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This collection of essays written by biblical scholars from around the world attempts to probe the relationship between the Bible and the world. It reflects modern social, political and hermeneutical issues, including liberation concerns. These themes echo John Rogerson's commitment to relate his research and the Bible to contemporary issues - a commitment visible both in his publications and in his religious and political activities. This book is an expression of appreciation of John Rogerson by former and current colleagues, former students, and other biblical scholars.

In the last two decades, there has been a resurgence of interest in the value of the Old Testament for modern ethical questions. John Rogerson is a scholar who has dedicated much of is academic life to probing the possibility of the abiding significance of the Old Testament for moral issues today. This volume brings together for the first time many of his contributions--both published and unpublished -- to Old Testament social ethics. This volume can serve both as a general reference work as well as a textbook for classes in Old Testament ethics at seminaries and theological colleges.

John Rogerson traces the interpretation of Genesis 1-11 through to its present engagement with contemporary issues, before going on to examine the hermeneutical debate currently centred on the text, and to discuss it from the more familiar perspective of the historical-critical method, with particular attention to translation, source-critical and inter-literary questions.

Here, Rogerson addresses 'the human condition in today's world', asking what interpreters are doing today when they invoke the biblical texts.

Rogerson's Genesis 1-11 falls into two main parts. The first outlines recent approaches to Genesis 1-11 by mainstream scholars who have been addressing environmental, liberation, feminist and literary issues. The second main section addresses itself to the text from the point of view of standard literary questions such as source division, literary criticism, myth and ancient Near Eastern parallels. The Guide thus aims to combine larger, hermeneutical questions with a detailed study of the context of Genesis 1-11.

The highly popular Sheffield Old Testament Guides are being reissued in a new format, grouped together and prefaced by one of the best known of contemporary biblical scholars. This new format is designed to ensure that these authoritative introductions remain up to date and accessible to seminary and university students of the Old Testament while offering a broader theological and literary context for their study. John Goldingay introduces Genesis and Exodus as a whole, illuminating their distinctive literary and theological features and their importance for modern theological reflection.