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The Bodies of God and the World of Ancient Israel Benjamin Sommer HARDCOVER vg+
US $75.00
ApproximatelyRM 315.90
Condition:
“2009 printing. Near Fine hardcover in a very good unclipped dust jacket, as pictured. No marks or ”... Read moreabout condition
Very Good
A book that has been read but is in excellent condition. No obvious damage to the cover, with the dust jacket included for hard covers. No missing or damaged pages, no creases or tears, and no underlining/highlighting of text or writing in the margins. May be very minimal identifying marks on the inside cover. Very minimal wear and tear.
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US $5.22 (approx RM 21.99) USPS Media MailTM.
Located in: Santa Monica, California, United States
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eBay item number:127288713884
Item specifics
- Condition
- Very Good
- Seller Notes
- MPN
- N/A
- Country/Region of Manufacture
- Australia
- ISBN
- 9780521518727
About this product
Product Identifiers
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
ISBN-10
0521518725
ISBN-13
9780521518727
eBay Product ID (ePID)
71666811
Product Key Features
Number of Pages
352 Pages
Publication Name
Bodies of God and the World of Ancient Israel
Language
English
Publication Year
2009
Subject
Theology, Theism, Biblical Studies / Old Testament, Judaism / Theology
Type
Textbook
Subject Area
Religion
Format
Hardcover
Dimensions
Item Height
1.1 in
Item Weight
21.5 Oz
Item Length
9.3 in
Item Width
6.3 in
Additional Product Features
Intended Audience
Scholarly & Professional
LCCN
2009-000957
Dewey Edition
22
Reviews
"This book is an important study of a fascinating topic: how the Hebrew Bible understands the body of God. As Benjamin Sommer shows, whether a deity has a body is a major concern not only of Biblical thought but of the cultures of its ancient Near Eastern neighbors, and of the Judaism and Christianity that succeeded it. The significance here embraces such topics as monotheism versus polytheism, sacred space, the concept and manufacture of divine images, and the priestly and Deuteronomic views of the divine name and glory. Sommer explores all of these in fresh ways, pointing out their profound interconnections and persuasively challenging in the process long-held scholarly views. He is particularly attentive to the variety of perspectives on God's body that the biblical authors present. As he demonstrates, these perspectives are often in conflict with one another, even in the same biblical tradition, and yet the conflicts are not so much confusing as revealing: showing how as a whole the Bible is able to forge a hermeneutic of paradox to deal with the paradoxical nature of God. Throughout his discussion, Sommer remains the consummate analyst, discerning and discriminating in his reading of the ancient sources and the modern scholarship on them. And yet his book is not only that of a discriminating analyst. In its lively, incisive, and conversational style, it is also a deeply personal encounter with fundamental and troubling issues about the relationship of divinity and humanity - issues that, as he makes clear, have not lost their relevance and their bite." - Peter Machinist, Hancock Professor of Hebrew and Other Oriental Languages, Harvard University, '... an important study of a fascinating topic: how the Hebrew Bible understands the body of God. ... Sommer explores ... in fresh ways, pointing out ... profound interconnections and persuasively challenging in the process long-held scholarly views. He is particularly attentive to the variety of perspectives on God's body that the biblical authors present. ... Throughout ... [he] remains the consummate analyst, discerning and discriminating in his reading of the ancient sources and the modern scholarship on them. And yet his book is not only that of a discriminating analyst. In its lively, incisive, and conversational style, it is also a deeply personal encounter with fundamental and troubling issues about the relationship of divinity and humanity - issues that, as he makes clear, have not lost their relevance and their bite.' Peter Machinist, Hancock Professor of Hebrew and Other Oriental Languages, Harvard University, 'Sommer's audacious and original analyses of fascinating aspects of biblical theology, the fluidity and the embodiment of God against their Near Eastern backgrounds, open new questions and facilitate new solutions as to the later developments of Jewish thought, especially the sources of Kabbalistic theosophy.' Moshe Idel, Department of Jewish Thought, Hebrew University, '… an important study of a fascinating topic: how the Hebrew Bible understands the body of God. … Sommer explores … in fresh ways, pointing out … profound interconnections and persuasively challenging in the process long-held scholarly views. He is particularly attentive to the variety of perspectives on God's body that the biblical