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By Lawrence Boadt Reading the Old Testament: An Introduction [Paperback]
It is designed to guide the student of the Bible through the text and its problems, enrich their under-standing of the individual biblical books, and explore the way the Bible came to be written.
Paperback
First published January 1, 1984
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About the author
Lawrence Boadt
35 books3 followersLawrence Edward Boadt, C.S.P. (October 26, 1942 – July 24, 2010), was an American Paulist priest and Biblical scholar, who advocated on behalf of improved communication and understanding between Christians and Jews.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
March 6, 2012
While this was written as a textbook, it is remarkably free of academic cant, and is actually readable. There are times when just a bit more detail would have been useful, such as when the discussion of the Geography of Israel didn't make a point of mentioning that the Northern kingdom's lands were much more fertile than the Southern kingdom's lands, which partly accounts for the different trajectories of the two nations. Also, the discussion of the O.T. Canon is too simplistic: it mentions the Hebrew Scriptures, the Catholic Canon, and the Protestant Canon, but makes no mention of the Orthodox Canon. It also doesn't mention that while there is a single canon of Hebrew Scriptures in use today, that particular canon hadn't been closed in Jesus' day, and in fact there were multiple canons: the Saducees (and the Samaritans) used the Torah alone; the Pharisees used the Law and the Prophets, but not the Writings; the Essenes had a much larger canon; and the Diaspora (like the early Christian Church) used the Septuagint, which existed as a widely variant collection of writings. Perhaps I quibble too much; this is an introduction, after all. But an introduction should at least make mention of variant views, even if for reasons of space it cannot explore them. Some reviewers have downgraded this book for its embrace of higher criticism, but there is a difference between using higher criticism as a methodology, and embrace of higher criticism and its conclusions---this book does the first. Still, as a general introduction to the Old Testament and modern scholarship about same, this is a fine work, and highly recommended.
December 7, 2022
Read this along with my reading of the Old Testament in 2022. A very nice supplement to my reading.
October 8, 2025
If the reader happens to be anything like the present recensionist, his recollections of Sunday school lessons will be fragmentary, at best. Great art and literature of the kind an educated person can scarcely fail to know about will indeed supply a store of memorable stories from scripture, but hardly a systematic view of the sprawling corpus of Old Testament literature, much less an intelligent appropriation of its complex system of thought, which unfolds gradually in stages ranging from age-old orally transmitted anecdotes concerning the patriarchs to the psalms of David, the histories of the Deuteronomist and the strange and opaque cultic regulations of the Priestly redactors, to name just a few highlights. What is more, the text as we have it interleaves without comment the contributions from all these variegated sources, rendering it all but impossible for the casual reader to follow the narrative while keeping in mind the respective points of view of the differing strands of tradition.
Thus, if dissatisfied with a superficial knowledge of the OT (such as proves to be the norm nowadays), the contemporary reader seeking more than a perfunctory overview will want to enlist the services of an expert guide. Among currently popular offerings, Lawrence Boadt’s Reading the Old Testament: An Introduction (Paulist Press, 1984) stands out for its comprehensiveness and ability to integrate the perspectives of a wide span of disciplines, from archaeology to textual criticism. The author earned his doctorate in Biblical Studies and Near Eastern Languages from the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, then taught as a professor at the Washington Theological Union in Washington, DC, and is certainly qualified to write a book having the aimed-for scope.
Right off the bat, Boadt’s prose comes across as a bit simplistic in tone. Addressed perhaps to college freshmen? See, for example, the study questions with which the chapter ends are outfitted. Therefore, skim quickly through the apologetical parts (determined by post-Holocaust Jewish-Christian relations, citing the obligatory Pius XII encyclical or Vatican II documents). Even the auxiliary statements on the role of faith in life or on the reception of the OT by the NT come across as too basic for a mature reader, amounting to mere truisms, if not altogether trite. Throughout, Boadt does offer a lot of historical context, but not particularly close readings of the minor prophets or even, surprisingly of Isaiah, though Jeremiah and Ezekiel are treated in full. The going gets better once Boadt descends into details in the main part of the work (from Genesis onwards, following an initial archaeological sketch of the peoples and lands encountered in the OT and a lightning overview of the tools of literary criticism). Plus, the concluding chapter on themes of OT theology is resoundingly excellent.
Perhaps one could say that the subject matter of the present work consists in OT religion proper, if not so much theology. To answer the question who is God?, as far as we can tell from what he has revealed of himself through his providential intervention in the history of Israel, would indeed be a theological theme, but one left unpursued here in the technical sense many readers may be familiar with from Latin scholasticism. Thus, no discussion of divine attributes such as omniscience, omnipotence, aseity etc. What matters far more to the witness of the OT would be God’s decision to enter into a covenantal relationship with Israel, his exalted stature transcending the world of his creation (unlike the Canaanite divinities, who are better viewed as personifications of natural forces), the sublime morality to which God summons us and, not least, the intricate manner in which God responds to Israel’s unfaithfulness through a studied combination of wrath and forgiveness, leading to the founding of the post-Exilic community and the beginnings of Judaism as we know it today, viz., the milieu of the NT.
