An Introduction to the Old Testament

While I don't often read reference books cover-to-cover, I made an exception with this volume. I treated this book as a supplement to my regular Bible reading. Every time I read a different book in the Old Testament, I read the introduction to that book as well. For the last year or so, Dillard and Longman have been my dialogue partners as I read through the Hebrew Bible.

The book is laid out simply. After a brief introduction there is a chapter on every book in the Old Testament. This makes it a great work to jump in to and out of as needed. Each chapter follows the same form:

1. Historical Background: Who wrote the book in what setting?
2. Literary Analysis: What genre is the book and what is its literary merit?
3. Theological Message: show more What is the book trying to say?
4. Approaching the New Testament: How is this book used in the New Testament?

A few things set this work apart from the scores of Old Testament primers out there. Dillard and Longman are evangelical in perspective yet they have no problem interacting and dealing honestly with historical-critical perspectives. This is refreshing to see. I also appreciate the broader canonical perspective of the authors.

If you're a thoughtful evangelical Christian looking to expand your understanding of the Old Testament as you read through it, I would encourage you to read this book. show less

This second edition of An Introduction to the Old Testament integrates and interacts with recent developments in Old Testament scholarship. Several distinctive set it apart from other introductions to the Old Testament: * It is thoroughly evangelical in its perspective * It emphasizes 'special introduction'---the study of individual books * It interacts in an irenic spirit with the historical-critical method * It features points of research history and representative scholars rather than an exhaustive treatment of past scholarship * It deals with the meaning of each book, not in isolation but in a canonical context * It probes the meaning of each book in the setting of its culture Including callouts, charts, and graphs, this text is show more written with an eye on understanding the nature of Old Testament historiography. This upper-level introduction to the Old Testament offers students a solid understanding of three key issues: historical background, literary analysis, and theological message. show less

Great to have and to read for any christian

Reviewer: Jacob Aitken (Pineville, LA) - See all my reviews

I was much pleased when I bought this intro to the Old Testament. In short, Dillard and Longman have done the church and teh believing community a great service by providing a scholarly and evangelical introduction that is not afraid to tackle the hard questions of the Bible.
They divide each section of the introduction into Historical/literary/Theological message/Approaching the New Testament. As to one reviewer commenting that this is very biased, I actually think that this was quite objective. Longman analyzes the prevailing critics presuppositions and then provides a logical counterpart. And also, they are (while remaining robustly evangelical) more balanced in their show more conclusion than other evangelical scholars (cf. Gleason Archer for a passionate, well written, if a little biased example).

In my eyes, this books greatezt strengths were its incorporating the theological message and approaching the New Testament into each book. The Bible then comes alive. Its weakness is similar to many other scholarly works, it could get overly teachnical at times. Overall, a well organized intro. show less

NO OF PAGES: 473 SUB CAT I: Tanach SUB CAT II: Reference SUB CAT III: DESCRIPTION: Several distinctives set this volume apart from other introductions to the Old Testament: - It is thoroughly evangelical in its perspective. - It emphasizes "special introduction" -- the study of individual books. -It interacts in an irenic spirit with the historical-critical method. - It features high points of research history and representative scholars rather than an exhaustive treatment of past scholarship. - It deals with the meaning of each book, not in isolation but in a canonical context. - It probes the meaning of each book in the setting of its culture. With an eye on understanding the nature of the Old Testament historiography, An Introduction show more to the Old Testament offers the reader a solid understanding of three key issues: historical background, literary analysis, and theological message.NOTES: Purchased from the Amazon Marketplace. SUBTITLE: show less

Danielle

See also at Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/6cxw3f