The Hebrew Bible as Literature: A Very Short Introduction

Very Short Introductions #478

by Tod Linafelt

The Hebrew Bible, or Christian Old Testament, contains some of the finest literature that we have. This biblical literature has a place not only in the synagogue or the church but also among the classics of world literature. The stories of Jacob and David, for instance, present the earliest
surviving examples of literary characters whose development the reader follows over the length of a lifetime. Elsewhere, as in the books of Esther or Ruth, readers find a snapshot of a particular, fraught moment that will define the character. The Hebrew Bible also provides quite a few high points
of lyric poetry, from the praise and lament of the Psalms to the double entendres in the love of poetry of the Song of Songs.

In short, the Bible can be celebrated not only as religious literature but, quite simply, as literature. This book offers a thorough and lively introduction to the Bible's two primary literary modes, narrative and poetry, foregrounding the nuances of plot, character, metaphor, structure and design,
and intertextual allusions. Tod Linafelt thus gives readers the tools to fully experience and appreciate the Old Testament's literary achievement.

ABOUT THE SERIES:
The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make
interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Genres: Religion, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Literature, Christian, Literary Criticism, Theology

116 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2010

About the author

Tod Linafelt is professor of biblical literature in the Theology Department at Georgetown University.

Reviews

[5greenway · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cracking little book. So many great insights, communicated with assured enthusiasm, that it's a shame when it comes to an end.

[Daniel Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chapter 1:Biblical literature and the Western literary tradition
Chapter 2: Reading biblical narrative
Chapter 3: Reading biblical poetry
Chapter 4: Narrative and poetry working together
Chapter 5: Connections between texts

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent introduction to the prose, poetry, and intertextuality of the Hebrew Bible.

[Steve Wiggins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anyone familiar with the series Very Short Introductions will know what to expect here. This short treatment of the Hebrew Bible as Literature addresses such topics as poetry and prose and how the Bible might be interpreted as literature. The coverage is very good, but it is too short for such a complex topic. Although the constraints of the series make this a necessary concession, I would have liked to have read more about what Linafelt thinks about this topic. For anyone wanting to cover the bare basics this would be a fine place to start. I also discuss it a bit further here: Sects and Violence in the Ancient World.

[Tom Hughes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative and interesting. Shows how the Bible can be read with the best of literary works.

[georgiebaebi · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75
Pros:
I picked this up because 1) in typical post-liberal arts degree fashion, I’m thinking about grad school, specifically Biblical Literature/Theology and 2) Prof Linafelt’s bio made me think we’d vibe—the fact he referenced Harry Potter and used a Clint Eastwood movie to illustrate a point in a book on Hebrew Literature confirmed my suspicions 😂
Introduced me to the term “intertextuality” which refers to the web of relationship between texts—i.e. no text is an island—and I felt VINDICATED by the fact that literary scholars apparently have an actual formal term for my compulsive need to link Disney movies with Bible verses and pulp fiction etc.
“Confusing the nature and workings of Biblical narrative and poetry diminishes the experience of reading them.” Just as reading the Bible seriously does NOT mean reading it literally (consider Jesus in John 10:7: “I am the door”), Prof Linafelt made a great argument for attending to the fact that since the form and function of prose and poetry are different, we can expect that being sensitive to the differences can elucidate what the Author wants to stress since going from one to another isn’t an accident.
Cons:
It really is a mini book. I wish there was more of it! But Prof. Linafelt gave me a rec The Art of Biblical Narrative to read next :)
This is also not a book IMO for gleaning theological truth in and of itself, though I think it offers helpful tools for reading the Bible--particularly the Tanakh--well (or better, at least)

Favorite quotes:
“With such imaginative, linguistic creations the question is not so much ‘Am I persuaded?’… but rather ‘Am I transported?’” AND
“To do justice to literary works is to pay good, skillful attention not only to what is said but to how it is said.”

[Adam Glantz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tod Linafelt shows how the biblical authors used a division of labor between narrative prose and evocative poetry. The former is matter-of-fact, in which ornamentation and motive are pushed into a shadowy background. Rather than being problematic, this invites deep considerations of *why* things happened, and may be a major reason why people have returned again and again to biblical stories. Unlike the epic poetry of other civilizations (e.g., Homer's Iliad and Odyssey), biblical poetry is everything its prose is not: it's nonnarrative and unmoored in space and time, thereby being easily appropriated by future readers for a wide variety of circumstances. Biblical prose and poetry often work together in practice, with the latter framing the former and adding drama and gravitas to its otherwise spare accounting of detail. Biblical authors have used these tools for intertextual effect, delighting the close reader by making connections of various kinds to earlier biblical books in later ones.

Linafelt makes excellent use of the limited space and introductory nature of this Very Short Introduction. Given greater resources, I'd want to see him delve further into the various debates of literary theory and criticism (e.g., What is literature? What is poetry?) and to adopt a more comparative basis for lauding biblical authorship that doesn't just stop with a little Homer.

[Jacabaeus · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great overview of the "Old Testament" as literature, particularly enjoyed the section on Job. Definitely recommend to anyone interested in Jewish/Christian literature or giving the whole Bible a read. Also useful in the study of Islamic theological literature as a different way of framing the stories mirrored in the Qur'an.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting introduction that is bare-bones but effective.

[Fred Eisenhut]

A very well written book about seeing the First Testament as a wonderful piece of literature. It is very different piece of literature from Homer and other ancient boos, but beautiful in its own repect.