
Stories in Scripture and Inscriptions
Comparative Studies on Narratives in Northwest Semitic Inscriptions and the Hebrew Bible
Simon Parker(Author)
Oxford University Press Inc
Published on 27. November 1997
Book
Hardback
208 pages
978-0-19-511620-5 (ISBN)
Description
This book compares a variety of biblical narratives with the stories found in several Northwest Semitic inscriptions from the ancient kingdom of Judah and its contemporary Syro-Palestinian neighbors. In genre, language, and cultural context, these epigraphic stories are closer to biblical narratives than any other ancient Near Eastern narrative corpus. For the first time, Parker analyzes and appreciates these stories as narratives and sets them beside comparable biblical stories. He illuminates the narrative character and techniques of both epigraphic and biblical stories and in many cases reveals their original social context and purpose. In some cases, he is able to shed light on the question of the sources and composition of the larger work in which most of the biblical stories appear, the Deuteronomistic history. Against the claim that the genius of biblical prose narrative derives from the monotheism of the authors, he shows that the presence or absence of a divine role in each type of story is consistent throughout both biblical and epigraphic examples, and that, when present, the role of the deity is essentially the same both inside and outside the Bible, inside and outside Israel.
Reviews / Votes
"A practical application of orality-literacy interplay is found in Simon Parker's Stories in Scripture and Inscriptions. This work deftly examines several inscriptions that bear on orality and literacy--including a worker's petition, a civil engineer's inscription, and several royal monumental inscriptions dealing with military campaigns, appeals to divine intervention and descriptions of a miraculous deliverance."--Religious Studies Review "Parker's fine work goes a long way toward filling [a] void..."--Bibliotheca Sacra "An essential volume for all those with a serious interest in biblical narrative and historiography as well as the corpus of contemporary Northwest Semitic inscriptions."--Choice "Stories in Scripture and Inscriptions is a rewarding book, both for its insights into the storytelling techniques of ancient authors and for its suggestions of how we can use inscriptional materials in our study of the ancient Semitic world."--Bible Review "This is a useful and important discussion of types of literature as found in the Northwest Semitic world."--Denver JournalMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 17 mm
Weight
496 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-511620-5 (9780195116205)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Simon Parker
Stories in Scripture and Inscriptions
Comparative Studies on Narratives in Northwest Semitic Inscriptions and the Hebrew Bible
E-Book
11/1997
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€82.99
Available for download
Person
Author
Professor of Hebrew Bible and Harrell F. Beck Scholar of Hebrew ScriptureProfessor of Hebrew Bible and Harrell F. Beck Scholar of Hebrew Scripture, Boston University