Yale University Library Research Guides: Hebrew Bible Interpretation I &amp; II: Social Scientific Criticism

Introduction to Social Scientific Criticism

What Is Social-Scientific Criticism? by John H. Elliott An introduction to social-scientific criticism of the New Testament, however, it can be used for the Hebrew Bible.
Call Number: Marvin Pope Biblical Studies Room
Social-Scientific Approaches in Biblical Literature by Robert A. Wortham Presents an application of social science concepts to the interpretation of biblical texts. It offers explanations of concepts from sociology, cultural anthropology and psychology and uses them to interpret the significance of biblical events in their social and historical concepts.
Methods, Theories, Imagination: Social Scientific Approaches in Biblical Studies by David J. Chalcraft, Frauke Uhlenbruch, Rebecca Sally Watson (editors) Includes a chapter on the Hebrew Bible
Reading Biblical Texts Together: Pursuing Minoritized Biblical Criticism by Tat-siong Benny Liew (Editor); Fernando F. Segovia (Editor) Includes two essays from the Hebrew Bible (Genesis 21 and 1 Kings 12) using the methods of ethnic-racial minority biblical criticism.
The Social Visions of the Hebrew Bible by J. David Pleins Presents a sociological study of the Hebrew Bible, seeking to uncover its social vision by examining biblical statements about social ethics.
Community, Identity, and Ideology: Social Science Approaches to the Hebrew Bible by Charles E. Carter (Editor); Carol L. Meyers (Editor) Contextualizes the history and current state of the social science method in the study of the Hebrew Bible. A bit dated.

The Prophet and His Oracles: Research on the Book of Amos by M. Daniel Carroll R. Provides a thorough and balanced overview of the history of scholarship on the book of Amos. Includes an anthology of readings of the multiple ways Amos has been analyzed and appropriated, and an extensive and current bibliography.
Collective and Individual Responsibility: A Description of Corporate Personality in Ezekiel 18 and 20 (Online) by Jurrien Mol Following an extensive study of Ezekiel 18 and 20, this book offers a redefinition and a new theoretical basis for the concept of corporate personality. This theory is subsequently applied to Ezekiel 18 and 20 to analyze the collective and individual features.

Growing Up in Ancient Israel: Children in Material Culture and Biblical Texts (Online) by Kristine Henriksen Garroway Uses a child-centered methodology to investigate the world of children in ancient Israel.
The Sacred Economy of Ancient Israel (Online) by Roland Boer Offers a new reconstruction of the economic context of the Bible and of ancient Israel. It argues that the key to ancient economies is with those who worked on the land rather than in intermittent and relatively weak kingdoms and empires.
Social Inequality in the World of the Text by Saul M. Olyan Looks at the literary operations of classification and their social implications in the Hebrew Bible, particularly the production of distinctions which create social inequality in the world of the text, and have the potential to generate hierarchical social relationships in contexts where biblical texts might have had an impact on real people.
Ancient Israel: The Old Testament in its Social Context by Philip F. Esler Brings together essays by an international group of biblical scholars on Old Testament topics, employing social-scientific methods: anthropology, macro-sociology, and social psychology.

Kinship and Marriage in Genesis: A Household Economics Perspective by Naomi Steinberg Introduction of kinship theory and social alliances within the framework of the economics of household formation as a basis for the discussion of marriage contracts in the Genesis ancestral narratives.
Rethinking Contexts, Rereading Texts: Contributions from the Social Sciences to Biblical Interpretation by Andrew Mein (Series edited by); Claudia V. Camp (Series edited by); Mark Daniel Carroll R. (Editor) Brings together ten essays on the various contexts for texts that social-scientific approaches invoke.
Call Number: Marvin Pope Biblical Studies Room
Sacrifices and Offerings in Ancient Israel: Studies in their Social and Political Importance by Gary A. Anderson
The Social World of Deuteronomy by Don C. Benjamin Uses social-scientific criticism to reconstruct the social institutions where Deuteronomy developed, and those that appear in its traditions.
Call Number: Marvin Pope Biblical Studies Room

Concepts of Class in Ancient Israel by Mark R. Sneed (Editor) Exemplifies the wide variety of definitions of 'class' employed by biblical scholars today, with analyses seeking either to reconstruct the stratification of ancient Israel or to uncover the class interests embedded in the biblical text.
Judges and Method by Gale A. Yee (Editor) Looks at Judges through lens of biblical criticism, including postcolonial criticism.
The Rhetoric of the Book of Judges by Robert H. O'Connell Describes how rhetorical devices are used in Judges to inspire readers.