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A list of the suggested readings for the course Understanding the Old Testament from the Great Courses as listed in the course guidebook. A full list by lecture of the suggested reading can be found in a comment below.
Please note that a Bible has not been added to the list because there was no recommended version suggested in the guidebook, and relevant selections from the Bible were not included in the lecture readings lists.
NOTE: The books have been added in order of lectures. Please do not vote on this list and do not add additional books.
Please note that a Bible has not been added to the list because there was no recommended version suggested in the guidebook, and relevant selections from the Bible were not included in the lecture readings lists.
NOTE: The books have been added in order of lectures. Please do not vote on this list and do not add additional books.
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A book’s total score is based on multiple factors, including the number of people who have voted for it and how highly those voters ranked the book.
| 1 |
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Understanding the Old Testament
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4.12 avg rating — 343 ratings
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| 1 |
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Your Travel Guide to Ancient Israel
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3.86 avg rating — 14 ratings
score: 100,
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| 3 |
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Exploring the Genesis Creation & Fall Stories (Exploring Scripture Series)
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3.67 avg rating — 3 ratings
score: 99,
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1 person voted
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| 4 |
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The Priestly Vision of Genesis 1
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3.67 avg rating — 24 ratings
score: 98,
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| 5 |
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The Liberating Image: The Imago Dei in Genesis 1
by
J. Richard Middleton (Goodreads Author)
4.17 avg rating — 135 ratings
score: 97,
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1 person voted
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| 6 |
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Introduction to the Pentateuch
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3.29 avg rating — 24 ratings
score: 96,
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| 7 |
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Creation, Uncreation, Recreation: A Discursive Commentary on Genesis 1–11
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3.91 avg rating — 23 ratings
score: 95,
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| 8 |
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The Trial of Innocence: Adam, Eve, and the Yahwist
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liked it 3.00 avg rating — 1 rating
score: 94,
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| 9 |
|
Discovering Eve: Ancient Israelite Women in Context
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3.94 avg rating — 49 ratings
score: 93,
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1 person voted
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| 10 |
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Divine Commitment and Human Obligation: Selected Writings of David Noel Freedman : History and Religion
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4.25 avg rating — 4 ratings
score: 92,
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| 11 |
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The Historicity of the Patriarchal Narratives: The Quest For The Historical Abraham
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3.22 avg rating — 9 ratings
score: 91,
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| 12 |
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The Anchor Bible Dictionary, Vol. 3: H-J
by
David Noel Freedman (Editor)
4.70 avg rating — 10 ratings
score: 90,
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| 13 |
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"Too Much to Grasp": Exodus 3:13-15 and the Reality of God
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4.25 avg rating — 4 ratings
score: 89,
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| 14 |
|
"You Shall Not Kill" or "You Shall Not Murder"?": The Assault on a Biblical Text
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4.22 avg rating — 9 ratings
score: 88,
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| 15 |
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The Sabbath: Its Meaning for Modern Man
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4.37 avg rating — 7,406 ratings
score: 87,
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| 16 |
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Called to Freedom
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0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings
score: 86,
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| 17 |
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Contending for Justice: Ideologies and Theologies of Social Justice in the Old Testament (The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies, 642)
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3.75 avg rating — 4 ratings
score: 85,
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| 18 |
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Law from the Tigris to the Tiber: The Writings of Raymond Westbrook: 2 vol set
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4.50 avg rating — 2 ratings
score: 84,
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| 19 |
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Unfolding Deuteronomistic History
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3.86 avg rating — 7 ratings
score: 83,
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| 20 |
|
The Rise of Ancient Israel
by
Hershel Shanks (Editor)
4.24 avg rating — 108 ratings
score: 82,
and
1 person voted
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| 21 |
|
Chieftains Of The Highland Clans: A History Of Israel In The Twelfth And Eleventh Centuries B.C.
