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OverviewThe Invention of Hebrew is the first book to approach the Bible in light of recent epigraphic discoveries on the extreme antiquity of the alphabet and its use as a deliberate and meaningful choice. Hebrew was more than just a way of transmitting information; it was a vehicle of political symbolism and self-representation. Seth L. Sanders connects the Bible's distinctive linguistic form--writing down a local spoken language--to a cultural desire to speak directly to people, summoning them to join a new community that the text itself helped call into being. Addressing the people of Israel through a vernacular literature, Hebrew texts reimagined their audience as a public. By comparing Biblical documents with related ancient texts in Hebrew, Ugaritic, and Babylonian, this book shows Hebrew's distinctiveness as a self-conscious political language. Illuminating the enduring stakes of Biblical writing, Sanders demonstrates how Hebrew assumed and promoted a source of power previously unknown in written literature: ""the people"" as the protagonist of religion and politics. Full Product DetailsAuthor: Seth L. SandersPublisher: University of Illinois Press Imprint: University of Illinois Press Dimensions: Width: 15.20cm , Height: 2.30cm , Length: 22.90cm Weight: 0.513kg ISBN: 9780252032844ISBN 10: 0252032845 Pages: 280 Publication Date: 17 November 2009 Audience: Professional and scholarly , Professional & Vocational Format: Hardback Publisher's Status: Active Availability: In stock  We have confirmation that this item is in stock with the supplier. It will be ordered in for you and dispatched immediately. Table of ContentsList of Illustrations ix Preface xi Acknowlegments xv Abbreviations xvii Introduction 1 1. Modernity's Ghosts: The Bible as Political Communication 13 2. What Was the Alphabet For? 36 3. Empires and Alphabets in Late Bronze Age Canaan 76 4. The Invention of Hebrew in Iron Age Israel 103 Conclusion 157 Notes 173 Bibliography 225 Index 251ReviewsAn important monograph that synthesizes much previous work yet arrives at an original and provocative understanding of the influence of the development of the Hebrew script and its associated scribal culture on the formation of biblical literature. --H-Judaic Illuminating the enduring stakes of biblical writing, Sanders demonstrates how Hebrew assumed and promoted a sourse of power previously unknown in written literature: 'the people' as the protagonist of religion and politics. --Shofar His ability to scour the epigraphic record for evidence of social history and to set his findings in such a broad intellectual framework is a major contribution. --The Journal of Religion Illuminating the enduring stakes of biblical writing, Sanders demonstrates how Hebrew assumed and promoted a sourse of power previously unknown in written literature: 'the people' as the protagonist of religion and politics. --Shofar An important monograph that synthesizes much previous work yet arrives at an original and provocative understanding of the influence of the development of the Hebrew script and its associated scribal culture on the formation of biblical literature. --H-Judaic An absolutely innovative way of reading the use of ancient Hebrew for generating political identity and for understanding the Hebrew Bible itself. It is refreshing to see such profound insight and analyses come out of material that has otherwise not received substantial recognition of its cultural and political importance. Mark S. Smith, author of God in Translation: Deities in Cross-Cultural Discourse in the Biblical World ""An absolutely innovative way of reading the use of ancient Hebrew for generating political identity and for understanding the Hebrew Bible itself. It is refreshing to see such profound insight and analyses come out of material that has otherwise not received substantial recognition of its cultural and political importance."" Mark S. Smith, author of God in Translation: Deities in Cross-Cultural Discourse in the Biblical World ""S. Brings anthropology and epigraphy together in an original and stimulating way, seeking to discern the roots of biblical texts by exploring the contexts and development of writing in the Levant during the Bronze and Iron Ages...This wide-ranging, extensively annotated book deserves careful study and offers much of value to OT scholars."" A. R. Millard Journal for the Study of the Old Testament An absolutely innovative way of reading the use of ancient Hebrew for generating political identity and for understanding the Hebrew Bible itself. It is refreshing to see such profound insight and analyses come out of material that has otherwise not received substantial recognition of its cultural and political importance. Mark S. Smith, author of God in Translation: Deities in Cross-Cultural Discourse in the Biblical World S. Brings anthropology and epigraphy together in an original and stimulating way, seeking to discern the roots of biblical texts by exploring the contexts and development of writing in the Levant during the Bronze and Iron Ages...This wide-ranging, extensively annotated book deserves careful study and offers much of value to OT scholars. A. R. Millard Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Author InformationSeth L. Sanders is an assistant professor of religion at Trinity College and the editor of the Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions. Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |
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