The Old Testament as Literature - (Approaching the Old Testament) by Longman Tremper III (Hardcover)

About the Book

In the first of a three-volume project covering the foundations of Old Testament interpretation, a leading scholar explores the language and literature of the Old Testament as keys to understanding the biblical text.

Book Synopsis

Tremper Longman has studied and taught the Old Testament and its interpretation for four decades. Now, in a planned three-book project, he presents his mature thoughts on three ways of approaching the Old Testament text: as literature, as history, and as a source of theology.

This first volume explores the importance of reading the Old Testament as literature. Each culture tells its stories and writes its poems in different ways. To read and understand the Old Testament texts the way the ancient authors intended, we need to be aware of the conventions of Hebrew storytelling and poetry that they used. In part 1, dealing with literary theory, Longman investigates how texts create meaning, the history of the study of the Old Testament as literature, and how genre dictates reading strategy. He explores the Hebrew conventions for both narrative and poetry in conversation with contemporary literary approaches. Parts 2 and 3 delve into practice, using the tools gained in part 1 to analyze and interpret a variety of Old Testament narratives and poetry.

Longman's accessible writing and balanced judgments make this book suitable for the classroom and the church.

From the Back Cover

"An essential volume for Old Testament hermeneutics"

Leading scholar Tremper Longman III explores the language and literature of the Old Testament as keys to understanding the biblical text.

"For decades Tremper Longman has been teaching the Old Testament and writing about it in a thoughtful and lively way. This volume illustrates how he has immersed himself in scholarly study with an open mind but has never forgotten his commitment to the fact that it is the Holy Scriptures he is studying. His wide-ranging survey of scholarly approaches to the Old Testament as literature is strengthened by a number of illuminating studies of particular texts."
--John Goldingay, Fuller Theological Seminary (emeritus)

"In this volume, Longman has returned to his first love, with his Literary Approaches to Biblical Interpretation (1987) standing at the beginning of a long shelf of his books and The Old Testament as Literature as its complementary bookend. This work offers insight from decades of biblical reflection and foresight from the contemporary field of literary studies."
--Brittany N. Melton, Regent College

"The Old Testament is a diverse body of literature, but Longman has turned this fact into an invitation to explore the Bible's rich tapestry of meaning. Up-to-date on recent developments in literary theory, the author takes his readers on an adventure in genre analysis and shows how it is critical for understanding texts. While recognizing that the authors of Scripture did not have twenty-first-century readers as their audience, Longman demonstrates how the literary study of texts can help bridge the chasm."
--William P. Brown, Columbia Theological Seminary

"Longman expertly guides readers through the literary dimensions of Old Testament interpretation. Richly informed by the key theoretical discussions, Longman grounds this work in carefully worked and well-chosen examples from the Old Testament. Readers thus see that attention to the issues discussed deepens our understanding of the text. This is an essential volume for Old Testament hermeneutics."
--David G. Firth, Trinity College, Bristol

"The present book is devoted to literary matters, providing rich overview and detailed background alongside finely crafted close readings. Drawing from the cistern of a long career, Longman engages a range of biblical texts across the spectrum of narrative, poetry, and wisdom with rigor and insights from start to finish."
--Keith Bodner, Crandall University

About the Author

Tremper Longman III (PhD, Yale University) is Distinguished Scholar and Professor Emeritus of Biblical Studies at Westmont College. He has served in leadership for the Institute for Biblical Research for many years. Longman is the author of more than thirty books, including biblical commentaries, scholarly works, and popular books on how to interpret the Bible. He is also a senior translator and a member of the Bible Translation Committee for the New Living Translation. He lives in Alexandria, Virginia.