The publisher apologizes for any errors or omissions in the above list and would be grateful if notified of any corrections that should be incorporated in future reprints or editions of this book.
Abbreviations
| ANET | James Pritchard (ed.), Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament with Supplement. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1969. |
| George | Andrew George, The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic: Introduction, Critical Edition and Cuneiform Texts. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. |
| Livingstone | Alasdair Livingstone (ed.), Court Poetry and Literary Miscellanea. State Archives of Assyria, 3. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press, 1989. |
| NJPS | The New Jewish Publication Society Tanakh Translation. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1985. |
| NRSV | The New Revised Standard Version of the Bible. New York: National Council of Churches, 1989. |
| NT | New Testament |
| OT | Old Testament |
| OT Parallels | Victor Matthews and Don Benjamin, Old Testament Parallels: Laws and Stories from the Ancient Near East (3rd revised and expanded edition). Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2007. |
For Bible abbreviations, see the box on “Bible Abbreviations, Chapters, and Verses,” in the Prologue, p. 11.
Asterisks after Bible citations, e.g. “Genesis 12–50*,” indicate that only parts of the cited texts are included.
// indicate that the texts before and after the slashes are parallel to each other.
Overview of the Historical Period
This shows major periods and corresponding texts covered in this book.
| DATES | 1250–1000 BCE (13th–11th centuries) | 1000–930 (10th century) | 930–800 (10th–9th centuries) | 800–700 (8th century) | 700–586 (7th and early 6th centuries) | 586–538 (6th century) | 538–332 (6th–4th centuries) | 332–63 (4th–1st centuries) |
| Chapter | 2 | 3 and 4 | 5 | 5 and 6 | 7 and 8 | 9 and 10 | 11 and 12 | 12 and 13 |
| MAJOR EVENTS (IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER) | Spread of villages in hill country Tribal “Israel” emerge Saul’s chieftainship | Formation of Davidic monarchy Jerusalem taken as capital of Judah/Israel David and Solomon | Formation of northern kingdom of “Israel” Rise and fall of Omride dynasty | Domination and destruction of northern “Israel” by Assyria Domination of Judah by Assyria | Eventual decline of Assyrian power Enactment of Josiah’s “reform” Decline of Judah into domination by Babylon First wave of exile | Destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple Second and third waves of exile of elites to Babylon | Persian victory, waves of return, rebuilding of Temple Nehemiah’s rebuilding of the wall Divorce of foreign wives under Ezra and elevation of Torah | Hellenistic rule Hellenizing crisis Hasmonean kingdom |
| MAJOR WRITINGS (AND ORAL TRADITIONS) | (No writings, but oral traditions about exodus, Trickster ancestors) | (start of writing) Royal and Zion psalms (some) Proverbs ?Non‐P primeval history | Jacob narrative Joseph narrative Exodus – wilderness story Song of Deborah | Prophecy to the north by Amos and Hosea Prophecy to the south by Micah and Isaiah | Formation of Deuteronomy and following historical books Nahum Zephaniah Early prophecies from Jeremiah | Exilic additions to biblical books Lamentations Ezekieland Second Isaiah Non‐P (L) narrative of early Israel P counter‐narrative of early Israel | Haggai Zechariah Nehemiah memoir Narratives of Temple rebuilding and of Ezra Third Isaiah Combined P and non‐P (L) Pentateuch Psalter | Early parts of Enoch Ben Sira Ezra‐Nehemiah Esther 1–2 Chronicles Daniel 1–2 Maccabees, Judith |
| MAJOR NEW IDEAS AND THEMES | Election theology | Royal/Zion theology | Exclusive devotion to Yahweh enforced (briefly) by Josiah | Monotheism | Dual Temple–Torah focus | Judaism |
Timeline
| Important texts are noted in boldface. | ||
| BCE | SOUTH (Judah) | NORTH (“Israel” in narrower sense) |
| 1300 | (Waning Egyptian domination of Canaan) | Spread of villages in Israelite hill county |
| Merneptah Stela mention of “Israel” | ||
| 1200 | Battles of hill‐country Israelites with neighbors | |
| Oral exodus traditions | ||
| Oral ancestral traditions | ||
| 1100 |
Oral victory traditions
| |