Everything Boadt covers is necessary, therefore, to a just assessment of the OT, in all its monumentality. Yet not entirely sufficient, this recensionist would contend. Certainly, a knowledge of the OT literature at the elementary level of Boadt is indispensable. But one will not find here any philological analysis of the divine names, for instance. For those wishing to delve further, let us suggest two standard works which we intend to review before long: Walther Eichrodt’s incomparable classic, Theology of the Old Testament in two volumes (English translation published by the Westminster Press, 1957 resp. 1967) and the Oxford History of the Biblical World, edited by Michael D. Coogan (Oxford University Press, 1998). Both named works are executed at a uniformly high level of scholarship and maintain a certain professional standard—unlike Boadt, they will not condescend to the reader with simplistic remarks on the role of religious faith in life!
Aside, in contrast with the Oxford handbook, though, does the religious orientation of the author of the present introduction to the OT make any difference? Now, Boadt evinces a somewhat relaxed take on the question as to the historicity of scripture, see for instance what he has to say about Jonah or Daniel’s errors if taken strictly. Hence, unlike the contributors to the Oxford handbook, he avoids becoming fixated on ‘proving the Bible wrong’. The religious message of the OT is what concerns him, not irrelevant minutiae.
To someone who is himself already educated at the college level or beyond: is it worth spending several hours to get through the 551 pages of this book? Or should one jump directly to Eichrodt? The answer depends on whether one has already taken college-level courses, say, on archaeology, ancient history, literary criticism etc. Given the diversion from liberal arts to STEM disciplines typical of the emphasis at today’s institutions of higher learning, one may well expect that there will be many young people who could avail themselves profitably of a very elementary review of things thereby omitted in their curriculum, such as Boadt here dutifully provides. Now this recensionist favors the spiral approach to learning. Hence, even someone with pretensions to a liberal-arts education could also benefit from Boadt’s introductory standpoint: skim through the early methodological chapters (everything in which will be familiar) and focus on the content of the later chapters so as to extract the kernel of the author’s usually clear statements on topical issues, for instance, on the changes prophecy underwent during the Babylonian Exile and its aftermath. But always bear in mind that there is another, more sophisticated manner of handling the same material. For Boadt tends to limit himself to the indicative, i.e., to his own rounded summary of what he judges must have happened, whereas a seasoned scholar like Eichrodt will venture into an erudite exploration of counterfactuals in an effort to pin down more precisely not only what may have taken place or what the scriptural authors may have intended, but also why developments unfolded as they did and how we, as modern exegetes, can determine this with some degree of assurance. Somewhat like the difference between a high-school physics manual, on the one hand, which may simply quote (say) the formula for the moment of inertia of a triaxial ellipsoid, and, on the other hand, a college-level textbook in classical mechanics, which will teach the student how to derive the relevant formula and to appreciate what role this and surrounding formulae play in building up our knowledge of the natural world.
Thus, if dissatisfied with a superficial knowledge of the OT (such as proves to be the norm nowadays), the contemporary reader seeking more than a perfunctory overview will want to enlist the services of an expert guide. Among currently popular offerings, Lawrence Boadt’s Reading the Old Testament: An Introduction (Paulist Press, 1984) stands out for its comprehensiveness and ability to integrate the perspectives of a wide span of disciplines, from archaeology to textual criticism. The author earned his doctorate in Biblical Studies and Near Eastern Languages from the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, then taught as a professor at the Washington Theological Union in Washington, DC, and is certainly qualified to write a book having the aimed-for scope.
Right off the bat, Boadt’s prose comes across as a bit simplistic in tone. Addressed perhaps to college freshmen? See, for example, the study questions with which the chapter ends are outfitted. Therefore, skim quickly through the apologetical parts (determined by post-Holocaust Jewish-Christian relations, citing the obligatory Pius XII encyclical or Vatican II documents). Even the auxiliary statements on the role of faith in life or on the reception of the OT by the NT come across as too basic for a mature reader, amounting to mere truisms, if not altogether trite. Throughout, Boadt does offer a lot of historical context, but not particularly close readings of the minor prophets or even, surprisingly of Isaiah, though Jeremiah and Ezekiel are treated in full. The going gets better once Boadt descends into details in the main part of the work (from Genesis onwards, following an initial archaeological sketch of the peoples and lands encountered in the OT and a lightning overview of the tools of literary criticism). Plus, the concluding chapter on themes of OT theology is resoundingly excellent.
Perhaps one could say that the subject matter of the present work consists in OT religion proper, if not so much theology. To answer the question who is God?, as far as we can tell from what he has revealed of himself through his providential intervention in the history of Israel, would indeed be a theological theme, but one left unpursued here in the technical sense many readers may be familiar with from Latin scholasticism. Thus, no discussion of divine attributes such as omniscience, omnipotence, aseity etc. What matters far more to the witness of the OT would be God’s decision to enter into a covenantal relationship with Israel, his exalted stature transcending the world of his creation (unlike the Canaanite divinities, who are better viewed as personifications of natural forces), the sublime morality to which God summons us and, not least, the intricate manner in which God responds to Israel’s unfaithfulness through a studied combination of wrath and forgiveness, leading to the founding of the post-Exilic community and the beginnings of Judaism as we know it today, viz., the milieu of the NT.
