The Old Testament's stories are intriguing, mesmerizing, and provocative not only due to their ancient literary craft but also because of their ongoing relevance. In this volume, well suited to college and seminary use, Jerome Walsh explains how to interpret these narrative passages of Scripture based on standard literary elements such as plot, characterization, setting, pace, point of view, and patterns of repetition. What makes this book an exceptional resource is an appendix that offers practical examples of narrative interpretation- something no other book on Old Testament interpretation offers.

This work focuses on the literary conventions of narrative texts in the Hebrew Bible, in particular the mode of representation in the book of Judges. The theory of integrational semantics, developed by Benjamin Hrushovski, is systematized to form a theoretical framework within which representation is conceptualized. The author suggests a novel reading of the Judges-narratives to demonstrate particular conventions of representation. The notions of paradoxality, perspectivity and juxtaposition are used to demonstrate the potential value of types of logic, alternative to modernist logic, in reading ancient Hebrew narratives. A hypothetical representeme is constructed for the book of Judges to make it clear that the mode of representation is neither mimesis nor historiography, but narrative, representing by convention and not by correspondence to history.

The Old English poems in this volume are among the first retellings of scriptural texts in a European vernacular. More than simple translations, they recast the familiar plots in daringly imaginative ways, from Satan's seductive pride (anticipating Milton), to a sympathetic yet tragic Eve, to Moses as a headstrong Germanic warrior-king, to the lyrical nature poetry in Azarias. Whether or not the legendary Caedmon authored any of the poems in this volume, they represent traditional verse in all its vigor. Three of them survive as sequential epics in a manuscript in the Bodleian Library at Oxford. The first, the Old English Genesis, recounts biblical history from creation and the apocryphal fall of the angels to the sacrifice of Isaac; Abraham emerges as the central figure struggling through exile toward a lasting covenant with God. The second, Exodus, follows Moses as he leads the Hebrew people out of Egyptian slavery and across the Red Sea. Both Abraham and Moses are transformed into martial heroes in the Anglo-Saxon mold. The last in the triad, Daniel, tells of the trials of the Jewish people in Babylonian exile up through Belshazzar's feast. Azarias, the final poem in this volume (found in an Exeter Cathedral manuscript), relates the apocryphal episode of the three youths in Nebuchadnezzar's furnace.

A veteran pastor with thirty years of experience guides readers through a ten-step process to preaching Old Testament narratives from text selection to delivery. The first edition received a Christianity Today award of merit and a Preaching magazine Book of the Year award. This edition, now updated and revised throughout for a new generation, includes a new chapter on how to preach Christ from the Old Testament and an exemplary sample sermon from Mathewson. Foreword by Haddon W. Robinson.

Scripture Connections: Old Testament Narrative Books focuses on two larger narratives of the Old Testament: the Narratives of the Rise and Fall of the Hebrew Kingdoms (Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings) and the Narratives of Exile and Restoration (Ruth, Daniel, Esther, Ezra-Nehemiah, Chronicles). Overall, this work introduces the narratives of Israel’s scriptures with an emphasis on ancient connections, biblical connections, gospel connections, and life connections.

A Survey of the Old Testament goes far beyond simply rephrasing biblical material to provide balanced insights on the literary, historical, and theological issues of each Old Testament book and of the Old Testament as a whole. This revised edition makes the exceptional scope of the first edition more accessible to contemporary readers. A redesigned interior complete with new visuals--maps, photos, timelines, and charts--makes this book more attractive and useful than ever. Treating the books of the Old Testament in the order of the English canon, A Survey of the Old Testament explores the purpose and message of each book and shows how its literary structure has been applied to accomplish the intention of its inspired author. The book also introduces the reader to issues such as Israelite and Near Eastern history, archaeology, the formation of the canon, and geography Written by two widely respected scholars and educators, A Survey of the Old Testament is designed to help readers develop a broad grasp of the Old Testament.

Explains how to grasp and apply the timeless truths in Old Testament narratives.