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2.89 avg rating — 9 ratings
score: 81,
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1 person voted
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| 22 |
|
The Book of Judges (New International Commentary on the Old Testament
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4.38 avg rating — 61 ratings
score: 80,
and
1 person voted
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| 23 |
|
David's Secret Demons: Messiah, Murderer, Traitor, King
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3.88 avg rating — 58 ratings
score: 79,
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1 person voted
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| 24 |
|
The Characters of Elijah and Elisha and the Deuteronomic Evaluation of Prophecy: Miracles and Manipulation (The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies, 671)
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it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating
score: 78,
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| 25 |
|
The Prophets
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4.40 avg rating — 1,323 ratings
score: 77,
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| 26 |
|
Helpmates, Harlots, and Heroes: Women's Stories in the Hebrew Bible
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3.88 avg rating — 107 ratings
score: 76,
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| 27 |
|
Character and Ideology in the Book of Esther
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4.30 avg rating — 20 ratings
score: 75,
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| 28 |
|
Amos
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4.22 avg rating — 9 ratings
score: 74,
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1 person voted
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| 29 |
|
Sedeq and Sedaqah in the Hebrew Bible
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it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating
score: 73,
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| 30 |
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Conversations with Scripture: 2 Isaiah
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3.89 avg rating — 9 ratings
score: 72,
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| 31 |
|
Messianism within the Scriptural Scroll of Isaiah
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liked it 3.00 avg rating — 1 rating
score: 71,
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| 32 |
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To Pluck Up, to Tear Down: A Commentary on the Book of Jeremiah 1-25
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4.11 avg rating — 9 ratings
score: 70,
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| 33 |
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To Build, to Plant: A Commentary on Jeremiah 26-52
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4.29 avg rating — 7 ratings
score: 69,
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| 34 |
|
The Jewish Gospels
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4.10 avg rating — 741 ratings
score: 68,
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| 35 |
|
The Encyclopedia of Apocalypticism: Volume 1: The Origins of Apocalypticism in Judaism and Christianity
by
Bernard McGinn (Editor)
3.90 avg rating — 10 ratings
score: 67,
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1 person voted
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| 36 |
|
The Psalms as Israel's Prayer and Our Own
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0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings
score: 66,
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| 37 |
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Analyzing the Psalms, 2nd Edition
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it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating
score: 65,
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| 38 |
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Spirituality of the Psalms
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4.13 avg rating — 379 ratings
score: 64,
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| 39 |
|
Tree of Life, 3rd ed.: An Exploration of Biblical Wisdom Literature
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3.62 avg rating — 101 ratings
score: 63,
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| 40 |
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The Proverb- and An Index to «The Proverb»: With an Introduction and Bibliography by Wolfgang Mieder
by
Hasseltine Byrd Taylor (Editor)
liked it 3.00 avg rating — 1 rating
score: 62,
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| 41 |
|
Job: A Case Study
by
Raymond Breakstone (Editor)
liked it 3.00 avg rating — 1 rating
score: 61,
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| 42 |
|
The Meaning of the Book of Job and Other Biblical Studies: Essays on the Literature and Religion of the Hebrew Bible
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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 3 ratings
score: 60,
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| 43 |
![Qoheleth [Ecclesiastes] (Co...](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1340742300i/1188187._SY75_.jpg)
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Qoheleth [Ecclesiastes] (Continental Commentary Series)
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4.50 avg rating — 2 ratings
score: 59,
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| 44 |
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Playing with Dragons: Living with Suffering and God
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4.31 avg rating — 16 ratings
score: 58,
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| 45 |
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God at War: The Bible & Spiritual Conflict
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4.23 avg rating — 449 ratings
score: 57,
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| 46 |
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The Dragon, the Mountain, and the Nations: An Old Testament Myth, Its Origins, and Its Afterlives
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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 5 ratings
score: 56,
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Tags:
abraham, abrahamic-religions, ancient-history, ancient-israel, bible, bible-analysis, bible-as-literature, bible-history, biblical-analysis, biblical-prophets, biblical-studies, book-of-job, canaan, christianity, creation, daniel, egypt, esther, exodus, genesis, israel, judaism, judges, kings, leviticus, moses, old-testament, pentateuch, philosophy, promised-land, prophets, proverbs, psalms, religion, ruth, samuel, secular-study-of-bible, ten-commandments, textual-analysis, torah
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(Note: Biblical readings were not provided in the Guidebook and therefore are not included here. There is no recommended Bible translation given.)
