The Israelites and the Greeks formed “the first free societies, cultivating rain-watered fields around a fortified citadel, recording their words about the human situation in a widely-accessible alphabetic script.” With a keen eye for both comparisons and contrasts, John Pairman Brown investigates relationships between ancient Israel and Greece. In this intriguing and engaging work, he addresses historical, religious, linguistic, and cultural connections between these Mediterranean cultures. With erudition and humility, the author illuminates both Israelite and Greek writings and cultures. He brings a vast knowledge of the ancient Mediterranean and its languages to these studies, which will startle and entice the reader back to the ancient texts.

“These comparative analyses are informed by discussions of an impressive array of Mediterranean and Near Eastern texts . . . Brown moves beyond lexical and etymological discussions to address parallels of genre and metaphor, elucidating a common conceptual world through elaborations of the figurative and formal uses of terms. In these studies, remarkable for their depth and comprehensiveness, Brown reveals the Mediterranean world to be a rich resource for the study of the Hebrew Bible.”

“The roots of western civilization lie in both Athens and Jerusalem, and the contrast which is usually drawn between them must, and certainly so in the light of the research behind this book, be balanced by an informed appreciation of their essential links.”

“Brown’s book is all the more useful as a reference work because it has tended to include rather than exclude possible connections. . . . there is already evidence for more contact between Israel and Hellas in ancient times than we tend to recognize.”