authors present. … Throughout … [he] remains the consummate analyst, discerning and discriminating in his reading of the ancient sources and the modern scholarship on them. And yet his book is not only that of a discriminating analyst. In its lively, incisive, and conversational style, it is also a deeply personal encounter with fundamental and troubling issues about the relationship of divinity and humanity - issues that, as he makes clear, have not lost their relevance and their bite.' Peter Machinist, Hancock Professor of Hebrew and Other Oriental Languages, Harvard University, I found [Sommer's] perspectives quite revealing in terms of Pauline Christology as well as for notions of 'Incarnationalism' in Judaism. I would very much recommend taking a look at his material. It contributes significantly in my view to the rethinking of the early Christian-Jewish relationship that has taken such interesting and significant turns in the last decade.' - The Rev. John T. Pawlikowski, Catholic Theological Union in Chicago; President, International Council of Christians and Jews|9780521518727|, "The book is a stunning foray into ancient Israelite religious traditions that produces new insights and raises critically important questions. ... it will be hard to read biblical texts in the same way after having encountered Sommer's analysis. His identification of the fluidity traditions--and even the term he has coined to describe them--will likely influence much future scholarship on Israelite religion and the Hebrew Bible for years, if not decades, to come." --H-Judiac, (May 2011), "Sommer's audacious and original analyses of fascinating aspects of biblical theology, the fluidity and the embodiment of God against their Near Eastern backgrounds, open new questions and facilitate new solutions as to the later developments of Jewish thought, especially the sources of Kabbalistic theosophy." - Moshe Idel, Department of Jewish Thought, Hebrew University, 'This book is an important study of a fascinating topic: how the Hebrew Bible understands the body of God. As Benjamin Sommer shows, whether a deity has a body is a major concern not only of Biblical thought but of the cultures of its ancient Near Eastern neighbours, and of the Judaism and Christianity that succeeded it. The significance here embraces such topics as monotheism versus polytheism, sacred space, the concept and manufacture of divine images, and the priestly and Deuteronomic views of the divine name and glory. Sommer explores all of these in fresh ways, pointing out their profound interconnections and persuasively challenging in the process long-held scholarly views. He is particularly attentive to the variety of perspectives on God's body that the biblical authors present. As he demonstrates, these perspectives are often in conflict with one another, even in the same biblical tradition, and yet the conflicts are not so much confusing as revealing: showing how as a whole the Bible is able to forge a hermeneutic of paradox to deal with the paradoxical nature of God. Throughout his discussion, Sommer remains the consummate analyst, discerning and discriminating in his reading of the ancient sources and the modern scholarship on them. And yet his book is not only that of a discriminating analyst. In its lively, incisive, and conversational style, it is also a deeply personal encounter with fundamental and troubling issues about the relationship of divinity and humanity - issues that, as he makes clear, have not lost their relevance and their bite.' Peter Machinist, Hancock Professor of Hebrew and Other Oriental Languages, Harvard University, 'Sommer uncovers a lost ancient Near Eastern perception of divinity according to which an essential difference between gods and humans was that gods had more than one body and fluid, unbounded selves.' International Review of Biblical Studies, Reviews of the hardback: 'An innovative and illuminating exploration of the idea that God in the Hebrew Bible is embodied. Benjamin Sommer explores the various modes of embodiment found in different sources and shows that both rabbinic and mystical Judaism, as well as Christianity, have roots in the variety of presentations in the Hebrew Bible. A characteristically lucid and original book.' John Barton, Oriel College, University of Oxford, 'This very original work raises profound questions about how to understand the way in which the Biblical God (and the gods of the ancient Near East) makes his person manifest in the world. Readers will be stimulated to think about the identity of God in strikingly new ways.' Gary Anderson, University of Notre Dame, "This very original work raises profound questions about how to understand the way in which the Biblical God (and the gods of the ancient Near East) makes his person manifest in the world. Readers will be stimulated to think about the identity of God in strikingly new ways." - Gary Anderson, University of Notre Dame, "An innovative and