God's Word to Israel New and Augmented Edition

In this revision of God’s Word to Israel, Joseph Jensen offers students and other readers an up-to-date, critical, and also faith-filled introduction to the Old Testament. Especially welcome in this new version is the author’s awareness of how a science-opposing mentality corrupts the reading of Scripture. I highly recommend this fresh remastering of a seasoned and readable interpretation of our ancient biblical literature.

God’s Word to Israel presents to college, seminary, and intelligent lay audiences the wisdom of a veteran teacher suffused with the love of the Old Testament. Comprehensive and sophisticated, and rich in its incorporation of historical, literary, and archeological scholarship, it remains easily readable and engrossing. This new and augmented edition offers up-to-date discussions of topics such as Genesis and evolution, Joshua and genocide, and recent Church documents about Scripture. The reader is sure to be enchanted and eager to return to reading God’s Word.

The fruit of decades of teaching and research and a nearly a century of prayerful reflection, this clear and comprehensive work is the best introduction to the Old Testament I know. Combining top quality biblical scholarship with pastoral sensitivity, God’s Word to Israel is accessible and valuable to students and to all those who want to grow in their knowledge of and love for Sacred Scripture.

Father Joseph Jensen's recently republished introduction to the Old Testament remains classic in every sense of the word, solidly researched, updated, and imbued with the depth of scholarship which only a lifetime of Benedictine study could amass. A rich consensus of contemporary research is reflected in these pages together with ample bibliography added at the end of each chapter. I found this volume a valuable addition to my personal library and a handy resource for ready reference when seeking solid background for preaching or prayer.

Professors of biblical studies and directors of religious studies programs often find themselves forced to choose between commentaries that are scholarly, but dry and far too heavy for the students, or those that are pastoral but seriously lacking in the scholarly historical and cultural contextualizations that are needed for the proper interpretation of the biblical texts. This is why Father Joseph Jensen’s God’s Word to Israel holds such an important place for the study of the Old Testament. Now reprinted in an augmented edition, this commentary is the rich result of Father Jensen’s vast scholarly knowledge combined with his vast experience as a professor of Old Testament. Each chapter presents the particular book under study in an accessible and engaging way, welcoming the student to understand the historical setting and the vibrant meaning it held, and representing its religious significance in its own day, as well as in the traditions of Christian faith.

A highly readable introduction that will persuade many students and laypeople to explore the Old Testament and be captivated by its literature and theology. It will enable them both to situate it historically and to apply it to their own lives.