Ritual has a primal connection to the idea that a transcendent order - numinous and mysterious, supranatural and elusive, divine and wholly other - gives meaning and purpose to life. The construction of rites and rituals enables humans to conceive and apprehend this transcendent order, to symbolize it and interact with it, to postulate its truths in the face of contradicting realities and to repair them when they have been breached or diminished. This Handbook provides a compendium of the information essential for constructing a comprehensive and integrated account of ritual and worship in the ancient world. Its focus on ritual and worship from the perspective of biblical studies, as opposed to religious studies, highlights that the world of ritual and worship was a topic of central concern for the people of the Ancient Near East, including the world of the Bible.Given the scarcity of the material in the Bible itself, the authors in this collection use materials from the ancient Near East to provide a larger context for the practices of the biblical world, giving due attention to historical, anthropological, and social scientific methods that inform the context of biblical worship. The specifics of ritual and worship life-the sacred spaces, times, and actors in worship-are examined in detail, with essays covering both the divine and human aspects of the sacred dimension. The Oxford Handbook of Ritual and Worship in the Hebrew Bible considers several underlying concepts of ritual practice and closes with a theological outlook on worship and ritual from a variety of perspectives, demonstrating a fruitful exchange between biblical studies, ritual theory, and social science research.

ContentsPrefaceList of Contributors1. Introduction, Samuel E. BalentinePart I. Historical Contexts2. Mesopotamian Religion, Tzvi Abusch3. Ritual and Worship in Ancient Egypt, Emily Teeter4. The Hittites Serve their Gods, Gary Beckman5. Syria-Palestine: Worship and Rituals, Adrian Curtis6. The Greeks and their Rituals, Barbara KowalzigPart II. Interpretive Approaches7. History of Religion, Lester Grabbe8. Rituals and Ritual Theory: A Methodological Essay, Ithamar Gruenwald9. Social and Cultural Anthropology, William GildersPart III. Ritual Elements: Participants, Places, Times, Objects, Practices10. God, Gods, and Humankkind (Worldview), Friedhelm Hartenstein11. Sacred Space and Common Space, Michael Hundley12. Ritual Experts and Participants in the Ancient Near East and the Hebrew Bible, Thomas Hieke13. Sacred Times and Ritual Times, Andrew Davis14. Ritual Objects and Artifacts, Ryan Bonfiglio15. Ritual and Religious Practices, Roy Gane16. Ritualizing Iconic Jewish Texts, James W. Watts17. Ritualizing Christian Iconic Texts, Dori Parmenter18. Ritualizing Muslim Texts, Jonas SvenssonPart IV. Cultural and Theological Perspectives19. Sin and Expiation, David Janzen20. Clean/Unclean, Pure/Impure, Holy/Profane, Jonathan Lawrence21. Sickness and Healing, Deborah Rooke22. Death and Afterlife, Brian Schmidt23. Divine Presence and Absence, Angelika BerlejungPart V. History of Interpretation24. Ritual and Worship at Qumran, Eileen Schuller25. Influence on Early Christian Worship, Paul Bradshaw26. Ritual and Worship in Early Judaism, Judith Newman27. Rabbinic Judaism, Stefan ReifPart VI. Socio-Cultural Functions28. The Politics of Worship, William S. Morrow29. The Ethics of Worship, Eryl Davies30. Socio-Religious Functions of Worship, Stephen L. Cook31. The Economics of Worship in Ancient Israel and Judah, Joachim SchaperPart VII. Theology and Theological Heritage32. Ritual Theology in/and Biblical Theology, Gerald Klingbeil33. Welcoming the Sabbath on the Kibbutzim: Secular Religiosity, Dalia Marx34. One God, Multiple Rituals and Theologies: Christianity, Rodney A. Werline35. Islamic Ritual, Richard GauvainScriptural and Ancient TextsSubject Index