First things First: A Bibliography

The work represented here can hardly be claimed as my own, but is instead a condensing and re-presentation of a number of sources for which I claim absolutely no credit.  Rather than littering each post with what will likely become redundant footnotes, I list my sources comprehensively here as both a reference and a resource for you, dear reader.  Listed below is the entire spectrum of works from those I've used extensively to those I know to be useful but have barely skimmed the surface of.  It would be wildly exciting if you were to be so inspired as to purchase and read them for yourself - but whether or not you do, I welcome any questions you may have about particular references over the course of our study.

      First and foremost, the single greatest influence reflected here is the work of Dr. Ellen F. Davis, Amos Reagan Kearns Distinguished Professor of Bible and Practical Theology at Duke Divinity School.  Her lectures, delivered during the course of Introduction to Old Testament Interpretation at Duke Divinity School during the Fall of 2011, have provided the interpretive framework within which I've approached further study.  Any interest or insight I have regarding this difficult text is indebted to her.

• Berlin, Adele and Marc Zvi Brettler.  The Jewish Study Bible (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004)
• Berry, Wendell.  The Art of the Commonplace: The Agrarian Essays of Wendell Berry (Berkeley: Counterpoint, 2002)
• Davis, Ellen F. Scripture, Culture and Agriculture: An Agrarian Reading of the Bible (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009)
• Douglas, Mary. Leviticus as Literature (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999)
• ______. Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo (New York: Routledge, 2002) 
• Elliger, K. and W. Rudolph, eds. Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1983)
• Fox, Everett.  The Five Books of Moses: A New Translation With Introduction, Commentary, and Notes.  The Schocken Bible, Vol. I (New York: Schocken Books, 1995)
• Kaminsky, Joel S. and Joel N. Lohr. The Torah: A Beginner's Guide (New York: Oneworld Publications, 2011)
• Levine, Baruch A.  The JPS Torah Commentary (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1989)
• Matthews, Victor H. A Brief History of Ancient Israel (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2002)