Gary Rendsburg
Gary Rendsburg
Rethinking the Composition of the Pentateuch
- Faculty Editor(s): Rendsburg, Gary A.
- Publisher & Year: Hendrickson, 2026
- Genre(s): Religious Studies
- Book Link: https://www.hendricksonpublishers.com/p/rethinking-the-composition-of-the-pentateuch/9798400501586
The Pentateuch constitutes the foundational text for Judaism and by extension for Christianity, hence its Hebrew name, Torah, which means “teaching.” How, when, and why did this text come to be? How did the remarkable authors in ancient Israel compose, compile, and create such a singular achievement as the five books from Genesis through Deuteronomy, with its masterful stories, moral and ethical legal system, and detailed information about the sacrifices?
The present volume paves new ground, with over forty essays by leading scholars worldwide (Jewish and Christian; American, European, and Israeli), as it provides expert and yet accessible studies covering all aspects of Pentateuchal study. Through these studies, the authors argue collectively that the Torah is to be seen (contrary to the view of many scholars) as ancient Israel’s earliest literature, dating to the very emergence of Israel as a people.
Thanksgiving Hymns and Related Documents
- Faculty Editor(s): Rendsburg, Gary A.
- Publisher & Year: Westminster John Knox Press, 2022
- Genre(s): Literature
- Book Link: https://www.wjkbooks.com/bookproduct/0664267726-the-dead-sea-scrolls-volume-5a/
The Thanksgiving Hymns have been labeled the mystical gems among the Dead Sea Scrolls. Some of them may have been composed by the genius who is known as “the Righteous Teacher” in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Other psalms, hymns, or odes were composed by members of the Qumran community. This volume includes all fragments and all portions of the manuscripts of this superb witness to the height of Jewish poetry and thought before 70 CE and the end of early Judaism. Preliminary work on the major manuscript was conducted by Professor Doron Mendels of Israel and Professor Hermann Lichtenberger of Germany. Professor Charlesworth of Princeton spent over fifty years studying the witnesses to The Thanksgiving Hymns and completed the work.
The central focus of the Thanksgiving Hymns is thanksgiving and praise based on a living, covenantal relationship with a Creator within a dualistic and apocalyptic worldview. This is an important reference book for specialists in biblical studies.
The Bible World: Essays in Honor of Cyrus H. Gordon
- Faculty Editor(s): Rendsburg, Gary A.
- Publisher & Year: New York: Ktav, 1980
- Book Link: https://www.abebooks.com/9780870687587/Bible-World-Essays-Honor-Cyrus-0870687581/plp
Linguistic and Philological Studies of the Hebrew Bible and its Manuscripts
- Faculty Member Honored: Rendsburg, Gary A.
- Publisher & Year: Brill, 2023
- Genre(s): Linguistics
- Book Link: https://brill.com/display/title/64766
This volume honors the extraordinary scholarship of Prof. Gary A. Rendsburg, whose work and friendship have influenced so many in the last five decades. Twenty-five prominent scholars from the US, Europe, Israel, and Australia have contributed significant original studies in three of Rendsburg’s areas of interest and expertise: Hebrew language, Hebrew Bible, and Hebrew manuscripts. These linguistic, philological, literary, epigraphic, and historical approaches to the study of Hebrew and its textual traditions serve as a worthy tribute to such an accomplished scholar, and also as an illustration how all of these approaches can complement one another in the fields of Hebrew and Biblical Studies.
The Redaction of Genesis
- Publisher & Year: Eisenbrauns, 1986 / 2014
- Genre(s): Literature
- Book Link: https://www.eisenbrauns.org/books/titles/978-1-57506-240-2.html
Click image to purchaseFocusing his research on his own previous studies as well as studies by Cassuto, Sarna, Fishbane, and Sasson, Rendsburg clearly explains his theory that Genesis was edited/redacted around symmetrical patterns. He leads the reader through a step-by-step description of the Abraham Cycle, for instance, showing how content, duplicated narratives, and vocabulary reveal a chiastic pattern; and this pattern is repeated in other sections of the book. On the other hand, in the primeval history, the patterning is parallel, rather than chiastic. Overall, Rendsburg makes it clear that the editing of Genesis led to a systematic design, uniting the material in ways that often is overlooked.