An Introduction to the Old Testament: Second Edition
by Tremper Longman III, Raymond B. Dillard
List Price:
Our Price: $20.81
You Save: $14.18 (41%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $13.55 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Raymond B. Dillard, Tremper Longman IIIEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Format: Deluxe Edition
Published: 2006-11-21
ISBN: 0310263417
Number of pages: 528
Publisher: Zondervan
Book Reviews of An Introduction to the Old Testament: Second Edition
Book Review: An Introduction to the Old Testament, Second Edition
Summary: 5 Stars
An Introduction to the Old Testament, Second Edition
The target audience for this book is seminary students. I am not a seminary student or a Bible College graduate, but after reading many reviews I thought this book would be helpful to me, and it is. I use it as a supplement to my study Bible.
An Introduction to the Old Testament has an introduction chapter followed by one chapter for each book of the Old Testament. The Introduction chapter lets you know the perspective of the authors (Protestant and evangelical), what they are trying to accomplish, and how the subsequent chapters are organized. Some other authors deny the existence of any supernatural divine activity, but these authors recognize and respect the supernatural and the divine. The introduction presents some information related to hermeneutics, regarding the culture and context of the Old Testament.
Each chapter following the introduction reads much like the notes at the beginning of a Study Bible, but with a little more breadth and depth. The major divisions that are included in every chapter are Historical Background, Literary Analysis, Theological Message, and Approaching the New Testament. Some chapters have additional major divisions for Alternative Critical Views (Genesis), Evaluation of the Critical Reviews (Genesis), Ancient Near Eastern Background (Genesis), and Text-Critical Issues (Samuel). The Historical Background section is usually the longest and includes a discussion of various theories about who was the author. Longman and Dillard present the critical scholarship and other views in a distant, third-person tone that is almost void of emotion. They very gently put forward their own view. The discussion of the authorship of Genesis reveals their tone and their view. "It is difficult to say when the new consensus will be or even if a consensus will emerge, but it is certain that the alternative will not be a return to a precritical acceptance of Mosaic authorship with only minute exceptions (the so-called a- and post- Mosaica) or to anything like a classic documentary approach. .... Evangelical scholars recognize that the Pentateuch contains pre-Mosaic sources as well as post-Mosaic glosses. ... In the final analysis, it is possible to affirm the substantial Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch in line with the occasional internal evidence and the strong external testimony, while allowing for earlier sources as well as later glosses and elaboration. ... In any case, our concern is the final form of the text, since that is what God has given the church as canon for its edification." So they are willing to look at various authorship theories, but they believe that God inspired the authoring process and the Bible we now have is from Him and is in the form that He intended.
The book has a lengthy bibliography for each division of the introduction chapter, plus another bibliography for each of the subsequent chapters that deal with one book of the Old Testament. These bibliographies are not annotated, so I can only guess, based on the title, what is in each reference and what its perspective is. Some books are listed in many chapter bibliographies. An annotated bibliography for the whole book would be helpful.
There is not much discussion of the Old Testament as a whole. It does not have a table to identify the Books of the Law (Pentateuch), Books of History, Books of Wisdom, Books of the Major Prophets, and Books of the Minor Prophets. It is assumed that the reader knows this. It does not give an overview of how the history books and prophecy books line up chronologically. Each chapter discusses the date of authorship and the dates of the events in view, but there is not a global view of the chronology.
I read a lot of Amazon reviews of books about the Old Testament before selecting this one. I am satisfied with it, and I don't know of a better book for me. I am considering a future purchase of A Biblical History of Israel by Provan, Long, and Longman, to get a consolidated view of the history of the Old Testament era.
Summary of An Introduction to the Old Testament: Second Edition
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 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.Reference Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Reference Books
Jesus I Never Knew, Theby Philip Yancey
Zondervan; Published: 1999-11-01; Audio Cassette; Book
Best price: $14.94
Price in other shops:
The Jesus I Never Knew (Limited Edition)by Philip Yancey
Zondervan; Published: 1999-02; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $2.75
Price in other shops:
How to Read the Bible for It's Worthby Gordon D Fee
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd; Published: 1990-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.74
Ephesians (NIV Application Commentary, The)by Klyne Snodgrass
Zondervan; Published: 2008-08-01; CD-ROM; Book
Price in other shops:
Basics of Biblical Greek Workbookby William D. Mounce
Zondervan; Published: 2009-11-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $13.81
Price in other shops:
The Jewish Study Bible: featuring The Jewish Publication Society TANAKH TranslationOxford University Press, USA; Published: 2003-09; Leather Bound; Book
Price in other shops:
God's Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question--Why We Sufferby Bart D. Ehrman
HarperOne; Published: 2008-02-19; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $2.69
Price in other shops:
God's Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question--Why We Sufferby Bart D. Ehrman
HarperOne; Published: 2009-02-24; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.00
Price in other shops:
Idioms in the Bible Explained and a Key to the Original Gospelsby George M. Lamsa
Harper; Published: 1985-10-23; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.51
Price in other shops:
The Sermon on the Mount: The Key to Success in Lifeby Emmet Fox
HarperOne; Published: 1989-09-20; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.74
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Transforming Leadership: Jesus' Way of Creating Vision, Shaping Values & Empowering Changeby Leighton Ford
IVP Books; Published: 1993-01-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.14
Price in other shops:
The Art of Biblical Narrativeby Robert Alter
Basic Books; Published: 2011-04-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.60
Price in other shops:
Inspiration and Incarnation: Evangelicals and the Problem of the Old Testamentby Peter Enns
Baker Academic; Published: 2005-07-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.99
Price in other shops:
An Introduction to the Old Testament Historical Booksby David Howard, David M. M. Howard Jr.
Moody Publishers; Published: 2007-08-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $20.99
Price in other shops:
The IVP Atlas of Bible Historyby Paul Lawrence
IVP Academic; Published: 2006-08-31; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $19.88
Price in other shops:
The Pentateuch as Narrative: A Biblical-Theological Commentaryby John H. Sailhamer
Zondervan; Published: 1995-03-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $13.38
Price in other shops:
Reading the Bible with Heart and Mindby Tremper Longman
NavPress; Published: 1997-07-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.98
Price in other shops:
Making Sense of the Old Testament: Three Crucial Questionsby Tremper Longman III
Baker Academic; Published: 1999-02-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $13.19
Price in other shops:
A Biblical History of Israelby Iain Provan, V. Philips Long, Tremper Longman III
Westminster John Knox Press; Published: 2003-09-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $21.00
Price in other shops:
An Introduction to the New Testamentby D. A. Carson, Douglas J. Moo
Zondervan; Published: 2005-08-16; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $20.49
Price in other shops: