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  3. Old Testament Theology

This series aims to remedy the deficiency of available published material on the theological concerns of the Old Testament books. Here, specialists explore the theological richness of a given book at greater length than is usually possible in the introductions to commentaries or as part of other Old Testament theologies. They are also able to investigate the theological themes and issues of their chosen books without being tied to a commentary format or to a thematic structure provided from elsewhere. When complete, the series will cover all the Old Testament writings and will thus provide an attractive and timely range of short texts around which courses can be developed.

  • General Editors: Brent A. Strawn, Candler School of Theology, Emory University, Patrick D. Miller, Princeton Theological Seminary

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9 results in Old Testament Theology

The Theology of the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah
  • Roger S. Nam
  • Published online:
    31 October 2024
    Print publication:
    21 November 2024
  • In the opening verses of the Book of Ezra-Nehemiah, King Cyrus exhorts the exiled Judeans to return to Jerusalem to restore worship in Jerusalem. It then narrates this restoration through the construction of the temple, the repair of the city walls, and the commitment to the written Torah. In this volume, Roger Nam offers a new and compelling argument regarding the theology of Ezra-Nehemiah:  that the Judeans' return migration, which extended over several generations, had a totalizing effect on the people. Repatriation was not a single event, but rather a multi-generational process that oscillated between assimilation and preservation of culture. Consequently, Ezra-Nehemiah presents a unique theological perspective. Nam explores the book's prominent theological themes, including trauma, power, identity, community, worship, divine presence, justice, hope, and others – all of which take on a nuanced expression in diaspora.  He also shows how and why Ezra-Nehemiah naturally found a rich reception among emerging early Christian and Jewish interpretive communities.

The Theology of the Book of Samuel
  • John Goldingay
  • Published online:
    08 May 2024
    Print publication:
    09 May 2024
  • The Old Testament book of Samuel is an intriguing narrative that offers an account of the origin of the monarchy in Israel. It also deals at length with the fascinating stories of Saul and David. In this volume, John Goldingay works through the book, exploring the main theological ideas as they emerge in the narratives about Samuel, Saul, and David, as well as in the stories of characters such as Hannah, Michal, Bathsheba, and Tamar. Goldingay brings out the key ideas about God and God's involvement in the lives of people, and their involvement with him through prayer and worship. He also delves into the mystery and complexity of human persons and their roles in events. Goldingay's study traces how God pursues his purpose for Israel and, ultimately, for the world in these narratives. It shows how this pursuit is interwoven with the realities of family, monarchy, war, love, ambition, loss, failure, and politics.

The Theology of the Books of Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah
  • Daniel C. Timmer
  • Published online:
    28 March 2024
    Print publication:
    04 April 2024
  • The books of Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah address problems in and around ancient Judah in ways that are as incisive and critical as they are optimistic and constructive. Daniel C. Timmer's The Theology of the Books of Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah situates these books in their social and political contexts, examining the unique theology of each as it engages thorny problems in Judah and beyond. In dialogue with recent scholarship, this study focuses on these books' analysis and evaluation of the world as it is, focusing on both human beings and their actions, and God's commitment to purify, restore, and perfect the world. Timmer also surveys these books' later theological use and cultural reception. His study brings their theology into dialogue with concerns as varied as ecology, nationalism, and widespread injustice. It highlights the enduring significance of divine justice and grace for solid hope and effective service in our world.

The Theology of the Book of Proverbs
  • Katharine J. Dell
  • Published online:
    10 January 2024
    Print publication:
    31 August 2023
  • In this volume, Katharine Dell offers a guide to the nature and character of the Book of Proverbs. She explores its key messages and major theological themes, notably God as creator and Wisdom as mediator, standing at the center of a profound theological relationship between God and humanity. Dell provides an overview of scholarly evaluations of these writings, which explore its literary forms, subdivisions, content, purpose, and social contexts. Summarizing important modern debates, she also examines the intertextual and canonical relationship of Proverbs to other biblical books, the afterlife of Proverbs in wisdom material from the Apocrypha, Qumran, and the New Testament, and the place of Proverbs in the history of interpretation. Her book will help readers to understand the nature and character of the book of Proverbs. It also enables them to assess its key messages and to see its wider context within the canon of scripture and its relevance within the history of interpretation.

