From epic to canon : history and literature in ancient Israel /

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:Cross, Frank Moore. author
Imprint:Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press, ©1998.
Description:xv, 262 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Language:English
Subject:
Format: Print Book
URL for this record:http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/3589867
Hidden Bibliographic Details
ISBN:0801859824
9780801859823
0801865336 (pbk.)
9780801865336 (pbk.)
Notes:Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
Summary:"In From Epic to Canon, Cross discusses specific issues that illuminate central questions about the Hebrew Bible and those who created and preserved it. He challenges the persistent attempt to read Protestant theological polemic against law into ancient Israel. Cross uncovers the continuities between the institutions of kinship and of covenant which he describes as "extended kinship." He examines the social structures of ancient Israel and reveals that beneath later social and cultural accretions, the concept of covenant - as opposed to codified law - was a vital part of Israel's earliest institutions. He then draws parallels between the expression of kinship and covenant among the Israelites and that among other ancient societies, as well as in primitive societies."--Jacket.