Friendship in the Hebrew Bible
The first comprehensive study of friendship in the Hebrew Bible Friendship, though a topic of considerable humanistic and cross disciplinary interest in contemporary scholarship, has been largely ignored by scholars of the Hebrew Bible, possibly because of its complexity and elusiveness. Filling a significant gap in our knowledge and understanding of biblical texts, Saul M. Olyan provides this original, accessible analysis of a key form of social relationship. In this thorough and compelling assessment, Olyan analyzes a wide range of texts, including prose narratives, prophetic materials, psalms, pre-Hellenistic wisdom collections, and the Hellenistic-era wisdom book Ben Sira. This in-depth, contextually sensitive, and theoretically engaged study explores how the expectations of friends and family members overlap and differ, examining, among other things, characteristics that make the friend a distinct social actor; failed friendship; and friendships in narratives such as those of Ruth and Naomi, and Jonathan and David. Olyan presents a comprehensive look at what constitutes friendship in the Hebrew Bible.
About the Author
Saul M. Olyan is the Samuel Ungerleider Jr. Professor of Judaic Studies and professor of religious studies at Brown University. He serves on the editorial board of the Anchor Yale Bible series. He lives in Providence, RI.
Reviews
"Saul Olyan has written a truly original work that not only opens up a new area in biblical studies, but creates a full-blown synthesis of the socio-literary field of biblical friendship" – Ronald Hendel, University of California, Berkeley
"Saul Olyan is one of the world's most consistently insightful scholars of the Hebrew Bible. Here he offers a study of friendship that will prove a helpful companion for anyone curious about what biblical texts reveal about the history of human relationships" – Steven Weitzman, University of Pennsylvania
"A learned yet affecting study of a much-overlooked topic by a world-class scholar. Olyan brilliantly demonstrates how in the Hebrew Bible family and friends (and to a lesser extent, treaty partners) manifest similar behaviors. This comprehensive survey will become the standard work on the subject" – Mark S. Smith, Princeton Theological Seminary
"Through an insightful and sensitive reading of the vocabulary of friendship along with an astute analysis of its function in a variety of biblical passages, Olyan illuminates with striking clarity this important but oft-ignored concept" – Carol Meyers, Duke University
"Another groundbreaking study from one of the finest scholars in the field of biblical studies. With Olyan as our expert guide, we learn to rethink our assumptions not only about the biblical texts but also about what it means to be human" – Jacob L. Wright, Emory University
"Saul Olyan's book, masterfully investigated, is the first serious and comprehensive study of friendship in the Bible, a topic that has mostly been ignored by specialists. It offers new and unexpected insights and makes an important contribution to contemporary cross-cultural theories about friendship. A must read for students and scholars of the Bible" – Thomas Romer, College de France and University of Lausanne (Switzerland)
