Barry L. Bandstra
The goal of this text is to teach students how to read the Old Testament and how to go about mining the biblical text for meaning; historical, literary, cultural, and theological. In addition, the author demonstrates how a knowledge of ancient culture, religion, and history is essential for correctly interpreting Old Testament texts. While history, archaeology, and extra-biblical documents are heavily utilized, they are presented only as they apply directly to specific biblical texts. The book actively applies recent literary, rhetorical, and structural studies that shed light on the art, design, coherence, characterization, theme, and other literary features of the Hebrew Bible.
Reading the Old Testament: An Introduction to the Hebrew Bible