illuminating exploration of the idea that God in the Hebrew Bible is embodied. Benjamin Sommer explores the various modes of embodiment found in different sources and shows that both rabbinic and mystical Judaism, as well as Christianity, have roots in the variety of presentations in the Hebrew Bible. A characteristically lucid and original book." - John Barton, Oriel College, University of Oxford, "Sommer explores such topics as monotheism versus polytheism, sacred space, the concept and manufacture of divine images, and the priestly and Deuteronomic views of the divine name and glory in fresh ways, pointing out their profound interconnections and persuasively challenging in the process long-held scholarly views. Throughout his discussion, he remains the consummate analyst, discerning and discriminating in his reading of the ancient sources and the modern scholarship on them. And yet his book is not only that of an analyst. In its lively, incisive, and conversational style, it is also a deeply personal encounter with fundamental and troubling issues about the relationship of divinity and humanity - issues, as he makes clear, that have not lost their relevance and their bite." - Peter Machinist, Hancock Professor of Hebrew and Other Oriental Languages, Harvard University, "This book is a lucid, elegant and erudite presentation of a series of complex topics. Sommer has made an important contribution to the field of biblical theology. It is my sense that this will be a much-discussed book for many years to come." --Mennonite School of Theology, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil
TitleLeading
The
Illustrated
Yes
Dewey Decimal
296.3/11
Table Of Content
1. Introduction: God's body and the Bible's interpreters; 2. Fluidity of divine embodiment and selfhood: Mesopotamia and Canaan; 3. The fluidity model in ancient Israel; 4. The rejection of the fluidity model in ancient Israel; 5. God's bodies and sacred space (1): tent, ark, and temple; 6. God's bodies and sacred space (2): difficult beginnings; 7. The perception of divinity in Biblical tradition: implications and afterlife.
Synopsis
In The Bodies of God and the World of Ancient Israel, Benjamin D. Sommer investigates the notion of a deity's body and self in ancient Israel, Canaan, and Mesopotamia. He uncovers a lost ancient Near Eastern perception of divinity according to which an essential difference between gods and humans was that gods had more than one body and fluid, unbounded selves. Though the dominant strains of biblical religion rejected it, a monotheistic version of this theological intuition is found in some biblical texts. Later Jewish and Christian thinkers inherited this ancient way of thinking; ideas such as the sefirot in kabbalah and the trinity in Christianity represent a late version of this theology. This book forces us to rethink the distinction between monotheism and polytheism, as this notion of divine fluidity is found in both polytheistic cultures (Babylonia, Assyria, Canaan) and monotheistic ones (biblical religion, Jewish mysticism, Christianity), whereas it is absent in some polytheistic cultures (classical Greece). The Bodies of God and the World of Ancient Israel has important repercussions not only for biblical scholarship and comparative religion but for Jewish-Christian dialogue., Sommer utilizes a lost ancient Near Eastern perception of divinity according to which a god has more than one body and fluid, unbounded selves. Though the dominant strains of biblical religion rejected it, a monotheistic version of this theological intuition is found in some biblical texts. Later Jewish and Christian thinkers inherited this ancient way of thinking; ideas such as the sefirot in Kabbalah and the trinity in Christianity represent a late version of this theology. This book forces us to rethink the distinction between monotheism and polytheism, as this notion of divine fluidity is found in both polytheistic cultures (Babylonia, Assyria, Canaan) and monotheistic ones (biblical religion, Jewish mysticism, Christianity), whereas it is absent in some polytheistic cultures (classical Greece). The Bodies of God and the World of Ancient Israel has important repercussions not only for biblical scholarship and comparative religion but for Jewish-Christian dialogue., The Bodies of God and the World of Ancient Israel uncovers a lost ancient Near Eastern perception of divinity, according to which a god has more than one body and fluid, unbounded selves. Sommer's book has important repercussions not only for biblical scholarship and comparative religion but for Jewish-Christian dialogue.
LC Classification Number
BM610.S577 2009
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Seller feedback (423)
- a***k (997)- Feedback left by buyer.Past monthVerified purchaseGreat seller
- j***2 (371)- Feedback left by buyer.Past monthVerified purchaseThx
- e***r- Feedback left by buyer.Past monthVerified purchaseGreat transaction - two thumbs up!