Susan Niditch

Exegeting Orality

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“Critical to faith are the ways in which human beings express the foundations of their belief, and even though not all readers of Nick Acker’s book may share his particular faith, we can applaud his appreciation for the oral traditional qualities of Scripture and the implications of those qualities for cultural communities and their identities. Acker is to be commended for his bibliographic thoroughness and for his thoughtful review of the history of relevant scholarship in context.”

Genesis

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“The erudition, creativity and literary sensitivity...recommend Westermann's Genesis is a lasting work for years to come.”

Gods, Goddesses, and the Women Who Serve Them

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“This volume gathers together several of Susan Ackerman’s seminal essays dealing with biblical and ancient Near Eastern materials as they relate to the study of women, gender, and sexuality. Each essay is introduced by the author’s current reflections on the issues raised and challenges suggested by her scholarship, as she explains her current thinking and the revisions she has included. This framing allows the reader insight into the development of Ackerman’s ideas over the years and is a testament to her deep creativity and valuable, ongoing cross-disciplinary contributions.”

Imagining God

Theology

“Accessible and profoundly complex, Humberto Casanova’s new study explores myth and meaning in the literatures of the Ancient Near East and Mediterranean world, relating recurring patterns of content and thought to contemporary media and messaging. With clarity, the work introduces and applies a wide range of theoretical approaches employed in studies of comparative religion and mythography. An important thread in this thought-provoking book deals with reception history and the ways in which people read and purposely misread biblical myth thereby shaping and reinforcing particular worldviews.”

Poetic Heroes

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“With sophisticated comparative analysis of classical ancient Near Eastern texts, Smith's Poetic Heroes probes questions critical to an appreciation of cultural identity and worldview. His work is an innovative and thoughtful contribution to the study of ancient epic traditions, and he grapples deftly with issues in gender and war, providing a basis for further work in religious ethics.”

The End of the Beginning

Biblical Studies & Commentaries

“The author’s own life experience, scholarly interests, and expertise inform this sensitive and beautifully articulated study of Joshua-Judges. The translations are felicitous and convey the cadences of the Biblical Hebrew. Erudite and accessible, this new commentary/translation not only explores the texts’ meanings and messages within their ancient sociohistorical contexts, but also examines the challenges that the corpus presents to contemporary readers. I particularly appreciate the author’s attention to a range of issues in biblical ethics, especially those pertaining to gender and political justice.”