The Theology of the Books of Haggai and Zechariah
  • Robert L. Foster
  • Published online:
    19 October 2020
    Print publication:
    29 October 2020
  • Tucked away at the end of the Minor Prophets, the Books of Haggai and Zechariah offer messages of challenge and hope to residents of the small district of Yehud in the Persian Empire in the generations after the return from Babylonian exile. In this volume, Robert Foster focuses on the distinct theological message of each book. The Book of Haggai uses Israel's foundational event - God's salvation of Israel from Egypt - to exhort the people to finish building the Second Temple. The Book of Zechariah argues that the hopes the people had in the prophet Zechariah's days did not come true because the people failed to keep God's long-standing demand for justice, though hope still lies in the future because of God's character. Each chapter in this book closes with a substantive reflection of the ethics of the major sections of the Books of Haggai and Zechariah and their implications for contemporary readers.

The Theology of the Book of Kings
  • Keith Bodner
  • Published online:
    04 January 2019
    Print publication:
    24 January 2019
  • 1 and 2 Kings unfolds an epic narrative that concludes the long story of Israel's experience with institutional monarchy, a sequence of events that begins with the accession of Solomon and the establishment of the Jerusalem temple, moves through the partition into north and south, and leads inexorably toward the nation's destruction and the passage to exile in Babylon. Keith Bodner's The Theology of the Book of Kings provides a reading of the narrative attentive to its literary sophistication and theological subtleties, as the cast of characters - from the royal courts to the rural fields - are variously challenged to resist the tempting pathway of political and spiritual accommodations and instead maintain allegiance to their covenant with God. In dialogue with a range of contemporary interpreters, this study is a preliminary exploration of some theological questions that arise from the Kings narrative, while inviting contemporary communities of faith into deeper engagement with this enduring account of divine reliability amidst human scheming and rapaciousness.

The Theology of the Book of Jeremiah
  • Walter Brueggemann
  • Published online:
    05 June 2012
    Print publication:
    13 November 2006
  • The present study focuses on the theology of the Book of Jeremiah. That theology revolves around themes familiar from Israel's covenantal faith, especially the sovereignty of YHWH expressed in judgment and promise. The outcome of this theological nexus of context, person, and tradition is a book that moves into the abyss and out of the abyss in unexpected ways. It does so, in part, by asserting that God continues to be generatively and disturbingly operative in the affairs of the world, up to and including our contemporary abysses (such as 9/11). The God attested in the Book of Jeremiah invites its readers into and through any and all such dislocations to new futures that combine divine agency and human inventiveness rooted in faithfulness.

The Theology of the Book of Genesis
  • R. W. L. Moberly
  • Published online:
    05 June 2012
    Print publication:
    29 May 2009
  • The book of Genesis contains foundational material for Jewish and Christian theology, both historic and contemporary, and is almost certainly the most appealed-to book in the Old Testament in contemporary culture. R. W. L. Moberly's The Theology of the Book of Genesis examines the actual use made of Genesis in current debates, not only in academic but also in popular contexts. Traditional issues such as creation and fall stand alongside more recent issues such as religious violence and Christian Zionism. Moberly's concern - elucidated through a combination of close readings and discussions of hermeneutical principle - is to uncover what constitutes good understanding and use of Genesis, through a consideration of its intrinsic meaning as an ancient text (in both Hebrew and Greek versions) in dialogue with its reception and appropriation both past and present. Moberly seeks to enable responsible theological awareness and use of the ancient text today, highlighting Genesis' enduring significance.

The Theology of the Book of Amos
  • John Barton
  • Published online:
    05 June 2012
    Print publication:
    30 April 2012
  • In modern times Amos has come to be considered one of the most important prophets, mainly for his uncompromising message about social justice. This book provides a detailed exploration of this theme and other important elements of the theology underlying the book of Amos. It also includes chapters on the text itself, providing a critical assessment of how the book came to be, the original message of Amos and his circle, which parts of the book may have been added by later scribes, and the finished form of the book. The author also considers the book's reception in ancient and modern times by interpreters as varied as rabbis, the Church Fathers, the Reformers and liberation theologians. Throughout, the focus is on how to read the book of Amos holistically to understand the organic development of the prophet's message through the many stages of the book's development and interpretation.