The 4th edition Victor Matthews’ book has just been published under the new title, The Cultural World of the Bible, by Baker Academic.
This revised and expanded new edition contains historical summaries at the beginning of each chapter and a discussion of aspects of everyday life. Rather than serving primarily as a reference work, its aim is to spark conversation and to bring the narratives and the biblical characters to life. The Bible deserves close study and students should have the opportunity to exercise their critical thinking skills to raise questions and to seek out a fuller understanding of how the ancient world differs from their own. While they cannot physically enter Jerusalem in the time of King David, they can explore what it is like to live in a world without automobiles, electricity, and smart phones. Even though they may not experience being taken into exile after seeing their homes destroyed, they can be made aware through reading what prophets like Jeremiah had to say about these devastating times and they can feel the pain of musicians who no longer can sing a song to Yahweh in the Temple (Psalm 137). And, when they read one of Jesus’ parables they can explore his use of agricultural metaphors and social situations, and gain a better sense of what he meant by the “kingdom of heaven.”
Dean of the College of Humanities and Public Affairs and Professor of Religious Studies at Missouri State University, Victor H. Matthews is a specialist in Hebrew Bible and the social world of the ancient Near East, and has published seventeen books and dozens of articles. He obtained his Ph.D. from Brandeis in 1977 in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies and has been on faculty at Missouri State University since 1984.