Human, Divine, and Textual Relationships

This essay collection brings together thirteen essays on the Hebrew Bible, five of which are published here for the first time. Each essay in the volume addresses the larger theme of relationships, whether human, divine or textual. In the first part of the book, a number of different social relationships are examined through the lens of gender; in part two, divine relationships — that of Yhwh to other gods, and that of Yhwh to Israel — are investigated; and in the third part of the volume, three examples of the relationship of texts to their larger literary contexts are considered. Topics covered in these essays include monotheism, pollution ideologies, competing ideas of holiness, ritual acts, covenant, family structures, and friendship.

Saul M. Olyan is Professor of Judaic Studies and Religious Studies at Brown University. He was president of the New England and Eastern Canada region of the Society of Biblical Literature and is a member of the American Academy for Jewish Research.