This study considers the historical, cultural, and literary significance of some of the most important Ancient Near East (ANE) texts that illuminate the Hebrew Bible. Christopher B. Hays provides primary texts from the Ancient Near East with a comparison to literature of the Hebrew Bible to demonstrate how Israel's Scriptures not only draw from these ancient contexts but also reshape them in a unique way.
Hays offers a brief introduction to comparative studies, then lays out examples from various literary genres that shed light on particular biblical texts. Texts about ANE law collections, treaties, theological histories, prophecies, ritual texts, oracles, prayers, hymns, laments, edicts, and instructions are compared to corresponding literature in the Pentateuch, Prophets, and Writings of the Hebrew Bible. The book includes summaries and reflection questions to help instructors and students identify key points for comparison. By considering the literary and historical context of other literature, students will come away with a better understanding of the historical, literary, and theological depth of the Hebrew Bible.
Click here to read a sample chapter, in which Hays compares Genesis 1-2 with creation accounts from Babylon and Egypt.
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Christopher B. Hays is D. Wilson Moore Professor of Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern Studies at Fuller Theological Seminary. He is the author of Hidden Riches: A Sourcebook for the Comparative Study of the Hebrew Bible and the Ancient Near East; The Origins of Isaiah 24-27: Josiah's Festival Scroll for the Fall of Assyria; and Death in the Iron Age II and in First Isaiah, which won the Manfred Lautenschlaeger Award for Theological Promise in 2013. Hays has written the Isaiah commentary in the New Oxford Bible Commentary and translated the book of Isaiah for the Common English Bible. Hays is ordained in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).