The Old Testament as Literature

Tremper Longman has studied and taught the Old Testament and its interpretation for four decades. Now, in a planned three-book project, he presents his mature thoughts on three ways of approaching the Old Testament text: as literature, as history, and as a source of theology.

This first volume explores the importance of reading the Old Testament as literature. Each culture tells its stories and writes its poems in different ways. To read and understand the Old Testament texts the way the ancient authors intended, we need to be aware of the conventions of Hebrew storytelling and poetry that they used. In part 1, dealing with literary theory, Longman investigates how texts create meaning, the history of the study of the Old Testament as literature, and how genre dictates reading strategy. He explores the Hebrew conventions for both narrative and poetry in conversation with contemporary literary approaches. Parts 2 and 3 delve into practice, using the tools gained in part 1 to analyze and interpret a variety of Old Testament narratives and poetry.

Longman's accessible writing and balanced judgments make this book suitable for the classroom and the church.

Introduction: Scope and Procedure
Part 1: Literary Theory and the Conventions of Biblical Narrative and Poetry
1. The Location of Meaning
2. History of the Study of the Old Testament as Literature
3. Genre Triggers Reading Strategy
4. Narrative Prose as Genre
5. Poetry as Genre
6. Intertextuality
Part 2: The Analysis of Illustrative Prose-Narrative Texts
7. Literary Readings of Prose Narratives from the Torah
8. Literary Readings of Prose Narratives from the Historical Books
Part 3: The Analysis of Illustrative Poetic Texts
9. Literary Readings of Poetic Texts from the Psalms
10. Literary Readings of Poetic Texts from Wisdom Literature
11. Literary Readings of Poetic Texts from the Prophets and Epic Poetry
Postlude: The Old Testament as Literature
Indexes