Hayes John H.

A challenging selection of essays from a prominent Old Testament scholar on the interpretation of biblical texts in their historical context. For more than five decades, John Hayes's scholarship has had a decisive influence on scholars and students in the field of Hebrew Bible study. This collection of ten essays, written between 1968 and 1995, displays his remarkable and thought-provoking elucidation of Israelite history, prophecy, and law. These essays make significant contributions that challenge the mainstream scholarship establishment with their daring interpretations and explanations, along with their bold, innovative theories. The way in which Hayes approaches the study of seminal figures, biblical texts, and historical reconstructions, combined with his analysis of specific methods, will have lasting implications for contemporary scholarship. He argues that biblical texts must be understood as being embedded within the particular historical, social, cultural, and political matrices from which they emerged. Whether exploring the social formation of early Israel, the final years of Samaria, or the social concept of covenant, he demonstrates a textually focussed and exegetically based approach. Hayes's essays provide valuable insights that help contextualise developments within mid- to late-twentieth-century interpretation, thereby granting scholars glimpses of key moments in the evolution of particular methods, trends, and models that have given shape to current research approaches. Familiarity with Hayes's writings thus allows contemporary interpreters to envisage new avenues and perspectives in critical discussion of the Hebrew Bible.

n this book, first issued in 1977, distinguished Old Testament scholars join forces to survey the history of the Old Testament period from earliest times to the Roman era. The present edition is a testimony to the book's enduring value and appeal. In addition to the editors, contributors include W. Malcolm Clark, William G. Dever, Herbert Donner, A. R. C. Leaney, A. D. H. Mayes, Jacob Neusner, Bustenay Oded, Peter Schafer, J. Alberto Soggin, Thomas L. Thompson, Dorothy Irvin and Geo Widengren. This volume will obviously become a necessary tool for students and teachers of the Old Testament, and provide both alike with a substantial amount of reliable information' (Society for Old Testament Study Book 'It is well detailed, well furnished with bibliographies, and likely to remain a basic work of reference fora long time to come... It provides a kind of indispensable back-up work to set beside the currently standard histories of Israel' (Epworth Review). Those who are interested in problems of Israelite history will find that it brings them up-to-date with the latest thinking; and students in particular will find invaluable its clear and cogent descriptions of those problems and the solutions to them which are currently being canvassed and debated' (Church Times). John H. Hayes and J. Maxwell Miller are both Professor of Old Testament at Candler School of Theology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.