Allen Leslie C. - Old Testament Survey: The Message, Form, and Background of the Old Testament, 2nd Edition

1982, 1996 Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

2140 Oak Industrial Drive N.E., Grand Rapids, Michigan 49505 /

P.O. Box 163, Cambridge CB3 9PU U.K.

All rights reserved

First edition 1982

Second edition 1996

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

LaSor, William Sanford.

Old Testament survey: the message, form, and background of the Old Testament / William Sanford LaSor, David Allan Hubbard, Frederic Wm. Bush; with contributions by Leslie C. Allen... [et al.].Second ed.

p. cm.

Includes .

ISBN 0-8028-3788-3 (cloth: alk. paper); 978-1-467-42708-1 (ePub); 978-1-467-40984-1 (Kindle)

1. Bible. O.T.Introductions. I. Hubbard, David Allan. II. Bush, Frederic William. III. Allen, Leslie C. IV. Title.

BS1140.2.L25 1996

221.61dc20 96-14385

CIP

www.eerdmans.com

Contents

To take advantage of the most recent biblical scholarship and the carefully crafted inclusive language where human beings are the subject, we have used the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV), unless otherwise indicated. Special thanks go to the Word Processing team at Fuller Theological Seminary who prepared the disks and the hard copy for these chapters. Marilyn Marshall, who served as a member of David A. Hubbards staff at Fuller and continued to assist him in his emeritus years, deserves much credit for the coordination of the project. Special mention is due Katherine Jeffrey for her accurate and sensitive editing work. Allen Myers has carried the burden of the seemingly endless task on behalf of the group at Eerdmans who have seen our efforts through to a happy conclusion.

Unless otherwise stated, scripture quotations are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyrighted 1946, 1952 1971, 1973 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and used by permission.

Special thanks for help goes to our graduate assistants Eugene Carpenter, Ph.D., Edward M. Cook, Marianne Meye Thompson, and Marguerite Schuster, Ph.D. Inez T. Smith coordinated the typing and collating of the various drafts. Phyllis Jarvis of Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. retyped the entire edited manuscript, which was revised for style and checked for accuracy by Allen Myers.

The steady and widespread use of The Old Testament Survey since its publication in 1982 has encouraged us to make it even more serviceable in this revised form. Several aims have shaped our efforts in the updating of the volume. First, we have tried to make the text more congenial to the thousands of college and university students who use it annually. Simpler style, gender-sensitive language, shorter sentences, a more congenial look to the pages, additional charts, illustrations, and mapsthese and other devices have been employed to that end. Furthermore, we have transferred a number of chapters from the beginning to the end of the book to offer teachers the choice of plunging immediately into the biblical writings.

Second, we have sought to include in the text as well as in the endnotes and bibliographies material as current as possible, especially in those instances where new interpretative options have arisen or the scholarly consensus has changed. Third, we have added a new chapter on Archaeology and have included more data from recent archaeological research in the other chapters.

Our hope is that the revisions will enhance the use of the book for its intended readership: college and seminary students and their teachers, as well as pastors, Bible students, and interested laypersons. The cordial participation of a team of colleagues in the task means that the work has undergone a breadth and depth of scrutiny that will enhance both its clarity and its quality. We are honored by the appearance of their names on the title page.

The sudden death in 1991 of our senior colleague, Bill LaSor, meant that we were deprived of his keen eye and ready pen during much of the process. He did, however, leave mounds of materials behind him with perceptive suggestions and pointed queries that have reminded us of his commitment to the task and his competence through six decades of indefatigable labor in biblical and Semitic studies.

May 1996

DAVID ALLAN HUBBARD

FREDERIC WM. BUSH

***

On June 7, 1996, as this revision of Old Testament Survey was in its final stages, David Allan Hubbard died of a heart attack at his home in Santa Barbara, California. He was born to John and Helena Hubbard on April 8, 1928, in Stockton, California. He is survived by his wife of 46 years, Ruth; their daughter, Mary Given; son-in-law Dean Given; grandsons David and Jeffrey; brothers John and Robert, and a sister, Laura Smith, and their families.

David graduated from Westmont College, Santa Barbara, and completed his M.Div. and M.Th. degrees at Fuller Seminary in 1954, subsequently being ordained as a minister in the American Baptist Churches of the USA. He earned a Ph.D. degree in Old Testament studies at St. Andrews University in Scotland in 1957, whereupon he joined the faculty of Westmont College.

In 1963, at the age of 35, he was called to be the third president of Fuller Theological Seminary, at which post he served until his retirement in 1993. Under his leadership, Fuller grew to be the largest independent, fully accredited theological seminary in the world, and, largely due to his creative vision and administrative skill, came to include not only the School of Theology but a School of Psychology and a School of World Mission as well. In addition to his heavy administrative duties as president, David regularly carried a half-time load of teaching in the Old Testament department, always packing the classroom as a gifted and charismatic teacher. And the heritage of his parents, both of whom served as ministers, was not only realized in the warm and vibrant faith which marked him, but also in his service as the host and speaker of The Joyful Sound international radio broadcast from 1969 to 1980.

In addition to his administrative and teaching responsibilities, David continued an active scholarly and publishing career, producing 36 books, including four commentaries on the Old Testament. He was both the instigator and catalyst for the first edition of Old Testament Survey, with great skill enabling the three of us both to make progress toward its completion and to find consensus on its contents (no mean task!); and he carried the complete editorial responsibility for this revised edition. Without his skill and dedication neither edition would have seen the light of day. He was also serving as the editor of the Word Biblical Commentary series at the time of his death.

He served for two years as president of the Association for Theological Schools in the United States and Canada, and later in the month in which he died was to have received a lifetime achievement award from the Association. But his contributions were not limited to the theological world. He chaired the Pasadena Urban Coalition from 1968 to 1971, and, at the invitation of the governor of California, served as a member of the California State Board of Education from 1972 to 1975.

But David Hubbard was more than seminary president and scholar. He was an accomplished musician and an inveterate lover of baseball: at almost any time of the season he could give you the batting averages of not only the leaders of both leagues but most of the rest as well! He especially enjoyed taking his grandsons to the game. And at the memorial service held for him at Fuller Seminary on June 20, 1996, those who spoke testified time and again that it was not just the dignity and elegance that marked all that he did nor his many accomplishments which most endeared him to their memory, but the warm and unconditional loving friendship which he bestowed upon all of us in lavish measure. To me he was a mentor, colleague, and co-author but most of all a warm, accepting friend.