The Old Testament as Literature

As an Old Testament scholar, Tremper Longman beautifully approach The Old Testament as a literature narrative to interpret. This brings to us a lot of new meaning that can be apprehended and to be told to our audience through perspective of a story. With rich overview and background detail, Longman do a careful work through well-chosen examples from the Old Testament.

Overview
Longman’s book sets out to bridge the gap between traditional biblical studies and modern literary analysis, advocating for a literary approach to the Old Testament that appreciates its narrative and poetic forms. The book is divided into parts discussing literary theory, prose narratives, and poetic texts, making a compelling case for viewing the Old Testament through a literary lens.

Part One: Literary Theory and the Conventions of Biblical Narrative and Poetry
The Location of Meaning
Longman discusses how meaning is constructed in texts, emphasizing the interaction between author, text, and reader. He advocates for a nuanced understanding that considers the text's final form as the locus of meaning, moving beyond traditional historical criticism.
Quote: "Authors write texts to readers... it seems reasonable to locate a literary text’s meaning in the intention of the author."

History of the Study of the Old Testament as Literature
This chapter traces the evolution of literary approaches to the Old Testament, critiquing past methodologies and highlighting the shift towards literary analysis in recent decades.
Quote: "Historical criticism was the predominant acceptable approach... now, we see the value in a literary approach."

Genre Triggers Reading Strategy
Longman elaborates on how understanding genre can aid in interpreting biblical texts, discussing how different genres have different conventions that guide interpretation.
Quote: "Genres help authors construct meaning and make that meaning accessible to readers."

Narrative Prose as Genre
The focus here is on the conventions of biblical narrative, with Longman exploring how narrative techniques and structures convey theological and moral truths.
Quote: "Every culture develops distinctive codes for telling its stories."

Poetry
The poetic aspects of the Old Testament are analyzed, with attention to features like parallelism and imagery that enrich the text’s meaning.
Quote: "Hebrew poetry uses parallelism and figurative language to deepen the interpretive experience."

Intertextuality
This chapter delves into how Old Testament texts refer to and reinterpret each other, enriching their meanings and connecting different parts of the Bible.
Quote: "Intertextuality enriches our understanding of individual texts through their dialogue with other scriptures."

Part Two: The Analysis of Illustrative Prose-Narrative Texts
Literary Readings of Prose Narratives from the Torah
Longman provides literary analyses of key narratives from the Torah, illustrating how literary forms shape their theological content.
Quote: "The Torah's narratives are not just historical records but are deeply literary in their construction."

Literary Readings of Prose Narratives from the Historical Books
Similar analysis is applied to the historical books, with a focus on how these narratives use literary techniques to communicate their messages.
Quote: "Literary techniques in the Historical Books serve to highlight the divine hand in Israel’s history."

Part Three: The Analysis of Illustrative Poetic Texts
Literary Readings of Poetic Texts from the Psalms
Longman explores the literary features of the Psalms, showing how their form and structure enhance their emotional and spiritual impact.
Quote: "The Psalms' poetic form is integral to their function as prayers and hymns."

Literary Readings of Poetic Texts from Wisdom Literature
The wisdom literature is examined for its poetic and philosophical depth, emphasizing how literary analysis can uncover layers of meaning.
Quote: "Wisdom literature uses poetry to probe deep philosophical and existential questions."

Literary Readings of Poetic Texts from the Prophets and Epic Poetry
The prophetic books and their use of epic poetry are analyzed, highlighting how they use literary forms to convey prophetic messages.
Quote: "Prophetic texts combine poetry and rhetoric to powerful effect, urging the community to action."

Conclusion
"The Old Testament as Literature" by Tremper Longman III is an essential read for those interested in the literary dimensions of the Bible. Longman’s detailed analysis provides readers with new tools for appreciating the Old Testament's complex literary beauty and its profound theological depth. This book is not only a significant academic resource but also a testament to the enduring power of biblical literature.

Overall, this book is a great summary of a lot of different approaches to viewing the Old Testament as literature. The author is clearly knowledgeable about scripture, the overarching theme of the story of the Bible, and how to clearly communicate points of view on a wide variety of topics. Each section is well organized to a certain theme, but I did find at times I got lost in the hypothesis and overall point he was trying to make which may have been that I am a layperson vs a educated theologian. The language and vocabulary is a high entry bar which does benefit the book but can slow down a layperson like me in grasping the points of each explanation on a wide variety of topics. I do think this book leans into a more summary of theories rather than a new approach on certain topics but I do believe that is the intention. I would recommend this book as a layperson interested in how to read the Old Testament better knowing that grasping the entire book will take time and likely reading sections at a time during bible study as a reference.

The Old Testament as Literature: Foundations for Christian Interpretation
By, Tremper Longman III

This is volume 1 in a planned three-book project on the Old Testament. Tremper Longman III is a wonderfully accessible and readable scholar. In this volume Longman is providing an overall summary of a variety of literary approaches to the Old Testament text. This is a great volume to savor over time to draw out the riches present in the Old testament.. I can see this a volume uses in College and Seminary classes.

A helpful overview of the text topics…
Part One: Literary Theory and the Conventions of Biblical Narrative and Poetry
• The Location of Meaning
• History of the Study of the Old Testament as Literature
• Genre Triggers Reading Strategy
• Narrative Prose as Genre
• Poetry
• Intertextuality
Part Two: The Analysis of Illustrative Prose-Narrative Texts
• Literary Readings of Prose Narratives from the Torah
• Literary Readings of Prose Narratives from the Historical Books
• Part Three: The Analysis of Illustrative Poetic Texts
• Literary Readings of Poetic Texts from Wisdom Literature
• Literary Readings of Poetic Texts from the Prophets and Epic Poetry

Ultimately the Old Testament is a collection of written works designed to communicate some idea or concept to a particular audience. The tools used by the various authors and redactors are not new; they relied upon the same forms and techniques used in contemporary literature that were already well known to their audience … sending signals to their readers to enable them to correctly interpret the intending meaning of the text. While much of the text has developed over time, and many scholars seem to be focused on extracting the original text and meaning, the author here recommends that we focus on the final version and how it has been traditionally interpreted through the ages since as a starting point. Part One covers the current state of scholarship for studying the Old Testament as Literature, including some background on how we got here and what literary devices and concepts are used in understanding the authors’ intent as well as how parts of the text or “books” work with other text or “books” of the Old Testament. And while this is an extremely academic undertaking, it remain accessible to the causal reader (although repetition and independent study would also be very helpful). What makes this work exception is Parts two and three where everything that was covered in Part one is illustrated with analysis of specific parts of prose and poetic text … although this also tends to be very technical and, at times, difficult to follow for me (which is why this is something to periodically come back to). Over all, this book can only help any student of scripture that is interested in biblical exegesis.