A. Approaching the Old Testament

In the next section, which is Approaching the Old Testament [2], they present the Bible as God's self-revelation. They discuss the covenant between God and the nation Israel, the authority of the Old Testament, how to study and interpret the Old Testament, and how to apply the lessons of the Old Testament. In talking about biblical interpretation, they emphasize that the Bible must be allowed to speak for itself, but they also talk about how presuppositions can influence the reader's ability to understand and interpret Scripture. They warn that the serious student must be aware of their presuppositions, that they must constantly reevaluate them for validity, and that they must always subordinate their personal beliefs and agendas to the text of the Scripture [3].

The authors are very much on target when they present their procedures for interpreting the Old Testament. They write, "But how do we try to determine the intention of the author? First, the genre of the literature must be determined" [4]. Following a determination of the genre, they describe the next steps of interpretating Scripture to be knowing the target audience, being familiar with the circumstances under which the text was written, and then, digging out the context of the writing in order to understand exactly what the author was trying to say. Once an understanding of the text has been obtained, the final step is to make the correct application of what has been learned.

B. Geography of the Old Testament

Following the section on how to approach and interpret the Old Testament, the book has a section entitled Geography of the Old Testament [5]. This section is rich with details about the Old Testament world. The authors discuss the Fertile Crescent, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, Syro-Palestine, Egypt, the Arabian Peninsula, and Palestine. They include a very descriptive map of the Coastal Plain, the Central Mountains, the Rift Valley, and the Transjordanian Mountains [6]. They have a topographical chart that shows the height of many of the key locations in Palestine, such as Mt. Meron in upper Galilee (3,500 feet), Nazareth (1,600 feet), Bethel (2,300 feet), Jezreel Valley (approximately sea level), and Jerusalem (2,800 feet) [7]. In addition, this textbook also has a map that shows the major roads and routes of Canaan [8], and on this map, the student can easily locate the King's Highway and several of the other regional, local, and international routes.

C. A Survey of Each Book

Following the introduction of the various Old Testament issues that were discussed above, this textbook begins a review of each Book of the Old Testament. The review is grouped according to the major sections of the Old Testament, where Part One is the Pentateuch, Part Two are the Historical Books, Part Three are the Poetic Books, and Part IV are the Prophets. Within each of these parts is an introduction to the respective grouping type. Then, individual chapters, which are named after the specific Bible Book, are devoted to the survey itself, where each chapter follows the same general format.

For example, in surveying the Book of Genesis, the chapter entitled Genesis begins by listing the key ideas of the book of Genesis [9]. These ideas appear prior to the beginning of the chapter, and they are displayed in bold, italicized text so that they stand out and are easy to see. After that list, the chapter has successive sections entitled The Writing of the Book, The Background, An Outline of Genesis, Purpose and Message, Structure and Organization, and Major Themes. Then, at the end of every chapter, the authors include study questions for the student to answer, plus a list of reference materials for further reading.

D. Extras With Each Chapter

Every book of the Old Testament is surveyed according to the same basic format given above. However, in many instances, the survey of a particular book of the Bible has been expanded to provide additional information. For example, in the survey on the Book of Genesis, the textbook has a timeline chart that shows when Abraham entered Canaan (about 2080 BC), the birth of Isaac, the birth of Jacob, when Jacob went to Haran (about 1935 BC), when Jacob came back to Canaan (about 1915 BC), and when Jacob and his family went to Egypt (about 1875 BC). Another table in the survey on Genesis lists the theophany appearances to Abraham and Jacob that are mentioned in the Book of Genesis.

In the survey on the Book of Exodus, a timeline is provided that shows the birth of Moses (about 1525 BC), the exodus from Egypt (about 1445 BC), the beginning of Joshua's conquests (about 1405 BC), the fall of Jericho, and the Battle at Ai (about 1400 BC). Also included in this chapter are the early dating and late dating views for the exodus [10], a map of the suggested route of the exodus, and a table that lists the ten plagues and the Egyptian gods against whom those plagues were directed.

Concerning the different views about the exodus, the textbook indicates that, with the early dating view, Thutmose III would have been pharaoh during the Hebrew oppression and that Amenophis II would have been pharaoh during the exodus. With the late dating view, Rameses I and Seti I would have been pharaohs during the Hebrew oppression, and Rameses II would have been pharaoh during the exodus. This textbook thoroughly discusses each of these views and also contains separate tables to show the rationale behind each.

The first key idea listed for the chapter on the Book of Job is especially noteworthy, too, because it is consistent with a major theme discussed in class. Key idea number one says, "It is not true that only the wicked suffer" [11], and this idea was presented in class by way of a discussion about the Prophetic Viewpoint. The Prophetic Viewpoint was an ancient belief that said the righteous and the wicked received good and bad, respectively, based on their behavior. However, the example of Job proved that the Prophetic Viewpoint was not correct.

Another nice feature about this chapter is that the Background section identifies a variety of literary genre that are used throughout the Book of Job, and these genre are dialogue (chapters 4-27), soliloquy (chapter 3), discourse (chapters 29-41), narrative (chapters 1-2), and hymn (chapter 28) [12]. By discussing the various genre, by associating specific portions of the Bible with different types of genre, and then, by discussing some of the interpretation considerations based on these genre, this textbook does an excellent job of reinforcing the classroom discussion about genre.

This textbook is also consistent with the classroom instruction on the Song of Solomon. In fact, they call their chapter, Song of Songs, and they even include a special section that is entitled Interpretation of the Book [13]. In that section, they say that this book is one of the most difficult to interpret, and then, they share their conclusions that Song of Songs is teaching chastity before marriage and faithfulness after marriage. Their conclusions are the same as were discussed in class.

E. Conclusion

This book, in my opinion, would make an excellent textbook for an Old Testament Introduction class. It is well written, it discusses and supports many of the concepts presented in class, and it is very easy to read and understand. I especially like the timelines, the discussions about geography, the chapters on Genesis and Exodus, and all of the other supplemental sections that are included.

1. Andrew E. Hill and John H. Walton, A Survey of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 2000), page 18.

2. Ibid, pages 20-26.

3. Ibid, page 24.

4. Ibid, page 24.

5. Ibid, pages 28-44.

6. Ibid, page 33.

7. Ibid, page 35.

8. Ibid, page 39.

9. Ibid, pages 63-80.

10. Ibid, pages 83-86.

11. Ibid, page 327.

12. Ibid, page 329.

13. Ibid, pages 376-378.

Hill, Andrew E. and John H. Walton. A Survey of the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 2000.

				Tom of Bethany

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