The Old Testament: Canon, History, and Literature

by Richard D. Nelson

Engaging and accessible to students from all backgrounds, this book is a comprehensive introduction to the Old Testament. It is designed to equip readers with the knowledge and skills needed to read, interpret, and benefit from the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible in their own context. Using scholarly consensus and current research with numerous examples, this book helps prepare students for further advanced courses related to exegesis, individual books, and special topics. It also provides a balanced approach to controversial areas in biblical scholarship such as violence, sexuality, and slavery.More importantly, this introduction understands the Old Testament as a resource for the human quest for meaning making it an essential tool for helping students appropriate this, often neglected, part of the Bible for their own faithful living.It includes at-a-glance sections to highlight matters of special interest- including material about important ancient Egyptian west Asian documents; significant archaeological excavations; a demonstration of textual criticism; problematic translation issues such as Gen 1:1, Isa 7:14, or Job 19:25; special problems such as the chronology of the kings and the dating of the second fall of Jerusalem.

350 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 15, 2019

About the author

Professor Emeritus of Biblical Hebrew and Old Testament Interpretation at Perkins School of Theology in Dallas, Texas. He is the author of The Historical Books (Abingdon), Deuteronomy: A Commentary (Westminster John Knox), and From Eden to Babel: An Adventure in Bible Study (Chalice).

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A recognized list of revered and authoritative religious books is called a canon. Canon derives from the Greek word meaning "reed used for measuring" and thus "standard" or "norm." A scriptural canon is brought together over time by the needs and practices of a faith community. In the case of the Jewish people, a variety of literary works proved to be especially meaningful and useful to the community over the centuries.

And, Dear Reader, that's what Richard D. Nelson proceeds to examine in The Old Testament: Canon, History, and Literature. It's a rather slim volume given the scope of this topic, but Nelson is all about brevity and facts. It's a good introduction to the topic, but it must be complemented with other studies if one seeks to have a deeper understanding and appreciation for how the Old Testament books developed.