My Mom's First Book Is Now Available for Purchase

My mother, who recently finished a PhD program in Hebrew Bible, has just published a revised and updated version of her dissertation through Wipf and Stock Publishers. The book-- titled Dust or Dew: Immortality in the Ancient Near East and in Psalm 49-- may be purchased online for $24.80. The book received several glowing endorsements, including a surprise endorsement from renowned biblical scholar Walter Brueggemann. This has been a labor of love for her, and I am very proud of her achievement. I'm certain there will be many more to come. (She already has two or three other book projects under way!)

I haven't gotten a look at the hard copy yet, but the last draft I read-- and I read several!-- argued that Psalm 49 offered one of ancient Israel's first hints of an emerging theology of blissful immortality, which eventually culminated in the full-blown resurrection theology of Second Temple Judaism. In addition to careful analysis of the Hebrew text of Psalm 49, the book includes a very sophisticated discussion of the psalm's multiple contexts. It is situated first and foremost as a ritual text composed by the Korahite clan-- apparently a group located in the northern kingdom, but with southern kingdom loyalties. The psalm is a redemption drama, and may have been intended for use in an annual Korahite pilgrimage to Zion. Dust or Dew also situates the psalm against the backdrops of other Korahite, Hebrew, and Ancient Near Eastern literature, finding particularly important contexts in Genesis 1-3 and Ugaritic texts relating to the goddess Asherah. Besides these overarching arguments, the book also provides detailed micro-level analysis of a whole range of questions, often providing important correctives to the assumptions of major thinkers in the field.

Congratulations, Mom!