A History of Modern Scholarship on the Biblical Word Ḥerem: The Contributions of Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., Peter C. Craigie, and Tremper Longman, III.

This research project makes an important contribution to both the history of the interpretation of biblical ideas about herem (frequently translated "holy war") and the study of the development of modern evangelical biblical hermeneutics. Those studing the history of biblical scholarship have only recently begun to focus their attention on figures from the second half of the twentieth century. Very little of this literature, however, deals with evangelical biblical scholars who have faced the task of reconciling the results modern historical and literary criticism of the Bible with Their commitment to a confessing community of faith that holds to some form of biblical inerrancy. This study draws the reader beyond scholar and lay reader to formulate independent conclusions about herem based on a close reading of biblical passages and in dialogue with evangelical biblical interpretation. The study is the first extensive analysis of the biblical exegesis of three prominent biblical scholars (Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., Peter C. Craigie, and Tremper Longman, III) who represent different perspectives within the evangelical community about how to read these difficult passages of war. The work draws the reader beyond the current cultural debate about what some have called “holy war”, allowing scholars to formulate independent conclusions about Ḥerem based on a close reading of biblical passages and in dialogue with evangelical biblical interpretation. Introduction 1 Ḥerem 2 Walter C. Kaiser, Jr. 3 Peter C. Craigie 4 Tremper Longman, III 5 Conclusion Appendix A: Ḥerem in Deuteronomy Appendix B: Ḥerem in the Hebrew Bible Appendix C: Ḥerem in the LXX and Deuteronomy