Dust or Dew: Immortality in the Ancient Near East and in Psalm 49
Here is some early marketing information for Dust or Dew:
Wipf and Stock will has it available on their website for $24.80 + shipping. You can also call their customer service on M - F at 541-344-1528. They are located in Eugene OR, so no tax. Go to http://www.wipfandstock.com/ and enter "dust or dew" into the search box. There are discounts for ordering 5 or more.
It will be available online around mid-April (amazon.com, etc.). Amazon retail will be $31 plus shipping. At that time, a Kindle version will be available for about $19.
It's an academic book, so it might be a hard read for some, but there are chapters that are readable for those who know something about the Old Testament. My approach is that God's revelation to us fully human types was gradual. He stepped into their ancient culture and spoke through a contemporaneous worldview. The step-by-step process of changing their worldview was often jarring. Blood was spilled, families were divided as people tried to cope with something that we all fear . . . change. The book tells in narrative form the history of the clan of Korahites that aided King David in his attempt to establish a new, relationship-based kind of worship in ancient Israel. It also takes a close look at the message of the Psalms, which point the way to a new definition of afterlife, bringing with it a new hope for the righteous.
Chapters:
1. Introduction
2. A Review of Literature on the Afterlife
3. Who Were the Korahites?
4. A Pilgrimage through the Korahite Psalter
5. Psalm 49, Translation and Commentary
6. The Grim Afterlife in the Ancient Near East
7. The Path of Death or Life in the Hebrew Bible
8. Conclusion
Bibliography and Indexes
Wipf and Stock will has it available on their website for $24.80 + shipping. You can also call their customer service on M - F at 541-344-1528. They are located in Eugene OR, so no tax. Go to http://www.wipfandstock.com/ and enter "dust or dew" into the search box. There are discounts for ordering 5 or more.
It will be available online around mid-April (amazon.com, etc.). Amazon retail will be $31 plus shipping. At that time, a Kindle version will be available for about $19.
It's an academic book, so it might be a hard read for some, but there are chapters that are readable for those who know something about the Old Testament. My approach is that God's revelation to us fully human types was gradual. He stepped into their ancient culture and spoke through a contemporaneous worldview. The step-by-step process of changing their worldview was often jarring. Blood was spilled, families were divided as people tried to cope with something that we all fear . . . change. The book tells in narrative form the history of the clan of Korahites that aided King David in his attempt to establish a new, relationship-based kind of worship in ancient Israel. It also takes a close look at the message of the Psalms, which point the way to a new definition of afterlife, bringing with it a new hope for the righteous.
Chapters:
1. Introduction
2. A Review of Literature on the Afterlife
3. Who Were the Korahites?
4. A Pilgrimage through the Korahite Psalter
5. Psalm 49, Translation and Commentary
6. The Grim Afterlife in the Ancient Near East
7. The Path of Death or Life in the Hebrew Bible
8. Conclusion
Bibliography and Indexes
Hello, great you doing that at your age. I am 66 and attempting a BTh at the moment. Doing early church history. How did the jews view the afterlife?
ReplyDeleteThanks! Well I dedicate a whole chapter to that, so it's hard to say in a few words. At first their view was culturally similar to the rest of the ANE. They were gathered to their fathers in sheol, but it wasn't clear what sheol was or where the fatheres actually were or if it was just the cemetery they were gathered to. Jews were not allowed to offer sacrifices with the dead or solicit the dead for any reason. They knew that the Canaanites and Mesopotamians had a very dreary view of afterlife which was full of monsters and dust. But over time, Israelite prophetic literature developed a hopeful understanding that the righteous would be taken from sheol. In intertestamental times, that belief became a fully developed theology of heaven, hell, and Judgment Day.
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