Everything Boadt covers is necessary, therefore, to a just assessment of the OT, in all its monumentality. Yet not entirely sufficient, this recensionist would contend. Certainly, a knowledge of the OT literature at the elementary level of Boadt is indispensable. But one will not find here any philological analysis of the divine names, for instance. For those wishing to delve further, let us suggest two standard works which we intend to review before long: Walther Eichrodt’s incomparable classic, Theology of the Old Testament in two volumes (English translation published by the Westminster Press, 1957 resp. 1967) and the Oxford History of the Biblical World, edited by Michael D. Coogan (Oxford University Press, 1998). Both named works are executed at a uniformly high level of scholarship and maintain a certain professional standard—unlike Boadt, they will not condescend to the reader with simplistic remarks on the role of religious faith in life!
Aside, in contrast with the Oxford handbook, though, does the religious orientation of the author of the present introduction to the OT make any difference? Now, Boadt evinces a somewhat relaxed take on the question as to the historicity of scripture, see for instance what he has to say about Jonah or Daniel’s errors if taken strictly. Hence, unlike the contributors to the Oxford handbook, he avoids becoming fixated on ‘proving the Bible wrong’. The religious message of the OT is what concerns him, not irrelevant minutiae.
To someone who is himself already educated at the college level or beyond: is it worth spending several hours to get through the 551 pages of this book? Or should one jump directly to Eichrodt? The answer depends on whether one has already taken college-level courses, say, on archaeology, ancient history, literary criticism etc. Given the diversion from liberal arts to STEM disciplines typical of the emphasis at today’s institutions of higher learning, one may well expect that there will be many young people who could avail themselves profitably of a very elementary review of things thereby omitted in their curriculum, such as Boadt here dutifully provides. Now this recensionist favors the spiral approach to learning. Hence, even someone with pretensions to a liberal-arts education could also benefit from Boadt’s introductory standpoint: skim through the early methodological chapters (everything in which will be familiar) and focus on the content of the later chapters so as to extract the kernel of the author’s usually clear statements on topical issues, for instance, on the changes prophecy underwent during the Babylonian Exile and its aftermath. But always bear in mind that there is another, more sophisticated manner of handling the same material. For Boadt tends to limit himself to the indicative, i.e., to his own rounded summary of what he judges must have happened, whereas a seasoned scholar like Eichrodt will venture into an erudite exploration of counterfactuals in an effort to pin down more precisely not only what may have taken place or what the scriptural authors may have intended, but also why developments unfolded as they did and how we, as modern exegetes, can determine this with some degree of assurance. Somewhat like the difference between a high-school physics manual, on the one hand, which may simply quote (say) the formula for the moment of inertia of a triaxial ellipsoid, and, on the other hand, a college-level textbook in classical mechanics, which will teach the student how to derive the relevant formula and to appreciate what role this and surrounding formulae play in building up our knowledge of the natural world.
January 3, 2016
Picked back up to support Biblical School classes...
August 25, 2014
This was the best book on the Old Testament I've ever read!
December 9, 2015
I didn't actually finish this.
August 2, 2023
a helpful tool when researching and writing about old testament literature- will probably also use in my personal quiet time. boadt is easy to read and understand and breaks down the more complicated aspects of the old testament in profound ways
October 29, 2023
A very good introduction to the Old Testament
After reading the entire book the reader will acquire a completely different perspective about the books belonging to the Old Testament. I have been a christian for many years and I always look to the books as sacred, with everything meticulously arranged and and everything in sync. Well, simple questions such as “who wrote this book with all this events so detailed?”, are clarified during the reading, with details with dates, places, even questions and alternate writers.
If you want to become more serious in your faith and dive deep in theology, you can surely start with this book.
For sure I will return to it in the future as a reference and refresher on the Old Testament.
After reading the entire book the reader will acquire a completely different perspective about the books belonging to the Old Testament. I have been a christian for many years and I always look to the books as sacred, with everything meticulously arranged and and everything in sync. Well, simple questions such as “who wrote this book with all this events so detailed?”, are clarified during the reading, with details with dates, places, even questions and alternate writers.
If you want to become more serious in your faith and dive deep in theology, you can surely start with this book.
For sure I will return to it in the future as a reference and refresher on the Old Testament.
January 15, 2015
After reading Raymond Brown's Introduction to the New Testament last year, I wanted to read a similar book on the Old Testament, I ended up selecting this one. This book doesn't get into near the depth of Brown's book but at the same time it covers three times the amount of biblical texts but is only half as long. I found this book to be very well written and fascinating, but its quite different from the evangelical introduction that I've previously read. Overall though it was exactly what I was looking for. Based on this book and Brown's book, I'm surprised at how different these two Catholic scholars approach scripture from what I'm used to, they both seem very high up on critical scholarship and aren't afraid to doubt the validly of certain scriptures, but at the same time appear to keep their faith in Christ.
