STREAMING PROGRAM INFORMATION
- This program is part of our Smithsonian Associates Streaming series.
- Platform: Zoom
- Online registration is required.
- For multiple registrations, you will be asked to supply individual names and email addresses.
Almost everyone—believers, nonbelievers, and everyone in between—reads the Bible for its content, and for good reason. Its message continues to resonate, even from a distance of 3,000 years. The ethics, morality, and theology of the Bible inform our contemporary world in manifold ways, while the history revealed in the Bible also echoes to the present day.
But how were the biblical books composed and what can be said about the literary style of the Bible’s exquisite prose and poetry? Biblical scholar Gary Rendsburg, a specialist in ancient Israel and Egypt and medieval Hebrew manuscripts, explores how the ancient Israelite literati conveyed their message to the people who consumed the literature that eventually found its way into the canonical Biblical text.
He discusses how ancient wordsmiths used every device imaginable—wordplay, alliteration, repetition and variation, dialect representation, and more—to engage their audiences. He also discusses how texts were performed or presented orally, enabling people to listen to the text.
Rendsburg leads a literary journey back in time, imagining ourselves as listeners to the poets, prophets, and storytellers of ancient Israel.
His book How the Bible Is Written (Hendrickson) is available for sale.
Book Sale Information
Patron Information
- Once registered, patrons should receive an automatic email confirmation from CustomerService@SmithsonianAssociates.org.
- Separate Zoom link information will be emailed closer to the date of the program. If you do not receive your Zoom link information 24 hours prior to the start of the program, please email Customer Service for assistance.
- View Common FAQs about our Streaming Programs on Zoom.
