Blessing and Curse in Syro-Palestinian Inscriptions of the Iron Age (American University Studies. Series VII. Theology and Religion)

Blessing and Curse in Syro-Palestinian Inscriptions of the Iron Age is an examination of blessings and / or curses in all published alphabetic inscriptions from Iron II (1000-586 B.C.E.) Syria-Palestine. Inscriptions having either blessing, curse, or both (in general or specific forms) have been collected and sorted according to the presence therein of deity names. Those inscriptions which call upon Yahweh, God of Israel, for blessing or curse have been separated from those which call upon other deities and from those which did not contain a deity name. The blessings and curses in these inscriptions have then been compared and contrasted both to each other and the Hebrew Bible in order to show what the various peoples of that area and time meant by blessing and curse and how they expressed these ideas.