Even though this book is large it covers a lot of material, so for many subjects expect a great overview but not much depth. Also for the most part expect to only be presented certain scholarly views as fact and not have any dialog with other views. I think both of these things are fine, otherwise the book would have had to be much larger and it might have broken up the pace. This leads me to my biggest complaints, the bibliography is pretty weak and references to sources is non existent. My other complaint is that this book is over 25 years old and I'm sure scholarship has changed over that time. I'll have to look for a more up to date book later.
Those complaints aside, this book is exactly what I think a Old Testament Introduction should be (as long as you remember its more critical scholarship than evangelical). It covers the Ancient Near East, the geography of the land, daily life, cult and worship in Israel, textual criticism, archeology and tell digs. It introduces the different books of the bible, talks about the different type of Psalms and literature and places the books in their proper context, this is especially useful and informative when you get to the prophetic books which can be confusing if you don't know the background. I found extremely interesting the discussions of the Assyrian, Babylon and Greek empires and the pressure they put on the Jews.
Now when I say this book uses critical scholarship what I mean is expect lots of references to the JEPD editors of the Pentateuch (where Moses didn't write the Torah, but it was a series of 4 different editors who compiled stories). He points out obvious story reuses, and contradictions. He has comparisons from the creation account to the other creation stories in the ANE and doesn't accept a young earth. I don't think he believes the exodus account (at least not to the extent of 600,000 men, plus women and children in the desert for 40 years). He also believes Isaiah was written by 3 different sources. There are other examples I could give, but this should give an idea of some of the non evangelical views he holds. Of course at the same time he appears to have reverence for Jesus and does believe that Jesus is the son of God. Overall this book was highly informative and if you don't mind having your belief in the inerrancy of the Old Testament challenged (although maybe its still inspired), then this book is highly recommended.
Even though this book is large it covers a lot of material, so for many subjects expect a great overview but not much depth. Also for the most part expect to only be presented certain scholarly views as fact and not have any dialog with other views. I think both of these things are fine, otherwise the book would have had to be much larger and it might have broken up the pace. This leads me to my biggest complaints, the bibliography is pretty weak and references to sources is non existent. My other complaint is that this book is over 25 years old and I'm sure scholarship has changed over that time. I'll have to look for a more up to date book later.
Those complaints aside, this book is exactly what I think a Old Testament Introduction should be (as long as you remember its more critical scholarship than evangelical). It covers the Ancient Near East, the geography of the land, daily life, cult and worship in Israel, textual criticism, archeology and tell digs. It introduces the different books of the bible, talks about the different type of Psalms and literature and places the books in their proper context, this is especially useful and informative when you get to the prophetic books which can be confusing if you don't know the background. I found extremely interesting the discussions of the Assyrian, Babylon and Greek empires and the pressure they put on the Jews.
Now when I say this book uses critical scholarship what I mean is expect lots of references to the JEPD editors of the Pentateuch (where Moses didn't write the Torah, but it was a series of 4 different editors who compiled stories). He points out obvious story reuses, and contradictions. He has comparisons from the creation account to the other creation stories in the ANE and doesn't accept a young earth. I don't think he believes the exodus account (at least not to the extent of 600,000 men, plus women and children in the desert for 40 years). He also believes Isaiah was written by 3 different sources. There are other examples I could give, but this should give an idea of some of the non evangelical views he holds. Of course at the same time he appears to have reverence for Jesus and does believe that Jesus is the son of God. Overall this book was highly informative and if you don't mind having your belief in the inerrancy of the Old Testament challenged (although maybe its still inspired), then this book is highly recommended.
May 29, 2023
Hardly a book I would recommend to anyone trying to grow in the faith. This book seems to do its very best to overturn faith! Written in 1984, it seems to spearhead the view that scripture writings are not at all inspired by the Holy Spirit, but written entirely by man and points out several, what he thinks, are inconsistencies and contradictions. We are going to go through several examples here and prove how actually little this man knows holy writ. It is truly sad to see this kind of thinking predominant in faith based circles today, even to, what most would consider, the highest levels or minds. But before we begin with a heavy and lengthy criticism of so man of the flaws of this book, let's go into why it is still relevant and valuable to us today:
PROS
The historical references alone are worth the price of this book. Boadt not only makes a long list of historic timeline tables, but also includes non-Israelite corresponding archaeological evidence to virtually EVERY major century of Israel history since its founding. Finds that prove many of the figures/characters in the biblical account of Israel and Judah's rulers were real persons and so were the allies or adversaries it goes into detail to describe. The tables are wonderful references and the input of the archaeological evidence is very interesting and educating.
CONS
*says Abram lied about his brother/sister relationship to Sarai, his wife. This is untrue, since Sarai/Sarah was born from the same father, but not the same mother. He calls the patriarch a liar without flinching (pg81-82).
*Says Solomon was the last of his brothers (the youngest) in pg 100. Nathan is his younger brother, to say nothing of the remaining princes not born from Bathsheba.
