The Oxford Handbook of the Bible and Animals

The Oxford Handbook of the Bible and Animals surveys and contributes to cutting-edge research at the intersection of biblical studies and animal studies.

The Oxford Handbook of the Bible and Animals surveys and contributes to cutting-edge research at the intersection of biblical studies and animal studies. With 38 chapters from diverse global contributors, it exemplifies the depth of contemporary scholarship in this area. The Handbook employs innovative and interdisciplinary methodologies to explore the roles and representations of nonhuman animals in the Bible and its related texts. Some chapters focus on animals as subjective agents with their own capacities and internal worlds. Others analyze their relationships with humans, and the intermingling of care and harm that they involve. Still others grapple with animals'' position in broader systems of meaning and power, such as the value-laden taxonomy which separates animals from humans. The Handbook begins by establishing animals in the broader contexts influencing the Bible''s composition, specifically the Egyptian, Mesopotamian, and Greco-Roman worlds. Next, chapters explore methodologies for interpreting biblical animals, such as taxonomic, gendered, and posthumanist approaches. The subsequent section deals with different animal kinds-sea creatures, birds, livestock, and even human beings and monsters. Authors then work through the biblical corpus from the Pentateuch to Revelation. A final section examines the afterlives of biblical animals in later texts and contexts, especially in Jewish and Christian traditions. Overall, this ground-breaking volume sets the agenda for studies of biblical animals in years to come.