The Old Testament: An Introduction to the Hebrew Bible

Designed for students undertaking their first systematic study of the Hebrew Bible, this text has two goals: to acquaint readers with the content and major themes of the biblical documents, and to introduce them to issues in biblical scholarship. Pedagogically rich and reader-friendly, this text was designed for conventional introductory courses using historical-critical methodology, and will also be useful in courses studying the Bible as literature, or as a reference text in the study of ancient religion.

Stephen L. Harris is Professor Emeritus of Humanities and Religious Studies at California State University, Sacramento, where he served ten years as department chair. A Woodrow Wilson Fellow, he received his M.A. and Ph.D. from Cornell University. A member of the Society of Biblical Literature, his publications include Understanding the Bible (8th edition, 2011); The Old Testament: An Introduction to the Hebrew Bible (with Robert Platzner); Classical Mythology: Images and Insights (with Gloria Platzner); Exploring the Bible; and Fire Mountains of the West: The Cascade and Mono Lake Volcanoes, a survey of volcanic hazards on the U.S. Pacific Coast; and for National Geographic Books, Restless Earth, a study of global earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions. He contributed the chapter on “Archaeology and Volcanism” to the Encyclopedia of Volcanoes (Academic Press, 2000).