*on pg 182 repeatedly attempts to de-mythologize the scriptures by saying the thunder from the mountain when God speaks to the Israelites was not thunder, but a rams horn. Doubts completely that the exodus included over 1 million Jews from Egypt and says it was more likely several hundred. He speaks of a patriarchal society but fails to mention even once laws of inheritance and marriage rights for women, some of the first ever seen in the world.
*Does not reconcile how Joshua can be attributed a victory that is won by a tribal leader during his campaign pg 205. In our own histories a victory for Patton was a victory claimed also by Eisenhower. Such an 'inconsistency' is easily cleared up with even contemporary examples.
*In pg 207 he says Simeon is not accounted for or listed with the 12, but Joseph is listed along with Ephraim & Manasseh=13, not 12. And Simeon certainly is there, as the 'help of Judah against his foes', since it was Simeon that allied with Judah to overcome some battles in this area. Yet, even then, Simeon may have been entirely integrated into Judah that Moses failed to mention him when he was shown the promised land from a distance before his death.
*pg232 slanders David and attributes so much ill will to many things that are unfortunate, but not his fault. Boadt goes so far as to say David schemes against Saul to cause his untimely death in battle! Wow. This is the same David who had several opportunities to kill Saul to win the kingship, but refused every single one to act righteously instead. The complete opposite. The greatest and possibly only flaw was the affair of Uriah's wife, for which he paid back with the kingship being given to Bathsheba's son, Solomon.
*pg243 2B says, erroneously, that kings sons were made priests. Fails to mention a single example. The truth is that the line of Levi and Judah became often mixed throughout the time. For example, Joash was the nephew by law of the high priest Jehoiada (2 Chronicles 22-23). The same happens when Mary, mother of God, of the tribe of Levi and a descendant of Aaron, was married to Joseph of the tribe of Judah. So Jesus was, by law, of the royal line, but by blood from the Aaronic priesthood line.
*pg 246 calls the Rechabites 'extremists'!? What? lol Also, what hair cutting? Where is it written that they were Nazarites?
*pg264 Doesn't explain what the punishment for murdering a slave is or why it is less! A misreading of Exodus 21:20-21. No where is it stated WHAT the punishment is here. This is an error by the author who misrepresents the Law, which clearly backs up Genesis 9:6, which states that Leviticus 24:17 or Exodus 21:12. Read it and see. The Law is perfect and without flaw.
*pg 273-274 Description of sacrifices and labeling them by four "levels" shows an overly simplistic view and poor understanding of them.
*pg275 Says the regulation for annual pilgrimage to the temple was late--yet admits just a few pages prior that Jeroboam built the calf idols of Bethel and Dan to prevent this.
*pg278 Casts shade and doubt on the Aaronic bloodline of Zadok!, which is found in Chronicles 24:3. Greatly misunderstands the sacrifices of the king vs those made by the priest. Mechizedek is not a precedent to Israel but the Christ, who was both king AND priest, born of the Levitical line, but lawfully raised by Joseph, who was from Judah.
*pg399 2Dd (second paragraph, third sentence, third part of) tries to establish a pattern of 3 sons born of Noah, Terah, Aaron. But Aaron has four sons, not three. This is not a minor mistake.
*pg 508 Claims Daniel was written AFTER the 70 AD destruction of the temple, yet admits (pg526) that copies of Daniel were found in the Qumran caves of the Essenes on the Dead Sea.
*casts doubt on ancestries of Xerxes, Darius, and Cyrus, as presented by Daniel--but bloodlines have always been riddled with errors--or more plainly--marital unfaithfulness. For instance, in Daniel 5:11 you hear Belteshazzar's mother repeat information of his father. This small detail will go unnoticed to many, but if you only read the ancestry of the tribes you will notice there are many scandalous things present in them. This is not something new to humanity, nor, I think, will it ever be old.. Cyrus as the founder of the Persians can never discount his own origins from Median.
*pg550 4A Afterlife-- Says afterlife was not mentioned until Daniel. One need only read into the Law concerning God's "Rest" and so many details of The Lord's words given to the patriarchs, Moses and Aaron the moment of their death, and that they would be "gathered to their people". To whom will they be gathered to, if they were at that present time already found within the mass of their 'people'? It really doesn't take a PhD to have a heart to see these things rightly, but so many people are so eager to abandon faith and trust and belief for "reason", that they completely undermine their hopes for what they themselves believe:
That is it easier for me to believe that God created the heavens and the earth in six days, deluged the entire world to the tops of the mountains, split a sea so a people can walk through on dry land and fed over a million people in the dessert for over 40 years with bread from heaven, than it is for me to believe that a man was brutally tortured and murdered on a cross but who resurrected on the third day and is still alive today out there somewhere.
If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.
PROS
The historical references alone are worth the price of this book. Boadt not only makes a long list of historic timeline tables, but also includes non-Israelite corresponding archaeological evidence to virtually EVERY major century of Israel history since its founding. Finds that prove many of the figures/characters in the biblical account of Israel and Judah's rulers were real persons and so were the allies or adversaries it goes into detail to describe. The tables are wonderful references and the input of the archaeological evidence is very interesting and educating.
CONS
*says Abram lied about his brother/sister relationship to Sarai, his wife. This is untrue, since Sarai/Sarah was born from the same father, but not the same mother. He calls the patriarch a liar without flinching (pg81-82).
