Customer Reviews

The Face of Old Testament Studies: A Survey of Contemporary Approaches

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The goal of this volume is to bring educated readers "up-to-date" with the state of Old Testament scholarship at the end of the 20th century (my summary). Some of the sixteen essays do that, especially the general articles on textual criticism (Wolters), epigraphy (Chavalas & Hostetter), and the articles on the state of pentateuchal studies (Wenham), Wisdom (Waltke & Diewert), historiography (Long), and three articles on early Israel (Younger), the monarchy (Knoppers), and the exilic & Persian periods (Williamson). On these topics and the Psalter (below), one can hardly find a better brief summary (most articles are about thirty pages).

Other articles are less satisfying, either because they assume too much knowledge on the part of the reader, or because they address an extremely narrow aspect of a broad field.

The volume slights the enormous body of literature that has pondered the nature and workings of biblical poetry (parallelism, imagery, &c.), burying this discussion in Howard's sterling article on the Psalter. It also bypasses the contribution of linguistics to our understanding of the Hebrew verbal system and the discourse analysis of biblical narrative, or the impact of comparative Semitic studies on biblical lexicography.

These gaps do not annul the book's value. Indeed, for a quick overview of most of what biblical (OT) scholarship has been "up to" for the past generation, it can hardly be surpassed, especially at the size and price. Careful readers will realize, however, that more has been going on, and supplement this with other resources. I assign selected chapters--and recommend the book as a whole--in my courses.

This text is best suited for pastors wanting to keep abreast of current trends, seminary students looking for an introduction to current scholarship, students beginning PhD coursework, and PhD students looking for a starting point (but only a starting point) in reviewing for comprehensive exams. This text is not best suited for a lay Bible study, but astute laymen who know the Bible well may find this interesting and informative.
Because each chapter has a different contributor and addresses a discreet topic, all chapters are not created equal. Perhaps the best chapter is Wenham's treatment of the current state of Pentateuchal studies.
One rare strength of this volume is its refusal to marginalize or dismiss out of hand conservative viewpoints. In my opinion, however, this book does not go far enough in that direction, but that is a matter of judgment.
The greatest weakness of this book is that it is getting on in years, and will soon be dated. That does not make it irrelevant, however. Rather, the reader should regard this as a starting point, and shood look elsewhere for more recent and more thorough discussions of OT scholarship.

Excellent survey of the past 30 years of OT research. Required reading if you want to understand the current state of OT theology in brief.

We use it at Asbury Theological Seminary, and it is a book I'm plannig to give to some friends.

it really helps you to get into the shcholarship of the OT studies!