T&t Clark Handbook of Children in the Bible and the Biblical World - (T&t Clark Handbooks) by Sharon Betsworth & Julie Faith Parker (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

This ground-breaking volume examines the presentation and role of children in the ancient world, and specifically in ancient Jewish and Christian texts. With carefully commissioned chapters that follow chronological and canonical progression, a sequential reading of this book enables deeper appreciation of how understandings of children change over time.
Divided into four sections, this handbook first offers an overview of key methodological approaches employed in the study of children in the biblical world, and the texts at hand. Three further sections examine crucial texts in which children or discussions of childhood are featured; presented along chronological lines, with sections on the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, the Intertestamental Literature, and the New Testament and Early Christian Apocrypha. Relevant not only to biblical studies but also cross-disciplinary scholars interested in children in antiquity.

Review Quotes

"Overall, this book provides an excellent starting point for students and researchers new to the field of children in the Bible and the biblical world... This handbook is an especially helpful guide in providing useful methodologies, a history of the research field, and new research prospects." --Review of Biblical Literature

"The study of children in the Bible and the biblical world speaks to a range of audiences; children are members of communities past and present, and the Bible continues to shape cultures and the lives of individuals worldwide. This volume provides a wealth of resources, taking both biblical studies and child-focused interdisciplinary research to new levels. Initial chapters provide a valuable orientation to the significance of the study of children and childhood in the biblical world and to recent advances in this rapidly growing area of research. Subsequent contributions display a range of creative methodological approaches, offering new insights into biblical and early Christian texts and the history of childhood in the ancient Near East." --Marcia J. Bunge, Professor of Religion and the Bernhardson Distinguished Chair, Gustavus Adolphus College, USA, and editor of The Child in the Bible

"Building from years of scholarly interactions, conferences, articles, and monographs, this first compendium on child-centered approaches to ancient biblical texts continues to solidify the case for why research on children is critical for biblical studies. From historical insights to the analyses of theology and reception history through varying methodological approaches, this collection further anchors a discipline specific nomenclature for child-centered approaches.

The editors gather expertise from archaeology, historical contexts, ancient households, post-colonial studies, linguistics, source criticism, and trauma studies, which each invite a wide conversation on the importance of child-centered topics. As such, the volume is multilayered, bringing seemingly disparate methodologies and varying fields of study together. This first compendium is an essential tool for exploring the possibilities of children, their role, function, and their critical importance in the interpretation of ancient texts and their receptions." --Shawn W. Flynn, Associate Professor of the Hebrew Bible and Academic Dean, University of Alberta, Canada, and author of Children in Ancient Israel: The Hebrew Bible and Mesopotamia in Comparative Perspective"

"T&T Clark Handbook of Children in the Bible and the Biblical World is a welcome and much-needed resource for investigating childhood in the ancient world and constructions of children in biblical literature. Combining new and seasoned voices in childist studies, this volume issues a compelling invitation to learn from and join in critical conversations on children and childhood in the biblical world." --Danna Nolan Fewell, John Fletcher Hurst Professor of Hebrew Bible, Drew University, USA, and author of The Children of Israel: Reading the Bible for the Sake of Our Children

"The publication of Handbook of Children in the Bible and the Biblical World marks a milestone in the development of studies of childhood and children in the Bible. No longer in its infancy, the work signals a maturation in this area of research." --Janine Luttick, Australian Biblical Review

About the Author

Sharon Betsworth is Professor of Religion at Oklahoma City University, USA. She is the author of Children in Early Christian Narratives (T&T Clark 2015) and The Reign of God is Such as These: A Socio-literary Analysis of Daughters in the Gospel of Mark (T&T Clark 2010).

Julie Faith Parker is Associate Professor of Biblical Studies at The General Theological Seminary in New York City, USA. She is the author or editor of seven books, including Valuable and Vulnerable: Children in the Hebrew Bible, Especially the Elisha Cycle (Brown University, 2013).