Ancient Israelite Literature in its Cultural Context

by John H. Walton

This unique book surveys within the various literary genres the parallels between the Bible and the literature of the ancient Near East. Each section begins with a survey of the available ancient literature, continues with a discussion of the literature, and concludes with a discussion of cases of alleged borrowing. The genres covered are - cosmology - laws - historical literature - wisdom literature - apocalyptic literature - personal archives and epics - covenants and treaties - hymns, prayers, and incantations - prophetic literature

Genres: Biblical Studies, History, Cultural, School, Old Testament, Nonfiction, Theology

256 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1989

About the author

John H. Walton (PhD, Hebrew Union College) is professor of Old Testament at Wheaton College Graduate School. He is the author or coauthor of several books, including Chronological and Background Charts of the Old Testament; Ancient Israelite Literature in Its Cultural Context; Covenant: God’s Purpose, God’s Plan; The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament; and A Survey of the Old Testament.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. See:

John H. Walton, Agriculture
John H. Walton, ceramics.

Reviews

[Brandon Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an excellent resource for pastors, theologians, and apologists. It provides exactly what Mr. Walton chose to deliver. He compares other Ancient Near East texts with similar Biblical passages, comparing and contrasting them. He provides specific sourcing information and introduces each ANE text by topic. This is useful because some may claim, "Passage X from the Bible is clearly a copy of ANE text A." This is the book you want to verify those claims.

I would like to have seen a little context on the Biblical passages, although Mr. Walton clearly stated that was not part of this work. My reason for desiring its inclusion is because he will state something along the lines of, "Scholars believe someone authored this sometime around 1400 BC," but does not provide the dates scholars believe someone authored the related Bible passage (although I realize there is considerable debate over some dates).

[Adam McKinney · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a scholar, Walton's book is quite useful. For the average pastor, it is only situationally useful at best. Walton does a good job of outlining and examining the parallels between Biblical texts and other ANE texts. I would only recommend it to someone already interested in the subject or who needs to examine a particular parallel for apologetic, research, or other reasons.

[Andy Gore · Rating 5 out of 5]

An astonishingly good read setting Israel, her faith and her Scriptures into the ANE context. Such a helpful book to read and to help put the OT into context.

[Jacob]

R.b. Micheal Heiser via The Unseen Realm

[Jake Ruefer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Readable books that present this much raw data are hard to come by. This is extremely helpful for anyone trying to understand the relationship between the Bible and other literature in the ANE.

[Mike Jorgensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helpful, not altogether interesting for me, but a good resource for my shelf.