*Says Solomon was the last of his brothers (the youngest) in pg 100. Nathan is his younger brother, to say nothing of the remaining princes not born from Bathsheba.
*on pg 182 repeatedly attempts to de-mythologize the scriptures by saying the thunder from the mountain when God speaks to the Israelites was not thunder, but a rams horn. Doubts completely that the exodus included over 1 million Jews from Egypt and says it was more likely several hundred. He speaks of a patriarchal society but fails to mention even once laws of inheritance and marriage rights for women, some of the first ever seen in the world.
*Does not reconcile how Joshua can be attributed a victory that is won by a tribal leader during his campaign pg 205. In our own histories a victory for Patton was a victory claimed also by Eisenhower. Such an 'inconsistency' is easily cleared up with even contemporary examples.
*In pg 207 he says Simeon is not accounted for or listed with the 12, but Joseph is listed along with Ephraim & Manasseh=13, not 12. And Simeon certainly is there, as the 'help of Judah against his foes', since it was Simeon that allied with Judah to overcome some battles in this area. Yet, even then, Simeon may have been entirely integrated into Judah that Moses failed to mention him when he was shown the promised land from a distance before his death.
*pg232 slanders David and attributes so much ill will to many things that are unfortunate, but not his fault. Boadt goes so far as to say David schemes against Saul to cause his untimely death in battle! Wow. This is the same David who had several opportunities to kill Saul to win the kingship, but refused every single one to act righteously instead. The complete opposite. The greatest and possibly only flaw was the affair of Uriah's wife, for which he paid back with the kingship being given to Bathsheba's son, Solomon.
*pg243 2B says, erroneously, that kings sons were made priests. Fails to mention a single example. The truth is that the line of Levi and Judah became often mixed throughout the time. For example, Joash was the nephew by law of the high priest Jehoiada (2 Chronicles 22-23). The same happens when Mary, mother of God, of the tribe of Levi and a descendant of Aaron, was married to Joseph of the tribe of Judah. So Jesus was, by law, of the royal line, but by blood from the Aaronic priesthood line.
*pg 246 calls the Rechabites 'extremists'!? What? lol Also, what hair cutting? Where is it written that they were Nazarites?
*pg264 Doesn't explain what the punishment for murdering a slave is or why it is less! A misreading of Exodus 21:20-21. No where is it stated WHAT the punishment is here. This is an error by the author who misrepresents the Law, which clearly backs up Genesis 9:6, which states that Leviticus 24:17 or Exodus 21:12. Read it and see. The Law is perfect and without flaw.
*pg 273-274 Description of sacrifices and labeling them by four "levels" shows an overly simplistic view and poor understanding of them.
*pg275 Says the regulation for annual pilgrimage to the temple was late--yet admits just a few pages prior that Jeroboam built the calf idols of Bethel and Dan to prevent this.
*pg278 Casts shade and doubt on the Aaronic bloodline of Zadok!, which is found in Chronicles 24:3. Greatly misunderstands the sacrifices of the king vs those made by the priest. Mechizedek is not a precedent to Israel but the Christ, who was both king AND priest, born of the Levitical line, but lawfully raised by Joseph, who was from Judah.
*pg399 2Dd (second paragraph, third sentence, third part of) tries to establish a pattern of 3 sons born of Noah, Terah, Aaron. But Aaron has four sons, not three. This is not a minor mistake.
*pg 508 Claims Daniel was written AFTER the 70 AD destruction of the temple, yet admits (pg526) that copies of Daniel were found in the Qumran caves of the Essenes on the Dead Sea.
*casts doubt on ancestries of Xerxes, Darius, and Cyrus, as presented by Daniel--but bloodlines have always been riddled with errors--or more plainly--marital unfaithfulness. For instance, in Daniel 5:11 you hear Belteshazzar's mother repeat information of his father. This small detail will go unnoticed to many, but if you only read the ancestry of the tribes you will notice there are many scandalous things present in them. This is not something new to humanity, nor, I think, will it ever be old.. Cyrus as the founder of the Persians can never discount his own origins from Median.
*pg550 4A Afterlife-- Says afterlife was not mentioned until Daniel. One need only read into the Law concerning God's "Rest" and so many details of The Lord's words given to the patriarchs, Moses and Aaron the moment of their death, and that they would be "gathered to their people". To whom will they be gathered to, if they were at that present time already found within the mass of their 'people'? It really doesn't take a PhD to have a heart to see these things rightly, but so many people are so eager to abandon faith and trust and belief for "reason", that they completely undermine their hopes for what they themselves believe:
That is it easier for me to believe that God created the heavens and the earth in six days, deluged the entire world to the tops of the mountains, split a sea so a people can walk through on dry land and fed over a million people in the dessert for over 40 years with bread from heaven, than it is for me to believe that a man was brutally tortured and murdered on a cross but who resurrected on the third day and is still alive today out there somewhere.
If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.
