The city is an ambiguous symbol in the Bible. The founder of the first city is the murderer, Cain. The city of Jerusalem is the place chosen by God, yet is also a place of wrong-doing and injustice. Jesus seems to have largely avoided cities except Jerusalem, where he was crucified. 'The City in Biblical Perspective' examines the archaeological and social background of the urban biblical world and explores the implications of the deliberate ambiguities in the biblical text. The book aims to deepen our understanding of both the biblical and the contemporary city by asking how the Bible's complex understanding of the city can illuminate our own ever more urban time.

Explores the archaeological and social backgrounds to cities in the biblical world and draws out the implications of the deliberate ambiguities in the biblical text. This book asks whether and how the Bible can provide resources for the city, in a world in which the majority of earth's burgeoning population is located in cities.