Eisenbrauns is pleased to announce the publication of two new titles,
available today.

1.
Interpreting Ecclesiastes: Readers Old and New
By Katharine J. Dell
www.eisenbrauns.com/item/DELINTERP

Retail price: $24.95
ISBN13: 978-1-57506-281-5
Pages: vii + 107

Readers of texts come from all generations, from different contexts
and with different agendas. This book gives a sample of what both
ancient and contemporary readers have brought to the book of
Ecclesiastes in the quest for illumination of the text and for their
own enlightenment, often furnishing their own agenda. Debates over
meaning are formed, shaped, and illuminated by the interpreters
themselves. Part One looks at ancient interpreters and at their
methods of approaching the text. Jewish and Christian interpreters
alike sought to find meaning amongst some of the key puzzles of the
book: why does the author call himself 'the son of David' and appear
to be Solomon when his pen name also seems to be Qoheleth? Why the
contradictions in content? How did such an unorthodox book come to be
canonized? How did the dualistic contemptus mundi interpretation of
the vanity theme perpetuated by Jerome and others come to hold the
field for so long? And how did Luther and the reformers seek to
rectify that approach? These questions and others are addressed in
this book, looking through the lens of past interpretation. Part Two
acknowledges our increasing self-awareness of the importance of method
in approaching biblical texts and turns to a sample of modern
interpretations from familiar reading groups such as the ecologist,
the animal theologian, the liberationist, the post-colonialist, and
the feminist. It will be seen that different modern approaches often
enlighten the interpretation of specific verses within Ecclesiastes
and hence that no one method is a wholesale 'solution' to interpretive
concerns.


2.
Melchizedek's Alternative Priestly Order: A Compositional Analysis of
Genesis 14:18-20 and Its Echoes throughout the Tanak
By Joshua G. Mathews
www.eisenbrauns.com/item/MATMELCHI

Retail price: $37.50
ISBN13: 978-1-57506-820-6
Pages: xiv + 178

Gen 14:18-20 is a brief episode depicting the encounter between Abram
and Melchizedek. Taking this episode and its context in the Pentateuch
as the starting point, Mathews sets out to analyze the text as it has
been composed, in order to understand the biblical and theological
significance of this priest-king Melchizedek. The thesis proposed and
investigated is that Melchizedek's royal priestly portrayal in Genesis
initiates a priesthood that is intentionally presented as an
alternative to Aaron and his priesthood. The claim is that this
distinct priestly order is evident in the biblical text as we have it,
and it may be discerned by reading the text carefully, on its own
terms, with close attention to its compositional features.

Chapter 1 introduces the study and offers an overview of the history
of interpretation related to Genesis 14 and Melchizedek. In ch. 2,
various hermeneutical issues and approaches are examined in order to
clarify methodology and identify some of the problems being addressed.
In ch. 3, the heart of the book, Mathews considers Gen 14:18-20 in the
context of the Pentateuch, focusing on Melchizedek in relation to the
Abrahamic narrative and covenant, the royal message of the Pentateuch,
and Aaron's priesthood. Beginning with Psalm 110, ch. 4 identifies
echoes of Melchizedek and his priesthood in several texts in the
Prophets and Writings. The book concludes in ch. 5 with a summary and
synthesis of the preceding analysis as well as some implications and
suggestions for further research.