How Repentance Became Biblical explores the rise of repentance as a concept within early forms of Judaism and Christianity and how it has informed the interpretation of the Hebrew Bible, or Old Testament. It develops alternative accounts for many of the ancient phenomena identified as penitential.

David Lambert is an associate professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he teaches courses on the Hebrew Bible and its history of interpretation. He received his undergraduate and graduate training at Harvard University in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations.

Preface
Introduction: The Penitential Lens

Part I - Rites
1. Fasting and the Artistry of Distress
2. The Logic of Appeal
3. Articulating Sin
Part II - Language and Pedagogy
4. A Material (Re)turn to YHWH
5. Power and the Prophetic Utterance
Part III - Religion
6. Agency and Redemption
7. The Genealogy of Repentance
Postscript