David Penchansky

Solomon and the Ant, using the Bible as a dialogue partner, examines stories from the Qur'an, their drama, characters, and meaning. Although some qur'anic stories have close biblical parallels, here Penchansky examines stories without biblical precursors. Qur'anic narratives in dialogue with biblical texts enhance understanding. Penchansky chooses biblical stories that address similar questions about the nature of God and God's interaction with people. Solomon matches wits with an ant, a bird, and the queen of Sheba. Magical creatures, the jinn, are driven out of heaven by fiery meteors. Moses, on a quest, meets a mysterious stranger. The Bible offers parallels and connections. Genesis, Exodus, Isaiah, Matthew, and other biblical books, contrast with the qur'anic text, comment on the qur'anic story, and supplement it. - Separated by space and time, the Bible and the Qur'an faced similar issues. - Both the Bible and the Qur'an adapted material from their surrounding culture while at the same time distinguishing themselves from that culture. - Rather than addressing this cultural confrontation with rigid certainty, the Bible and the Qur'an are ambiguous and multivocal. - The Bible and the Qur'an are layered, containing stories within stories, fragments, and structural abnormalities. These features contribute to meaning. Penchansky's analysis of these stories makes the Qur'an accessible and compelling to nonspecialists and students.

Israelite wisdom, literature, David Penchansky argues, records the disputes of ancient sages over basic human questions: What is the purpose of life? Is God just? Why do we suffer? Does God even exist? Penchansky sees confl icting answers to these questions in Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes, Ben Sira, and the Wisdom of Solomon -- and does not try to harmonize them. Instead, he fi nds meaning in the very dissonance and contradiction within these texts. Employing the latest scholarship yet remaining accessible to nonspecialists and students, Penchansky strikingly focuses on the -big picture- behind wisdom literature -- making it easy for readers to follow and appreciate these challenging texts -- without undermining each book's distinctive features. In the process, Penchansky opens up this rich and fertile vein of Israelite thought and demonstrates the renewed relevance of ancient Hebrew wisdom for today.

Since the middle of the twentieth century, one of biblical scholarship's chief assumptions has been that ancient Israel evolved out of the polytheism of surrounding cultures into an ethical monotheism. However, this consensus has fallen apart in recent years. Scholars now know that early Israel was surrounded by a very polytheistic culture and that many Israelites thought of Yahweh as the chief God among many gods. Furthermore, archaeology has shown that Yahweh was worshiped along with other gods throughout the period after the exile, when many shrines were in honor of "Yahweh and his Asherah." David Penchansky's Twilight of the Gods is the first accessible book that shows a historical Israel where polytheism and monotheism existed simultaneously in great conflict. He provides a historical introduction, followed by close readings of key Old Testament passages, where he demonstrates how to interpret difficult biblical texts that depict other gods or claim Yahweh is the only God within this new understanding of Israelite religion.

David Penchansky's What Rough Beast? is a study of six Old Testament stories. While many biblical theologies empasize reassuring images of God, Penchansky confronts those biblical passages where God is portrayed as irrational, malevolent, and even abusive, wrestling with the impact of these images on Christian faith. In dealing with these difficult passages, Penchansky contributes to a more authentic understanding of God.

In this book, David Penchansky examines the inconsistencies between Job's beliefs and his actions. Adapting the theories of neo-Marxist/postmodernist literary critics Fredric Jameson and Pierre Macherey, Penchansky traces ideological and theological conflicts in Israelite society.The Literary Currents in Biblical Interpretation series explores current trends within the discipline of biblical interpretation by dealing with the literary qualities of the Bible: the play of its language, the coherence of its final form, and the relationships between text and readers. Biblical interpreters are being challenged to take responsibility for the theological, social, and ethical implications of their readings. This series encourages original readings that breach the confines of traditional biblical criticism.