How to Read the Bible

Scholar and teacher Marc Brettler argues that contemporary Bible readers can only understand the ancient Hebrew Scripture by knowing more about the culture that produced it. Brettler unpacks the literary conventions, ideological assumptions and historical conditions that inform the biblical text and demonstrates how modern critical scholarship and archaeological discoveries shed light on this fascinating and complex literature. Surveying representative biblical texts from different genres, Brettler illustrates a modern reading of these texts. The emphasis of How to Read the Jewish Bible is on showing contemporary Jews, as well as Christians, how they can relate to the Bible in a more meaningful way.