Lecture 1 The Old Testament as Literature
Perry, Exploring the Genesis Creation and Fall Stories
Smith, The Priestly Vision of Genesis 1
Lecture 2 The Genesis Creation Story
Middleton, The Liberating Image
Whybray, Introduction to the Pentateuch
Lecture 3 What God Intended for Adam and Eve
Blenkinsopp, Creation, Un-creation, and Re-creation
LaCocque, The Trial of Innocence
Lecture 4 When Things Go Wrong in the Garden of Eden
Meyers, Discovering Eve
Lecture 5 Abraham, the Father of Three Faiths
Freedman, “Divine Commitment and Human Obligation.”
Thompson, The Historicity of the Patriarchal Narratives
Lecture 6 Moses and the Exodus
Huddlestun, “Red Sea”
Saner, “Too Much to Grasp”
Lecture 7 The Ten Commandments
Bailey, “You Shall Not Kill” or “You Shall Not Murder”?
Heschel, The Sabbath
Meynet, Called to Freedom
Lecture 8 The Covenant Code in Exodus
Houston, Contending for Justice
Westbrook and Wells, Law from the Tigris to the Tiber
Lecture 9 Leviticus at a Crossroads
Zenger, “The Book of Leviticus—An Important Book in Jewish-Christian Dialogue.” 40th International Jewish-Christian Bible Week, 2008. https://www.haus-ohrbeck.de/fileadmin...
Lecture 10 Deuteronomy and Kings
Campbell and O’Brien, Unfolding the Deuteronomistic History
Shanks, Dever, Halpern, and McCarter, The Rise of Ancient Israel
Lecture 11 The Book of Judges
Miller, Chieftains of the Highland Clans
Webb, The Book of Judges
Lecture 12 The Books of Samuel
Halpern, David’s Secret Demons
Houston, Justice
Lecture 13 The Books of Kings
Heller, Characters of Elijah and Elisha and the Deuteronomic Evaluation of Prophecy
Heschel, The Prophets
Lecture 14 Biblical Short Stories: Ruth and Esther
Bellis, Helpmates, Harlots, and Heroes
Fox, Character and Ideology in the Book of Esther
Lecture 15 Amos, Prophet of Justice
Eidevall, Amos
Ho, Ṣedeq and Ṣedaqah in the Hebrew Bible
Lecture 16 The Prophet Isaiah in Three Movements
Cook, Conversations with Scripture: 2 Isaiah
Heskett, Messianism within the Scriptural Scroll of Isaiah
Lecture 17 Jeremiah, Persecuted Prophet
Brueggemann, To Pluck Up, to Tear Down
———, To Build, to Plant
Lecture 18 Daniel and Apocalyptic Literature
Boyarin, The Jewish Gospels
Collins, John J. “From Prophecy to Apocalypticism.” In The Encyclopedia of Apocalypticism. 1, 1., ed. John J. Collins.New York: Continuum, 2006
Lecture 19 How Scholars Study Psalms
Miller, The Psalms as Israel’s Prayer and Our Own
Wendland, Analyzing the Psalms
Lecture 20 The Music of the Psalms
Brueggemann, Spirituality of the Psalms
Lecture 21 Proverbs in the Bible: Wisdom Literature
Murphy, The Tree of Life
Taylor, The Proverb
Lecture 22 Job's Suffering and Understanding
Breakstone, MacLeish, Frost, and Singer, Job
Tsevat, The Meaning of the Book of Job and Other Biblical Studies
Lecture 23 Ecclesiastes and the "Vanity of Vanities"
Lohfink, Qoheleth
Lecture 24 Slaying the Dragons of the Old Testament
Angel, Playing with Dragons
Boyd, God at War
Miller, The Dragon, the Mountain, and the Nations