Survey of the Old Testament, A

by andrew-e-hill-john-h-walton

This college level textbook surveys the Old Testament by focusing its primary attention on the purpose and message of each book.

Genres: Theology, Christian, Reference, Old Testament, Biblical Studies, Nonfiction, Religion

461 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1991

Reviews

[Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another VST book I read all of just so I can put it on goodreads

[Christian Barrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

This resource by Hill and Walton is a great one for anybody looking for a brief introductive notes on the books of the Old Testament. Each chapter includes major themes and ideas presented in the specific book of the Bible being covered. What I found most helpful was the geographical and historical notes done in this piece. The dating and locating of events was amazing to see and I was encouraged by the amount of evidence for Old Testament work, which I was unaware of.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to this on Audible, and upon finishing it I plan to buy it next week. It’s a must have for your library. Offers great scholarship and a balanced view of the Old Testament. It would be a great textbook for a college class or Bible class

[Kelsey Sontag · Rating 4 out of 5]

I mean. It’s a textbook. No one can give a text book 5 stars. 😜 but I’m glad I read it. And have a more profound understanding of the OT because of it.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a great resource book. Detailed in the history of the Old Testament and their surrounding territories. I think it is a must if you are a seminary student. It will bring so much into light in understanding a people, a culture, and the ones around them.

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Introductory work on the OT. Good for a beginner religious studies course or a curious layperson.

[Erica Schrader · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this to be a helpful OT Survey.

[Tung · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found Carson & Moo’s Introduction to the New Testament a thorough and extensive informational text about the New Testament, and I was hoping for a similar experience in Hill & Walton’s survey text on the Old Testament. Unfortunately, that was not the case. I should have lowered my expectations given this was published by Zondervan. Zondervan is to Bible summaries what USA Today is to journalism – that’s a backhanded compliment, not a compliment. A la USA Today, Hill & Walton’s book is glossy-paged and full of pictures and sidebars, so it’s visually engaging. Its chapters are short and include helpful summaries of what to expect as main themes through each book of the OT. The prose is non-didactic. In short, the book tries very hard to dumb down the information to make the OT accessible. If that’s what you’re looking for, this book will meet your need. But for a graduate seminary course, it’s too rudimentary. It doesn’t give you the intellectual depth a graduate text should. As I wrote in a review of another Zondervan book, “This book is academically shallow, and doesn’t provide the theological depth needed for seminary papers. It’s a good resource for people who don’t know anything about the Bible, but not for those of us who leave the USA Today in the hallway when we stay at a hotel.

[Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, this survey is all right. It mainly consists of short surveys of each Old Testament book including discussions on author, background, and the main themes of each book. One aspect that is both a strength and a weakness is the "key ideas" section of each book. The key ideas are helpful for getting the major themes and concepts from each book, yet they are somewhat confusing because they are not always distinctive of a book.

[Joey · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a helpful resource, though I was annoyed by the allergy of the authors to talk about the importance of the historical claims of some of the more controversial parts of the Old Testament. The big picture of the Old Testament is very clear from this book.

[Kara of BookishBytes · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pleasant, faith-filled focus on the Old Testament. It is definitely as summary rather than an in-depth analysis.

[Jeremy Canipe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came to this college-level survey textbook of the Old Testament as an educated Christian who has fairly limited formal training on the Bible. I have read the Bible through each year for nearly a decade and taken some online/correspondence course and good classes offered through my church taught by pastors and college professors. My pastors also preach in an expository manner, so I am used to that sort of methodical approach to teaching and studying the Bible. I also do a reasonable amount of background study before I study any particular Bible book in depth.

I bring up these limits and strengths of my background to give some context to my review. I wouldn't otherwise bother with this information.

Dr. Hill and Dr. Walton are professors of the Old Testament at Wheaton College, a very high caliber and well-respected evangelical university founded by Christian abolitionists in 1860. Their credentials are impeccable.

Perhaps this book's greatest strength is in laying out the competing views of the authorship and historical reliability of the various books of the New Testament. One might note that those scholars who may not actually believe in any god, much less God as evangelical Christians believe has revealed himself in the Bible take a more skeptical approach that often assumes that there is no god and that thus there can be no Divine Author of the Bible. Hill and Walton do a fair job, in my view, to the degree that I would hope those who disbelieve would agree that their views are fairly and accurately explained.

The books also intermingles chapters important to the academic study of the Bible between chapters on the various Old Testament books. This includes regional history of the period, archeology, the apocrypha, and other topics which are important to gain a deeper understanding of the Bible.

