How Repentance Became Biblical explores the rise of repentance as a concept within early forms of Judaism and Christianity and how it has informed the interpretation of the Hebrew Bible, or Old Testament. It develops alternative accounts for many of the ancient phenomena identified as penitential.

Preface ; Introduction: The Penitential Lens ; Part I - Rites ; 1. Fasting and the Artistry of Distress ; 2. The Logic of Appeal ; 3. Articulating Sin ; Part II - Language and Pedagogy ; 4. A Material (Re)turn to YHWH ; 5. Power and the Prophetic Utterance ; Part III - Religion ; 6. Agency and Redemption ; 7. The Genealogy of Repentance ; Postscript

"there can be little doubt that this extremely impressive work will challenge the thinking of scholars of biblical and related literatures for quite some time." -- David Frankel, Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies, The Journal of Religion "Lambert's project is a provocative and compelling critique of a major modern approach to reading and interpreting the biblical corpus. It also presents a useful methodology for analyzing the evolution and reception of a core concept of religious expression in Judaism and Christianity. For that reason, Lambert's work will likely prove both controversial and field changing .I recommend it highly."--Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology "He aptly charts the development of the concept of repentance as it came to prominence in Judaism and Christianity and explains how the penitential lens developed. This volume represents a significant contribution."--Lesley R. DiFransico, The Catholic Biblical Quarterly "Examining the language of sin, prayer, and fasting in diverse parts of the canon, Lambert finds that the apparent language of repentance does not mean what we think it means. The pervasive idea of the interiority of the penitential self says more about us than it does about the biblical texts. It s not only the Bible that needs to be historicized, but 'also its readers.'"--Christian Century "David Lambert...has done a great service to the field of biblical studies with his substantial volume, How Repentance Became Biblical: Judaism, Christianity, and the Interpretation of Scripture...Lambert s volume offers an impressive resource to scholars of ancient texts and to those interested in the concept of repentance. This is a fine work that raises beneficial questions about an important theological idea."--Biblical Interpretation "It has taken until Lambert s book properly to identify the semantic and historical range of the word 'repentance'...Lambert has done us a great service in helping us to repent with linguistic and cultural sensitivity."--Marginalia "Groundbreaking...David Lambert s work has the potential to become integral to the forward motion of biblical studies."--The Biblical Review "How Repentance Became Biblical is an intellectually disturbing book in the best sense of the term. In this careful work of intellectual and cultural history Lambert demonstrates the extent to which readers, including scholars, have misunderstood critical aspects of the biblical worldview, culture, and practices by reading the concept of repentance into texts where it is not present. Biblical studies will be grappling with the implications of this transformative work for a long time." --Carol Newsom, Professor of Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, Emory University "In this methodologically sophisticated, profoundly learned, and lucidly written book, David Lambert problematizes the idea of 'repentance,' arguing that it fully emerges not in the Hebrew Bible but in the Judaism of the last centuries BCE. This is an important work for students of the Hebrew Bible no less than for students of formative Judaism and Christianity." --Shaye J.D. Cohen, Littauer Professor of Hebrew Literature and Philosophy Chair, Dept. of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University "In this sophisticated study, David Lambert argues that the Hebrew Bible did not originally contain the idea of repentance as now understood. Repentance is a creation of the Hellenistic age, found in Philo and Ben Sira, and later read back into the Hebrew Bible. Based on meticulous exegesis, this convincingly revisionist account deserves to be read by everyone interested in the theology and ethical practice of ancient Israel." --John Barton, Emeritus Oriel & Laing Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture, University of Oxford "The invigorating discussion and innovative analysis holds potential to significantly impact the field of biblical studies... highly recommended."-- The Biblical Review "Lambert aims to 'denaturalize' [repentance], while at the same time unearthing what scriptures really mean when they say at least what they ve been read as saying 'repent, repent'...in his provocative book. "--Jewish Review of Books

Selling point: Spells out the early history of repentance as a concept Selling point: Identifies a broad-based scholarly tendency to read repentance into the Bible. Selling point: Shows how that tendency relates to the broader history of interiority and the self. Selling point: Redescribes a range of key religious practices and central texts in the Bible. Selling point: Integrates a critical study of biblical texts with a study of post-biblical literature.

David Lambert is an associate professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he teaches courses on the Hebrew Bible and its history of interpretation. He received his undergraduate and graduate training at Harvard University in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations.

Selling point: Spells out the early history of repentance as a concept Selling point: Identifies a broad-based scholarly tendency to read repentance into the Bible. Selling point: Shows how that tendency relates to the broader history of interiority and the self. Selling point: Redescribes a range of key religious practices and central texts in the Bible. Selling point: Integrates a critical study of biblical texts with a study of post-biblical literature.