The biblical prophets and Biblical Performance Criticism are brought together in three case studies (Elijah, Ezekiel, Jonah) presented as performances. This book proposes a new method of reading the biblical prophets with a threefold focus on creativity, commentary, and connections. With this method the many and varied performances of the prophets can be better appreciated. Critical analysis of the quintessentially performative nature of the prophets as embodied spokespersons for YHWH aids us in understanding and clarifying YHWH’s message to audiences, situations, and communities of the past as well as engaging contemporary audiences.

The biblical prophets and Biblical Performance Criticism are brought together in three case studies (Elijah, Ezekiel, Jonah) presented as performances. This book proposes a new method of reading the biblical prophets with a threefold focus on creativity, commentary, and connections. With this method the many and varied performances of the prophets can be better appreciated. Critical analysis of the quintessentially performative nature of the prophets as embodied spokespersons for YHWH aids us in understanding and clarifying YHWH's message to audiences, situations, and communities of the past as well as engaging contemporary audiences.

Identifies and describes performance modes of thought imbedded in the prophetic literature through performance analysis.

What did violence against women and children mean for ancient audiences and how do modern audiences hear and process the meaning of violence in the texts of the Hebrew Bible? The rape of Tamar, the sacrifice of Jephthah's daughter, babes ripped from the womb during war-texts such as these are hardly fodder for Sunday School classes; yet we are left with the reality that the Bible is a violent text full of war, murder, genocide, and destruction, often carried out at the behest of God. The essays in this volume explore ways in which the Hebrew Bible uses and abuses women and children to make indelible points concerning the people of Israel, the lived realities of the Israelite society, and God's relationship to His people. Where other works turn to the study of the violence itself, or to the divine nature of violence, this volume focuses in on the human component. As a result, these studies are reminders that women and children born out of trauma are at once vulnerable and valuable, fragile and resilient.

Scripture, like any performance, aims for transformation of its audience. In this new study Jeanette Mathews demonstrates how literature from the diverse field of performance studies can be applied to the prophetic book of Habakkuk in order to draw out themes and features that are common to both. Mathews offers a fresh new translation of Habakkuk that emphasizes and celebrates its intrinsic dramatic features. This translation provides the "script" for the performance of Habakkuk. The attitudes and actions of the "actors" in the performance become models for their "audience," such that the audience members are drawn into the performance and do not remain impartial spectators. The context of crisis that forms the book's "setting" is of crucial importance, ensuring that genres such as complaint and lament are taken seriously as expressions of faith in the midst of traumatic experience. The open-ended script makes explicit the drama of faithfulness in the midst of cultural trauma and public crises--a faithfulness that is ready to be reenacted in our own settings.

This volume reimagines the first-century reception of the Gospel of Mark within a reconstructed (yet hypothetical) performance event. In particular, it considers the disciples' character and characterization through the lens of performance criticism. Questions concerning the characterization of the disciples have been relatively one-sided in New Testament scholarship, in favor of their negative characterization. This project demonstrates why such assumptions need not be necessary when we (re-)consider the oral/aural milieu in which the Gospel of Mark was first composed and received by its earliest audiences.

With this new volume, IVP's Black Dictionary series completes its coverage of the Old Testament canonical books. A true compendium of recent scholarship, the volume includes 115 articles covering all aspects of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, the twelve "minor prophets" and Daniel.