In terms of covering the Old Testament itself, the book is organized along the same lines as the books of the Protestant Old Testament. Each section of books is discussed as a specific and distance type of literature and compared to similar yet distinct types of writings in other regional cultures. Each book in the group is discussed in terms of a useful outline of its contents and major themes. However, there is not a verse-by-verse exposition as we would find in a commentary.

All in all, the book was very useful, even if it cannot be said to be exciting in and of itself. I did find myself learning a good bit and will continue to use this book as a resource in my own Bible study.

[Caleb Hegg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great overview of each OT book. This book is perfect for anyone who is looking to study or teach through a book of the OT. The authors tend to give views from both conservative and liberal scholarship which helps the reader understand the various aspects of the text, theological issues, and the various ways scholars have dealt with them.
This book is not intended to be read straight through. It is a large book that took weeks for me to finish. With that said, it is a book that should be on every teacher, scholar, or serious student of the Bible. It is one that should be referenced and returned to by teachers and pastors any time they start an Old Testament book. Finally, this book gives a good amount of historical context which allows the reader to understand the backdrop of the books, therefore, informing the audience of the reason for the book and its message.

[Susan Janda · Rating 5 out of 5]

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[Josiah Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well made survey of the Old testament used for my Intro to OT 1 and 2 classes at SBTS. Walton has a fine grasp of the Ancient Near Eastern (ANE) thought - but there are several liberties taken for his hermeneutic, as I'm seeing so far in his "Lost World" series. ANE thought and literature can bring out previously unknown information concerning both geography and cultural practice. But the Sitz Im Leben provided from ANE literature does not necessarily apply to *all* of the Old testament. Hill provides a more complete thought in his contributions - as good as they are, Walton does have the corner on dynamic writing and the ability to make things understandable and interesting.

[Nzcgzmt · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Hebrew Bible is very hard for contemporary audience for its vast scope and antiquity of its history. I think a survey book is essential for people - not as a companion but something read upfront - so that one can have the necessary context. For this purpose, this is an excellent introductory book on the Hebrew Bible and Ancient Near Eastern history. Hill took a very balanced approach in presenting scholarship materials. Different schools of exegesis methodologies are both discussed in the first part of the book and in the appendix. The materials are also engaging for the most part, supplemented with graphs and pictures of historical artifacts.

[Mike Bright · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an textbook for an intro to the Old Testament class. It has several chapters framing the history, cultural context, and writing of the Old Testament. It goes through each book reviewing structure, literary style, brief content review, and major themes. It is written from a conservative perspective ("high view" of Scripture), but presents other views on authorship and dating for each book.

Technically, this is my daughter's book from when she took the course at Grove City College, and I am currently taking the same course and read this as prep. There were a few odd handwritten notes in the margins, but after almost 35 years with her, I'm not surprised.

[Noah Norris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a large book and I only recommend to serious students who have time to read a lot. I think that students could get a better idea of each OT book by reading commentaries on specific books. However, this is a survey book and its purpose is to provide an overview. Therefore, it does accomplish its purpose.

The authors are great and pointing out different possibilities for speculative ideas such as authorship of certain books. They are not quick to call something fact when there is not substantial evidence. Therefore, there is good balance from the writers.

[Adelaide · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to read it for my Intro to the OT class at Uni, and it’s exactly that; a good intro to the books of the OT. It gives good historical, cultural, and literary background/context to each of the books that form the Old Testament and provides a solid resource for understanding the basics of the Old Testamament.

[Dyllan Avery-Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for seminary classes. Super informative read. Gives you a lot of historical background information and clearly lays out the main ideas and themes of book which is super helpful. Really plays around with authorship of every book which was just at times overwhelming to me. Great resource if you are going to read an OT book.

[Dave Weiss · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book for a Master's level class and it was really great. I feel like I learned a lot. The book is clearly written, comprehensible and informative. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to gain a better understanding of the old Testament and God's Word in general.

[Troy Nevitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very helpful read for background information on the Old Testament. I liked the content of this one much better than it's New Testament counterpart, which was still a decently good book for learning. The questions in this one were more thought-provoking

[Antho2 · Rating 5 out of 5]

A highly informative and well-designed read. I enjoyed this class so much. The videos were a bit dry, but definitely brought further insight to the text. Looking forward to the New Testament accompaniment next term.

[Sean Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great overview and look of the Old Testament.

[John Rimmer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great survey.

[Stan Shelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to the audio which was very satisfactory. The author read it. It helped me get an overview of the Old Testament. Too often I study the trees but miss the forest.

[Chloé Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent reference text for people wanting to study the Old Testament.

[Chris Yeo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good

[Talon Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good survey. Great resource. I had 3rd edition

[Brian Park · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good overview of the Old Testament.