Stories in Scripture and Inscriptions: Comparative Studies on Narratives in Northwest Semitic Inscriptions and the Hebrew Bible

The Recovery Of Numerous Narratives Of Many Types From Throughout The Near East Has Encouraged Scholars To Compare These Texts With Those Found In Scripture. Most Such Comparisons Have Set Biblical Stories Up Against Various Near Eastern Mythic-epic Poems.--book Jacket. In Order To Draw Valid Conclusions About The Distinctiveness Of Biblical Materials, Says Parker, We Must Compare Them With More Analogous Texts. He Illustrates This Thesis By Juxtaposing Selected Biblical Narratives With Similar Prose Narratives From Northwest Semitic Inscriptions Recovered From Ancient Israel And Its Syro-palestinian Environment And Dating From The Two Hundred And Fifty Years Before The Fall Of Jerusalem. Through Careful Comparisons Parker Is Able To Eliminate Some Widely Accepted Yet False Generalizations About The Uniqueness Of The Scriptural Narratives And At The Same Time Shed Important New Light On The Formal, Sociopolitical, And Theological Dimensions Of Both Sets Of Texts.--book Jacket. Abbreviations -- -- Part 1: Introduction: Reading Biblical And Other Ancient -- Near Eastern Narratives -- Approaches To Biblical Narratives -- Biblical And Ancient Near Eastern Narratives -- Oral Storytelling In Ancient Israel And Judah -- The Stories Treated In This Book -- -- Part 2: Petitionary Narratives -- The Mesad Hashavyahu Inscription -- Petitionary Narratives In The Bible -- 2 Kings 8:1-6 -- 2 Kings 4:1-7 -- 1 Kings 3:16-27 -- 2 Kings 6:24-30 -- 2 Samuel 14:1-23 -- 1 Kings 20:38-42 -- 2 Samuel 12:1-7 -- Summary -- -- Part 3: The Story Of The Siloam Tunnel -- The Siloam Tunnel Inscription -- Stories Of The Siloam Tunnel In The Bible -- 2 Kings 20:20a -- 2 Chronicles 32:30a -- Ben Sirach 48:17 -- Summary. Simon B. Parker. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 171-182) And Indexes.