Human Interaction with the Natural World in Wisdom Literature and Beyond

Mordechai Cogan is Professor Emeritus at the The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. Katharine J. Dell is Reader in Old Testament Literature and Theology at the University of Cambridge, UK. David A. Glatt-Gilad is Senior Lecturer at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel.

Illustrations
Contributors
A Personal Tribute to Tova L. Forti - David A. Glatt Gilad
An Appreciation of the Scholarly Work of Tova L. Forti -Mordecai Cogan and Katharine Dell
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
The Works of Tova L. Forti

Introduction

Part I: The Natural World in Wisdom Literature in the Hebrew Bible

1. ‘Ask the Plants’: Job’s Dialogue with Floral Metaphors in Psalms 1 and 90 – Will Kynes, Samford University, USA
2. God’s View of his Animals in Job 38:40-39:30 - Michael V. Fox, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA and Katharine J. Dell, University of Cambridge, UK
3. How Behemoth and Leviathan ‘Speak’ (12:7) to Job - Mark Sneed, Lubbock Christian University, USA
4. Of Leeches, Lizards, and Lions: The Humorous Function of Animal Talk in Proverbs 30 - Knut Heim, Denver Seminary, USA
5. ‘Mortals cannot abide in their pomp: they are like the animals that perish’ (Ps 49:2 [Heb. 13]: An Intertextual Approach to Psalm 49:9-21 and Qoheleth - Katharine Dell, University of Cambridge, UK
6. The Functions of Animal Imagery in Ben Sira’s Ethics - Samuel L. Adams, Union Presbyterian Seminary, USA
7. The Astonishing Zoo of Sirach - Nuria Calduch-Benages, Pontifical Gregorian University Rome, Italy

Part II: The Natural World in Non-Wisdom Texts in the Bible and its Interpretive Tradition

8. Complex Attitudes towards Animals in the Hebrew Bible - Yael Shemesh, Bar-Ilan University, Israel
9. Harmony between Humanity and the Natural World in the Song of Songs - Brittany Melton and Megan Alsene, Palm Beach Atlantic University, USA
10. Dove Metaphors in the Song of Songs - Danilo Verde, KU Leuven, Belgium
11. The Relationship between ‘You Shall Not Let Your Cattle Mate with a Different Kind (Lev 19:19) and ‘You Shall Not Plow with an Ox and Ass Together (Deut 22:10): A Re-examination - Eran Viezel, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel
12. Almonds, Flocks and Classical Rhetoric: The Retelling of Num 17:16-26 in LAB 17 - Atar Livneh, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel
13. The Thematic Functions of Sheep/Ox to Slaughter Imagery - David A. Glatt-Gilad, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel

Part III: The Natural World in the Ancient Near East

14. The First Mickey Mouse: The Enigma of the Anthropomorphized Drawings in Ancient Egypt - Nili Shupak, University of Haifa, Israel
15. Instructions of Shruppak: The World's Oldest Collection - Nili Samet, Bar-Ilan University, Israel
16. Wise Kings in Israel and Assyria: Mastering the Natural World in Words and Action - Amitai Baruchi-Unna, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel and Mordechai Cogan, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
17. Divine Gift: Sacrifice of Game and Domesticated Animals in Hittite and Biblical Cultures - Ada Taggar-Cohen, Doshisha University, Japan
18. Gazelles: Symbols of Power and Vulnerability in the Hebrew Bible and the Ancient Near East - Jennifer L. Andruska, University of Manchester, UK

Index of References
Index of Authors