May 5, 2010
Reading the Old Testament: An Introduction (1984), Lawrence Boadt
I'm not going to lie. The last half of this book was as daunting as it was the first time around. Almost 7 years ago, I was quizzed on this 576 page bohemoth and the outcome was a C average. This time around is received more attention and more understanding that the first, but it was still a lot of consume.
Lawrence Boadt does a great job at presenting the methods used to understand the ancient cultures identified in the Old Testament as well as our strategies to explore its claims. I found the scientific methods very interesting as the tactics of several modern sciences were explained. An appreciation of the work performed by archaeologists and historians laid the groundwork for the findings presented in the subsequent chapters.
Although there are times I felt the author put his two cents into what is mostly a presentation of cumulative research, Reading the Old Testament: An Introduction presses you to consider the cultural climates in which these ancient texts were written and by whom. The first few chapters challenged me to see God through the eyes of those early civilizations, and consider how the perception of the authors may have influenced their writing. All in all this book serves as a historical introduction to the Bible and the origins of the Abrahamic religions with historical emphasized. I would caution most readers to the length of the text and what could be miscontrued as data that inadvertedly supposes errant texts.
Perhaps I'll pick it back up at some point and revisit those last few chapters that were glossed over.
I'm not going to lie. The last half of this book was as daunting as it was the first time around. Almost 7 years ago, I was quizzed on this 576 page bohemoth and the outcome was a C average. This time around is received more attention and more understanding that the first, but it was still a lot of consume.
Lawrence Boadt does a great job at presenting the methods used to understand the ancient cultures identified in the Old Testament as well as our strategies to explore its claims. I found the scientific methods very interesting as the tactics of several modern sciences were explained. An appreciation of the work performed by archaeologists and historians laid the groundwork for the findings presented in the subsequent chapters.
Although there are times I felt the author put his two cents into what is mostly a presentation of cumulative research, Reading the Old Testament: An Introduction presses you to consider the cultural climates in which these ancient texts were written and by whom. The first few chapters challenged me to see God through the eyes of those early civilizations, and consider how the perception of the authors may have influenced their writing. All in all this book serves as a historical introduction to the Bible and the origins of the Abrahamic religions with historical emphasized. I would caution most readers to the length of the text and what could be miscontrued as data that inadvertedly supposes errant texts.
Perhaps I'll pick it back up at some point and revisit those last few chapters that were glossed over.
December 15, 2017
A very readable introduction to the Old Testament and related scholarship
Few fields elicit as strong a bias as Olt Testament studies across the religious-political spectrum- Lawrence Boadt offers a very light introduction to Old Testament scholarship with this single volume book.
He writes from what Fr. Richard McBrien would describe as a liberal academic position (and on a few issues a conservative academic position). Overall the book is non-controversial and non-confrontational. The background information (the Canon and place of the OT in the Church) is from a Catholic perspective but is neither dogmatic nor apologetic. I particularly enjoyed the chapter on the People and the Land, which sets the stage for the Jewish Scriptures.
The book additionally gives a wonderful summary of Source Criticism (p.92-103), which is instrumental in understanding the Pentateuch. Then a brief outline of Form Criticism which has played a major role in curtailing various extravagenses in Source Criticism.
At 550 pages (excluding notes and bibliography), this is intended as a single volume textbook for the Old Testament. It works wonderfully well as such.
Few fields elicit as strong a bias as Olt Testament studies across the religious-political spectrum- Lawrence Boadt offers a very light introduction to Old Testament scholarship with this single volume book.
He writes from what Fr. Richard McBrien would describe as a liberal academic position (and on a few issues a conservative academic position). Overall the book is non-controversial and non-confrontational. The background information (the Canon and place of the OT in the Church) is from a Catholic perspective but is neither dogmatic nor apologetic. I particularly enjoyed the chapter on the People and the Land, which sets the stage for the Jewish Scriptures.
The book additionally gives a wonderful summary of Source Criticism (p.92-103), which is instrumental in understanding the Pentateuch. Then a brief outline of Form Criticism which has played a major role in curtailing various extravagenses in Source Criticism.
At 550 pages (excluding notes and bibliography), this is intended as a single volume textbook for the Old Testament. It works wonderfully well as such.
August 11, 2016
Written by a former professor at the seminary where I received an M.A. in Theology.
Our course on the Old Testament used the book for a text.
The narrative is clear. The arguments weigh the evidence that Biblical Studies involve. Boadt integrates the various types of modern criticism (Historical, Genre, Form, etc.) with concise outlines of each individual book or story.
Every important aspect of the Old Testament is described in pedagogical depth with relevant cultural information providing illumination of the important themes.
Boadt is in the ideological "center" of the Roman Catholic study of Holy writ, in the same category with, say, Raymond Brown or the New Jerome Biblical Commentary cohort.
The approach to the subject matter is written in a way that is interestingly accessible by the standard of ancient history.
Recommended for an introductory text. Helps when the reader is familiar with the actual books being discussed in the Bible.
Our course on the Old Testament used the book for a text.
The narrative is clear. The arguments weigh the evidence that Biblical Studies involve. Boadt integrates the various types of modern criticism (Historical, Genre, Form, etc.) with concise outlines of each individual book or story.
Every important aspect of the Old Testament is described in pedagogical depth with relevant cultural information providing illumination of the important themes.
Boadt is in the ideological "center" of the Roman Catholic study of Holy writ, in the same category with, say, Raymond Brown or the New Jerome Biblical Commentary cohort.
The approach to the subject matter is written in a way that is interestingly accessible by the standard of ancient history.
Recommended for an introductory text. Helps when the reader is familiar with the actual books being discussed in the Bible.
May 24, 2020
FINALLY I am done with this book. It was good, but it took me forever to read; it consistently sparked my interest but never really grabbed me. Oh well, I shouldn't be too critical of an introductory textbook on the Old Testament for not being exciting enough.
The content is shaped by the author's personality. As a (liberal-ish?) Catholic with a high regard for Judaism, he is determined that readers should experience these scriptures in their original Jewish context instead of trying to filter them too much through Christian theology.
This is a great source of information, but for as long and comprehensive as it is, it's very easy to read and light on references. I imagine that makes it more palatable for students, but in many cases I found myself wishing it would pile on the footnotes and get into thornier conceptual territory.
The content is shaped by the author's personality. As a (liberal-ish?) Catholic with a high regard for Judaism, he is determined that readers should experience these scriptures in their original Jewish context instead of trying to filter them too much through Christian theology.
This is a great source of information, but for as long and comprehensive as it is, it's very easy to read and light on references. I imagine that makes it more palatable for students, but in many cases I found myself wishing it would pile on the footnotes and get into thornier conceptual territory.
January 9, 2011
When I was in undergrad and starting to wrestle with the nature of the Bible, I happened upon the recently late Catholic scholar Lawrence Boadt’s Reading the Old Testament among the books my dad had accumulated for some theology courses he took when I was a youngster. Although in some need of a revision incorporating more recent critical scholarship, I still think this book holds up fairly well, not only as an introduction to the study of the Old Testament, but especially as a template for what an approach to the Bible looks like that takes its mind from honest biblical scholarship and its heart from within the “faith of our fathers, living still.”
June 16, 2010
Good historical study of the Old Testament, written as a text for a class Boadt may have taught about how to study the sources of the written document that becomes the Bible, from both oral and more ancient source material, archaelogical evidence, histories of other cultures that lived during pre-Bible times, as well as the problems associated with translations and the tools scholars have used to overcome them. Written with the respect of a believer, it follows the established theory of J, P, E, D, etc. Good reference book.
November 21, 2020
This is one of the very best books I have ever come across in reading about the bible. It is packed full of so much information and I learned so much for it. I recommend this book to every Christian out there as I feel this is a must read. I think it's important that everyone understand the historical context of their sacred texts. Those that I have recommended this to and finished reading it said it was very helpful and gave them a new understanding of the bible. I do warn you though--this is like a textbook--it can be rather dry so be prepared for a long read.
Want to read
June 16, 2013I read this book back in high school when I was a sophomore my youth pastor gave it to me to read I don't know how many times I read it and I still remember reading it on the school bus , it is my favorite book because it made me fall in love with ancient history and the bible and that love. has grown a lot since then. The book itself is sound scholarship and lovingly detailed. Will read it again
October 26, 2017
This is an excellent book chalk full of information on the sources behind the Old Testament. It discusses what is learned from archeological tells to the four primary sources of the Pentateuch. Broadt discusses every book, its origins and message. It is impossible to retain all this information so I know I will reread again carefully. I read this book kind of fast-paced for a course taught by a sister.
October 27, 2010
Great book to read and to help to understand more about this history of the ancient Near East and the types of people/tribes that are represented in the OT. Gives a more in depth understanding of the OT. You will learn more than you ever did in church by reading this book along with studying the OT.
August 19, 2009
Interesting read that reviews the Old Testament and also compares it to myths and legends of other ancient cultures. I did only read chapter 6, which is on Genesis 1 - 11, the topic for my current assignment.
October 21, 2010
A lengthy scholarly book that covers the archeology and anthropology of the world before the birth of Christ. He leads us through the development and thought of the Jewish and other pre-Christian peoples.
November 1, 2012
It's a tome, but I'm nearly finished. Lots of good information. Should be read with a couple of books with view the material in a different light. Some of Boadt's interpretations are open to debate. But I enjoyed the book. I think Boadt's writing is a little cumbersome for many readers, though.
August 18, 2007
I love history. This book will change the way you read the Bible.
January 6, 2011
A basic approach to the old testament without underestimating that the OT is primarily Hebrew and then Christians can put on their lens after understanding that context.
May 14, 2012
My understanding of scripture needed a lot of help, and I found a great source of that help in this book. Thanks, Clark.
September 14, 2013
Comprehensive, very detailed; great addition to one's library, especially if you will take future scripture classes.
August 17, 2013
Great book for OT study. Read it for a class (Level II Catechesis certificate). Great resource for future reference.
February 17, 2016
Another great book for understanding and diving into the Old Testament. The jews have an amazing history and understanding this history can make the Old Testament truly come to life.
April 13, 2017
This book has given me much more insight to the stories of the Old Testament
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