Bible and the Land (Ancient Context, Ancient Faith) (Paperback)

"The Bible and the Land" is a useful, God-focused Bible reference book. It started off by describing the land of Israel and discussed why the author thought God brought them there instead of another land. He then discussed the Biblical motifs of the wilderness, shepherds, rocks, water, bread, and names. He described what they would have meant to the Jews at the time to help readers better understand what Jesus and the Bible writers were conveying to their audience.

I felt the Name section was missing some important information needed to fully understand "the name of" statements in the Bible. However, the Shepherds, Rock, Water, and Bread sections were excellent, insightful, and provided some enlightening information I hadn't heard before.

The author often talked about Jewish traditions, which gives the reader a good view of what the Jews believed in Jesus day. However, the author often didn't point out that the Jewish traditions he referred to usually put an emphasis in a different place than the Bible does. It's not a major concern, just a warning to read these sections with discernment.

[Note added Sept. 6, 2009: After reading his second book, <span style="font-style:italic;">Jesus, the Middle Eastern Storyteller</span>, I begin to wonder if the author is instead not deeply familiar with the Old Testament. In both of his books, he several times gives the wrong person credit for an action when referring back to the Old Testament.]

The book contained lovely color photographs that illustrated what the text was referring to. It was a quick read and easy to understand. Overall, I'd recommend this to those who want a better understanding of the context of the Bible and Jesus' teachings--both readers who don't have time to read longer books and those who can't get enough of this type of information.

Review by Debbie from ChristFocus Book Club