This book introduces the student to the subject and provides the complete material needed for a course on anthropology and the Old Testament. In his introduction, Bernhard Lang sketches the main areas and methods of investigation and the developments that have occurred over the past twenty years. The essays included are all major contributions on key subjects: Israelite kinship, slavery, the sin of Cain, the dietary laws of Leviticus, the social conditions in the Hebrew village, sacrifice and prophecy. All demonstrate that the application of scientific methods to the study of the Old Testament world has greatly contributed to our understanding of its religion, as well as its social and cultural setting.