An Introduction to the Old Testament: Exploring Text, Approaches, and Issues

by John Goldingay

Publisher:

SPCK

, 2016

Overview

This introduction to the Old Testament is written to cover all key components of most OT courses and also to help students to think for themselves about key issues of interpretation.

Built upon John Goldingay’s decades of studying and teaching the Old Testament, this introduction is unusual in that it sets out background information, notes interpretative possibilities, raises questions and suggests approaches to the text. This introduction has the feel of a workbook, encouraging students to investigate the Old Testament, both critically and prayerfully, for themselves.

Key Features

• Focuses on various collections within the Old Testament
• Encourages students to explore for themselves
• Provides a concluding holistic view

Contents

• Preface
• Part 1: Introduction
• Part 2: The Torah
• Part 3: The Prophets
• Part 4: The Writings
• Part 5: Looking Back Over the Whole

Top Highlights

“I have implied already that it’s more important to help people read the Bible for themselves than to tell them what the Bible says. The Reformation displaced the pope as the person who decided what the Bible means, but it’s easy to replace the pope with pastors or professors, in which case you’re no better off. My aim in this book is to help you study the Bible for yourself.” (Page 7)

“The ‘Old Testament’ is the Christian term for the collection of scrolls in Hebrew and Aramaic that the Jewish community accepts as its Scriptures, and to which it often refers as the ‘Torah [or Law], the Prophets and the Writings,’ or ‘Tanak’ for short (from the initial letters of the three Hebrew nouns ‘Torah,’ ‘Nebi’im,’ ‘Ketubim’).” (Page 12)

“But it is fine if the Torah is more like a movie based on fact than like a totally factual documentary, and describing the Torah as narrative or story rather than simply history releases us from having to ask which we are reading at any given moment.” (Page 56)

“It’s easy for modern Western readers to assume that the story needs to be completely historical in order to be valid, and if it seems to combine history and parable, we are inclined to assume that we need to be able to tell where history ends and parable begins. But it seems that in inspiring the book of Joshua, the Holy Spirit did not see it that way, and God invites us to relax in reading the book as it is.” (Page 163)

“Among the features of his stories that put us on the track of their being parable not history are (1) humor and irony; (2) exaggeration (things are larger than life); (3) ‘stock’ characters; (4) schematic structure; (5) numerical schemes; (6) formulaic neatness and closure.” (Page 28)

Product Details

• Title: An Introduction to the Old Testament: Exploring Text, Approaches and Issues
• Author: John Goldingay
• Publisher: SPCK
• Print Publication Date: 2016
• Logos Release Date: 2016
• Pages: 400
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Bible. O.T. › Criticism, interpretation, etc; Bible. O.T. › Introductions
• ISBNs: 9780830899081, 9780281075355, 9780281075362, 0830899081, 0281075352, 0281075360
• Resource ID: LLS:ANINTROTOTHEOT
• Resource Type: text.monograph.introduction.old-testament
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-29T21:52:59Z

About John Goldingay

John Goldingay has been at Fuller Theological Seminary since 1997 and currently serves as the David Allan Hubbard Professor of Old Testament in the School of Theology. Before coming to Fuller, Goldingay was principal and a professor of Old Testament and Hebrew at St. John’s Theological College in Nottingham, England. He is the author of several books, including Old Testament Theology vol. 1, After Eating the Apricot, and Models for Scripture, as well as commentaries on Daniel, Isaiah, and Psalms. He holds membership in the Society of Biblical Literature and serves on the editorial board for the Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies.