The Old Testament is a collection of writings which came into being over a period of more than a thousand years in the history of the people of Israel and which reflect the life of the people in this period. Therefore, there is a reciprocal relationship between the writings or "books" of the Old Testament and the life of Israel in its history. The understanding of the texts presupposes insights into the historical context and the development of the life of Israelite society, while at the same time the texts themselves are the most important, indeed for the most part the only, source for it.

This "Introduction" attempts to take account of this reciprocal relationship. The first part deals with the history of Israel. However, its approach differs from most accounts of this history. It takes the Old Testament texts themselves as a starting point and first of all outlines the picture of historical developments and associations which the texts present. An attempt is then made, on this basis, to reconstruct historical developments by introducing material from outside the Bible. This method of working leads to close connections between the second and third parts, because it has to take account of the nature and original purpose of the texts and their function within the biblical books as they are now. The second part attempts to present the texts collected in the Old Testament as expressions of the life of Israel. The third part discusses the books of the Old Testament in their present form.

About the Author

Rolf Rendtorff is Emeritus Professor of Old Testament at the University of Heidelberg, Germany.

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A Family run bookshop based in Co. Mayo, Ireland. Stocking a wide range of books on Co. Mayo and Irish History, as well as some general titles. Shipping will be sent the day after the order has been placed. All books listed are stocked in our shop on Castle St., Castlebar, Co. Mayo

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Welcome to mayobooks a website specialising in books written about the beautiful county of Mayo and books written by local authors from Co. Mayo. We currently have a large range of titles in stock and we are updating and broadening our catalogue on a regular basis.Mayobooks.ie is operated from the The Castle Book and Card Centre on Castle Street in Castlebar, Co. Mayo. The Castle Bookshop has been in Castlebar for the past 30 years, providing a platform for books about Mayo.

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