How was the world of nature regarded by the people who inhabited the world of the Bible? What role did nature play in ancient Israel, not only for the mundane tasks of providing the subsistence of daily life but also in fostering social environments that made for responsible living? How did the world of nature come to provide such an inexhaustible set of images that describe God and other spiritual realities? And what practical implications might be had for us as Bible readers today, whether we live in the same land as did ancient Israel, or elsewhere? Though separated from the world of the Bible in time and, for many of us, also in place, a focused study of the ecology of the Bible can help restore that world to life. The Book of Life deserves no less.