Customer Reviews

An Introduction to the Old Testament

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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I was much pleased when I bought this intro to the Old Testament. In short, Dillard and Longman have done the church and teh believing community a great service by providing a scholarly and evangelical introduction that is not afraid to tackle the hard questions of the Bible.

They divide each section of the introduction into Historical/literary/Theological message/Approaching the New Testament. As to one reviewer commenting that this is very biased, I actually think that this was quite objective. Longman analyzes the prevailing critics presuppositions and then provides a logical counterpart. And also, they are (while remaining robustly evangelical) more balanced in their conclusion than other evangelical scholars (cf. Gleason Archer for a passionate, well written, if a little biased example).

In my eyes, this books greatezt strengths were its incorporating the theological message and approaching the New Testament into each book. The Bible then comes alive. Its weakness is similar to many other scholarly works, it could get overly teachnical at times. Overall, a well organized intro.

Good discussions of date, authorship, text, audience and message of the books of the Old Testament. More in depth than Hendriksen's "Survey of the Bible."

It really does go beyond simple cultural information. This title was a required text for me in Seminary...it was one of the best investments I've ever made. The information in the book will overflow into your personal studies.

Extremely helpful insights into why the human authors of Scripture phrased certain things in the way they did.

This is a great tool!

This Old Testament Introduction maintains the delicate balance between scholarly pertinence and practical usefulness. Dillard & Longman capably present the various issues necessary to address in OT Introduction--authorship & dating, textual issues, etc.--while always offering thorough theological understanding & New Testament/Christological significance. This volume is difficult to put down; this is not simply a reference book but also a book that can be read from cover to cover. This is the best way to understand Dillard's & Longman's overall perspective of the OT. An insightful & incisive work.

I find this Old Testament Introduction easy to read, but also reasonably comprehensive. It is not as complete as R. K. Harrisons' 1970 work, but much more inviting. It is both a handy reference work, and a book to read from cover to cover.

The New Testament applications at the end of each article are thought-provoking and essential for the Christian, for whom the New Testament opens and explains the Old.

Highly recommended.

An excellent, informative overview of cursory introductory matters. OT introduction is quite a mindfield; however, Dillard and Longmand present a well-informed discussion. It is brief often on issues of dating and authorship, which makes this an excellent "first grab" off the shelf when a question arises. The volume is probably worth double its asking price for the literary analysis. This volume takes into account literary compentency and provides genre discussion (thanks to the illustrious Tremper Longman's coauthorship). All in all each student of the Bible needs a basic OT introduction; this is an excellent choice for the reader of today.

This is an excellent overview of the OT, with helpful chapters on each book. But, it's a 1994 and somewhat dated. The book now has a second edition, which Amazon curiously does not list. The newer version is a year or two old, published by Zondervan, with Tremper Longman III listed as the first author - e.g., "Longman and Dillard."

I have benefitted greatly from this book. The bibliographies alone are worth the price of the book.

This volume should be in every serious student of the OT library. Pastors especially should delve into this concise yet reasonable volume.

I highly recommend this volume.

This is an excellent book for those who are studying the Old Testament.